Feel free to check out the acoustic stuff

Charles, I listened to Can't Go Back.

Nice clean mix, easy-on the ears.

What's your recording setup?
 
Well, I've upgraded since then to a Foxtex D-160 that I LOVE, but at the time I was using a Fostex R8, an older SoundTraqs 16x4x2 board, a cheapo DBX compressor, and a CAE (200?) condensor mic.

I borrowed a semi-decent Yamaha verb for mixdown and mixed to a Sony DAT that I rented.

You can find out more about the weirdness involved in the recording here:
http://www.hotterthankarl.com/CharlesThomas

Particularly the "Ask" and "CD" sections, where I discuss the recording.

Besides the D-160, I've got a better compressor on the way, and I'm looking at a better mic preamp to go direct-to-disk. Possibly the Joe Meek 3Q, since it's in my budget (~$300) and has a built-in compressor.

Thanks for the kind words.
 
Charles, I used to use an R-8 myself and the R-12 mixer (it was a package deal).

It was my nightmare. Too much noise (I didn't really know what I was doing anyway). You did a great job recording with it...

Ended up buying some mixing software for about $45 bucks and now I play everything direct through my soundcard. You can here my stuff here if you want: http://listen.to/smartapple

Regarding a mic pre... I like the ART Tube MP.
 
Nice stuff, Charles.....although I must admit a voice like yours is begging to be joined by bass and drums and screaming guitars in my opinion...You Can't Go Back tho, worked great just like it is....but I'm a Bad Bad Man sure would be sweet with some rocky back up......Cheryl Wheeler...ya know I tried to get the CD with "Estate Sale" on it for years and finally gave up, but I do have "Driving Home"...evidently she markets her own stuff...hard to find but oh so good.....gibs
 
Yep...listened to a few tracks. Excellent.
Like gibs, a full production would do you
justice.

Great vox and guit playing.
 
Yeah I checked a couple of them out too. Good stuff. Can't Go Back was nice and catchy.

Like everyone else said, I wouldn't mind hearing a fuller treatment of some of the stuff. (Also wasn't quite sure if the song about rain would quite be considered "latin," but anything to help topple Ricki Martin. ;) )
 
Wow. Thanks for all the positive comments guys. I realize that it's uncommon to have a purely acoustic CD (with the exception of one track) that doesn't even have bass... especially when I play bass.

My next solo CD will have the full production.

Also, I'm singing lead on several songs that my band is doing for our CD which I'll record in my home studio starting June 11th. All of the songs are mine, tho'.

You can check out the "full band" stuff (albeit slightly older material) here:
http://www.mp3.com/HotterThanKarl

and even older stuff (that I recorded) here:
http://www.mp3.com/Badwolf

It's the big, big production, especially the Badwolf stuff, but all home-studio with cheapo gear.

Again, thanks for the kind words. I really like the change from people who usually review on the net (i.e. at Garageband.Com where the median age seems to be 12). It's hard to put intimate acoustic stuff out there and get anyone to listen to it for what it is.

I plan to be around here more often. As someone who's been into home recording for over a decade and has worked in a dozen recording studios, I'm sure there's a lot here of interest.

Charles Thomas
 
Listened to "You can't go back again". Great, real singing. Nice guitar work on the other tunes as well.

But as Gib's said, "begging to be joined by bass and drums and screaming guitars" might be a understatment. The songs sound excellent acoustically, which says a lot, but more instruments would work very easily in this stuff.

Nice work.



[This message has been edited by Emeric (edited 05-17-2000).]
 
Hey Teddie,

I checked out yer stuff over on mp3.com. I really liked "Morning Light", but it was all fresh, honest, and well-recorded.

Sounds like you and I are in a similar boat to a certain extent (at least my solo stuff is)... i.e., one dude doing bass, drums, guitars, vocals, backing vocals, engineering, mixing, mastering, CD artwork, buring CD's, etc!

Whew!

Keep up the good work.
 
Charles, yeah, I lot of the folks here are in the same boat. I can't tell you how much help everyone here has been to me. I really love this place. It's helped me out with my mixes a lot. I've remixed and remixed and remixed my stuff because of input from people here and I really like how my songs have turned out.

Thanks for your kind words by the way.
 
same boat...wonder wiz duz it all.

could be bad ... could be good...but I'm
having a hell of a lot of fun!
 
I've downloaded all of this stuff. I was touched most closely by "So Many Ways" in that acoustic style reminiscent of early Jethro Tull. After the intro the song goes elsewhere but it's still nice.
You mention a CAE 200. Have you tried recording with a stereo mic arrangement or any other mics?
 
Checked out, What more could you want.

Very nice, lots of energy. Nice to hear an acoustic by itself, now and then.

Just curious, what gauge strings?
 
>Have you tried recording with a stereo mic arrangement or any other mics?

No other mics (besides dynamics which sounded like crap). Unfortunately, my budget precludes having a selection of condensors on hand.

As for stereo, all the rhythm tracks on the CD were double-tracked, then hard-panned left and right. I find that the very minor inconsistancies between the performances work to give it a huge stereo image. Admittedly, the results of this technique are much more dramatic with electric guitar, but it still works with acoustic.
 
You might want to add to your Similar Artists list. I think there is alot of Tesla in your music, but that is just my opinion. Great job on this project! :)
 
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