Humble Violin & Orchestra home recording...

James Argo

James Argo

Fancy Rock N' Roll
Here's one of my humble Violin and Orchestra home recording experience. Well, ...Be gentle I'm not professional violin player. :D So don't ask me for collaboration things... I'm nervous :o.

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=2631&alid=-1

Story :
This one was inspired by DavidK as one of my favorite violin player/master around :p. Few weeks ago, I readed his post about his girlfriend being ill. Well, I guess there is no way for me to do to show my concern but dedicating this song for him. I wish his girlfriend is getting better. I also dedicate this song for Getuhgrip (Rick) and his family regarding the tragedy. May this song heals you guys. I wrote this song, for whoever we love to listen whenever she / he is being not well. Please feel free to comment to this song.

Tech side :
Nothing special... no such Trans Siberian Philharmonic Orchestra playing back up for me... Just me, my keyboards, couple of synth & soundfonts. And off course... SONAR 2.2 XL, and Cool Edit Pro 2. You'll hear me playing violin on two tracks, and the rest is MIDI work. I wrote, composed, sequence, record, and mixing in a same day, all by myself.10 hours of work. No such mastering, just little editing in CEP 2. So I wouldn't say this is my best shoot. ;) Well, since I'm happy with this, I don't think I'm gonna change the song drastically. May be add or subtract things, but not much...

Have a nice listening.
Thanks
;)
Jaymz
 
Okay, I just read your post. Pretty cool. It doesn't need a listen to get stars...































But I did listen. Really nice man. Because I'm a dufus, I'm not really sure which violin parts were real...I mean, I can recognize the string bed stuff as fake, so I'm guessing you played the parts that stand out at the beginning...Or maybe it's all synth and I just missed it in your post. Either way, less verb on the strings would be cool, lol. Sheesh, just laugh at me, I don't care...I thought this was really nice.
 
That was a beautiful instrumental james!It kinda sounded like some of the Hosanna Praise Instrumentals I have on CD...really nice peice of work man.It sooooooothed me.:eek:
 
Chriss:
The violin laid all over the place but in the SFX intro and the flute interlude. I mix them too f*@#$in' good, then they really blend eachother. :D That's what mixing is all about, huh ? :D I kinda have to "mask" the original violin track with reverb because I want my CHEAP acoustic violin ($20, you wont believe it!) to sound like an expensive electric :D But you're right, a bit too muddy. Can I blame it to mp3 format ? It sounds good on the original .wav. THANKS brutha' :). give your lover a listen...

Kramer:
Thank's !!! You may want to save it for next christmas tune... ;)

Anyone ?

Jaymz
 
Damn man...

That gave me chillbumps. Thats the best sounding 20 dollar violin I've ever heard.

This proves it's all about the music.

Great !

Dennis
 
wow~this is a $20 violion and some synth?? You gotta tell us more on how you did it. THis is awsome sounding!! Very nice arrangment, too. Now I feel stupid for posting my half-@ss orchestra attempt here awhile ago :(

Good stuff

Al
 
very nice. absolutelyl lovely. nothing more to add other than i am very impressed. and you will collaborate. pm's on the way!
 
Sugarsweet :) Sound quality is very good too. Nice mix of real and....eh...unreal? :D instruments there...

I like the melody. I'm not too fond of keyboard pads, but that's my problem.

But I do love the sentiment, James...that was really nice of you to do!

Be gentle I'm not professional violin player.
Click to expand...

Aw, cut the modest crap man! :) And who's 'professional' around here? If were a professional you would be working right now instead of lurking in the Cave, wouldn't you? This is 'Home Recording dot com', we're all amateurs. Some are good, some are excellent. And you are an excellent amateur violinist James!
 
awwwwww....yeeaahhhh

I dig the tune dude. Good recording and eveything. I agree with Chris - a little less verb would be cool.

Very nice, tough. 5 stars.
 
Ah, ye bring a tear to me eye, laddie, that you do...

This is just great, very strong melody and delivery, good dynamic arrangement. Very good use of the orchestra. The violin part's my favorite, though, the trills and occasional slightly flatted notes (in another tradition they'd be blue notes) add to the warmth and character of this piece.

Very, very musical.

I'd consider pulling the string pads back early in the piece - in the quiet parts, it seemed too high. Also, just in one or two places, I got the sense you were chording, rather than playing individual lines. I could be wrong. If I'm not, and you have the spare tracks (or years of organ lessons), you might want ot retake those and play a separate line for each "voice".

That's a very small point. This is just gorgeous. Thank you, thank you for posting it.:) :) :)
 
That is beautiful James.

Ladies & gentlemen, please, a warm round of applause for Mr James Argo...

--
BluesMeister
 
Strings Sound badass!

I am mostly into metal but can totally appreciate stuff like this. Your playing of the violin reminds me of the violinist from My Dying Bride. Very sorrowful, and beautiful at the same time. Something about violins sound tragic to me. This is cool.
 
It's a nice tune, and nicely played. I'd've mixed the plucked instrument a bit higher in relation to the strings, but... no, no - I'd've cut the strings 1.5 - 2.0 dB. That would allow that bass to come out a bit more as well. Just as important: I'd've recorded that violin much drier - throw up some blankets and mattresses along the walls so you don't get so much room sound. Then the violin will be more upfront in the mix. I mean, the violin's the main instrument, right, so it should be closest to the listener.

I don't know why you don't want to do collaborations - you've got a nice touch on that violin. You just need to find a way to mic it better, or in a better room. I keep telling David K the same thing. He's stopped talking to me. His loss. :D
 
Thanks guys!!!

Thanks for the replies... :)

rustyfingers:
Yup... it was the best I can get with $20. The pick up was about ~$40. Imagine what will it sound if I got Zetta. :)
How did you make it Jaymz ?
Well... I posted a thread in Recording Technic forum few months ago asking about how to capture acoustic violin to sound like electric... They helped me much :)

A1A2:
It wasn't that hard. I devide the whole set into several groups, and groups as subgroups :) eg. I group 12 violins into Group Strings, and devide it into three subgroup, Lower, Middle, and Higher. Every sub group was set to the best sound patch I can get with my synth or soundfont. It's easier to control them when you got three session of strings this way in the mix ;) Goes the same with Brass, Woodwind etc. :)

JR#97:
:eek: Noooooo :eek:

:D :D :D

Pedullist:
You right, man. It screams for reverb. I used to mix it alot much wet than this final. But then I lower the reverb so not to mud the whole set.

getuhgrip:
It's Green. Not Brown... :D Anytime Rick. :)

Nilbog:
Thanks !!! :) awwwwww....yeeaahhhh :)

Toki987:
Healing people... :D

dafduc:
Hey, Thanks for your time reviewing this baby. :D You right, it's my kinda "Blue Note" :D And yes, I guess somewhere in the middle of the song, I just get lazzy to edit what I played :D It should play one tune/part. No such chordy on the strings & pad should be. Thanks !!

BluesMeister:
You're the conductor, Cap'n Frank. :D :D :D

Analytical Man:
Yup. I'm also into Rock N' Roll most of my time. This one is rather my "side job" for my musical temper. Cooling indeed... :cool:

dobro:
:D It wasn't captured by mic. It's all captured by pick up. Lawrence Fishman Transducer I bought in Singapore (Couldn't recall, City music corps, Swe Lee or sumthin' :confused: You know the places around Orchid, huh ? :D) back in 1993. But your sight can't be wrong. I still dig on your lesson anyway :D


I'm still waiting for my mastah' DaveK to show around... :)

;)
Jaymz
 
Very nice.............no big critique from me as I'm squeezing in a couple of posts before I leave on vacation but I don't think I'd do anything but gush anyway.

JR's right BTW.....you will; oh yes....you will collaborate. :p
 
Oh yeah, I enjoyed this one. Being a violin player myself, I particularly enjoyed your violin playing at the beginning. I love the violin's lead melody-- reminds me a lot of Kitaro's "The Silk Road".

Good work James. I'm impressed.


KF
 
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