A song for you

[TAE]

I am messing around with different vocal styles and trying to fine tune doing some one shot pony recordings...In other words no multi tracks just me playing the piano and my vocals live..
So the last song Merry Christmas that I posted in the cave was the first attempt.. trying to dial in the mix ... so here's what I am doing...I am running the vocal through Line 6 Podfarm effects and then out into my MOX8 keyboards digital input...piano is straight MOX8 piano and then from the headphone out into a little sony micro recorder ICD-ux70 which records it as a mp3...ridiculously simple...no multi track recording editing...make it or break it ..it is what it is...

I think the balance on this one is a lot better..still have to get more consistent on the mic singing thing and it would be nice if I could play the whole tune without any mistakes couple of chokes and misplayed chords but...I am getting close...it's just going to take some time...ok a LOT of takes but I think the fidelity is pretty slick but hit me with your bad news


A SONG FOR YOU

 

[dobro]

It's lovely. If you want to do it again, go ahead, but the only big issue I have with this one is the plosives, and you could get rid of them to some extent in a mix. The mix: you have to find a way to bring the vocal out more against the piano. Right now it sounds like I'm standing about five feet from the end of a grand piano and you're sitting at the piano about 12 feet from me. The piano's between me and vocal, in other words. I'd start with the old 'one dB up one dB down' trick. But I'd also run some parallel compression on the vocal and run some kinda reverb on both of 'em to pull 'em together. Really nice tune, man.

 

[TAE]

Thanks for the compliment and the critique..really liked the spatial perspective description Dobro..

I came to HR.com the same year you did and have learned a lot about recording in general...way too much about computers and have done almost zero recording of 100's of originals and thousands of covers I would like to do.
I've been trapped in a web of procrastination, apathy and addiction. Not to drugs but to the drug of just playing music...it's my heroin, my booze, my pot...it get's me stoned out of my mind. So with the day to day time sponge of making a living, combined with trying to be a decent husband, dad and friend there is not a lot of time to sit and fiddle with recording...recording can take HOURS. To my wife, my music has become the other woman...she would prefer me to spend more time with her or work on honey doo's and I can't blame her... I can get lost..as she puts it, for hours and hours just playing.. so it's all about time management and discipline...need to work at it

The idea here is / was, was to set up the system as described in my first post so I turn on a few switches, press record, play and sing the tune as close to perfect as I can in a single take, press stop, download the mp3 off the little sony recorder and I'm done. Well it works but everything has to be set up perfect and I have to play and sing it all perfect at the same time... After several attempts... I get it... pulling off an error free multi task performance is not an easy task. At least not so far.. That was about 4 or 5 takes and I still flubbed it bad...

I have dabbled with Reaper and I guess I just have to step away from the piano and invest some of that precious playing time into mastering the execution of recording in Reaper...before the grim reaper comes and says game over.

 

[dobro]

The fact that you play so much explains why your stuff sounds so good. The only thing you need to learn maybe is when you feel like playing, hit record. Record it on Tuesday. Listen on Wednesday. Record it again on Thursday. Listen on Friday. Record it again on Saturday. Done. After a while the recording while playing thing becomes habit, and the more you do it, the better you get at it. After a while, the record-listen-record pattern is like stalking a song - you're closing in on it and you know you're going to get it.

 

[TAE]

Thanks again Dobro...For sure with the current simple set up, pressing record is sure easy...you may be right... I will try it out and see if the red button eeeby jeebies go away ..It's really weird how much knowing that dang thing is recording effects my ability to just get loose and enjoy playing.

A SONG FOR YOU

 

[dobro]

For sure with the current simple set up, pressing record is sure easy...you may be right... I will try it out and see if the red button eeeby jeebies go away ..It's really weird how much knowing that dang thing is recording effects my ability to just get loose and enjoy playing.

The more you record, the less you get nervous when you record. For me, the nervousness never goes away completely but it's manageable - I just translate the nervousness that's there into 'go for it' mode. It adds to the performance. You know, at this stage of music making, I'm thinking about performing live for people. I know I'm nervous about it, but I also know that the more I do it, the less nervous I'll be and the more I'll enjoy it.

 

[WhiteStrat]

Dobro is right on the plosives. But beyond that, the only nit I have is that I want more vocals. The piano is in front of your voice, and your voice should be in front of the piano. I'd kill to be able to sing like you--put it up front and let it shine! This was beautiful--thanks for sharing it!

 

[Manslick]

The piano sounds amazing good and so does the vocal. Yeah you can beat yourself up for whatever but as a single take it's pretty good. I like your minimal recording setup. Focus on the music not the machinery. All you need is a pop filter, though that is getting a bit technical. What Mic did you use?

 

[TAE]

Dobro is right on the plosives. But beyond that, the only nit I have is that I want more vocals. The piano is in front of your voice, and your voice should be in front of the piano. I'd kill to be able to sing like you--put it up front and let it shine! This was beautiful--thanks for sharing it!

Wow thanks! Very insecure about the vocals and your positive encouragement is appreciated. I've always felt comfortable singing back up..When I was in my Prog rock band back in the 70's I did sing the lead on a few tunes that I wrote but 95% of the tunes we wrote were sung by the leader of the band. I got some good feedback now and then but always kind of got the stick to the keys and back ups.

When I got married in 81 the live performance thing went on the back burner for almost 25 years..

Have wanted to produce all these tunes I have written over the years and came here way back in 99 with that intention...but the pull the trigger and do it has been hard... These are my baby steps..

I was invited into a Classic Rock band about 3 years ago and again was just doing back ups..the lead guitarist and drummer took all the leads...Then the drummer quit and the new drummer didn't sing...I kind of got thrown into the fire and started singing lead on some tunes that I don't really feel fit my voice all that well.. Anyways still insecure, not awesome but almost passable on some tunes.

So when you talk about plosives are you talking about the little WHAM chord right after the delicate little intro riff and then again with two note hard bass line in the middle? Dobro mentioned it but I didn't clarify, just assumed that was what he was speaking of.

 

[TAE]

The piano sounds amazing good and so does the vocal. Yeah you can beat yourself up for whatever but as a single take it's pretty good. I like your minimal recording setup. Focus on the music not the machinery. All you need is a pop filter, though that is getting a bit technical. What Mic did you use?

Also thank you for the kind words..

The piano is just the first piano sound in the Yamaha MOX8 and it is direct to the recorder the only effects on it are what the sound developer put on it when they designed it..it for sure has some reverb on it.. I agree I like the sound a lot.

Vocals are run through a simple but tried and true Shure sm 57 an older one probably @ 20 years old. As previously mentioned I ran it through the Line 6 POD farm effects direct into the MOX8 line inputs which mix it in with piano out..

Literally running the 1/4" headphone jack out directly into this tiny hand held Sony ICD UX70 recorder via an 1/8" mini stereo plug..

 

[dewhitt]

Wow, this is really great. I love your voice, and more importantly, your vocal style. Outstanding!

The recording is good, but it does sound like there's room for improvement in the quality of the vocal chain. I was going to ask what mic you are using, because it sounds like a dynamic, and then I read the above about the SM57. Man, if you sound like that through an SM57 and Pod Farm, I'd love to hear your voice through a "better" vocal mic and a decent signal chain. I definitely would not change a thing about your process, I think the live format is perfect and really showcases your talent, but maybe improving the tools in the vocal recording chain would help. Also, it does seem that the vocal levels drop a little sometimes and become harder to hear. Mic technique might be the best fix for that, or possibly some compression on the way in?

That said, I would say you are absolutely on the right track with the one-shot approach! You've definitely got the talent and the chops to pull it off, and it feels natural and right to hear the performance this way, which honestly makes up for all manner of recording and mixing sins. I'd rather listen to a great performance like this with less than perfect quality than something that's hacked and chopped and tuned and corrected to death in a DAW.

Keep up the good work!

Best,

Dave DeWhitt

 

[TAE]

Dave thank you so much for the feedback...dang...coming from you ( I read your bio on your website ) I am humbled yet encouraged by your comments. I am a "by ear" player... I don't read music but have always loved it and felt drawn to it ever since I was a little kid.. Hearing a guy with a Mom and grandfather of the musical level of yours, telling me "I have the chops" ( as a player ) and love my voice kind of blows me away.

On the vocals I tried to emulate Leon's style but I have a pretty broad range of "vocal styles"

I have an ADK A-51 ST condenser mic that is pretty bad ass... pretty clueless as to the little knobs on it but after your comment on the sm 57 I went out and hooked it up and fiddled around a bit again going through the pod farm...Holy Crap! what a difference..Of course along with the fidelity and sensitivity comes a whole other set of issues... First I couldn't use the monitors...had to switch to headphones to get where it would pick up my voice over the piano without getting feed back ( the ol directional vs omni directional mic thing) ..headphone solved that but then another problem arises...It picks up the clicking /clunking of the keys on the keyboard, the crickets that cheer me on and the squeeks from the chair I'm sitting in...

That all said...wow what a difference, so much easier to sing and the clarity is a boat load smoother / better.. ..The leon stuff sounded way better..

I can fix the squeeky chair, I just have to figure out a way so that the mic doesn't pick up the keys while playing them and singing at the same time...

Again thanks for the positive feedback I am more inspired to try harder at this and see what I can accomplish.

 

[dobro]

So when you talk about plosives are you talking about the little WHAM chord right after the delicate little intro riff and then again with two note hard bass line in the middle? Dobro mentioned it but I didn't clarify, just assumed that was what he was speaking of.

Plosives are the little explosive 'P' and sometimes 'B' sounds at the beginnings of words. When that burst of air hits the mic, it produces a low-frequency sound. Sometimes you can filter it out in the mix, sometimes not. But what you should be doing in the first place is recording with a good pop filter on your mic so that you don't get them in the first place. On one of my mics, not only do I have a pop filter, but I've attached a small pen top with an elastic band in front of the diaphragm.

 

[TAE]

Plosives are the little explosive 'P' and sometimes 'B' sounds at the beginnings of words. When that burst of air hits the mic, it produces a low-frequency sound. Sometimes you can filter it out in the mix, sometimes not. But what you should be doing in the first place is recording with a good pop filter on your mic so that you don't get them in the first place. On one of my mics, not only do I have a pop filter, but I've attached a small pen top with an elastic band in front of the diaphragm.

Ah ha! Thanks Dobro...

As mentioned above per Dave DeWhitt's comment on a better mic, I broke out my ADK A51-st condenser mic.. been sitting in its case quite comfortably for ...too many years. It came in a pretty case with a pop filter ..go figure...all just taking up space in the back room.. Eureka! hey maybe I should use it!

Didn't quite understand the small pen top with rubber band thing but I found this picture...I assume this is what you are speaking of..

 

[dobro]

Yeah, but I don't use a whole pencil. So unnecessary.

 

[dewhitt]

Dave thank you so much for the feedback...dang...coming from you ( I read your bio on your website ) I am humbled yet encouraged by your comments.

Thanks for checking out my website! Your comments are too kind though, I think I must have a particular talent for making things sound better than they are...lol.

Glad to hear about the ADK mic, and I'm looking forward to hearing more stuff from you as you move forward!

Best,

Dave DeWhitt