Americana Crap

[chrisharris]

The recording of the guitars are awesome. That's the sound I would like to achieve. What are your guitars and recording chain?

Thanks a lot, man...that makes me feel proud. I tracked the guitars with my trusty Larrivee - it's got a rosewood back, and I think it makes for a nice, tight low end. Honestly, it probably sounds better than usual just because the guitar on the left is in drop D tuning. I mic'd it with an AT4050 that I got recently. Then I run it through a little plugin called the PSP Vintage Warmer...it's basically just a multiband compressor, but it accents some harmonics that are hard to hear without it.

but what mics and preamps we're used ?

Thanks again. I used the same mic (AT4050) for the vocals and the guitar, and it's just going into a Firepod. I know the pres aren't that great, but I think they're fairly clean.

Damn, the lady sure can sing. Nice job, dude. Clean, effective recording.

Thanks a lot for listening; I like your recordings a lot.

Whoa..

I showed your post to my daughter I liked it so much. Thanks very much for taking the time.

 

[mattkw80]

I notice in interviews, alot of the Pro's really like the 4050.

Is it supposed to be Audio Technica's answer to a C 414 or Shure's KSM 44?

I guess a better question would be..... isn't that the best multi-pattern LDC Audio Technica has to offer?


I've had at least 3 people recommend the AT4050 and AT4040 to me.

 

[chrisharris]

I notice in interviews, alot of the Pro's really like the 4050.

Is it supposed to be Audio Technica's answer to a C 414 or Shure's KSM 44?

I guess a better question would be..... isn't that the best multi-pattern LDC Audio Technica has to offer?


I've had at least 3 people recommend the AT4050 and AT4040 to me.

Man, I'm such a novice when it comes to mic knowledge that I don't feel qualified saying much. However, I will say that the 4050 has made mixing a lot easier for me, and it's for a reason that I didn't even buy the mic for...it's virtually silent in terms of floor noise.

If I'm really honest, it's hard for me to listen to a bare vocal track recorded with a cheap SM58 and say that it's "worse" than one recorded with my 4050. To me, a mic is cool if it's accurate, and both of those mics are. But the huge difference that I definitely have noticed is in the noise department. If you're doing more than 2 tracks, the noise floor really builds up with cheaper mics.

I got the 4050 because I've seen a lot of people whose recordings I like recommend it...guys whose opinions I just value. I got it used off of ebay for around $400, I think, and I've been very happy with it.

But again, I'm no expert...I stay out of the microphone forum...those guys are nuts.

 

[1tonio]

Americana Crap ?? what you mean man, how can you call it that?
You should be proud dude !!

Great tune, recording and performance.

T

 

[mattkw80]

I know the SM57 / SM58 thing works for some people, but I've never liked recording vocals with them.

(Of course live - it's all I will use)

But your song has got me re-interested in the 4050.

 

[cincy_kid]

Just wanted to pop in and say great tune Chris!

Ever since I heard you and Jaime do a song on the recording project forums I have been a fan ever since. She has a great voice, your guitar sounds awesome and you do very good harmonies as well (i am a sucker for good harmonies)..

Keep the songs coming

 

[TelePaul]

Chris on a side note what's to stop me stealing the entire better off dad back catalogue from your site??? Are you distributing albums in stores, no?

 

[Zarathustra]

I live all the nice changes and all, but I still hate those guitar melody lines.

I've never been a smooth Jazz man. The song ends on just the right note, though.

 

[rayc]

Is it the vcal dynamic in the intro or some processing that almst explodes?
Elevator jazz? Is that the new Muzak?
Nice harmonies &playing - great tambourine - such a simple thing a rattle is but so hard to do it right - maybe the Dancing Queen had it all over us!

 

[joeym]

beautiful....simply beautiful!
I love the sound of your acoustics and the voices blend wonderfully...it's all got such a LIVE feel.

 

[chazba]

Excellent song ...well written and performed. Very cool and unique concept.


chazba

 

[chrisharris]

Just wanted to pop in and say great tune Chris!

Ever since I heard you and Jaime do a song on the recording project forums I have been a fan ever since. She has a great voice, your guitar sounds awesome and you do very good harmonies as well (i am a sucker for good harmonies)..

Keep the songs coming

Man, what a cool thing to say. Thanks a ton for listening - if we get the fiddle tracked this evening, I'll put this one to bed and hopefully finish up the next one.

Chris on a side note what's to stop me stealing the entire better off dad back catalogue from your site??? Are you distributing albums in stores, no?

There's nothing to prevent anybody from downloading all of our recordings if they want them. I tend to not put up "new" songs as downloads until an album is done, but that's just so we don't end up with 14 different versions of the same song. We mostly just sell CD's at shows, and we sell them cheap. I think it's more important to get music out there when you don't have distribution than it is to make money off of the tunes. The thought being that the more people hear something, the higher the likelihood that somebody might WANT to distribute. Still a slim chance, but a slightly better slim chance, lol. But the main reason for making CD's in the first place is just to preserve the songs. This'll be our 5th CD in 3 years, and usually only about 3 tunes on each CD end up being popular. Well, that ends up being 15 tracks, which would make a pretty good album if she decides to pursue it further after she graduates.

I live all the nice changes and all, but I still hate those guitar melody lines.

lol...I'm trying to get her to track viola this evening. Thanks for checking back.

Is it the vcal dynamic in the intro or some processing that almst explodes?

First, thanks a ton for listening and commenting. I'm not sure what you meant by that comment. Is the vocal too loud?

Excellent song ...well written and performed. Very cool and unique concept.

Thanks chazba. To me, it all starts sounding the same after awhile, so I appreciate the comment.

 

[chrisharris]

it's all got such a LIVE feel.

That's encouraging. We can't play all at the same time with my setup because there's too much bleed on the tracks, especially since we replaced carpet in my house with hardwood floors, but with this CD, to try to keep it as organic as possible, we're doing each track 1 time through, without punchins. That's why the ending is so weird...there was a messup in one of the guitar tracks, so I decided to just edit it to at least end in time. All the other tracks are live takes (except the tambourine, which I had to jack with quite a bit because I suck).

Americana Crap ?? what you mean man, how can you call it that?
You should be proud dude !!

Lol...thanks man. I am proud of her. I just know that most of the people around here aren't big country/americana/folk fans, so I thought I'd give fair warning in the thread title.

 

[VSpaceBoy]

I liked it..

Mix sounds great, nice tones from guitars and bass

I agree that the guitar fills didn't do alot for me

I love your daughter voice, but IMO she using that falsetto breakoff thing a *tad* much. Otherwise very strong.

The ending seems a little off balance.

The whole flow of the song is nice. I like the lyrics. They are *just* cliche' enough to connect, but not too much to be white noise.


Nice job!

 

[DavidK]

Nice tune. I see the young lady gets all her talent from her mother.

Sounds good on headphones. I could use a little more lead and harmony vox on the headphones but maybe its fine on the monitors. Well done, a talented youngster.

 

[notredamer0789]

I think its GREAT! I love the style very country/pop .. feel good lol. Very good for her voice and some of the harmonies are great and extremely tasteful. I listened to the first post and its prbly already turned down, but the left guitar is just a bit overpowering... it seems like the only time the stereo mixes well is when a lead comes in on the other side. I saw that u re tracked the fiddle ...GREAT! I love it! Good stuff man!

 

[bigbubba]

I'd say it's great but you've already that for 3 pages now.