Catchy Stuff...

[Buck62]

Here's four new songs from two girls that my partner and I (MAC2) recorded in my humble studio.
These girls call themselves "Flaming Red".
One of them strums an acoustic guitar, the other is a classically-trained singer.
They co-wrote all 4 of these songs.
I wasn't particularly fond of the sound of the Ovation acoustic she used on these songs, but they are really, really good catchy tunes.
They asked Bob and I to add some bass and drums to 3 of the songs and I also played strings on a fourth. They gave us carte blanche on the tracks we played on.
(credits are listed below each song)
Anyway, here's the tunes.... we hope you enjoy them!
Any comments would be appreciated.

http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/231/flaming_red.html

Thanx, guys...
Buck

 

[tubedude]

Hmmm...

The vocals are all but missing... I can't even make out the melody line, which means they are way too low... (maybe its this sytem, I'm gonna listen to something else real quick and make sure its not my end...)
I only got to listen to the 1st 2, but the guitar either needs to come down, or the vocals up.
What did you use to record? If you can, try to remix and bring the vocals up more... I THINK I hear alot of verb there, too... cut back on that also....
Peace,
Paul

Ok, I'm editing into this one.... MUCH MUCH better... I thought for a second that you were smoking crack or something, lol.... sounds good, but now I'm on junky headphones. "its a guy thing"

 

[tubedude]

God, its IS this system... gonna switch computers.... sorry about that
My song sounded like it was in a cave and put through a karaoke machine, no vocals at all... strange...
I'm a t work , so I gotta go hunt down another computer...

 

[GT]

Hey Buck,

Long time no listen! Tried Driving Song. Man that girl can sing! Very nice mix. Everytiing sounds in balance volume wise. Cool tune too!! Nice backup on your part.

Nit pics: You guys need to equipt your studio with real drums.

I agree, I'm not a big fan of ovation guitars, get this girl a Martin, she deserves it.

Koss phones a must!! HaHa!

Very nice work, are you still diggin your Akai recorder?

 

[rats]

Listened to the Driving Song
How did you mike the guitars? I'll bet you could get a better sound. The guitar in my right ear sounds like crap, but the one in my left ear sounds decent but kind of low. What sort of funky panning are you up to? The right ear guitar sounds like it was straight out of one of those $20 Dean Markley acoustic pick ups. Do you mike both the neck, the hole, and the room?

Great singing voice, but the mix sounded weak. Maybe... hmmmmm....someone help out here!! Stereo imaging? A little chorus? Did you double or triple track the vocals?

I'll be back to listen to more...

 

[Buck62]

tubedude....
try, try again!
Let me know what you think when you get your sound together!

GT....
Thanx for listening and I'm glad you like it!
Thanx for the compliment on the mix. The drums sound different from regular drums because I used a Raggae-kit setting. The snare sounds more like hand-claps, but this was done on purpose to give the song a different feel than a standard drum track.
I tried to "nudge" the guitar player to use one of our Yamaha acoustics (which sound great), but she insisted on using her poor-sounding Ovation.
I had to work with what she gave me.
And yes... this was done on the Akai!!!
Have you listened to the other songs?
I changed drum kits for each one and they are also very good songs.

rats...
Thanx for listening, dude.
I mic'd this girl's Ovation with an AKG C3000 and also used the top-model Dean Markley acoustic pickup in the soundhole.
The acoustic track was recorded in a 4' X 6' vocal-booth.
Her guitar is not a good sounding acoustic (I'm being nice here)... so we panned each of the two tracks opposite eachother and gave the mic'd side a fuller, richer sound. The pickup side was eq'd slightly, but that's pretty much how she liked it... thin and punchy.
We tried to get the best of both worlds with what we had, and also cover a broad range of acoustic tones from one guitar track.... hence, the separation you heard.
As for her vocals.... also the C3000 (through a MindPrint Envoice) but it wasn't double tracked or anything.
I know, I know.... the C3000 isn't the best vocal mic.
That's why I'm probably getting the Rode NTK this week!!
Take a listen to the other tunes if you get a chance.
These girls can write!
....and yeah, the singer can really belt it out, too!
Thanx again for listening.

 

[CyanJaguar]

hey buck62,

nice job. The bass guitar sounded very nice.
THe instruments sounded very musical. Well mixed and playing together with a nice sound and nice reverb.

But . THe singer has a nice bright classical that doesnot fit well with the other instruments. If I were listening to it live, I would think that her mic was run through another board. I think it needs some phatness and that will be taken care of.

Keep it up man

 

[Buck62]

Cyan....
Thanx a bunch, man.
As you probably read, we had a challange with the acoustic guitar. But, I know what you're saying about the vocals.... it needs more "meat" than an AKG C3000 can offer.
I believe a voice that is a bit rougher and grittier would sound great on thier songs. Maybe a tube-mic like the NTK also would have made a big difference.... but, it's hard to say.
Did you listen to all the songs?
Just wondering...

Thanx!

 

[CyanJaguar]

hi buck62,

yes, I listened to all the songs, and the production was pretty even on all of them. THey all sounded good.

As far as the vocals, have you tried mic modeller?

If you throw a u87 sound on that it will bring it in nicely.

I would also suggest maybe removing a little bit from 5k and maybe adding a little at around 250 to give it more body.

peace

 

[Buck62]

I agree with you completely on the vocals, but it's already been dumped from my hard-drive, so it's a done deal.
I'm going to get that RODE NTK, so that should help alot on vocals on all my future recordings.
Like I said, the C3000 isn't the best vocal mic around.
It's just a bit too "sterile".

I really appreciate you checking out the other tunes and your insight.... Thanx, bro

Buck

 

[Slackmaster2K]

Pretty cool stuff.

Vocals are very loud IMHO. I also agree that they're kind of harsh...but good anyways.

The guitar sound kinda sucks. I have a nice Dean Markley pickup too and I find it's almost useless for recording unless you're going for fake sounds. I guess most acoustic guitar sounds these days don't sound very realistic, but this sound is just cheap. I guess there's no accounting for taste so if that's the sound she likes, that's the sound she likes

On the plus side the low end was very nice...very punchy and didn't seem to interfere with anything. The songs had potential too...except when I listen I feel like I'm standing 3 inches from the singer and to tell you the truth, she's giving me the creeps

Good work though man, really. This is by no means a bad recording. Better than anything I've done.

Slackmaster 2000

 

[Buck62]

Slack....
I hera ya about the vocals, bro.

The singer is a classically trained actress/singer who did lots of stage-work during the 90's in Chicago and L.A.
That's why she sings very loud and dynamically like that. You really have to "belt it out" in those theaters.

Could we have dropped her volume a bit?
Yeah, we could have, but she likes it punchy and dynamic. That's the way she does it "live".

I thought their songs had potential, too.
Good writing.

I tried everything, short of begging, to get the guitar-player to use my old Yamaha FG-335, but to no avail.

Thanx much for taking the time to check it out.

Buck

 

[drstawl]

No need to drop the volume on her voice. On parts of "Set Me Free" the recording sounds "edgy" in spots like it's about to clip. Mostly on that guitar, but it carries over to the vocal as well.
It's not just the training and experience using those vocal chords at the loud end of the range. She's got a voice that I'd bet would stand out in a crowd at a party where the din of the crowd is the backdrop for every sound. The training and experience shows in her pitch accuracy, though.
I'd have to agree that "The Driving Song" was an example of a well crafted "catchy" tune. I also think the recording came out the best on that one. Or maybe that was the only one where the guitar tone that everybody noticed as remarkably horrible actually worked. Worked Well, I think. In this song, when she peaks those vocals it sounds very comfortable.
Be sure to let us know how that NTK works out!

 

[Buck62]

Thanx checking the tunes out, doc.

We really liked these tunes when we recorded them.
These songs are just a few "if's" from being a much better recording.

Like....
"if" she used a better guitar.
"if" we had a better vocal mic.
"if" we had better mic placement.... etc. etc.

I've got a much better example of a recent recording that we did, (of our own music) that really came out nice.
I'll post that one next.
Let me know if you think it's an improvement.
I hope you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Thanx again...
Buck