Do you want to know a secret cover with back up vocals

TAE

TAE

All you have is now
It took forever to get to even kind of start recording and when I did / do, it is most often very simple, a few tracks
maybe piano and a vocal track most often played and recorded simultaneously..

Getting a little more comfortable with trying to do real multi tracking and experimented with doing the ew wah ews in this one

I'm sure I did it all wrong but I did it and hopefully will learn from it.. Time is limited and I just experimented and called it close enough for cheese.

I panned em, lowered them a smidge and didn't really know where the heck to put em or not put em in but banged it out, an amatuer attempt..

Critiques and suggestions and how to go about approaching and placing backing vocals is appreciated.

Do you want to know a secret
 
I liked it. Nice playing. Lead and backing vocals are pitchy in places. Lead vocal is a bit scratchy. The backing vocals are not quite blending for me. Maybe it's just that it sounds too much like the same voice, which of course it is. I'm experimenting too, and do all the vocals as well. What I do is record more takes of the backing vocals--four or five usually--then blend and lower them, pan them more or less symmetrically from about 9:30 to 2:30, add more reverb than on the lead vocal, and reduce some of the presence. I haven't got it nailed down yet, but I think they blend okay.
 
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Good performance, I think the vox and piano sit well with eachother. The voices seem to kind of pop in and out a bit (like abrupt cuts) sometimes, maybe from comping? Like the vocal, the voice has a lot of character but there's just a little bit of harshness in it, maybe a little eq could smooth it out?
 
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It sounds nice. I like the arrangement.

Listening on headphones the hard panning of the backing vox doesn't sit well with me. I'd probably pan them tight at 2 o'clock. Then where they are doubles, straight up.
 
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Thanks all!

Yo Manslick good feedback ...I really was taking stabs at it trying to use the automation feature in Reaper and screwing it up pretty good...clock was clicking and I called it a take for the night..
Been messing with Sylvia's Mother and I'll experiment with the placement a bit more in that one as I plan on adding both back ups and harmonica... Like the 2 o'clock and straight up suggestions..

I'll go back at some point, remove the pan automation and move em in ...I think that is what the "abrupt cuts" mentioned previously might be
 
I probably shouldn't say this but I will anyway - tune those vocals. They are very close so it wont sound like TPain or anything if you apply it gently.
The vocals are the focal point of this mix so any off notes sound apparent.

Ok - so the mix ? Easy - nice "grainy" vocal sound and the piano is perfect. Reverb suits it all. The balance is subjective when you have a sparse mix but I liked how you did this one. :D
 
Yo Idol...thanks for the props......but.... are you suggesting auto tune? :eek: nooooooooooo! :listeningmusic:

I just really try to stay away from it...seems like cheating... reverb, echo, delay, compression are all polishing tools and not natural but I can live with them...coming from a time when auto tune didn't exist I resist using it and man can I hear it on recordings sometimes..

I really like live performances and am trying to keep the recordings I'm doing as real as I can.. I really rushed those backing vocal and pretty much have zero experience laying them down in a studio environment...but I am kind of digging the possibilities...just a damn time thing and priorities and I find myself just goofing off playing and singing a poop load of songs when I have the time to play rather than pushing record and focusing on one...it's the ADHD in me... :guitar:
 
Ha! Embarrassingly enough I had no idea who T-pain was...so I googled him and lo and behold...Esquire had an article about him releasing a song for Valentines without auto tune :laughings: ...I mean he uses it so much it's his trademark...damn...

So this is "supposed" to be done without auto tune....fo sho the back ups seem to still have it...maybe the lead vocal doesn't..


here's the article
 
Tae....I like the unique approach...This bareboned an arrangement vocals have to be perfect....Or at least as perfect as you can get them. Kinda wanted the last half of the tune to have some different dynamics....Unplugged drums/percussion or maybe a Viola or Sax....Just a tad more ear candy...

Like it....but those are my thoughts
 
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Hey Steve thanks for the positive input man!

I need to go back and toy with this one ....maybe some percussion and horns ....it's going to be a few weeks before I can as that tick tock thing is chasing me down for other things ....
 
Love that song. Really neat version you've done.
Absolutely the pitch problems are the biggest problem here.
I'm an auto-tuning advocate...the way I see it, you can either:
1) settle for an amateur-sounding version
2) spend hours upon hours singing takes and making comps to battle the pitch problems
3) use some version of auto-tuning

Sure it'd be better to never need it...but better to deal with reality than deny it.
(By the way, your voice sounds great minus the tuning stuff!)
 
Jessica_X said:
Love that song. Really neat version you've done.
Absolutely the pitch problems are the biggest problem here.
I'm an auto-tuning advocate...the way I see it, you can either:
1) settle for an amateur-sounding version
2) spend hours upon hours singing takes and making comps to battle the pitch problems
3) use some version of auto-tuning

Sure it'd be better to never need it...but better to deal with reality than deny it.
(By the way, your voice sounds great minus the tuning stuff!)
Click to expand...

Thanks Jessica

You made some great points and with time being such a valuable commodity I'm going to visit the tune doctor and learn to use it. The takes were all done very quickly and the harmonies are one shots.

I'm more of a musician than a studio engineer and the fiddle farting with the recordings is not really my expertise or passion but it's the results...and no pain no gain.

Thanks again for sharing your perspective!
 
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