
WhiteStrat
Don't stare at the eye.
[Sorry for the extremely long post. I'm posting up a double CD here, and I figure the back story's gonna help it make some sense. And I'm a wordy SOB.]
Yeah, I'm breaking some clinic rules with this thread. For one thing, I'm posting 24 songs. I'll at least break 'em into categories so you can pick what you want to hear. Next, I'm not gonna do anything with any advice you may give me. The CD was pressed 8 months ago. And while not a "rule"—this is all Christian music. I make no apologies for that, and even if you don't care for it—the recordings can still trigger some conversations, no?
I've got good reasons for posting these, though. A lot of folks here helped me with mix advice that I did (or tried to!) follow when it was still in progress. I figure they might like to hear the finished project. And to my detractors—yeah, I do more than midi. There's vox and drums and guitars and harmonicas and congas and shakers and more guitars—so let me know what you think. And last but not least, even though I can't change anything based on criticisms, I still welcome those criticisms. I'm always looking to learn, and maybe the conversation will help others as well. So feel free to ask me about anything I did on any of the tunes.
Here's the story. A good friend of mine—a singer, songwriter, piano player, comes to me wanting to record some songs. They're Christian adult contemporary/pop. She’s got a bunch of 'em—a double CD's worth, but has like no time, and just wants to get some scratch tracks down—like momentos or keepsakes.
I've worked with her before in a producer/arranger capacity, and after hearing this new set, I convinced her to let me take 'em up a couple notches. All she had the vision for was piano and singing—she had no idea what to do beyond that. So she came to the studio and just sang and played piano. (As I recorded her digital piano, I also captured the midi—so I could use some better piano samples. I’m glad I got that midi—I was gonna need it later.)
After she tracked piano and vox, she left to have a baby. Then I got to work. I took the 24 songs, and designated some to stay as just piano and vocals (though we pushed some of those by adding harmonies and vocal counterparts). I started working on the rest—adding simple instrumentation to some, full orchestration to others, and taking still others in a "full-band" pop direction.
In the end, I wore many hats: I recorded and mixed everything. Except for her piano and voice, I played most everything but the drums—acoustic and electric guits, bass, extra keys, harmonica. Her husband played acoustic on a couple that he wrote and sang, and a friend played bass on I think 2 or three tunes. Wherever you hear any percussion—drums, congas, shakers, whatever—that's my son in law. I wrote and either played or programmed all the orchestration. Oh yeah, and I did the photography and design for the CD (I'm in media/marketing in my day job).
And the midi from the piano? While she played to a click track on everything, when I added drums after the fact, the drummer was tighter than she was. So I had to edit all of her piano parts to sound like she was playing with the drummer. (She couldn't come back and retrack.) The whole project was a bit challenging because I was taking a number of her songs in directions she had never imagined—and she pushed back on numerous occasions. I held my ground and won almost all the time. In the end she was glad—with 24 songs, the variety that my "new directions" added turned out to be a good thing.
Anyway, it's been long enough since the release that the sales have more than settled down, so I feel free to post 'em all here now for your review. Here they all are—in loose categories:
Just piano and vocals:
Who Is Like Our God
In Defense
What If
All I Want to Say
Touch My Broken Heart
My Reward
Make Your Name Great
Light instrumentation:
Hope
Beautiful Love
Heavier orchestration on these:
Break My Heart
Song for a Prophet
In my Garden
Full band "pop" treatment:
You Are My Rock
The Lord Is Good
More Than Enough
The Fasting Song
Feet
Because/Enough
Taken Away
Small band, hand percussion on a couple:
Talk To Me
Lord I Believe
Acoustic guitar based songs. The first one (The Safest Place) is me, the second and third are her husband on acoustic, since he wrote those two.
The Safest Place
The Love of the Lord
Apple of Your Eye
Thanks for your time! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this project.
WS
Yeah, I'm breaking some clinic rules with this thread. For one thing, I'm posting 24 songs. I'll at least break 'em into categories so you can pick what you want to hear. Next, I'm not gonna do anything with any advice you may give me. The CD was pressed 8 months ago. And while not a "rule"—this is all Christian music. I make no apologies for that, and even if you don't care for it—the recordings can still trigger some conversations, no?
I've got good reasons for posting these, though. A lot of folks here helped me with mix advice that I did (or tried to!) follow when it was still in progress. I figure they might like to hear the finished project. And to my detractors—yeah, I do more than midi. There's vox and drums and guitars and harmonicas and congas and shakers and more guitars—so let me know what you think. And last but not least, even though I can't change anything based on criticisms, I still welcome those criticisms. I'm always looking to learn, and maybe the conversation will help others as well. So feel free to ask me about anything I did on any of the tunes.
Here's the story. A good friend of mine—a singer, songwriter, piano player, comes to me wanting to record some songs. They're Christian adult contemporary/pop. She’s got a bunch of 'em—a double CD's worth, but has like no time, and just wants to get some scratch tracks down—like momentos or keepsakes.
I've worked with her before in a producer/arranger capacity, and after hearing this new set, I convinced her to let me take 'em up a couple notches. All she had the vision for was piano and singing—she had no idea what to do beyond that. So she came to the studio and just sang and played piano. (As I recorded her digital piano, I also captured the midi—so I could use some better piano samples. I’m glad I got that midi—I was gonna need it later.)
After she tracked piano and vox, she left to have a baby. Then I got to work. I took the 24 songs, and designated some to stay as just piano and vocals (though we pushed some of those by adding harmonies and vocal counterparts). I started working on the rest—adding simple instrumentation to some, full orchestration to others, and taking still others in a "full-band" pop direction.
In the end, I wore many hats: I recorded and mixed everything. Except for her piano and voice, I played most everything but the drums—acoustic and electric guits, bass, extra keys, harmonica. Her husband played acoustic on a couple that he wrote and sang, and a friend played bass on I think 2 or three tunes. Wherever you hear any percussion—drums, congas, shakers, whatever—that's my son in law. I wrote and either played or programmed all the orchestration. Oh yeah, and I did the photography and design for the CD (I'm in media/marketing in my day job).
And the midi from the piano? While she played to a click track on everything, when I added drums after the fact, the drummer was tighter than she was. So I had to edit all of her piano parts to sound like she was playing with the drummer. (She couldn't come back and retrack.) The whole project was a bit challenging because I was taking a number of her songs in directions she had never imagined—and she pushed back on numerous occasions. I held my ground and won almost all the time. In the end she was glad—with 24 songs, the variety that my "new directions" added turned out to be a good thing.
Anyway, it's been long enough since the release that the sales have more than settled down, so I feel free to post 'em all here now for your review. Here they all are—in loose categories:
Just piano and vocals:
Who Is Like Our God
In Defense
What If
All I Want to Say
Touch My Broken Heart
My Reward
Make Your Name Great
Light instrumentation:
Hope
Beautiful Love
Heavier orchestration on these:
Break My Heart
Song for a Prophet
In my Garden
Full band "pop" treatment:
You Are My Rock
The Lord Is Good
More Than Enough
The Fasting Song
Feet
Because/Enough
Taken Away
Small band, hand percussion on a couple:
Talk To Me
Lord I Believe
Acoustic guitar based songs. The first one (The Safest Place) is me, the second and third are her husband on acoustic, since he wrote those two.
The Safest Place
The Love of the Lord
Apple of Your Eye
Thanks for your time! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this project.
WS