Double Tracked Guitar

  • Thread starter Thread starter dachay2tnr
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dachay2tnr

dachay2tnr

One Hit Wonder
I'm still tweaking this one a bit, but hoped I could get some of your thoughts and insights in the meantime. It a cover of the old Orpheus song, "Can't Find the Time to Tell You."

This is the first time I ever tried double tracking a guitar, and I like the way it came out. To me, it's the best my 12 string has ever sounded. However, I'm not too thrilled with the horn sounds. Unfortunately it's what I've got available for now.

Thanks for the feedback.

Mike

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=1084&alid=-1

Can't Find the Time
 
The double tracking sounds great. Here's what I got from it.

-Single track up to the opening vocal. 12 strings are bright and distinct. The lead in kinda lulls me to sleep. I'm not sure if it's the double tracking or my deaf ear. :) It would be interesting to hear a single track 12 string, and once the Vox kicks in, double track it. It just feels like it has too much sustain at the beginning although it's perfect for the rest of the song.

-The horns sound like MIDI horns. The right notes, the wrong sample syndrome.

-The staging is perfect along with levels.

-stronger drum drive where it builds up around 2:10. I was expecting a strong build-up and it came across as a thud-thud-thud.

-don't change the vox at all. It sounds great. Great lead and backing.

-At 1:00, sharper/more distinct drum hit would help.

Excellent job. I had never heard this song before but I like it already. It sounds like a great start though. This is one of the few songs I've had the pleasure of reviewing. Hope this helps somewhat.
 
I'm not familiar enough with the genre to know how it's supposed to sound..

I can just say that the vocals are what stands out for me as being quite good.. Do you use Auto-tune on the backups? I know some people think that is a negative thing, but it sounds great to me..

I don't like the drum sounds, (especially those fills that come later) and the horn sound is not a good one.. The guitars sound good but they maybe a bit loud.


great vocals!
 
Real nice tune!

I loved the harmonies.

I would say a big piano might sound better than the organ tone you have going.JMHO

Nice song writing and production.
Reeallly melllo!:cool:


Cool stuff!

Best to you,
pete
 
Nice vocals!!! And a well constucted song. It has a pleasant flavor of an era I never knew, or at least wasn't exposed to.

I think the vox are kinda sharp for the mood. Maybe nudge the fader down a touch and use a verb that will round out the edge in the vox. I hear it mostly in the first minute or so.

The horn voice sounds good to me but, the attack kinda gives it a plastic feel. I'm not too versed in this area but, it did pop into my head so, I thought I'd pass the observation along.

I must say, the song is clean, well placed and mixed. I hope to get to this kind of "space in the mix" some day........

Theron.
 
This mix sounds real full on my machine. It reminded me of something out of the 70's, maybe an old Glen Campbell tune or something.

Very nice mix and I like the guitar work here. Nice vocals too.

I didn't like the horn sound that came in, though. It sounds like it could use a more realistic sound, or a real horn - imho - That would be the only drawback since everything else sounds more organic.

Overall it is a nice tune and good playing and singing.
 
I think the guitars sound decent, but are a little "raw" sounding to crank them that loud. The other keyboard sounds are kinda lame and Casio-ish sounding.

Vocals are the best part. I also actually liked the "Telstar" organ sound. Drum sound suffers too on the fills.

I also think the song suffers from the 12 strings strumming away all thru the song. A break from them...or whole notes..something would help to give the song some "rise and fall".
 
Cool Cover.The first time I actually heard this tune was on the "Me,Myself and Irene" soundtrack when Hootie and The Blowfish Covered it ,and did a great job of it I might add......I need to track down the original and compare.
 
Thanks to all for the comments.

evildick - thanks for the thoughtful response. I'm aware of the midi sounding horn, just don't know what to do about it at this point as I have relatively little "midi expertise." However the song needs those lines (IMHO). Right now I think it adds more than it takes away, but could be immensely better with more realistic sounding horns.

samicide - autotune was used to "clean up" a couple of notes in the background harmony, primarily on a couple of sustained notes where the note tended to drift slightly. I also don't consider it the big negative that some people do. Autotune doesn't turn you into a "singer," but it can speed up the recording process. The notes could always be corrected with a "punch in," as almost every singer on earth does. That's an accepted studio technique, yet I fail to see a whole lot of difference, except in the time required.

I also agree with you about the drum fills towards the end. We used a Roland V-Club electronic drum set. The "kit" the drummer chose to use had a decent enough sounding snare and kick, but the tom's were not to my liking.

petelait - I'd like to take credit for the songwriting, but unfortunately copyright laws prevent me from doing that. :)

theron - by "sharp" on the vocals, you mean too loud? Too in your face? The high harmony part (which I sang) is a bit out of my range. You think that could be the problem?

boydrj - as noted, I agree the horns are a problem. Thanks for listening.

mixmkr - thanks. You could be right about strumming through the entire song. Not sure I have the energy to retrack now, though. But, as you know, sometimes you put these things away on the shelf for awhile, and suddenly a few months later . . .

Kramer - I didn't know the Hootie and the Blowfish had covered this until someone else pointed it out when they heard this version. The original was by a band called Orpheus. I think they were a one hit wonder in the late '60's or early '70's. This song was never a "monster hit," although it has always been one of my favorites.
 
Great stuff,have you gotten the horn track yet?The offer I made is in the daw w add thread is still on if you want it.
I gotta say that horn sound does not belong, it sticks out like James Brown at a KKK rally.
As usual with your stuff the vocals are the real star.
 
Kinda reminds me of The Association a little bit. Nice vocals of course. The horn lines sounded better when there were several of them playing together. Infact, the only time they really bothered me was the first one where you only had one horn line going. that did sound kind of cheesy but at the end when it was a whole section it sounded a lot better.
 
ChuckU to the Rescue

Bob and AR - Since I first posted this song, homerec's own ChuckU volunteered to redo my midi horn parts with a live trumpet. I posted the new version yesterday, so depending on when you guys downloaded it you may very likely have heard the version with Chuck's horn lines. That's probably the reason they sounded OK to you Lt. Bob. If you had heard the midi stuff you wouldn't have been so kind.

Anyway, I had assumed this thread had died, and I was gonna resurrect it once Chuck had listened to the mix and OK'd it. You guys beat me to it though.

IMHO, this version is night and day from the one with the midi horns. Many thanks to Chuck for his efforts. BTW, for those who don't know it, Chuck is really a guitar player who played some trumpet in high school. I made him dust off his old skills. :)

For those interested in the technical details, Chuck downloaded an .mp3 of my original mix. Dropped it into Sonar and cut the horn tracks. Then he exported a .wav file of each horn track, and e-mailed me the .wav's, which I dropped into my original Sonar project and re-mixed.
 
My apoligies, anytime I review a song I usually listen to it a few times over a couple of days so as not to rush to conclusions.
I will download and listen to the new version soon.
 
AR - no apologies necessary. I prefer an honest opinion, but in this case I wasn't sure which version you were commenting on. If the horns still sound bad, let me know. I'll just blame it on Chuck anyway. :D
 
Mike, Got yer pm, but I've been in the process of moving all day - including relocation of the internet PC. I think I clammed one of the last 8th notes (like the 10th one) in the new section. I think it's a concert A (B for trumpet) and I'm not sure I nailed it. See if you can pitch correct it. There. I'm on record in front of the entire BBS as willing to cheat.

Good remix. Glad to be a part of it.
 
ChuckU said:
I think I clammed one of the last 8th notes (like the 10th one) in the new section. I think it's a concert A (B for trumpet) and I'm not sure I nailed it. See if you can pitch correct it.
Click to expand...
OK, I'm on it. <10th note in the new section... 10th note in new section... 10th note in new section....> I thought I had checked all this stuff. You're still hearing it, huh?

BTW, Chuck, are you appearing courtesy of any major label? I want to make sure I get the liner notes straight. :D
 
dachay2tnr

great song!!!

I love the way it sounds, so natural. The acoustic blends perfectly with the bass and drums.

Vox are great! They fit the song perfect

Keep on Keeping On
Tukkis
 
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