HRC 4 - no, really!

  • Thread starter Thread starter alibish
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alibish

alibish

Hotrod Cadet
Hi all

Some of you may remember back in June there was a challenge for pairs of folk chosen at random to record a song, written specifically for the occasion, collaborating using the magic of the interweb.

I was fortunate enough to be paired with Bruce Valeriani (aka BlueBearSound) who is a real professional who knows what he's doing. I'm not, and don't. :)

I wrote a couple of songs as soon as I heard about the challenge, and recorded VERY rough voice and acoustic demos for Bruce to choose between.

I then did a rough multi-track mix of the one he preferred, Bruce got his brother to put some excellent drums on top, Bruce himself added the bass line, and sent it back.

I struggled for ages to come up with rhythm guitar parts that fit; in the end keeping it simple was the secret.

Bruce did a number of full mixes, and I chose the one that sounded the most like what I had in my head.

I decided the vocals I'd recorded were not good enough, so I redid them all from scratch, and eventually managed to come up with a guitar solo that seemed OK (very simple, again).

I did a final mix based on Bruce's stereo instrumental mix, and here it is:

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=3903&alid=1000

The song is called "Glory".

I'd love to hear comments and criticisms on any and all aspects.

I found working with Bruce to be really stimulating, and educational. I definitely felt I had to "raise my game" and come up with better stuff than I would let myself get away with normally.

Bruce was able to VERY quickly respond to my mix comments, and produce numerous alternatives to let me choose from. Given the heartache I have with mixing, this was amazingly refreshing.

And as well as from all that, he's a really nice guy.

So, that's the story. Anything good about the mix is thanks to Bruce, anything crap is thanks to me... :)

Cheers

AB
 
alibish said:
Some of you may remember back in June ...

AB
Click to expand...
I doubt it, lol. You're the first familiar "face" I've seen around here in quite awhile. :D Some of these people weren't even BORN back in June.

Anyway, I think the whole thing sounds superb. GREAT melody...vocals, etc. Really, I can't be very constructive about this...it's very well done. I like the song, which is probably the most important element to me anyway.
 
I remember the HRC4 man...
I did a tune with Skids and Mika....it was a lot of fun...

This tune you fellas did is worth the wait man...
I am listening on cans...sounds super good...
If I had to be critical I would say the drums need to come up in the mix slightly...and the guit needs to come up in the mix even more...except for where you solo...
The bass has a superior tone...
The vox are great...I dig your accent man...good harmony vox too..

very cool tune...
Kudos all the way around...
Joe
 
chrisharris - great to hear from you. I didn't realise quite so many folk had emigrated!

Thanks so much for your kind words - it means a lot.

joro - thank you very much for listening and posting.

The drum level is my fault - Bruce had them a bit louder, and I asked him to tone them down. Oops!

Guitars - I know what you mean, but I also liked the "space" it gave the mix. Did you think the solo level was OK, or too hot?

The bass is amazing - unfortunately Bruce didn't share the secret of how he got that sound. :(

Thanks for the kind words on the song and the singing.

Cheers

AB
 
Hey guys - thanks for the nice words!

Alistair is a very talented artist and was a pleasure to work with... and I'm really looking forward to hearing his forthcoming CD!!

Secrets of the bass -- it could not have been a more simple! All it is was a Yammie bass (with Seymour PUps) thru a Sansamp Bass Driver direct to the HD24 and a bit of compression via a DBX 166XL at mixdown....... pretty straightforward - actually it kind of sounded run-of-the-mill to me, but I'm glad you guys liked it! (Guess I'm doing something right!!) ;)

The collab was a lot of fun (tough schedules notwithstanding!) It's amazing to be able to put together music with talented people like Alistair across continents!
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
Secrets of the bass -- it could not have been a more simple! All it is was a Yammie bass (with Seymour PUps) thru a Sansamp Bass Driver direct to the HD24 and a bit of compression via a DBX 166XL at mixdown.......
Click to expand...


ugh.....straight forward if you know what you are doing and if you have the right gear for the right situation......


jesus age christ....
I gotta get more gear and more experience..... :cool:

too cool Bear.....
 
As usual from you...great song. You have a distinctive sound, very cool..I always enjoy it. I keep hearing some strange slight level changes that cause the stereo image to wander a bit. I thought it might be from the high-fi playback so I downloaded it. Same thing. Maybe that's just the way it's mixed. It isn't bad. I just kept getting the feeling that I was losing something for a moment and then it would come back. I don't think it's my system. I'm listening through a very good sound device and my monitors. Anyway the mix is good, your writing is, again, superb. Looking forward to the next issue.
 
StevenLindsey - really nice to hear from you again.

I'm glad you enjoyed the song.

I'm not hearing the level changes you mentioned, but that's probably just my ears. It might be the multi-band compressor I plastered over the top pumping or something? Don't worry - I'll be taking my cack-handed mix buss processing off before I get it professionally mastered. :)

Thanks for posting.

Cheers

AB
 
Hello again Ali!

What can I say man? you just keep churning them out better and better each time. This is by far your most polished vocal performance, great little song overall really. Can't fault the mix on first listen and I'm trying hard these days to getting back into enjoying the song rather than listen for little imperfections...it's a curse I had, I swear ;)

Heard a lot of stuff from Bruce in the past and like his advice on these boards everything seems to be right on the money, including his bassline and his brother's drumming, top stuff!

It's just a tidy little song really, and I can't wait to hear what you come up with next. Thanks for sharing,

Alec
 
Good stuff-I remember you two being paired up, was looking forward to the result. First-very good song as usual, nice arrangement, bridge was cool, some real great lines "You say I expect too much, well I expected something"....Playing is good and in the pocket. Good melody. If I had to nitpick (which I am), the vocals have small timing things now and then-like you were trying to catch your breath between lines...seem to notice this in the chorus most.

Mix sounds good to me-nice seperation in the bass drums guitar--The vocals sound just a weeee bit out front to me-like they're keeping the rhythm section from driving the song-i would like a more loose fat snare sound but I think I'm getting out of hand here as it is....

Enjoyed it Alibish and Blue Bear.

Re-downloading "Excellent Girl" while I'm here....
 
LemonTree - great to hear from you. Thank you for the kind words.

Stratomaster - thank you for listening and posting. I'm really glad you liked the song.

Vocal timing things - you're spot-on - I was trying to catch my breath a LOT doing this one!

I toned down the vocals a wee touch before I took the whole album in to a lcoal studio to get mastered today.

What a complete pleasure it was, too. I'm really pleased with the way it's turned out. Manufacturing in the next few weeks, and aiming for a release during June, hopefully early June. :)

Cheers

AB
 
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