Joe Meek stuff & new long wave project

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LongWaveStudio

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Hey,

Ive been hangin at the recording techniques forum lately and seen a lot of Joe Meek posts. For the people who wanna hear the Joe Meek, ive just finished recording a track using it (only on vocals).

The gal singing is called Amy Phillips. She's my project for a few years!Recorded this yesterday, this is still a rough mix, gonna mix it maybe in 2 days time. ive gotta align some of the backing vocals to the lead, eq one of the bv's, and do a bit of work on selecting takes for the main vocal.

http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/rockpop/longwave/

the song is called What I Want, by Amy Phillips.

the joe meek stuff....

The vocal track was basically an AKG Solid Tube straight into a Joe Meek VC1 Studio Channel. Tried quite a few mics on her, but this mic seemed to work for my liking. I tracked with no compression, just used it's preamp. I ran the vocals back into it and compressed it a little bit.

send me any views on the track, id like some comments on the actual song too cus this isn't the proper final mix mp3. i will post the final version when it is done. if you have any ideas, they're welcome!

enjoy...

-Romesh
 
Nowhere near my kind of music, but the sound is dead on.
Good Job.
 
The song thats there is called "What I need", not "what I want". I assume this is the one. Just in case.

nice vocal sound. Just a tiny bit boomy. Hang on, Im still listening, maybe not so much. Very pleasant though. There's a kind of shloop sound at the end of each bar. That didn't work for me, because it sounded to close to a clip. I kept wondering what it was, which distracted me from the song.

But thats a lovely mix you've done there Romesh. Should be proud of that. Bet she is too!

The mix sounds as good as what Iv'e heard of this style of music on the radio for sure.

Just an idea, but in the piano intro, put the sound of a vinyl record (old srcatchy sounding) playing. Find a section on the record that doesn't have any music on it I mean.

I would like to say good luck in your next mix but I save that comment for people's mixes where I could do better. I can put your song in my listen and learn folder.

Classy....
 
Hey Scott,

Cheers man, yeah, she was proud, I played it to her and she had tears in her eyes:-)

Yeah, the vinyl thing could work, but i dont want the piano to sound too harsh, because when the song comes in, it will sound a little odd. Ill try that one out though. I think i have a patch on some outboard which simulates vinyl sound.

Thanks for listening Scott, nice one man!


-Romesh
 
Dang, I posted a long post and hit a key but I'll try again.

Frankly, Romesh, I am blown away by this track. It sounds like a radio ready song to me. THe first thing that grabbed me was the sweet sound of the vocal. It sounded huge, and the space it was in is totally what I have in my head.

The song is really cool. Its something that I could hear on the radio.
Definitely very standard production.
I have always been a fan of the solidtube but this vocal sealed it.

The only thing I hear that sounds so so is the piano on the right. It sounds kinda thin, especially when juxtaposed with the lead vocal.

I just got back to my room after three weeks, so I am not too sure, but the kick needs some more snap. It is definitely tight and round though.

Hey,

What reverbs did you use. I hate plugins, so if you used a plugin then I will admit that I dont know how to use plugins, but if you used reverb boxes, then It will just prove what I have been saying: reverb boxes run all over plugins. So which ones did you use?

Also, I am into this kind of production . Could you please tell me what samplers and synths you used for the sounds?

BTW, This is the best vocal I have heard in ages. The joemeek vc1 ROCKS. Also dont be surprised if I end up buying a solidtube
 
Cyan,

thanks for listening man,

i didn't want the kick to be too prominent and boomy, but i did want it to be nice and tight, as you mentioned.

ill have a play with that piano sound on the right, i see what you mean. i might pull it down a little.

hehe, the reverb was hardware, i dont like software reverb that much, nothing to do with sound, just preference.

the reverb was was a mixture of reverb and delay. i de-essed the reverb send to a Roland SRV3030 (which has some amazing verbs on it). i also sent the vocals to a lexicon mpx500. on the lexicon, i used a really quick delay with a lot of the hi end sloped.


yeah, the joe meek vc1 is awesome. it's compressor is just so nice and...urr, cant find the words!

the preamp is one of a kind.

umm, synths and samplers....

the bones of the backing track were created quite a while ago, so im a little sketchy about everything! the drums came off my akai s3000, i think i layered some hi-hats and snares off the korg trinity.

The bass line is just a patch of an ancient Yamaha TX81Z. it's the Zither patch. i fixed the velocity going into it to about 50 so it'd loose all it's hi end bite. the guitar came off another sampler. the piano was either off the trinity or an alesis nano piano, cant remember.

the vocals went through various bits and pieces.

thanks for the crit, thanks for listneing!

-Romesh
 
no wonder,

you used a winning combo all the way. Guess what?!. Forever, the two reverbs I've been wanting have been a roland srv330 and a lexicon mpx500. At least I know that when I get them I should be able to get close to this warm space. I did not think that this could be software.

BTW, that bass guit rocks!

I dont think you need to pull down the piano. I love what its doing and I would like to hear it even louder. I just think it needs some more lows.

Hey, did any track on this song ever see tape?
 
Very nice job. Very tight sounding. The ONLY criticism I would offer is the vocal is a bit sibilant in a few spots. I really like the "wet" quality of the sound though. Maybe a little surgical de-essing on some of the sss's only to tame it. Other than that, it's radio ready.
 
cyan,

nothing went to tape. all done digitally. i personally dont think the vocals sound cold at all. probably due to the Joe Meek preamp.

im thinking of mastering it down to tape and back to digital just to get some warmth but it's still just an idea.


guys, just get a VC1!!! you NEED ONE!!! best piece of money ive spent in a while. i think there is the vc1q now with an eq on it.

cyan, the srv3030 is an awesome reverb. for that track, i used the gold plate patch, but i edited it quite a bit. you can compress inside the 3030 and there is also eq's and stuff.

cyan, a lot of people say the srv3030 is better than the mpx500. personally, im not sure cus i haven't really compared them properly, but go to a store and play around with them both. the 3030 is pretty cheap now i think.

you can hear the delay working if you go to the "adlib" bit in the middle, after the 2nd chorus. the signal was peaking the lexicon.

thanks for your responses guys! cyan, post me some of your stuff, id like to hear. im interested in this type of production.
 
I only got to 1:15 before the phone rang and cut me off, but I gotta say that chorus sounds incredible. Sjoko style is hard to get around here. I think Cyan and I have been on some sort of quest, searching for the Holy Grail. Its so damn frustrating that is nearly kills us.
THat song sounds great, the mix is damn near dead on, I think the vocals are just a tad loud though in parts, but just a tad, the chorus is fine.
This can make money if you get it in the right hands. Sign yourself on as her manager before she takes off.
This says alot about the qaulity of the performer too. Some people just cant sound that good and they cant harmonize that well, and that kind of performance makes all the difference in the outcome.
Excellent job. Excellent.

PS Have you tried removing the windscreen inside the mesh head of the solid tube? I hear this is a majorly common practice and that it opens the mic up quite a bit. Try it and see if it makes a difference.

Listening further, I do hear some sort of bassy presence peak that sounds a TAD unnatural in the vocals, but not really bad. Cant make out if its the mic, or compression or what. Still, overall, great!
 
I only realised today that it wasn't the Solid Tube that i used. I did some takes with the solid tube, but that was actually an Audio Technica 3025! Ive got some takes though with different mics so im gonna have a listen to them all tomorrow night.

i guess that makes the joe Meek even more incredible !

no, haven't tried doing that windscreen thing, might give it a go. it's got a pretty open sound as it is though:-)
 
Thanks for listening tube dude.

I haven't heard much of Sjoko's stuff but Id be interested on his views on the song. ive only heard his Christmas song with Uru. I liked the drums in it.

as for managment...Ive already started doing that, im giving her free time and Im just promoting her really hard in the UK. We've had some great response from EMI and Polydor. Both labels want more stuff to go by. It's totally not for money though, she's really young and she's got great talent and if i can help her in anyway, why not. Ive been speaking to a few record company exec's, and they've all said they're looking for the younger 16-18 year olds cus that's where the market is. Amy is 17, keep your fingers crossed!

thanks guys,
Romesh
 
THat was an AT3025?

well, thats great cos now I dont have to save money for the solidtube. I have a 4033 and I guess I can get about the same results.

So how much is this mic? I think its under $200. If you post this in the mic forum, you could change the course of the mic's sales for good.

Yes, the vc1q is a great unit. I had a vc6q and it was awesome as well.

Tubedude, man, I know. That holy grail is really elusive and very frustrating when you cant get it.
 
Cyan,

yeah, it was the 3025! and ive decided to keep the same vocal on the final mix too. it sounds awesome.

whats this holy grail thing?!!!!
is this sjoko's style of mix or something?

oh, what did everyone thing of the little radio-sounding bits that pop up now and again?
 
Cyan,

the 3025 is a remarkable mic, im totally in love with it. it's not that expensive which is a bit puzzling cus the sound, if you use it properly is excellent. ive yet to try it with any of my other pre's. might chuck it through a dbx later on.
 
No. haha. Its not sjokos style of mixing. I actually prefer this mix to many of the ones Ive heard from sjoko2 even though his were rough demos.

The holy grail is getting the best equipment for the job within means. It seems that we need to get an engineer is what I need. Maybe then my gear will be actually made to sound good.
 
cyan,

if you keep working with your gear, you will learn what sounds good and what doesn't. getting an engineer will keep you in the same position!

how do you rate your 4033?
 
Hey thanks.

I got the 4033 when I thought I was not going to get my blueberry.

They came at the same time so I did a lot of a/b testing. I love the
4033. To me its awesome. Its a mic I would be very reluctant to get rid of.
 
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