John Brown

[Mr Clean]

I haven't shared anything in a while so I thought I'd put this little ditty up that I'm recording for a friend. He turns 55 next year and wanted to do some recordings of his songs and have a bit of a party/gig and give away some CD's so I'm recording him and working with him. He basically gave me free reign on his songs to do to them what I see fit based on his ideas. He said he wanted it to sound kind of Mock-Country. I know nothing about Country music so I did what I thought sounded good.

Apart from 1 Acoustic and the vocal, everything else is what I've added. There's still more to add, electric, shakers, tambourine, maybe some Honky Tonk piano. The drums are only programmed so far to keep the beat and will be redone. The vocals are still the scratch vocals he did a couple of weeks ago but he's back with me tonight to redo them. (The vocals are slightly out of sync in places. I couldn't be bothered correcting them as they're being deleted.)

This is a very rough mix of the track as I'm still tracking but I just wanted to get an idea of how it was sounding on other systems around the house and with anyone that chooses to have a listen.

Have a laugh, I think it's great!

[MP3]http://themrclean.co.uk/mp3/John%20Brown.mp3[/MP3]
MP3

 

[Tobe]

Hi Mr Clean.

I would go easy on the Kick. This style gets better energy from a "pitter-patter" rather than a stomping kick. I would need to hear it to know it though, so feel free to trust your own judgement.

 

[Mr Clean]

I would go easy on the Kick. This style gets better energy from a "pitter-patter" rather than a stomping kick..

That's a good point. The kick and hihat are literally there to keep the beat while tracking so it's not that important for them to remain or be so prominent. I'll be working on the drums later when I've got the new vocals and the other instruments added.

 

[Anders Erisian]

Hey Mr Clean, sounded pretty good on my system. Especially given you said it's just a rough mix with scratch vocals. The vocal recording actually sounded pretty good to me. Listening on some pretty nice hifi gear at moderate volume, not monitors.

I'm no country music expert either, hear plenty of it though, it's popular round these parts, but a bit more jangle or brightness to the guitars and mandolin sounds is sort of what i'm used to hearing. Probably louder guitars too, but given you said there were more instruments to come i suppose you need a bit of space for them. Was that a guiro in there or the just the sound of pick on strings? Couldn't work it out.

I imagine the finished product should sound really good, your friend is lucky to have you for a friend.

 

[Mr Clean]

Hey Anders. Thanks for listening.

The plan is to add some nice picking on a Telecaster which should add some brightness to the mix. There are actually 5 Acoustic tracks already in there at the minute. His original, open strings, which I played over and doubled. A picking track capo'd 5th and 2 more rhythm tracks capo'd 2nd and 7th. They all come in at different intervals as the song progresses. Ukulele comes in on the drop out. I'm thinking of adding a Mandolin for the last verse until the end but waiting to see what the electric fits like. Might not be needed.

Was that a guiro in there or the just the sound of pick on strings? Couldn't work it out.

It's not actually. What you hear is probably an amalgamation of picks, plucks, rice box shaker and the snare. I could use something like that in my arsenal though.

I imagine the finished product should sound really good, your friend is lucky to have you for a friend.

Cheers

 

[DM60]

Kick is not too bad. Pull it back a bit and maybe alternate between Kick and Snare or a Tom or a cowbell? Nice vocals, really fits this tune. I still like the idea behind the kick.

 

[TripleM]

Everyone is commenting on the kick. So I will too. Yeah it's a bit loud. Also a bit woofy. I'd pull out some low midrange - somewhere in the 500hz range. I think the snare is a bit too soft.

I like the guitar sounds a lot.

When you have a real vocal, I'd change that reverb a lot and not use as much of it. Some background vocals going "ooooo" in three-part over the chords would sound good.

Bass sounds really good. I might nudge it up a bit.

 

[Mr Clean]

Kick is not too bad. Pull it back a bit and maybe alternate between Kick and Snare or a Tom or a cowbell? Nice vocals, really fits this tune. I still like the idea behind the kick.

Cheers DM - Yeah I don't think I'll get rid of the kick completely. (I'll explain the kick sound below.) I'll have a chat with my friend about it all tonight. he's only heard a rough draft so it'll be interesting to get his input too.

Everyone is commenting on the kick. So I will too. Yeah it's a bit loud. Also a bit woofy. I'd pull out some low midrange - somewhere in the 500hz range. I think the snare is a bit too soft.

Cheers Trip - I'm not too concerned with the kick sound at the minute as it is the stock one from EZDrummer Vintage Kit with no editing at all. Something I'll be working on soon. The snare is soft, with brushes, I was fighting for a level for it as I don't really want it to be too over-powering/bearing, rather just milling along in the background. I think it's make more sense when the tambourine and shakers go in and fill up more of that space.

I like the guitar sounds a lot.

When you have a real vocal, I'd change that reverb a lot and not use as much of it. Some background vocals going "ooooo" in three-part over the chords would sound good.

Cheers. These guitars were intended to be just fillers and then I would redo them but I think they sound pretty good so I'll leave them I think. The reverb will defo be less on the final mix. I got a bit carried away here.

good call with the "Ooooo's". I'll have a chat with him about

Bass sounds really good. I might nudge it up a bit.

I really like the bass tone I got here.

EDIT* I might struggle to get new vocals recorded tonight as it's Idiot Night (Bonfire Night) and fireworks are going off left, right and centre. Like WWI & II out there!

 

[mjbphotos]

Yeah, too much vocal reverb, but other than that pretty good for this stage. Banjo or resonator would work well for this song.

 

[Mr Clean]

Yeah, too much vocal reverb, but other than that pretty good for this stage. Banjo or resonator would work well for this song.

Cheers mjb - Yeah the vocal reverb was a bit much in hindsight. Banjo or Resonator would be great but I don't have access to either of those. Worth a thought though. Maybe I can find one of the other from somewhere.

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UPDATE - Didn't get to redo the vocals last night. The neighbours were firework happy until around 11pm and my friend had to go early so we just tracked electric guitars for other songs.

I managed to get 10 minutes with his Telecaster to put a bit of picking on this track though. Update above, same file. Also changed a few other bit and bobs, here and there.

Will be back at it later.

 

[famous beagle]

As far as all the sounds go, it's all really good to me. It's a fun tune.

My main critique is that the acoustic guitar is really, really rushing. It was very distracting to me most of the time. It's particularly noticeable in the beginning, but that could just be because I get used to it as the song moves on.

Anyway, fun stuff.

 

[dobro]

This is a very rough mix of the track as I'm still tracking but I just wanted to get an idea of how it was sounding on other systems around the house and with anyone that chooses to have a listen.

The bass is a bit loud maybe. That guitar that's throwing notes in there is getting a bit lost sometimes - needs more separation. The drums: something's panned a bit too left, I think. It's also interesting that when you mute them part way through the tune, there's an immediate clarity to the mix that's a relief to hear. So when you redo them, REALLY redo them.

 

[Mr Clean]

As far as all the sounds go, it's all really good to me. It's a fun tune.

My main critique is that the acoustic guitar is really, really rushing. It was very distracting to me most of the time. It's particularly noticeable in the beginning, but that could just be because I get used to it as the song moves on.

Anyway, fun stuff.

Cheers FB - Do you mean rushing as in out of time or just too fast for the style? I'm basically building the song around that acoustic rhythm as that's how he wrote/plays it.

Thanks for listening anyway

The bass is a bit loud maybe. That guitar that's throwing notes in there is getting a bit lost sometimes - needs more separation. The drums: something's panned a bit too left, I think. It's also interesting that when you mute them part way through the tune, there's an immediate clarity to the mix that's a relief to hear. So when you redo them, REALLY redo them.

Cheers dobro - The levels are pretty much thrown up at the minutes and there's very little panning. I need to tidy it up a bit here and there, just waiting til I've finished tracking all the bits. Should be done with tracking tomorrow, 'cept for the new vocal which will be next week.

I've just added another mix which has a bit more panning, some bits removed, added and levels changed here and there. I will mix it properly (as well as I can) shortly.

Cheers

 

[famous beagle]

Cheers FB - Do you mean rushing as in out of time or just too fast for the style? I'm basically building the song around that acoustic rhythm as that's how he wrote/plays it.

Thanks for listening anyway

I mean as in out of time---compared to the kick drum, that is. It's just consistently ahead of it. Not that I think you should "look at music" (obviously the sound is what made an impression on me), but it should be very clear if you compare the wav files in the DAW.

 

[NotThatBright]

I liked the song. You have enough stuff left to add that I didn't bother listening with a keen ear for a mixing critique... I just listened to the song itself.

Your buddy's got a good voice for "mock-country", as you call it. Reminds me of the singer from the U.S. Bombs.

 

[Mr Clean]

I mean as in out of time---compared to the kick drum, that is. It's just consistently ahead of it. Not that I think you should "look at music" (obviously the sound is what made an impression on me), but it should be very clear if you compare the wav files in the DAW.

I'll have a look at that. Cheers

I liked the song. You have enough stuff left to add that I didn't bother listening with a keen ear for a mixing critique... I just listened to the song itself.

Your buddy's got a good voice for "mock-country", as you call it. Reminds me of the singer from the U.S. Bombs.

Cheers NTB - never heard of U.S. bombs, will have a listen.

 

[TAE]

Man I dig it as it is... Cool tune and I like how you placed things in this mix...

 

[Mr Clean]

Cheers TAE - The mix has changed quite a bit since the first upload. I'm getting more where I want it to be now. Just a few more bits to track then it's done.

Glad you enjoyed it

 

[mjbphotos]

The little 'break' verse (guitar and drums cut out, leaving? Mandolin, another guitar?) doesn't work as a break/bridge, per se. I'd just leave the instruments as they are - the 'star' of the song is the lead vocal. I like the Tele added part, but at the same time it starts, sounds like another acoustic starts up on the right side, don't think that extra guitar is needed at all.
Find a resonator (yeah, I said before) or a lap steel - for accents between lines and to build a little after the 'break'.

 

[Mr Clean]

The little 'break' verse (guitar and drums cut out, leaving? Mandolin, another guitar?) doesn't work as a break/bridge, per se. I'd just leave the instruments as they are - the 'star' of the song is the lead vocal. I like the Tele added part, but at the same time it starts, sounds like another acoustic starts up on the right side, don't think that extra guitar is needed at all.

It was never really intended to be that way when recording started but I felt that the line sang was so good it needed some emphasizing to make it stand out even more. There's is, however, a shit load of guitar in there and I will be removing some. Surprised you didn't notice it was a Ukulele though

Find a resonator (yeah, I said before) or a lap steel - for accents between lines and to build a little after the 'break'.

A friend of a friend's friend will be adding some lap steel to this at a later date.