mp3 from Caracas

O

orlball

New member
Hi folks, though I started with home recording many months ago I haven't been very dedicated to music this year and I'm trying to take it again. A few weeks ago I converted to mp3 my first recordings at home and posted them to mp3 site. Some of them are pop/rock songs with lyrics in spanish, but there's also an instrumental song called "Ave de Caza" that you may listen if you don't understand spanish. You can check it out at http://www.mp3.com/proyorlball . I think (and so my friends do) it's the best of the songs I've posted . Anyway I hope to post more songs soon, and also hope that they are better mixed.

Please tell me your comments. I have felt hesitant to show my mp3s to home recording people because of some great material I've heard from musicians and recordists on this site, but here it goes.....
Thanks.

[This message has been edited by orlball (edited 06-25-2000).]
 
Downloaded Chica Huracan (little huricane?) and Ave de Caza (bird of prey?)...can tell the Beatles influence in Huracan, the song had a sound reminding me of "Fixing a Hole"...nice guitar work, but I would have liked to hear some reverb on the fuzzy lead....and the drum sound didn't work for me, but that could be fixed easily too....the instrumental Ave I liked the best...at first I didn't think I would like the dissonance of the bass, and then later the synth, but it all came together nicely....nice tunes, and a very clean recording from your portastudio...did you use any software after recording the analog to get that clean sound?...I expected some major hiss, but it wasn't there, so good job....gibs
 
Seems like the timing is a bit off on all 3 songs. Maybe a bad headphone mix when you are overdubbing?? There were some good ideas on each song... carry on. kmar
 
Thanks for listening....

These songs were recorded with a TASCAM 424mkII (4-track analog).

On all 3 songs the drums come from a drum machine, the rhythm for "Ave de Caza" (Hunting Bird) is a preset pattern and I programmed the drums for the other 2 songs. On the portastudio channel where I recorded the drums there was a little distortion problem (especially for "Chica..." and "Añoranza...") and I don't know why because the signal level barely surpassed the 3 dB. Also I guess that I should do some better EQ for the drums on "Chica Huracán" (Hurricane Girl),(maybe add some reverb too?) or change the drum sound program.

The only modification I did by software was to apply some noise reduction with goldwave (especially on "Añoranzas...") after recording the analog tracks to my computer, and I did not only to reduce hiss (not too much indeed) but also to reduce an annoying whistling sound that appeared after conversion (maybe it comes from the sound card electronics??), but anyway, I have to admit that the 424mkII performs pretty good and the original analog recordings are very clean.

About the timing: I have to get used to work with a drum machine, it's not the same as working with a human drummer, so I have to keep practicing. In the other hand, sometimes (ex:"Chica Huracan") I play the keyboard and record the melody or chords in the keyboard memory before recording to a cassette track, so I can playback the keyboard melody while I play other instrument on the same track and this leaves me more tracks free for other instruments or vocals, so I avoid doing too much bouncing (well, bouncing is an option), the problem comes when trying to sync keyboard with drums, the timing issue may appear. I guess there should be a way to sync them through a MIDI interface but I have to investigate how (and buy the MIDI interface of course).

So... thanks, there´s a lot to learn from this site. I'll keep posting better recordings in a future.
orlball
 
I downloaded Ave de Caza ... and really like it a lot. Nice mellow groove. I like the way the guitars are panned. It enhances the style in which you play them a lot.
The only thing about this mix that I'd change is the square wave sound. It just seems like to much an intrusive sound for this groove. Maybe if it had some reverb on it would soften a little. Actually, a little reverb on the guitars might be nice too. That would add some depth to the mix.
Nice tune!
 
Thanks for your comments BigKahuna. The reason for that keyboard sound is that I wanted to have a sort of 70s feeling in the solo; well, maybe it's a little harsh sound, maybe I could try a sweeter sound for the keyboard. I'm glad you enjoyed the song. I'll be working on more songs soon.

orlball.
 
orlball,

I dL'd Chica Huracan. Reminds me of a song by the Monkeys... that's not a bad thing.

Nice bouncy song.

I noticed a little off-timing in the song, but not too bad to my ears.

What kind of drum machine are you using?
 
Thanks Teddie. I'm using the Zoom 234, the drum kit: I think it's the "classical" or "standard" sound, and I programmed the patterns.
By the way, I've listened to your music because of a thread you opened some time ago (about a blues song I think) and it's really good!!

orlball


[This message has been edited by orlball (edited 06-29-2000).]
 
I listened to the hi-fi version of Ave de Caza. There is definitely some hiss and high-pitched squeal (besides the synth high-pitch squeal ;)). I really liked the whacked out guitar sounds and the feel. The synth sound can probably work, but it seems to be "on top of the mix" instead of "in the mix". Overall, I think you have a really good sketch that could turn into something very cool. (P.S., yeah... Teddie's stuff kicks ass)

[This message has been edited by pglewis (edited 06-30-2000).]
 
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