New Song - Hey Hey Hey

Chili

Chili

Site Moderator
Kind of a jazz funk thing, IDK. My son plays trumpet on it and is learning to do improvisation. I'm still learning to play the sax. Coercing correct notes out of that thing is like herding chickens. In the future, I might replace the guitar solo with a sax solo. It will sound better, but I'm not good enough yet.

Initially, I wasn't going to do lyrics and just make it an instrumental, but it was too boring. It's kind of long. Hopefully, it will keep our interest.



Here's a remix



Latest and last version

 
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Its sooooul train! ;) Nice little funk sound going on there. Listening on HPs (Senns 560 for reference), could use a little more bass pop.

Vocals need a little more attitude. I think more that fits the groove, more push and flow instead of straight attack, less rock more funk.

Overall really cool song.
 
Cool that you're recording music with your son. The mix is overly bright for me. Most of that is in the kit. The bass sounds great but I'd like to hear more of it. The vocal could come up.
 
DM60 said:
could use a little more bass pop.

Vocals need a little more attitude. I think more that fits the groove, more push and flow instead of straight attack, less rock more funk.
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Thanks for the listen. When you say bass could a little more pop, is that in EQ or playing style? EQ I can do. Playing style, not so much a slap 'n pop player. Although I have practiced it just can't seem to pull it off. :)

As for the vocals, that's me, I can't pretend to be someone I'm not.

Robus said:
Cool that you're recording music with your son. The mix is overly bright for me. Most of that is in the kit. The bass sounds great but I'd like to hear more of it. The vocal could come up.
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It's fun working with him. He surprises me sometimes. I asked him to play in a minor pentatonic scale and he then throws in notes out of the scale, but they work. I'm like, Cool.

I can bring the vocals up a bit. Thanks!!! :)
 
Hey Chili - agree with Robus on the mix / brightness... cymbals are taking my head off a little - also think the voice could come up a touch and be a little less compressed, if that's what you're doing to it - sort of feels like you're sitting on top of it all. Bass up a notch.

The horns sound pretty damn good! You two aren't quite the Average White Band horn section in terms of timing yet - shall we call it "pleasantly loose", but pretty impressive for a first horning effort.:D
 
Man I can't remember horns on this board. Nice change up.

Up the vocals so they match the great horns when they solo - doesn't need much really just a touch of clarity.
It would be nice to get a bit of low/mids to the overall mix or, reduce the highs (cymbals).
Sounds great when the horns solo - that's the kind of mids I'm talking about if makes sense.

The improv on the trumpet (and sax) is cool - tell your son he's got good chops on an instrument that is a B to solo on.
I've been funkafied :)
 
Thanks Ido. I appreciate the time and comments. It's a long song, so thanks for sticking through it. I'll pass your compliments on to the kid. He'll definitely appreciate them.

Hey Armi - about that timing. I think the issue is with me and getting air through the sax; it just doesn't play notes right away. Plus, we tracked at different times and didn't practice together. But I kinda like that loose timing, it gives it more of a live feel.

I made some changes.
Boosted the bass in the 900hz region.
Bumped up the vocal and eased off on the compression a little. Don't think it made much difference.
Lowered the OH in EZD a smidge.
Lowered the EQ globally in the 4khz range to help tame the cymbals.



Any and all thoughts are appreciated.
 
You've got a good jazz/funk think going on here. There are some sonic flaws, but it's not a bad demo. It seems like the trumpets and vocals are a little flat, though.
 
DM60 said:
Its sooooul train! ;)
Click to expand...

When the song started, instantly I thought "ooooooh yeeeeah". ha i was waiting for a deep, low voice to come in with that line. It's probably difficult mixing these instruments, and I think you did a great job Chili. A bit too much snare verb for my tastes, but just my opinion. Bass sounds awesome. Vocals are a bit back in most parts, to my ears.

nice work!
 
Jazz funk indeed. At first I was thinking James Brown, but I eventually came around to... Chicago Mayfield?

It is amazing that this is you and your song playing the horns, both because it's just fantastic that the two of you can (and do) do this together, but also particularly in this day and age of midi taking over.

Right off the top, I enjoyed the sense of space you have here. Sounds like microphones positioned around a room to get a sense of depth. I really get the sense that I am in the room with you guys as you are playing. That goes for all instruments. Nice job.

I would like to hear the vocals come forward. I feel they are generally kind of buried beneath everything else. They seem to need to be a little more pervasive. Not from the standpoint of level, but more from the standpoint of having a commanding presence. I would be tempted to use parallel compression set up not to introduce punchiness as it is most often used, but rather to bring up the solidity of the lower level details of the vocals. Kind of to compress from beneath and bring the vocals to the forefront a bit in a natural sounding way.

Awesome!
 
scifiwriter4 said:
You've got a good jazz/funk think going on here. There are some sonic flaws, but it's not a bad demo. It seems like the trumpets and vocals are a little flat, though.
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Thanks much. True, vocals might be a little flat. I doubt the trumpet is, though I haven't actually checked. The kid has perfect pitch (I kid you not, it's intimidating) and he is particular about intonation.

andrushkiwt said:
When the song started, instantly I thought "ooooooh yeeeeah". ha i was waiting for a deep, low voice to come in with that line. It's probably difficult mixing these instruments, and I think you did a great job Chili. A bit too much snare verb for my tastes, but just my opinion. Bass sounds awesome. Vocals are a bit back in most parts, to my ears.

nice work!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the listen. Yeah, my vocal tone doesn't work with this kind of song, I get that. So I kept the vocals lower on purpose. Really, I'm sparing you the agony!! :D

kindafishy said:
Jazz funk indeed. At first I was thinking James Brown, but I eventually came around to... Chicago Mayfield?

It is amazing that this is you and your song playing the horns, both because it's just fantastic that the two of you can (and do) do this together, but also particularly in this day and age of midi taking over.

Right off the top, I enjoyed the sense of space you have here. Sounds like microphones positioned around a room to get a sense of depth. I really get the sense that I am in the room with you guys as you are playing. That goes for all instruments. Nice job.

I would like to hear the vocals come forward. I feel they are generally kind of buried beneath everything else. They seem to need to be a little more pervasive. Not from the standpoint of level, but more from the standpoint of having a commanding presence. I would be tempted to use parallel compression set up not to introduce punchiness as it is most often used, but rather to bring up the solidity of the lower level details of the vocals. Kind of to compress from beneath and bring the vocals to the forefront a bit in a natural sounding way.

Awesome!
Click to expand...

Thanks so much. It was a lot of fun working with him. He's 15 and loves the trumpet. He plays bass too, but isn't so keen on it anymore (I did all the bass work here). He is not the most technically advanced player in his high school band, but he is definitely the most musical. While some kids can play notes better than he can, he plays music. All the directors have mentioned that to me, it's kind of cool.

As I said to Andrush, I don't like my voice on this song, I know it's not my thing. lol But you're parallel compression idea is something I never thought to do before. I'm familiar with NYC drum compression, is this something similar? One track with little compression and a duplicate track smashed flat??

Your comment about space and being in the room is really a huge compliment. Thanks!! :)
 
Chili said:
...snip...But you're parallel compression idea is something I never thought to do before. I'm familiar with NYC drum compression, is this something similar? One track with little compression and a duplicate track smashed flat??...snip...
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Yes, the same in how it is set up, and also smashed, but with different attack and release settings. With "typical" NY compression, the attack is set to specifically let the transient and the "pop" of the note come through, followed by a quick release so that the compression can jump and pump with the next hit that will follow. To use parallel compression to thicken a signal, use a faster attack to clamp any initial transients down and use a slower release so that the compression is pretty much always on and just creating a very level signal. A limiter can also be used for this. Mix it under the main signal until you hear the "thickening" and the "lower level details" coming up. This is a great way to get a steady and present signal without having noticeable compression affecting your signal. Should sound pretty natural. I use this a lot (along with also using NY comp for punch).
 
alritey .... this is killer first off.
I LOVE the tunage .... did ya'll write this?
very nice if so

I think boosting the bass at 900 just made it sound more congested to me.
I'd take that first mix and boost the bass around 500 and a littler bit around 2.5k ..... bet that'd bring it out ... the bass in the first mix did need more definition but 900 didn't do it.

As for the improv .... move the key up half a step or down a full step and you'd find improving over it a lot easier.
For a Bb instrument E concert puts you in F# or 6 sharps. That's kiinda rough on most players and especially you unless you're playing alto in which case it's 2 flats .... not so bad.
But for tenor or for him it's not an easy key.

I thought the sax might come up a touch .... doesn't quite keep up with the trumpet.
Vocals were not as bas as you're worried about ..... bump them up and put a doubling delay on them .... just super quick and pan it a bit to smooth them out.

How'd ya'll do the drumbs?

It's way cool man ............ I'm quite impressed.
Of the 3 mixes I liked the 2nd one in the OP best .... but the bass is that one is pretty big and round with no pitch definition .... I'd try that one add a touch of 2-3k and see what that does.
 
rhythm section is quite sonically pleasing.What are you using for drums?
Timing issues in the horns, and a general sense of overly noodling are holding it back a bit.
It's got potential!
 
kindafishy said:
Yes, the same in how it is set up, and also smashed, but with different attack and release settings. With "typical" NY compression, the attack is set to specifically let the transient and the "pop" of the note come through, followed by a quick release so that the compression can jump and pump with the next hit that will follow. To use parallel compression to thicken a signal, use a faster attack to clamp any initial transients down and use a slower release so that the compression is pretty much always on and just creating a very level signal. A limiter can also be used for this. Mix it under the main signal until you hear the "thickening" and the "lower level details" coming up. This is a great way to get a steady and present signal without having noticeable compression affecting your signal. Should sound pretty natural. I use this a lot (along with also using NY comp for punch).
Click to expand...

Cool. I'll give this a try. I typically use a vocal limiter like the UAD 1176 plug, but ately, I've been using the Neve 88RS plug as a mic pre, so my workflow has changed a little bit.
 
Lt. Bob said:
alritey .... this is killer first off.
I LOVE the tunage .... did ya'll write this?
very nice if so

I think boosting the bass at 900 just made it sound more congested to me.
I'd take that first mix and boost the bass around 500 and a littler bit around 2.5k ..... bet that'd bring it out ... the bass in the first mix did need more definition but 900 didn't do it.

As for the improv .... move the key up half a step or down a full step and you'd find improving over it a lot easier.
For a Bb instrument E concert puts you in F# or 6 sharps. That's kiinda rough on most players and especially you unless you're playing alto in which case it's 2 flats .... not so bad.
But for tenor or for him it's not an easy key.

I thought the sax might come up a touch .... doesn't quite keep up with the trumpet.
Vocals were not as bas as you're worried about ..... bump them up and put a doubling delay on them .... just super quick and pan it a bit to smooth them out.

How'd ya'll do the drumbs?

It's way cool man ............ I'm quite impressed.
Of the 3 mixes I liked the 2nd one in the OP best .... but the bass is that one is pretty big and round with no pitch definition .... I'd try that one add a touch of 2-3k and see what that does.
Click to expand...

Awesome. I was hoping you'd get a chance to listen to it. Glad you like the tune. Yes, I wrote it. Came up with the riff on the guitar and thought it would sound good with the horns. The chorus chord progression was something I had for a long time and finally found a way to use it.

I asked him to do his improv in concert Emin which is F#min for him. He basically had 3 sharps and he was more than comfortable playing in that key. For me, just doing the transposition was a headache. I finally figured out my 4 notes for the riff and stayed with them throughout the song. lol. I'm playing an Alto, btw. Now I want to buy a tenor so I can at least be in the same key/voicing/whatever as the trumpet.

I'm going to mess around with the bass tweaks like you suggested. Probably won't get to it until the weekend.

The drums are EZD2. I ran them to the DAW as a 2-channel mix then applied a UAD Fatso Sr plug and a UAD Pultec EQ plug as if it was a group buss, which it basically is. I used one reverb send for everything... vocals, guitars, horns, drums... all went to the same reverb plug. I high passed around 800hz(?) and low passed somewhere around 5khz... I think. I'll be honest, I don't understand how the Pultec works, so I started with a preset and tweaked a little. When I was using the original version of EZD, I was always editing the midi. I find I really don't need to do that anymore. The canned grooves they provide are pretty good. I do throw a lot of variety with which ones I select and I might edit a hit here or there, but for the most part I just leave it alone.

Thanks again for the good words. I showed the thread to my son and he is quite proud (read: full) of himself. :D
Oh, there are only two versions. The 2nd in the OP is the same link as further down.
 
beezelbubba said:
rhythm section is quite sonically pleasing.What are you using for drums?
Timing issues in the horns, and a general sense of overly noodling are holding it back a bit.
It's got potential!
Click to expand...

You don't like noodles?? No soup for you!! I know there are some timing issues, I think they are my fault. Still learning to play the sax.

Thanks for the listen. I'm taking in everyone's comments and will hopefully improve this a bit.
 
Chili said:
The chorus chord progression was something I had for a long time and finally found a way to use it.
Click to expand...
that's the part that makes it shine .... not just the chord progression but the horn parts you chose to put over it .... a big league sounding section ...... very nice.
 
The horn chart seems cool though, to my ear, there's a bit of a rush on a pair of notes.
Nice 'n' funky.
 
Listening to mix #2.

Nice groove.

The guitars are drenched in reverb. I'd dry them up a bit.

Couple little timing gaks in the intro.

Vocal sounds good. This song is itching for a double tracked vocal. I'm tellin' ya.

Bass sounds real nice. It sets a cool groove.

Brass sounds nice to me all around. I'm not a brass guy, so I'm not an expert. But it sounded cool to me.

I'd like a more natural drum sound. These sounded too techno to me.
 
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