Newly Recorded Song

[chapperz66]

Hi people.

I recently recorded a new song by a folk singer friend of mine in my home studio.

The song is called "Free Now" and can be heard at:

www.myspace.com/sarahcudmore

Originally she asked me to add some lead guitar and orchestration to a live version of the song recorded in a folk club somewhere. I convinced her that a better approach might be to re-record it first in a more controlled environment, on my BR1600.

Her guitar ( a Takemine electro) was recorded simultaneously DI-ed and miced with an old Shure Unidyne III mic (sort of an early SM57). Same mic was used to add the vocals and harmonies.

I think it works well and, frankly, doesn't need me to add anything.

Let me know what you think if you get the chance.

Paul Chapman
Northamptonshire
England

 

[dewi aka]

The guitar sounds really full and lively. I can't really give, what i think would be, accurate crititism (sp) on the vocals. I am still trying to figure out what really sounds good, vox wise. Actually I would love to know how your vocals were recorded and mixed.



-Dewi

 

[chapperz66]

Thanks for the response Dewi.

The way I got her to record the vocals was to first record the main melody line all the way through three times - much to her annoyance! We decided which one was the best and used that as the main vocal. I then used parts of the other 2 attempts, panned hard right and left, to thicken the main line in a few places, whilst cutting out any sections where the timing wasn't quite there.

We then worked on the harmony lines, recording 4 parts in places. I then fiddled about with the mix and panning, a little light reverb and very sparing delay until I (and she) was happy. I didn't feel that I needed to do much with EQ since she has quite a pure sounding voice which suited the song.

Hope this helps.

Paul Chapman

 

[Freudian Slip]

Sounds really good. I don't think I could have resisted the urge to throw just a little (very little) nice verb over the whole mix and try to place it into an enviroment. I don't like vocals quite that much in my face. That's a personal preferance thing though. I don't know maybe a tad shaved off of them at around 1 to 1.5k would do it for me. What's the model of that mic you used? I wouldn't mind seeing how cheap I could track one down

Good job!

 

[chapperz66]

I really wanted to put a little more reverb on the vocals but the lady was really insistant that she wanted it "pure and natural sounding" - her words not mine. I sneaked a tiny bit on without her noticing but I agree - not enough. My main issue with the piece is that its too long. I suggested at the time that a pro producer would say that it should be at least a minute shorter. However the lyrics meant a lot to her - and who am I to argue? Only the unpaid engineer friend.

The mic I used was a Shure model 545 Unidyne III. I bought 2 of them from the singer in the band that I was in the late 70s. Sadly I only have one lead and they have an unusual 4 pin, screw on connector; so far I haven't found anywhere to get a replacement. They are good mics though and well worth a punt at the right price. I shall keep looking for a replacement lead.

All the best

Paul Chapman