Paris Is Burning!

[queepy]

HI....decided to use some of my personal time I have built up at work and take a day off today.It's amazing how much you can do recording wise without being interrupted, distracted by kids/babies/wife !
Anyways, I wrote/ recorded this today.The lyrics are by a friend of mine...I used a 12 and 6 string Rickenbacker model on my Variax for most of this thru a Vox -AC 30 model on my Podxtl...pretty fun combo ...this is my 1st mixdown...the ending is not to pretty...I usually fade em' out or tie them up with a nice finale...this one I wanted a abrupt ending.
Any critiques, suggestions etc are much appreciated!

Paris Is Burning! stream


Paris Is Burning! download

 

[Dogman]

Interesting tune man...Nice tones....sounds like the era that these guitars would have been really popular in. Very good mix of the guitars and bass...all is very clear there. Vocals sit pretty well...I wouldn't mind hearing them a bit drier, still with some verb/chorus, but just a smidge drier. Other than that, nice interaction of the sounds from the instruments.

 

[Rokket]

Interesting.

My only nit would be the vocal. I agree with Ed. Too wet. They are doubled, right?

Very cool tune, like all the stuff I've heard from you. Nice job for a 1-day outing!

 

[queepy]

Dogman/Rockket - Hey guys...thanks for the feedback ...sounds like the vocals may be a bit to wet eh?
I tracked the lead vocals once to 2 tracks, panned them hard left and right, then nudged one of them just a bit out of synch with the other..just trying anything that might make my vocals sound better...I'm thinking of maybe adding one more track of the lead vocal dry right up the middle...
there is also 2 tracks of the chorus, sung diffrently both times as well ...I do have a bit of verb on the chorus vocals...I will try some other things to see if I can improve this....thanks again for the feedback!

 

[Rokket]

Dogman/Rockket - Hey guys...thanks for the feedback ...sounds like the vocals may be a bit to wet eh?
I tracked the lead vocals once to 2 tracks, panned them hard left and right, then nudged one of them just a bit out of synch with the other..just trying anything that might make my vocals sound better...I'm thinking of maybe adding one more track of the lead vocal dry right up the middle...
there is also 2 tracks of the chorus, sung diffrently both times as well ...I do have a bit of verb on the chorus vocals...I will try some other things to see if I can improve this....thanks again for the feedback!

Here is a trick that I've used with a female vocalist:

She has a wonderful voice, but not that strong, so I had to figure out how to fatten her vocal up without overcompressing it and ruining it.

I had her sing the track twice, then I put them both up the middle, the second vocal was a dB or two lower in volume than the first. I added a medium room verb to only the higher volume track, to add subtle ambience. She could not believe that it was her when she heard the final mix.

 

[queepy]

Here is a trick that I've used with a female vocalist:

She has a wonderful voice, but not that strong, so I had to figure out how to fatten her vocal up without overcompressing it and ruining it.

I had her sing the track twice, then I put them both up the middle, the second vocal was a dB or two lower in volume than the first. I added a medium room verb to only the higher volume track, to add subtle ambience. She could not believe that it was her when she heard the final mix.

hmmnn sounds interesting...Im gonna try that......thanks for the tip!

 

[Nick_Black]

i actually like the vocals wet like that. it gives it a bit of punch i find.
for some reason his voice reminds me of a non screaming AC/DC.
sounds awsome. simple riffs but verry tight and cool sounding.

 

[queepy]

i actually like the vocals wet like that. it gives it a bit of punch i find.
for some reason his voice reminds me of a non screaming AC/DC.
sounds awsome. simple riffs but verry tight and cool sounding.

Thanks cool you like the vocals...I'm definetly a guitar player 1st and singer by default so it's always pleasing when people like the vocals....

 

[queepy]

Just uploaded a new mix of this tune...centered the lead vocals and dried up the verb a bit....also kicked the bass guitar and drums up a tad....the links at the top of the thread will now load the new mix...
Thanks again for all the feedback!!

 

[turtlishous]

hey variaxman-----once again you have a very nice tune!!! love the 12 string!

and i do like the vox just the way they are.

 

[notCardio]

OT question for you

I'm assuming that's the Variax sitar on 'I Know What I Like'?

Anybody who does that one (and that well) gets an automatic permanent thumbs up from me!

How did you do the tabla?

 

[Greg_L]

Man, this is a great tune. Very cool clean guitar tone, and that tone at the end just sounds evil - in a good way. Very nice. I like your vocal style and how you sing it, but there's something about how it sits in the mix that doesn't jive with my ears. It's not the fact that theres a lot of reverb, but I think it's just how it's done. It sounds sort of boxy, if that makes any sense. Too thick with not enough decay or whatever the term is. That's just my personal taste though. It certainly works if that's how you want it to be. Overall a great song, played well, with some really nice guitar tones. Good job!

 

[bigbubba]

Dude this rocks. No complains on the mix. I'll crank it up in the morning and give it another hear to see if anything sounds off. At this time of the night at this volume this rocks.

 

[rayc]

Apart from needing a bit of omph in the bass this is pretty flamin' good. I like the vocals as they are.
This is very new wave (as in '78) touches of magazine & a ffew other - NICE.
Loud & proud cobber.

 

[queepy]

turtlishous - Thanks for the comments on the 12-string...I was pretty happy with the sounds as well!The Line 6 Variax is a amazingly versatile tool for recording!Seems people are pretty split on the vocal sound...I think I like it better in this new mix....


notCardio - Yup...that's also the Variax 500...when I 1st got it, I drove my band mates crazy playing the sitar and banjo models all the time ...Thanks for the good word..appreciate it!The Tablas are free loops I found off the net a while ago....


Greg_L Cool you like that ending guitar tone...I actually broke a string on the Variax, so I used my Firebird on that little outro bit...I should post a pic of the room I record in...its a pretty small room I use as a control room for a larger "live" sound area were I record my whole band....my walls are not treated in the control room and I sing facing the window..I'm sure this is not the way to do it and there are all kinds of phase/reflection issues going on...I actually have some of those foam tiles/ bass trap things from aurlex that I just haven't had time to install(or really know were to put them)...Thanks again for the good review!!

bigbubba - Thanks dude!Glad you like it!... I mix/listen to stuff pretty loud(probably too loud) so I hope this sounds good cranked as well!

rayc - I hear ya on the bass...I still am not to happy with the overall low end sound on this....I think it improved a bit from the 1st mix but still not were I want it...go pay more attention to it on the next mix to try and get it better...Thanks for the feedback!!

 

[SnakeDog5050]

Hey axeman, heard about this one through your newsletter Great older classic rock punky sound here man. Love the guitar tone and riff. I've only heard your update, and the vox sound good to me, classic axeman style. Cool man, a definite keeper

 

[ido1957]

I like the style on this - kind of an "in your face" defiant feel to it - very cool. Maybe that's punk ??? Not sure but I like it.....Guitar playing is spot on as always and I love the 12 sring effect. Did anyone ever tell you that you sound like David Bowie when you sing? You do on this one...gotta download now to add to my other lil pedro tunes..

...almost forgot to mention that this is great songriting too, you must have had some full moon mojo going on there.....

 

[queepy]

SnakeDog5050: Hey axeman, heard about this one through your newsletter Great older classic rock punky sound here man. Love the guitar tone and riff. I've only heard your update, and the vox sound good to me, classic axeman style. Cool man, a definite keeper

I didn't think anybody read those things! Glad you liked it...I had alot of fun doing this one, and I'm pretty happy about this last mix Im gonna post at the end of this thread.....Thanks for checking it out...and subscribing to my "news" letter!

ido1957: I like the style on this - kind of an "in your face" defiant feel to it - very cool. Maybe that's punk ??? Not sure but I like it.....Guitar playing is spot on as always and I love the 12 sring effect. Did anyone ever tell you that you sound like David Bowie when you sing? You do on this one...gotta download now to add to my other lil pedro tunes..

...almost forgot to mention that this is great songriting too, you must have had some full moon mojo going on there.....

MAn...alot of people who have heard this say the Bowie thing about the vocals...thats pretty cool cause Im big fan of 70's era Bowie.Yeah that 12 string sound worked pretty cool for this tune...Thanks for the good word!


Here is my latest mix of the song for those interested:

Paris Is Burning -Stream


Paris Is Burning - Download