Please Come Home for Christmas......

S

showstone

New member
Just in time for the Holidays! Merry Christmas, and I hope you enjoy the song.


MP3 Player SoundClick


This was recorded in my home studio on Tuesday. The song is performed by Steve Smulski. Bon Jovi/Sambora arrangement, written by Charles Brown and Gene Redd.
 
Nice,
Guitar sounded a bit harsh to me.

Like the vocal.

wouldnt mind hearing this as a full arrangement with drums (brushes) and other instruments.
 
I agree with lastdays, the guitar is intense, maybe turn it down a bit. and a full arrangement would definitely be nice. Also, I am listening in headphones and the solo sounds oddly panned or stereo separated or possibly double tracked? I think I would prefer the solo more dry and up front.
 
Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment!

Harsh and intense are not words I would have used to describe the guitar, BUT, that is why we do this! I have addressed those issues and will be posting an updated version where I "toned" down the guitar a little bit. I took the delay off the solo(a dumb idea in the first place).

As far as full arrangement, this was Steve's(the performing artist) stripped down acoustic version of the full Bon Jovi/Sambora arrangement. Although I can picture what you are saying, it would defeat the purpose of what he was trying to accomplish. I will be reposting a revised version later today, let me know if you hear an improvement.

Thanks again for taking the time to listen and comment! I definately appreciate hearing feedback from different sets of ears.
 
I hear lip smacking in the intro.

Great recording. I think the vox is great where it sits. The guitar, like everyone else said, is too bright. The high strings are very irritating IMO. I can tell you used a tube preamp for that guitar because you can hear the high notes get real warm and fuzzy. I don't think it works for an acoustic song.
 
Thanks for the feedback! Christmas and illness struck my house and slowed down progress for a few days....but back on track now! Here is an updated version of the song, toning down the AG per suggestion, let me know if this has helped! Thanks in advance.
 
Fade, I am well aware of the lip smacking and not sure what to do about it.....except maybe start smacking him when he does it! It seems that it is his nervous reaction to a mic being placed in front of him....any suggestions?
 
The mouth/lip smacks (or something) in the intro are off putting - can you mute/automate the faders for that track for that part? Oh, it happens further through - it could be crackling cellophane!
Good vocals and no distortion in your capture!
There's a big market for this sort of stuff.
I have to own up that I don't like the guitar tag/outro.
 
Any ideas? No, sorry, aside from a retake that is.
A LOT of people on BP meds do it almost constantly.
Advice to keep his mouth shut & quick drink of water before the rec. button is pushed maybe!
As I said: good capture.
 
Last edited:
Well, thanks anyway! I tried various EQing attempts and could not isolate the lip smacking without seriously affecting the guitar. If it was a serious project, retracking with some duct tape would be in order.....

Thanks for taking the time and the compliment....much appreciated.
 
How much compression are you using on the Acoustic track?? If you can turn that down, you might eliminate the lipsmacks. If you compress heavily, it brings the formerly unnoticed background noises to the forefront.

Another thing I noticed, and to me it is the most difficult aspect of these acoustic type songs, is the vocal and guitar are not in the same space. It feels mostly like a reverb thing, need to match the guitar and vocal better. Or run both to the same reverb channel and set levels similar. The guitar is much drier than the vocals.

Good performance all the way around. Would have liked to have heard more accompaniment(sp?) kick in maybe 2nd verse or something. But I get it the way it is now. I guess I'm a little cliche.

Cool and HNY,
 
Not much compression on the AC at all, I tried not compressing but it's still there.

The vox and guits have the same exact reverb, EMT Plate 140, and the guitar has almost twice the amount of reverb as the vox.
The difference may be in the actuall space in which they were recorded. The guits in my living room and the vox in my "makeshift" vocal booth. Its an entry way, 38X40", where the two bedrooms attach to the living room. I hang moving blankets to create the "booth". I live in an apt. with shitty acoustics, so I am making due the best I can for now.

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment, very much appreciated.
 
The guitar sounded a bit muddy to me. The high strings sounded fine but the bass strings were fat and dull. Also, I think the main arpeggio part would sound better doubled. The vocals were great. I dig the light reverb you had on them. I liked the solo a lot. It was really nice to hear. The last little hint of Jingle Bells at the end was a nice touch but I felt that it was kinda sloppy. Not a lot... Just a little. Other than that, nice track! Very festive and, dare I say, lonely. Good work.
 
Thanks for the listen and feedback!

After my initial mix, the consensus was the guits were "harsh" and 'intense", so I backed off the hi end and rolled off the hi pass a bit to bring out more power in the guits....now, I get muddy....I guess I'm from one extreme to the next. ;)

Thanks again for taking time to listen and commen.
 
showstone said:
Not much compression on the AC at all, I tried not compressing but it's still there.

The vox and guits have the same exact reverb, EMT Plate 140, and the guitar has almost twice the amount of reverb as the vox.
The difference may be in the actuall space in which they were recorded. The guits in my living room and the vox in my "makeshift" vocal booth. Its an entry way, 38X40", where the two bedrooms attach to the living room. I hang moving blankets to create the "booth". I live in an apt. with shitty acoustics, so I am making due the best I can for now.

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment, very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

If you're referrring to UAD's EMT 140, it's my favorite. I don't use anything else anymore. Strange you've got twice as much on the guit. But keep dialing it in, you're close, you'll get it. I like your rendition, nice emotion.

I've got a few acoustic type songs like this that I am afraid to do simply because I can't get the sound I want. You're pretty close to what I would like mine to be.
 
Agreed on the EMT, that and the LA2 are irreplaceable to me right now. All of the UAD emulations are fantastic.

Huge compliment man, humbly accepted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top