RNP Extravaganza

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ebeam

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OK, by request of Musical5 in 'The Rack' forum, we have song that I recorded up at
that was recorded using the RNP for everything.

The song is called 'Reading a Magazine' and was written and performed by a friend of mine - Lorian Toth. This is the first song I've recorded in which I didn't play anything at all - its actually kind of nice to focus on just the recording for a change. Its long, but listen through to the end (thats my favorite part).

The mics used on the acoustic guitars were a combination of SM57, MXL603 and ECM8000 - there are probably 8 or so tracks there with different mics/guitars/rooms though.

Most of the vocals and the shaker are through an AT4033.

Bass direct through RNP.

There's some other weird stuff too, but everything, yes I mean everything went through the RNP----> Gadget Labs 8/24 ----> Vegas Audio.

If anybody wants more details let me know. Thanks to musical5 for hosting this.
 
Maybe it is me

The link doesn't work for me.
But I'd love to check out your recording.

tmix
 
its works for me if I copy and paste it into window media player's open url box

Cool song so far
 
overall i like the sound of this and the song...for that kind of emo pop thing. it's cool.

but i can't really comment on the recording...in terms of the RNP...

i feel like you could get the same result with an entry level Mackie mixer or basically any other "decent" preamp.

the instruments/mic techniques...don't really scream "wow that RNP is amazing". I imagine had you used a Great River it would have turned out about the same.

This isn't a knock by any means - i think you did a good job. And I think your mix is cool...

But, it really goes to show that the gear is only as good as the person who is using it.
 
Yeah, I know what you mean. Its definitely not a 'wow' kind of thing when presented like this. But, when I A/B the RNP with the preamps in my Alesis mixer, believe me the difference is pretty incredible with certain mics and sources. With others, its not such a night and day kind of thing.
 
cool...good to know...

i definitely think the tracks stack up well...like i said, nothing to really A/B...but, it has that nice not-overhyped tone.
 
Uh oh....7+mins...gonna be tough to keep my attention.That's 6 more minutes than I'm used to.


Here goes...


Like the intro.Reminds me of open mic night at the Griffin up yonder in the town of New Paltz.Rythmically Indulgent."Sweet and Shiny Spit...",hehehe.He's gettin' some...Nice melodies and chord structure.Like the picking break,good harmonies...Not diggin' the megaphone effect.If your song needs that to keep it interesting ,..you need to edit.6:20 .Got me so far.EMO all the way.EEWWW He's Pissing!LOL :D End is my favorite part .Makes the 7+ life minutes wasted well worth it!Decent recording too.Cheers!
 
ebeam said:
The mics used on the acoustic guitars were a combination of SM57, MXL603 and ECM8000 - there are probably 8 or so tracks there with different mics/guitars/rooms though.
Click to expand...

Let me guess -- the guitar at the intro was the ecm8000, right?
 
Re: Re: RNP Extravaganza

chessrock said:
Let me guess -- the guitar at the intro was the ecm8000, right?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm with chessy on this one. Too much "room sound" on the acoustic, possibly? With the omni? A bit too far away sounding?

When the voice came in, it had that quality that's becoming more obvious every time I hear a good, tight RNP track... a certain wholeness and focus... sounds like you could "take a bite out of" the vocal track, with the almost 3D, non-thin sound.

This arrangement could use more of a bassline, possibly; that could change things "for the better" as well.

I'm guessing that if there were less room sound on the acoustics, we'd be able to hear more of a "hey wow" factor... but the mix was decent as is. Can't say it was very cloudy, or undefined...

The circuit noise in the beginning is something I'm coming to recognize, too.

--

BTW nice song. An original?


Chad
 
Re: Re: RNP Extravaganza

chessrock said:
Let me guess -- the guitar at the intro was the ecm8000, right?
Click to expand...

Actually is the 603 in my bathtub facing the ceiling with him sitting on the toilet about 3 feet away.
 
Participant- Actually, I think the only acoustic that had the ECM8000s on it was the picked one that comes in at about 4:40. Thats an x/y pair about 6in out from the 12th fret. The rest are mostly the 603 or combo 57/603 I think. But the 603s are pretty close to omni and I have some really live rooms to work with in my apartment (circa 1900 with 12ft+ ceilings). Personally, I like trying to dial in the verb and whatnot with mic placement rather than add dsp verb. Maybe I dialed in too much.....its definitely not an in-your-face acoustic sound, although thats not really what I was going for.

The RNP does have this really detailed, present midrange that I really like on vocals. I think it actually does more for my voice than his.

This song is long (and it is an original BTW), but it actually feels like two separate songs with the second one starting with the guitar above at 4:40 or so. In fact, on the CD I burned for him, he wanted a track marker there for track 2.
 
W.I.S.C. said:
EEWWW He's Pissing!LOL :D End is my favorite part .Makes the 7+ life minutes wasted well worth it!Decent recording too.Cheers!
Click to expand...

The end is my favorite too - the shaker really does it. We didn't intentionally record the pissing, but I thought it would be a cool way to fade the song out.

Thanks for listening.
 
Hey man...Nice tune. I wasn't crazy about the verb on the acoustics at the beginning, but when the vocals are rolling, it sounds pretty damned nice.

For a mic or compressor test, it'd be cool if you could throw up a pretty dry version of an A/B. But then again, it might piss me off since I just bought a low end pre-amp...LOL.

Thanks for posting,
chris
 
Re: Re: Re: RNP Extravaganza

ebeam said:
Actually is the 603 in my bathtub facing the ceiling with him sitting on the toilet about 3 feet away.
Click to expand...

There are so many reasons not to track in a bathroom, unless it's for an extreme kind of effect . . . or unless you're simply re-amping an existing track and then blending that in with the original.

So many reasons, not the least of which being early reflections, sine waves, and just about any other accoustical anomaly imaginable . . . not to mention the stray pubic hairs that can get on your equipment . . . the risk of electrical shock if the shower kicks on (or if you fall in the toilet) . . . and the psychological effect that the smell of urine has on your playing. :D :D :D

Seriously, though, I think your song sounds great otherwise, and I gotta' hand it to you for experimenting with accoustic spaces. Next time, though, you might try the bottom of a stairwell. Not as many paralel surfaces, and the stairs diffuse a lot of the echo, as well.
 
Chris- There is no compression on the acoustic guitars - a little EQ on some of them though. The vox and bass are compressed with Waves RCL though - some EQ on bass, but vocals are dry other than compression. I agree that a totally dry version would be a better example for listening to the preamp itself, but I think the dsp I added made less of a difference than the instrument/mic/placement/room.

Chess- The only guitar recorded in the bathroom was the intro one and we did it intentionally to sound weird like that - it wasn't an accident. The rest were either recorded in my dining room (roughly 15x15x12, but not square), my gigantic hallway (roughly 6x40x12), or my bedroom (odd shape).

The vox were tracked in the bathroom though and I think they turned out alright. He was close to the mic to minimize room sound though.

The stairs sounds like a cool idea. We have a massive marble staircase leading up to my apartment - although the neighbors might not like me crooning outside their door.


Thanks for all the comments guys.
 
ebeam said:
The stairs sounds like a cool idea. We have a massive marble staircase leading up to my apartment
Click to expand...

Marble? Now we're talking. Can I record there? :D Seriously, I thought the the rest of the guitars, vocals, and everything sounded really good, and I like your performance and arrangement. Good job.
 
Actually, I just saw your location Chessrock - I live in Chi town too - Lincoln Square. Just moved here the end of last summer.
 
I almost hear the RNP having a "thinner" sound than a "thick" one, but I mean that in a good way.

Like the vocal track...it seems BIG...but it takes up a small portion of the soundfield...

Cheaper stuff to me has more of an upfront "here I am" sound...which, isn't very pro.

i don't know, still trying to figure all of that out.
 
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