WHISPER Radical Alternatives?

[rayc]

Hello Folks,
It was suggested, (on another BBS), that this song needed redoing from the bottom up to reveal a decent song. I can't do taht as I can't get the voclaist back to rerecord.
I've made a couple of remixes that can be downloaded from
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=O2CTLRWP
The 1st of the two is pretty much as before but with some more EQ carving to allow the uneffected cellos to come through (this includes dropping the bass & fx cello when the real cellos are playing).
The 2nd is just 12 string, vocals and cellos.
Both have a bigger reverb over the final mix in an effort to make the main vocal sit a little better.
Any ideas?

 

[lifelyrics]

I've actually had this idea for some time, but didn't want to speak out of turn. The singer has a sweet voice, but I think someone mentioned that it seems like she didn't sing the words to go with the music, so I was wondering what the song would sound like as an instrumental?

It seems like you are somewhat sentimental about the vocalist, but would you be willing to give opportunity for someone new to try a hand at the vocals?

 

[heatmiser]

Rats...I had trouble downloading and then trying to play those files, so I got lazy and went to soundclick and listened to the version there. That one may be like 10 mixes ago for you, but I still thought it was cool to check it out.

It struck me as much more of a straight-forward song from you. More folk than psych this time I think. I like the droning intro. The mix sounds good on these tiny laptop speakers, and any oddities I may have thought I heard could be attributed to my listening setup. I'll try to figure out these new files soon.

Anyway...good to hear another one of your decades-spanning tunes. Is that you in the soundclick photo? Looks to be about 1976..

 

[rayc]

heat - the file, once downloaded, needs to be unzipped. I used a prog called 7z but it'll undo with most zippers. From there, they're straight 320 mp3s.
Here's the steamer for the fuller remix
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=8008261&q=hi

lifelyrics - I actually did a vocal less mix yesterday. There's nothing to carry a melody across the track so it sounds like a backing track in waiting.
There may be alittle synch prob with the vocals - I can't hear it but I've lived with it for a while so it sonds "right" to me. I may need to adjust the synch of the 12 strings due to some latency issues in recording.
I'm not sentimental re the vocalist - in fact Miriam is the 2nd lass to sing this. It was originally sung by Mary-Anne Flood in 76. The melody was written by Eric back then & both lasses have stuck pretty closely to the script. I'm not opposed to re recording the vocal but would like to get the best mix possible with this version regardless of any other versions. If you're interested in having a burl at it send me a PM & we can discuss it.
Oh, no you're not speaking out of turn. It's a generous offer. In the past I've had people request the opp. to sing different melodies &/or lyrics over the backing of a couple of songs - nothing ventured nothing gained.

 

[Greg_L]

Ray you know any other chicks that can maybe re-track the vocals?

 

[mattdee1]

I like the song and the singer's voice. But, at least on my stereo, the acoustic guitar sounds too thin to my ears. At some points, I could tell there was a guitar being strummed but I felt I could hear the pick going over the strings just as much as I could hear the notes in the chords. Maybe you were after a shimmery sound but I would have preferred a meatier guitar.

Matt

 

[joeym]

This sounds better than the first one, Ray. Only thing is the acoustics. They really sound very thin and biting. Any way you can EQ them better?

 

[XLR]

If this were mine I'd have two plans:
1) Autotune the existing main vox. Make the strummed ac gtr a touch more mellow. Would be beautiful.

2) Replace the main vox with a version that's as sweetly sung (might be tough to do) but with no printed verb, and mix anew from there.

Either way, it's a pleasure to listen.

 

[rayc]

greg,
That's being looked into. Any particular reason?
mattdee,
I have a high pass filter on the guitar so that it's not muddying up the 'cellos - maybe too high? I'll have another look/listen!
joey,
thanks mate - I can try - any clues?
XLR,
Thanks mate. As stated - high pass to get the 12 string clear of the cellos. Any suggestions on a freq range that I can reinstate/tweak to add more of the mellow? I do have a companion 12 string track that is made of barre chords - it was a bit thicker/less jangle so I didn't use much of it - do you think I should use some more of that to add to the mix?

Thanks folks - some very specific suggestions - the stuff I always appreciate & employ. Other places just aren't as on the ball I guess.

 

[Greg_L]

greg,
That's being looked into. Any particular reason?
.

Just to get a vocal take that's not permanently reverbed. This chick's voice is nice, but it's really wet and I think you said it's permanent. Usually though, a wet chick is a good thing.

 

[ido1957]

As stated - high pass to get the 12 string clear of the cellos.

That's my nemesis - bass versus guitar. In this case it's cello versus guitar but similar task. The "inside" guitar seems to have a nice tone, the left side has a bit of pick noise that could go. She has a lovely voice. Wonder what she's up to now? Amazed at the sonic quality considering it age...

 

[propman]

Just to get a vocal take that's not permanently reverbed. This chick's voice is nice, but it's really wet and I think you said it's permanent. Usually though, a wet chick is a good thing.

I have no input for the song Rayc. Just wanted to give an LOL where it is due!

 

[XLR]

Any suggestions on a freq range that I can reinstate/tweak to add more of the mellow?

350-ish Hz. Personally though, I prefer to use a multiband comp usually instead of an EQ to control the lows and lowmids of an acoustic guitar. Depending on the track, it can let you remove boominess without making it thin all around.