Whiter Shade of Acoustic Guitar

[Rockerbob]

The high notes are a bit out of my range, but I tried it anyway. An acoustic version of "Whiter Shade of Pale". One stereo guitar track - Collings OM3C, one bass track - Modulus VJ, and one vocal track - FroggyBob.

I hope you enjoy this different take on a classic.

 

[LemonTree]

really like the sound of this rockerbob, always been a tune I loved since I was a kid. Can you tell me your signal chain/ what equipment you used?

I'll be surprised to hear if this is MITB

 

[Rockerbob]

really like the sound of this rockerbob, always been a tune I loved since I was a kid. Can you tell me your signal chain/ what equipment you used?

I'll be surprised to hear if this is MITB

Thanks! Here's basic description of my recording chain.

Collings OM3C recorded with 2 mics (AKG C414 in cardioid mode) about 3 feet apart about 2 feet in front of the guitar. The soundhole is aimed right between the mics. Mic pre-amps are my Mackie 24*8 board's channel and then into Digital Performer 4 on a Mac via a Delta 66 I/O. The mics are panned hard left and right in the mix.

Vocal is the same Mic and pre-amp, cause that's what I have. I used a MOTU plugin called "PreAmp" to add a bit of distortion to the vocal. I did this for the slightly "vintage" vibe. All the old pop/rock vocal were a bit crunchy.

The bass is a Modulus VJ bass (wonderful instrument!) running into the "Preamp" setting on a POD Pro.

There is compression, at least a little, on everything individually and a bit of Multiband compression on the mix. And yes, it was mixed in Digital Performer. The compressors are from the Waves Platinum bundle. Great sounding plugs!

 

[Halion]

Great bass sound! I'm a bassplayer myself and I love your tone. Wouldn't be something I'd go for but it works well for the song. However, it's mixed too loud. Here and there it really takes over, and on the overall, it's too prominent.

Guitar sounds nice. I'd aim them more straight at the guitar than at the sound hole but that's just me. The vocals work well for this kind of track. By far the cleanest or purest sound, but a small touch of vintageness make is more interesting in this instance indeed

 

[Rockerbob]

Great bass sound! I'm a bassplayer myself and I love your tone. Wouldn't be something I'd go for but it works well for the song. However, it's mixed too loud. Here and there it really takes over, and on the overall, it's too prominent.

Guitar sounds nice. I'd aim them more straight at the guitar than at the sound hole but that's just me. The vocals work well for this kind of track. By far the cleanest or purest sound, but a small touch of vintageness make is more interesting in this instance indeed

Thanks for the comments!

I always struggle with the right amount of bottom end on mixes. In this case I ended up with the bass fairly high (although not really) in the mix because that's what I liked best. With the bass softer I felt the mix lacked guts, and with the bass where it is I can still hear every word and chord, but I will listen again, through some bass heavy speakers and keep your comments in mind. I didn't aim at the soundhole. Each mic was point roughly at the guitar, but the mics were 3 feet apart with the soundhole pointed right between them, but directly at neither. Even with my Collings the guitar can get boomy if I mic the soundhole.

 

[Laynestaley]

I enjoyed that cover. Nice job.
The bass that only 'follows' the guitar all the time makes it kinda dull though. I'd try to play with those notes or copy the original bassline..

 

[Rockerbob]

Thanks!

I've listened to the bass again and it probably is a bit too loud. What I will do is get my buddy Carl to play a real bassline. I play bass, but I'm not a bass player, if you know what I mean.

 

[Halion]

Trust me dude, it's too loud I know it can get pretty tough for us bassplayers to "fairly" put the bass in the mix, because we focus on it uncontiously (spelling?). It should be hard to pick out of the mix for untrained ears. Like, my sister can't pick out the bassguitar on any song she hears, but once you learn to focus on that area you get pretty good at it.

 

[rustyfingers]

Nice job man. That's definately a keeper.

Dennis

 

[mattamatta]

I usually end up mixing stuff that isn't my main instrument too loud, as I'm usually excited to record something out of the norm for me.

Nice sounding song, I dig the acoustic sound. Kinda sounds like I can hear you breathing or something in the beginning, but it's kinda nice. Really puts the picture in front of me of you sitting alone in a cozy room with the guitar, playing. Very real and musical.

 

[Rockerbob]

Yes, there is a little background noise in the guitar track at the beginning, and I do think it's my breathing. I mic'ed the guitar at a distance, so the mics were fairly hot.

I also went through a period where my mixes lacked bass. I'm just swinging back the other way.