Hi there in recording land… it’s been quite a while since I played in my music studio. Hello to new faces here! I look forward to catching up.
This is an experimental thrown-together-thing as I remind myself where all the bits are in cubase and how to tangle myself and extricate myself from sonic knots and complicated technical self destruction.
Would love some feedback… it is meant to be an untidy improv type thing… just wondering if that comes across and any suggestions on ways to make it… whatever…
wow I was just thinking about you! long time!
this is a great production, dont have much to nit pick. Maybe a touch less reverb or delay on the harmony doubles.
From a production standpoint, maybe some subtle horn section stabs in the hook?
Great stuff Emma! Great to hear from you again! I love this - the instrumentation is really spare, but the bass line is just so cool. I love the burbling sound that comes in the second verse. Don’t change a thing! Beautiful!
Hi @FluteCafe
Yeah it’s been a long time between mixes for sure! Rough couple of years, but feels cool to be back attempting sounds again. Thanks heaps for your listening and feedback, the horn stabs is a great concept, something I’ve not tried before but am not confident with my current software. Will definitely try it sometime though. The whole thing is a quick throw together, the vocal is sent through Guitar Rig and definitely has a ‘slush’ to it, a sort of out-of-key layer that I liked but I wasn’t sure how it would come across.
Hey @ingolee ,
Great to hear from you, thanks for listening! I sorta had a lean funk feel in mind and as I said to Michelle, brass is not something I’ve really played with. But absolutely worth exploring.
Hi there @ColdRoomStudio , Lovely to have the feedback from you ta.
I really enjoyed playing with the bass, and yes, of course the knee-bone-connected-to-the… vibe was irresistible. I literally threw it together and sometimes these things just seem to work in a way that’s okay. The burble is actually a ‘super wah clavichord’ believe it or not! I literally stumbled upon it and really liked the way it worked with the Guitar Rig distortion on the vocal.
Yay, maybe this will get me motivated… have no plans for it, just wanted to throw the idea together and run with it… thanks heaps y’all… I feel encouraged! A wonderful transition.
Hey Emma, The last two years have been a doozy, to say the least!
I think it is quite difficult to get a new setup to behave the way you want it to, it has been for me. In the past it was switching DAWs, which included switching sounds- once was soundfonts, then VSTs, and at first struggling with my old PC even handling newer VSTs that obviously were designed for newer, far more robust PCs, and then hardware deterioration and necessary replacement. Ironic how pianos and guitars and even most other instruments last forever almost, but all the computer/studio equipment in the past 20 years have not, and just when we were finally getting comfortable and almost getting the hang of it.
And when you haven’t played with everything for a while, even if not new, when you rebuild, reconnect, set the levels, etc, and once again achieve the fine equilibrium you had before and hopefully much more, but it isn’t automatic. For me it takes time and much effort to get back in the groove, which this song is all about, and I think you are on to something. I thoroughly enjoyed it as it transferred me to a century ago on some levels in this time travel experiment.
It is likely my old ears to blame, but I feel the lead vocal could be a tiny bit less deessed. I can for the most part understand every word, but seemed a littly muddier than ideal. I am not super proficient at finding the ideal vocal processing, guilty of too **** at every given time, but alas I usually know it, especially after it’s pointed out in BTR!
All that said, this is another fresh musical jaunt you have taken here, and it bodes well for your creative juiices in your studio.
Wow, pure bliss to be able to sing, with all percussion instruments, it seems.
The bass is love, and the melody its very catchy.
Love this recording.
Rene
Hi there @steban, great to hear from you!
Yeah I was surprised how much I had to re-remember in my studio… straight off I had no sound coming out from anywhere, duh… and I vaguely remembered a similar thing in the past - conflict with the windows sound and my DAW, that took me a couple of hours to figure. The gear is getting old and has strange quirks that seem to come from nowhere. Ho hum!!
Yeah I know what you mean with the sibilance, I was wondering about that. It’s largely caused by the Guitar Rig fx on the vocal, it’s quite an extreme effect but I was in the mood for a change. There is also quite a bit of high ringing in the percussion that felt a little top heavy but in the end, I chose the artistic rationale… it sounds whispery and a bit listhpy (?) and fitted with my idea of whispering bones, which likely makes no sense at all!!
Hi @ReneAsologuitar - Lovely to meet you! I look forward to checking out your sounds.
Thanks for your kind words! I wanted to have fun making this, and just dived in. The percussion is all vst using superior drummer. I wanted to see if I could still use it, so for a change, I started off making a bass and drum groove thingy. Usually I am words first. So I was mucking about and it is so nice to read that it sounds okay… thanks!!
Hi there @studio - lovely to meet you and thanks for your comments!
I hadn’t thought of it as call-response, a cool idea. So nice to read that it had a natural vibe, that is what I was aiming for, a bit messy but kinda spontaneous. Gosh, Mungo Jerry, now that’s a blast from the past. Found myself listening to ‘In the summertime’ after reading your words. Watching the video, there is one thing that fascinated me - the use of a large glass bottle thing to mouth sounds into - mostly ‘oh’… crazy. And wow, look at those sideburns!
