Recordingfest Reveal - April 2016!

Kerouac

Kerouac

weird musical dildo
We've got a good amount of entries so far. If I've missed any tracks (or you're finishing it up :wink:) then just go ahead and post it below. :)

Dexter Inferno:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pf28722ndjj42d8/Better Be Home Soon.mp3?dl=0



Gary Blanchard:





Kerouac:




Knox In Box:




mnewb1:





rsadasiv:


Note: Today would have been Jeremy Kitt's birthday. He always loved the Recordingfests, so let's take a minute to think about him when checking these tracks out.

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First one in again!!! Yeah!!!

Dexter: Great work as usual from you, I would expect no less than great production from you. I really like that organ sound, what was that from?

Gary: Two really nice songs from you also. The first one really was more my taste, but both were very nice.

KWac: Don't know the original on this but don't feel the need to go out and look for it, your version (if it's a cover) satisfies me. Really nice indeed.

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Production notes to "Song to Say goodbye":

Keys: Caustic 3. i really liked working this way, I made a plan for my song programmed it , mixed it, exported the song and imported to Samplitude. Made me have to commit to a plan instead of tweaking endlessly at the desk. also I handled 1/4 of my production during the downtime at work. :embarrassed:

Drums: Midi editor in Samplitude

Bass: Squier P bass Special

Main theme guitar: SX strat with my home wound bridge pickup-phaser-joyo american tone into interface.

Dirt Guitars: My headless steinberger kit guitar into Movall Black widow-American tone

Theremin: Leon app on my smartphone. How long it took to get myself playing cleanly is my own secret. Lets just say it took quite a while before I had it ready to record.

Solo Guitar: Mahogany strat-Micro Q-Trex Dual drive-American Tone
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More later....
 
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Thanks Knox :)

The organ is a slightly tweaked preset from NI's Vintage Organs instrument. All of the keys were done with Kontakt 5 :wink:

I'll get to listening sometime after work today.
 
On my way to a doctor's appointment, so I haven't had a chance to listen to them all yet, but...

Dexter:

Really great arrangement and mix, as always. Was that an original or a cover?

Gary: Your voice is warm and your melodies are beautiful constructed, just like I've come to expect. I especially loved "Tao (The Way)."
 
Mine was a real last minute thing, which seems to have been the case lately. I've been having a lot of issues with my recording rig and I spent a lot of time going over it this week and rewiring the rack, trying to make sure my software mixer settings were right and I'm 90% there, but I seem to still be having some issues with mix balance and panning; I've adjusted my pan laws a bit to compensate, but it's coming out pretty close to mono. I'm hoping when I set my studio up in the new room I might be able to sort it out better.

I tracked using an Apogee Ensemble and it's stock mic pres. Vocals were an SM57 and the guitar was an SM81. I used my Collings D2H SB for both the rhythm snd the lead, and I tracked vocals and guitar simultaneously, with some careful positioning to minimize bleed. It's a single take, so there are some warts in there, but I just wanted to submit something. Solo was best of three passes, then it was on to mix. I used my Brainwork plugins for most of the mix, but the master I did with Logic's mastering suite, as one of my main plugins for mastering wouldn't validate.

It's an Anderson East cover. Ashlee and I saw him back in February and we both really liked him. I like his solo acoustic performances a bit better than with his band, so that's what I went for. My arrangement is still very different from his. If you liked mine, check it out! :)
 
Kerouac said:
On my way to a doctor's appointment, so I haven't had a chance to listen to them all yet, but...

Dexter:

Really great arrangement and mix, as always. Was that an original or a cover?

Gary: Your voice is warm and your melodies are beautiful constructed, just like I've come to expect. I especially loved "Tao (The Way)."
Click to expand...

Thanks!

It's a cover of a Crowded House tune (from Temple of Low Men iirc).
 
mnewb1:

Those are both great! Taking on Floyd is always ambitious and there was some great stuff there. Are you natively a keyboard player? I noticed you had quite the synth set-up. Your whole room looked great.


Knox In Box:

I absolutely love Placebo, so this was a really great treat! Killer production and you nailed the vibe.



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rsasdasiv:

Awesome tribute to Bowie. Seriously put a smile on my face. :)


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Kerouac said:
mnewb1:

Those are both great! Taking on Floyd is always ambitious and there was some great stuff there. Are you natively a keyboard player? I noticed you had quite the synth set-up. Your whole room looked great.


Knox In Box:

I absolutely love Placebo, so this was a really great treat! Killer production and you nailed the vibe.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Thanks!!

I tried to make it my own a bit, but you can't do that song without that vibe, so that was the trick for me. Glad to see I succeeded.
 
Dexter: good song, I am certainly envious of vocals, a weak point for me, overall just good balanced composition, good mixing and mastering

Gary: Tao; full resonant recording of acoustic, good song, excellent vocals; Still Alive also excellent song writing, well executed

Kerouac: Great! Is this an original? technically superb recording, full acoustic and good vocals

Knox in Box: obviously love the synth, not familiar with the original, but totally dig this song, good multi-instrument work, excellent balanced mixing, fantastic!

rsadasiv: love the Bowie! Brave choice as Bowie is so ridiculously talented he is hard to match but you do it with aplomb! Good listen!
 
Kerouac said:
mnewb1:

Those are both great! Taking on Floyd is always ambitious and there was some great stuff there. Are you natively a keyboard player? I noticed you had quite the synth set-up. Your whole room looked great.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I started on guitar but have been enthralled with synths and keyboards over the last couple of years, which has left my guitar skills very rusty as you can see.
 
Better Angel: I did the initial drum, bass and synth tracks on the Maschine and them transported them to Logic where I recorded guitars using Guitar Rig 5 in the DAW, the vocals were recorded and process in Logic

Comfortably Numb: drums were programmed in Logic from EZ Drummer, Bass was done on keys from Kontakt 5, the strings and brass was on keys from Kontakt 5 and the guitars were recorded through my interface directly into Logic and using a patch from my Eleven Rack. The sound file was imported into iMovie and matched with clips from a GoPro while recording parts
 
smurfco: very nice for a "rough mix". Is this original? I am totally digging it! Vocals sound sweet, drum track is good, solo tasty...Excellent Job!
 
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Yes, it's an original. This is my band The Bird Index.

I am listening at work through laptop speakers so if your track has an awesome bass line I'm missing it. Being at work I can only listen to a few at a time but I plan on hearing them all and commenting. For now:
@Dexter Inferno Dig the harmonies and the vibe here. The bridge is very Beatlesque while the rest of the song feels very Nashville to me, like something I'd hear at Robert's Western World on a Wednesday night.

@Gary Blanchard Tao makes me think of Johnny Cash a little bit. It has a wistfulness to it that is touching. I don't know if that was intended, and it comes across more in the music and vocal delivery than in the actual lyrics.

Still Alive has the same sort of wistfulness, maybe it's something in your voice but I like it a lot. It's a subtle thing but it makes for an emotional connection with the listener (or at least me).
 
WOW!

Dexter - Really good stuff. The song is nice, the harmonies and instrumentation are highly professional.

Kerouac - This song really suits your voice. Both the rhythm and lead guitar work was well played.

Knox in Box - That grabbed me right at the intro. The instrumentation was fantastic and the vocals fit perfectly.

mnewb1 - Better Angel is great pop music with a nice blend of instruments.
Comfortably Numb took an overly familiar tune and found a way to make it fresh.

rsadasiv - Great Bowie! You captured the Bowie feel yet made it your own.

Smurfco - If that's a rough mix, I can't wait to hear the final mix. All around good stuff.

As to mine, I have to give Sonik credit for the wonderful mixing and mastering job on the songs. Tao could easily add some drums and electric guitar, but I felt this arrangement works for me. I love the organ on it. Still Alive is played in open D tuning and is very near to my heart; I tried several times to sing it without choking up and finally decided to let it reflect that emotion.
 
Got around to everyone but Smurfco.

Good job folks

mnewb1 I liked the work you did though the vocals are a bit of a weak point (as you pointed out), no biggy however, since I've always thought its not fair that sometimes people would over-emphasize the vocals in the reviews in a guitar forum. That's human nature however.

Rsadasiv- good work as always on the production.
 
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