Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No

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NW Smith
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2012/03/04 10:12:17 (permalink)

Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No

I just finished working on this cover version of a Butterfield Blues Band song, called "Never Say No." This song marked some firsts for me - the first time I recorded a horn section and the first time I recorded a live drummer in my small basement studio. I used the 2 mic "recorderman" technique. Feel free to have a listen and let me know what you think. Thanks in advance! http://www.marwoodwilliam...ver-song-never-say-no/

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    Rimshot
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/04 10:22:40 (permalink)
    NW Smith, fun to listen to!  You did a good job on it.  For the mix, I would like to hear some of the basement room sound on the drums.  The drums have some compression yes?  Maybe reduce that a little.  You might want to try some saturation knob on them to hype the low end a bit.  Lead vocal is done well but I think it is too loud and needs some basement sound or reverb.  With the vocal down a bit, guitar and horns will come up in volume I hope.  

    Good job with this. 

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    Lynn
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/04 12:51:19 (permalink)
    I thought that I was familiar with most of the Paul Butterfield repertoire, but I don't remember this one.  Maybe I'm just missing the harmonica.  All in all, this is a pretty good mix.  Old blues songs often used only one or two mics at the most, so you managed to capture the vibe of an old blues recording.  I don't know if a little reverb would have helped or hindered this song.  Most old recordings were fairly dry, so it's a matter of taste.  Good effort.

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    NW Smith
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/05 09:28:16 (permalink)
    Thanks for the comments and suggestions! Lynn - This song appears on the recording, "East West." I believe Elvin Bishop did the original vocals. I used a muted trumpet to play the harmonica section of the original. Rimshot - I like your suggestion about "basement reverb" In the past I've experimented with that kind of thing. I will have to try it here.

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    bapu
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/05 11:37:26 (permalink)
    Nice start.
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    NW Smith
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/06 09:43:23 (permalink)
    Thanks, Bapu!

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    LanceJ
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/07 16:30:44 (permalink)
    I like this. It was an enjoyable listen. I like the instrumentation. Regards, Lance

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    NW Smith
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/08 09:32:47 (permalink)
    Thanks, Lance!

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    Janet
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/09 19:30:08 (permalink)
    I'd like to be able to record a live drummer sometime.  Horns sound good too.  

    Well done!  
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    NW Smith
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/10 10:48:00 (permalink)
    Thanks, Janet. As I mentioned, I used a simple 2 mic technique called "Recorderman" to do the drums. If you google it, you'll find a bunch of great info about the technique.

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    MannyNY
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/11 20:27:37 (permalink)
    Love this tune - I think Elvin Bishop did the original vocal. Saw them at the Cafe Wha in NYC in 1967 - great show. Small room and they blew everyone away . It's great to hear it again. I like the live feel and "gritty" no processing sound. 
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    CLEAN
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/11 21:03:23 (permalink)
    I love this - very cool.

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    NW Smith
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/13 09:14:56 (permalink)
    Thanks for the comments, Mark and Manny!

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    geeare1
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/14 12:25:49 (permalink)
    Hi NW,

    Live drums AND horns?!! Wow, don't hear much of that around here

    Sounds great, too. Love the unprocessed, in-your-face production.  Very cool stuff.

    -gr

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    jamesg1213
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/14 15:49:53 (permalink)
    Very nice, gritty, blues-band sound. Vocals are too up front for my tastes, just a push back and a smidge of reverb or delay would make this perfect IMO.

     
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    ruralrocker2010
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/14 16:11:20 (permalink)
    Oh man, this is good. I seriously love this. I would try the transient shaper plugin on the stick sound for the hats. See if you can slow down the attack so it doesn't stick out as much. Now, what's the 2 mic drum technique?

    Joshua Barnes
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    NW Smith
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/15 09:37:13 (permalink)
    Thanks guys for the comments! Joshua, as I mentioned upthread, the 2 mic technique is called "Recorderman." Do a google search and you will find a bunch of detailed information.

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    mcourter
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/18 20:41:20 (permalink)
    I'm a long time fan of the BBB, and you do them justice. On my small monitors the lead vocal is just a little up front. Other than that small crit, well done

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    evadianepug
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/20 09:49:33 (permalink)
    Paul Butterfield, Elvin Bishop!  You namedroppers, you.  Smith, NICE job.  Back in the day I listened to a lot of Butterfield and can't remember which were my favorites.  Hmmmmm, must be the surgery.  LOL!  I was surprised at how the drums sounded with two mics.  I need to go read your "Recorderman".   Muy bueno.

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    evadianepug
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/20 09:50:52 (permalink)
    Paul Butterfield, Elvin Bishop!  You namedroppers, you.  Smith, NICE job.  Back in the day I listened to a lot of Butterfield and can't remember which were my favorites.  Hmmmmm, must be the surgery.  LOL!  I was surprised at how the drums sounded with two mics.  I need to go read your "Recorderman".   Muy bueno.  I too believe that the vocals could be back in the mix just a bit.  They're good, just a bit loud, imho.

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    NW Smith
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/21 09:53:53 (permalink)
    Thanks guys!

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    drumstixkev
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    Re:Butterfield Blues Band Cover - Never Say No 2012/03/23 11:41:06 (permalink)
    Its nice to hear a simple clean mix that doesn't have 40 PLUG-INS added to it.  KUDOS!

    Kev

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