Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute

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jhughs
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2013/08/30 20:15:56 (permalink)

Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute

I've been away from the forum for awhile... lot going on... hope to get more time here.
Anyway, pretty much finished a project and would like some comments... especially any advice on how to get more separation of the "instruments".  (I'm a learning amateur.)
 
It's a tribute to Henry Mancini for "Baby Elephant Walk", which is the first tune I remember liking as a kid.  All parts except percussion are guitar, even the crickets & elephants at the end (a la Adrian Belew).
 
Thanks in advance.
 
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    theguitarplayer
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/08/30 22:16:44 (permalink)
    To answer your question about separation, it is called panning, i.e. 100L-0-100R, you choose with in these ranges where each instrument should be in your piece and pan it there. Next, you will want to work on balance of each instrument so they all fit well together, not having any one instrument over bearing  others, but a well balanced sound so each instrument is heard in the mix of all the instrumentation. Then there is reverb adjustments, then compression and finally limiting and gating. It is all a process that takes a lot of time and concentration and a great deal of learning over time. Good luck and have fun.
     
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    Jonbouy
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/08/31 07:04:40 (permalink)
    I had to check this to see if it was the song I thought it was.  Happy to hear that it was.
     
    Great job on this version.  I wouldn't worry about separation here the original was probably mono anyway...
     
    It's great with the easy access to the recording setups we have these days to be able go back into our own memories and bring them to life again with our own little twist.  I'm all for that.
     
     
    post edited by Jonbouy - 2013/08/31 07:11:39

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    jhughs
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/08/31 09:24:49 (permalink)
    Thanks John and Jon.  Well, I've been away so long I'm messing up on terminology.  I was thinking more about separation in terms 'balance' as John pointed out.  I'm thinking I might map out a frequency range for each instrument and put high and low shelves on either side.
     
    Anyway, yes this was fun to do.  If I can take a little pride I'm particularly pleased with the way the trombone parts came out.  I only started learning how to play with a tremolo bar recently, and, after some practice, it worked well to mimic the trombone slides.
     
    Oh, and Jon, much to my surprise listening to the original, it is in stereo with several instruments that sound hard-panned left or right.  Hmmm, now that you all got me thinking about it I could try that.  I'm not usually a fan of hard panning, but, as the saying goes "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds."

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    Lynn
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/08/31 13:16:49 (permalink)
    John, are you a fan of Adrien Belew?  Nobody does elephant sounds better than him, though you are on the right track (think "Elephant Talk" by King Crimson).  As far as panning goes, this seems to be well panned.  Back in the day when Mancini recorded this, stereo was still somewhat new, and mix engineers did extreme panning to show off the possibilities of stereo.  Now that many listen on headphones or in cars, extreme panning is no longer in vogue, although, in certain songs or instances, I still like it when used judiciously.  Good effort.

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    Rimshot
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/08/31 14:15:19 (permalink)
    You definitely have good stereo panning going on.  I would like to hear more drums and bass.  The lead guitars work but they are so much in front of the drums that I strain to hear the whole group.  One technique I like to use is to set your overall levels when listening at a very soft volume.  Try to mix so you can hear all the instruments.  Then bring it up to your normal volume and adjust to taste.  This technique might work well for you.
     
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    jhughs
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/08/31 18:38:03 (permalink)
    Lynn - Thanks.  I hadn't thought about the engineers at the time emphasizing stereo with hard panning.  (I love reading old album backs where they go into detail about what microphones they used, etc.  They were really proud of the Hi-Fi technology then.)
     
    Jimmy - Thanks.  That feedback really helps.  I can't tell you how many times I'd bring something up because it wasn't loud enough, then decide it was too loud, and vice versa with the lead guitars.  Being a lead guitarist I probably err on the side of making the guitars louder, even though I try not too. 
     
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    CLEAN
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/08/31 19:44:15 (permalink)
    Dang - that's a lot of fun to listen to - I think you did really well with this - just great.

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    Wookiee
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/09/01 14:33:35 (permalink)
    This mix comes across well here.
     
    Surgical EQ can be very effective just listen for the obvious clashes and do some narrow cuts to give space.
     
    Thanks for sharing.

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    champchas
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/09/01 15:41:51 (permalink)
    I enjoyed your guitar tune - all sorts of guitar sounds there
    Sounds like it wasn't meant to be too serious  
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    twisted6s
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/09/01 16:58:39 (permalink)
    Nice rendition, melody line could have a bit more "swing" to it but over all really good!

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    jhughs
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/09/02 18:14:08 (permalink)
    Thanks Mark and John.
    Thanks Champagne and Tony - Yes, this is for fun.  I'm an amateur in the true sense of the word (someone who engages in an activity for the love of it.... but if someone coughs up a quarter for a download I can call myself 'professional'.  ha ha). 
    Tony - Thanks for the insight on adding more swing.  I'll work on that.  I ventured out of my comfort zone on this.... the early versions were horribly dry.
     
    Thanks again everyone.
     

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    darylcrowley
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/09/03 11:14:54 (permalink)
    Slick, glad to see someone is not too proud to do a classic like this.  I liked it.  I also don't see need here to worry about the separation.
     
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    Rikkie
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/09/04 11:42:23 (permalink)
    Hi Jeffrey, fun tune and different guitar tones. Not sure what to make of 1:33 to 1:44 ; )
     
    Rik
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    jhughs
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/09/04 22:01:01 (permalink)
    Thanks Daryl.  Redoing classics is becoming a hobby.  Not sure if I can explain this, but as a self-taught guitarist, I'm finding it forces me to think of the guitar more as a musical instrument.  Trying to mimic other instruments makes me try things I'd never try otherwise.  Plus it's fun.
     
    Rikkie - You got it.  That part is a struggle that will need some more practice.  There are some slides, first finger bends with hammer-on/pull-offs, but mostly it goes back to Tony's comment that I need to work on capturing the sax's jazzy/swing feel....
     
    ... which I'll have time to do since I just sent in my graphics card for repair. 

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    notnat
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/09/08 10:19:45 (permalink)
    Henry Mancini was one of my biggest influences... My dad was a big fan, and had several of his albums including "Hatari"... that's the one that did it for me... that opening theme still gives me a thrill... "Baby Elephant Walk" was on that album, and I must have listened to it hundreds of times...
    I loved your tribute... really well done, and very cool... thanks..!  
     
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    AT
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    Re: Baby Elephant Walk - a guitar tribute 2013/09/08 12:33:04 (permalink)
    One of my favorite childhood songs, too.  Sounds really good, tho a few low-pass filters could help round out the sounds and make it seem more vintagey.  When you say separation that is some of what you mean, I think.  Everything is pretty bright and overlaps which means stuff steps over itself.
     
    If I was mixing it I'd probably try to turn down the rhymth guitar a bit after the intro to let some of the other rhythm stuff come out.
     
    But a good take on a great song.  All the sound drops had me smiling - even more than the fun rhythm did.
     
    Thanks,
     
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