Thinking About You - Sonar X2

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the wildman
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2015/03/05 08:52:04 (permalink)

Thinking About You - Sonar X2

Well here is my latest effort. https://soundcloud.com/th...man/thinking-about-you 
               [the latest remix (Friday 6th March 2015 - UK time)]
 
Please have a listen and tell me what you think.
i did this as a bit of an excercise to see what i could manage to accomplish on my own.

This song is a more obscure number and was an interesting choice for me.
EP recorded this song in the STAX studios in Memphis in 1975.
I created my own take on the number.

There are about 22 tracks in this project. I tried to make use of the Pro Channel for EQ.
I used Focusrites Midnight Compressor on the Bass Guitar and Vocals and used a DBX 166xl hardware outboard compressor 'on the way in' for the Strat guitar parts.

As my home studio is small (12' x 7 1/2') ive given up using my Shure KSM27 condensor mic, as the rooms acoustics kill it. So Im using my Beyer Dynamic TGX480 Stage hypercardiod vocal mic these days.
There are 9 separate vocal tracks (all me) including:
1 x Lead vocal
1 x Lead double on the chorus
2 x Harmony vocals
5 x Background vocals (unison)

Regards Phill
post edited by the wildman - 2015/03/07 04:55:28

www.soundcloud.com/the-Wildman 
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10 Replies Related Threads

    evadianepug
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    Re: Thinking About You - Sonar X2 2015/03/05 09:29:08 (permalink)
    Well, I wrote this whole long comment and deleted it by accident.  Here's the short version. All well done performance wise.You definitely have skills.  The mix seems to lack depth to me.The other guys up here do a better job of the technical comments so if it should go down the board and you are still looking for answers don't be afraid to "bump" it back up.I don't remember hearing this song before.  

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    Warren (Pug) Willingham
    THE PUGTONES
    http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=919339&content=music
    SonarX3
    #2
    the wildman
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    Re: Thinking About You - Sonar X2 2015/03/05 16:41:47 (permalink)
    Anyone?

    www.soundcloud.com/the-Wildman 
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    ward s
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    Re: Thinking About You - Sonar X2 2015/03/05 17:35:07 (permalink)
    Nice tune. I'd never heard it before either.
     
    I am still very new to this home studio process, but to my Noob ears your recording and mix sound awfully good. Great vocals. To me, the drums were a little brittle and rigid and overall the mix seemed a little thin, like Warren said, but you're almost there. 

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    codamedia
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    Re: Thinking About You - Sonar X2 2015/03/05 17:52:59 (permalink)
    On your soundcloud account, you mentioned that all the parts were recorded but the drums were programmed. The drums are the weak spot for me. I'm not sure how you programmed these - or using what system, but there just isn't much feel and actually become distracting at times.
     
    I see you used X2... so you likely don't have Addictive Drums (added in X3). Might I suggest you look into Addictive Drums, or Toontrack EZ Drummer. Real sounds and real parts played by real drummers... they really make drum tracking (for those of us that are not drummers) much easier.
     
    Just my 2 cents...

    Don't fix it in the mix ... Fix it in the take! 
     

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    Freddy J
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    Re: Thinking About You - Sonar X2 2015/03/05 20:28:33 (permalink)
    Overall you did a really good job on this song.  Your vocals are very good as is the rest of the instrumentation.  I agree with the comment above about the drums but I also have a problems in adding drums.  I have relied mostly on lining up different WAV loops.  IMHO there is nothing major wrong with the mix that a bit of juggling in volume levels (e.g., the instruments panned hard L & R are hard to hear -- at least with my old ears) and some eq-ing will probably help with the depth Warren mentioned.
     
    Nice one!!!
     
     
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    the wildman
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    Re: Thinking About You - Sonar X2 2015/03/06 04:03:39 (permalink)
    Thank you
    post edited by the wildman - 2015/03/06 04:25:07

    www.soundcloud.com/the-Wildman 
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    the wildman
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    Re: Thinking About You - Sonar X2 2015/03/06 04:03:45 (permalink)
    Thank you very much Guys for your time.

    How i did the drums:
    I started by selecting a pattern in my Roland DR880 that was almost what i wanted, and recorded 8 bars onto a MIDI track.
    Then i started editing via the Piano Roll view( my favourite for Midi).
    When i got the groove right, i copy and pasted across the song.
    Then i made some more patterns for all the staccato sections, fills, and the chorus parts by using the Finger pads on the dr880 and then by furthe editing in the Piano Roll view. I dont think any drum machine or wav file would give you these parts of the song.
    Then copy and pasted to the other relevant sections of the song.
    Then i split up the various drum instruments and put them each on their own track.
    So i ended up with separate tracks for;
    Kick
    Snare
    Hats
    Cymbals and rides
    Toms

    Then went back into Piano Roll view and carried out further editing to change all the hi hats , cymbals etc throughout to make it sound more like a human was playing it. Variations in the velocity across the parts and each verse chorus etc.
    Including variations to the Kicks and snares etc.
    I tried to make sure that nothing played that a real human drummer could not play. Eg, when playing a fill across the toms, your obviously not going to get the snare drum carrying on at the same time, so i looked at all that.
    Basically all the drumming took most of the time, and was all mostly done via finger pad and mouse edits.

    Playing the drum sounds is Cakewalks TTS1 synth.
    Each drum has its own channel so the reverb could turn right down on the snars and just about off on the kicks.
    TTS1 tracks can be edited and then saved as a patch which is cool.

    Regarding the mix in general, i dont know what else to do!
    Everything i do is self taught and from scratch, so im looking for as much advice on 'how to' from anyone who has managed or knows how to do it already.

    Btw, nothing is panned hard left or right.
    The most panning is 10oclock and 2oclock.
    On the guitars for instance.
    I try to think of what a real live band would be doing when.
    I have in my mind
    Drums centre stage
    Lead vocals centre stage
    Harmony vocals centre left
    Backing vocal groups righ of stage
    Rythem guitar centr right
    Bass centre
    Lead guitar centre left
    Piano and keys either left or near centre ( i just had a bit of Fender Rhodes on this track)
    String centre / centre left ( none present on this track)

    You get the idea.
    post edited by the wildman - 2015/03/11 04:47:58

    www.soundcloud.com/the-Wildman 
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    codamedia
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    Re: Thinking About You - Sonar X2 2015/03/06 09:57:08 (permalink)
    It looks like you did a lot of work on the drums ... but I still stand by my comment that the drums are the weakest link. There is so much nuance in a drum pattern (eg: continual hi-hat movement whether they are played or not, mechanical noise from the moving components, ghost hits, etc...) that they are very difficult to program well. When those are removed the drums don't sound natural.
     
    I still suggest you buy a copy of Addictive Drums, or EZ Drummer. Neither is that expensive, and they come on sale regularly (I got EZ Drummer for $50). The sounds on those systems are great, and the patterns are played by real drummers. You can still edit the patterns in the piano roll if you want.

    Don't fix it in the mix ... Fix it in the take! 
     

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    the wildman
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    Re: Thinking About You - Sonar X2 2015/03/06 17:32:04 (permalink)
    Thanks for the input, i may look into that. Im sure your right about it.
    Meanwhile, i have done a remix and is posted with the same link.
    I tried to get more depth on the mix.
    I panned each of the drum instruments to their relative positions across the stereo field to make them sound more realistic.
    post edited by the wildman - 2015/03/07 03:34:21

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    stevec
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    Re: Thinking About You - Sonar X2 2015/03/11 17:37:04 (permalink)
    Just listened to the second mix...   The vocals are clear, and the guitars fill their space just right IMO.  Like the harmonies/background vocals too.    The drums... yeah, they're just a bit "flat", but I'm not sure how far TTS-1 drums can actually go being what they are.     I think better drum samples could definitely help "liven" up the overall mix.

    SteveC
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