No Woman No Cry (cover)

I've written a review of Indiginus' new Renaxxance nylon guitar library for the next issue of SoundBytes that'll be out in about a week. I'll give away the punchline now: it's a really fun library to play in real time. This Bob Marley cover came out of a jam while fiddling with Renaxxance, and I liked the rough improvisation enough to go ahead and flesh it out into a song. 
 
This features two other Indiginus libraries as well: Delta Blues Slide Guitar and Acoustic Guitar Collection. 
 
Something new I did for this project was to sing into a cheap Sennheiser stage dynamic while playing the nylon guitar part on the keyboard, recording both simultaneously. Despite the lack of acoustic treatment around the mike, it worked out OK because I was singing very close (I had to later filter out a lot of lows from the proximity effect, though; MDynamicEQ to the rescue!). Another thing that made the vocals work was Audio Damage's free RoughRider compressor on the lead. It's an old effect that I've recently re-discovered and will no doubt be using more. 
 
Drums are from the TTS-1 (!). Like I said, this started out as an improvised jam. But rather than substituting a proper drum library I decided to see what I could do with the TTS-1. I used MTransient to soften the transients on the snare, and Saturn on the kick to beef up the bottom, delays on tambourine and shaker, and compression on the overheads. It was still a little thin, so I gave in and layered some additional percussion: my favorite epic percussion library Epic Battle, a Kontakt instrument made from water bottles. There's also a smattering of marching-band snare ensembles in there, from SampleLogic's Rumble library. When you think Bob Marley you just automatically think marching band, right?
 
This was also the first time I've used SampleTank3 (bass). I figured I paid a lot of money for it, I might as well use it for something. After auditioning a bunch of ST3's bass patches, I settled on "P Bass Pick Flat-Wound", with no additional processing or editing. I think it sounds pretty OK, although if I was to do it over again I'd probably use my usual favorite, the Orange Tree Rickenbacker as it'd be punchier.
 
This was an unusual project all around, lots of experimentation. A great way to fritter away a Saturday!
 

This has always been one of my favorite Marley songs.  I like your arrangement, and I don't think the equipment held you back.  I would like the hear the lead vocal a bit louder, but that's just personal preference.  Kudos!

It's a very nice tune and a great version of it. I really like the harmonies you have in there (Great job!). The bass and guitars sound very natural to me...I'm always impressed with how good of a job some of you guys do with the outstanding libraries available today.

Very nice... I think I have some of those indiginus samples too. I recall picking up the acoustic guitar some time back.
 
 
Your experiment sounded good.    nice play by play on the explanation of what you were doing with the software..... nice sounding slide lead.  
 
TTS is a very capable synth in the right hands.  I think it gets a bad rap simply because it's bundled free with Cake products and people assume..... free=less than good.... after all, it's free.  I've heard some really amazing things produced totally on TTS on these forums through the years by folks who take the time to tweek the sounds.
 
Nice work.

I'm a big B. Marley fan as I did grow up listening to a lot of "island" music and this version was a real treat. It translated really well on my H-phones.....especially the BV (Melodyne?)......EVERYTHING was done very well. Thanks Dave for sharing!!
(giving it a second listen). 

That was a very nice variation on a classic. I like all your harmonies too. Brings back memories. Sweet. :)

Thanks to everyone who gave it a listen.
 
Interesting, that's two votes for bringing up the vocal. Interesting because I was afraid it was too loud.
 
But that's how we are when mixing our own vocals, huh? The two most-frequently offered criticisms on this subforum are "turn up/down the bass" and "can't hear the vocal". The former can be chalked up to inadequate monitoring, but the latter can only be explained by nearly everyone's apparent dislike of hearing their own voices. When I mix other people's stuff, I have no problem floating that vocal right on top of everything.
 
Tom, sorry I don't have an opinion on the Amplesound instruments. I had tried their initial product and was disappointed by its heavy CPU usage, although I had no complaints about the sound nor its programmability. And I do like Taylor guitars. The real ones, that is.
 
I'm a fan of Ilya Efimov's guitars, but I don't own them as they're a bit pricey for my limited budget. That's why I like the Indiginus stuff - nothing's over 50 bucks. I've got every one of them except Torch, and I'll probably add that one eventually, too. Check out Tracy's oldest product, the Acoustic Guitar Collection (AGC). It features nine different guitars, including a nice double-tracked 12-string and an easy-to-use strum sequencer, and it's just $40!
 
 

very nice Dave - lush layers and the backing vocals are sublime

I'd leave it as is Dave. Very good as it stands.

It surprised me that it's the TT1 for the drums.

I really liked the next song, "Going Home." Is that lead guitar samples?

bitflipper
Yes, all the guitars are faked in "Going Home". The middle lead is OTS' EEG Strawberry. 

 So when you say "faked" I take it you mean some strum VSTi? Or did you play on a keyboard into a VSTi?
 
I like it. Sounds good! Really good!!
 
Good job.
 
[edit]
Saw a video on You Tube. I understand now.!
[/edit]

Noice.
 
That's the way to cover a song. Make it your own.

Great job on this one Dave! Masterful production. I like the way you sang and played it!

Very nice. Good vocals, that deserves a little more volume IMO.
Thank's for sharing the song and details of how you recorded it.

I'm stunned. Beautiful job! Who needs guitar players, eh?

 . . . as one must also play the lemons that life gives you. :)
 
Thanks for the indiginus recommendation, I'll check 'em out.