Re-visiting the past...

I was working on one of those older songs I mentioned in another thread yesterday. 

Basic drums are done, though I'm still struggling. The original song had a mechanical feel to it. There's a single fill (which even Ringo could have played) used 3 times in the song. I can try and build up on that, but the minimalist/mechanical aspect of the drums really worked for that song. So far I've breathed a bit more life into it, but it still is pretty square. Not sure where I want to take them. And that repeated fill will be hard to replace.

The piano - tough one, as it lays the foundation for the song. The original ones sounded HUGE, lots of bass, and low passed - but w/ some wicked phasing issue. So my original intention to rebuild the song around those had to be discarded.

The hammer sound was pretty obvious too, something I couldn't totally nail. Even Imperfect Samples' Fazioli didn't work and I ended up using one of the odd pianos in Dimension Pro.

There was also some echo on one of the bass synth, some flanger on another (stereo, of course) so the whole thing had like this huge moving watery backdrop, which would be a nightmare to mix. But it's tough to cut into that stuff because it also contributed to the song. Yet, it also caused issues, obviously. Tough call.

It's like trying to re-mix the Cure's Disintegration to make it a bit less opaque. The song is pretty Cure-ish in some ways, incidentally.

Today's guitar day. I did dabble w/ that a bit yesterday. They were originally recorded w/ the strat, so I dug out Marianne but I can't bring myself to play it. That isn't my voice anymore - it's like nothing's there. For the choruses, w/ tons of drive, the LP will be a huge improvement. But the twangy verses will be a different story, because I'm moving from something thin-sounding to something thicker. There will probably be a lot trial and error involved today...

The good new is that I've just realized that my amp can do the sweep echo thing which I needed. :P

It's really tough to make something not just cleaner and more acceptable production-wise, but better overall, particularly when you've lived w/ a recording for 10 years. 

My wife will be the judge, ultimately. It's one of the first songs she heard and complimented me big time for it, saying it sounded "like a ton of brick", despite the issues. Let's see if I can beat that...

"Disintegration is the best album ever!"

The one cool thing which adds extra motivation is that I should finally be able to share some music w/ you guys, since that song is one of mine.

"There's a single fill (which even Ringo could have played) used 3 times in the song"
not being pedantic but didn`t Ringo claim he never used the same fill twice?

I thought this fred was about a Jethro Tull song.

In our cover band (during my high school days) we used to play Bouree and Nothing Is Easy. We actually played both songs at a battle of the bands one week after our lead guitarist got his first (EVER!!!!) flute. He had been playing the flute part on guitar but he never owned a flute or played one before that time. That cat could pick anything up (instrument of parts of songs) in nothing flat

He did not know about the flame throwing flute though. He would have been all over that like white on rice.

Ya. Worth a bump. ;)

I only pick up bad habits quickly.

bapu


Man on man. I spent nearly all day yesterday trying to "rework" one of my tunes from about 1985 or so. I've come to the conclusion that I probably would need to start all over and I'm not sure I want to.

You mean go all the way back to 1985?  Wow, that's some serious commitment!

Well, if you do, sell whatever you can and invest in Microsquish.  Then you can buy a whole flock of Alembics!

Rain
What makes it a bit longer is that I'm so used to hearing it one way that I need to give it a bit of time whenever I replace something, because it doesn't sound "as it should". 

Ya, I know I'm suffering from that too.

 Hope you get it the way you want it. Look forward to hearing it Rain.

 I sat down last evening and came up with something. I'm not sure what it is yet. The new looper is really helping me to put parts together on the fly.

bapu

bapu

Rain
What makes it a bit longer is that I'm so used to hearing it one way that I need to give it a bit of time whenever I replace something, because it doesn't sound "as it should". 

Ya, I know I'm suffering from that too.

This piece has guitars processed with the Rockman. Arrrrrgh

I used to have a few of those units too.  Maybe you could borrow my friend's little Rockman rig - he's down in the Los Angeles area (when he's not being on tour as Tommy Shaw for Dennis DeYoung that is!).
 

You have a lot of questions Soens.  Good questions, yes, but a lot just the same.

I still have a few goodies from the 80's. One by one they are dying on me, though. eBay to the rescue. When supplies finally dry up I'll have no choice but to hold a funeral... and they will be buried deeeeeep.

My Tascam 644 just now started failing to transport in Play and FF. I have a spare for parts but I think it has the same issue.