https://soundcloud.com/god-z/a-pair-of-brown-eyes-cover
 
I know its a cover. But this my version of this wonderful song. I recorded this one at my dining room table. I had just got a stereo pair of Rodes NT5 mics and wanted to test them out on acoustic guitar. I learned some important things about phase cancelling here and had to eliminate 2 guitar tracks that were part of the problem.
 
All vocals were recorded with an Audio Technica 2035 Large Diaphragm mic.
Acoustic guitars recorded with Rodes NT5 small diaphragm stereo mics.
Bass was recorded straight into my audio interface with one of Anderton's bass setups.
Drums were with Addictive Drums 2.
Violins were Dimension Pro.
The song was mixed with Alloy 2 Mixing Suite.
 
My objective here was to try and get a good recording in a not so favourable recording environment. As well as to practice mixing.
 
I would love any input. Let me know where I went wrong, what I did right (if any, LOL), what I could do better, etc.
 
Cheers,
 
Chad

Hi Chad,
 
Nicely played and a pretty balanced mix I'd say. Nothing disturbing here. I didn't here any phase issues but I don't have a mono button on my interface so couldn't really check it. Drums and Bass translates well over here, no muddiness.
Vox sound pretty melodyned (but you mentioned that yourself) but listening through that, the interpretation is really nice.
As a mix practice it's definitely on the right track. ...Maybe spent some extra time on the arrangement as well...?
 
anyway, good stuff !
 
Cheers,
Daniel

Thanks Daniel. To correct the phase problems I only use one mic track (out of each stereo recording).
 
Chad
 

I have played this song myself as cover hundreds of times over the years (vocals and acoustic guit with and without a backing band) and performed it live... well I don't know how many times but possibly close to a hundred times.
 
I enjoyed this. I only listened through my crummy headphones on my laptop and it sounded nice and clear (these headphones are actually a good test of what's mix well or not... if it's not it sounds like crap and this was pristine but I am not a pro engineer).
 
I will not comment on mix because I am not a pro engineer but it was all clear.
 
What I will comment on is the performance and execution. It's either too perfect or too sparse IMO.
 
Let me explain. I am not sure if you AutoTuned/Melodyned this of if you actually sang it this perfectly but either way... it is way too tight. It sounds auto tuned... and that's fine. I actually think that sounds cool and modern in a way BUT with that ultra tight pitch/enunciation I think the backer tracks could also be a little more modern/busy/unique.
 
Personally I think you've got a nice pop punker voice so if this IS pitch/timing corrected ease back on it a bit to let the vocals breathe and stagger a little. Humanize the backers a little too and this would be golden.
 
Alternatively keep it as is but add something extra to the background. I don't know what but if it's gonna have that almost hard corrected sound and be a modernized version then get creative and put some other stuff in there.
 
Really though it seems like you wanted to stay true to the original and I would love to hear this crusted up/humanized ever so slightly. It is the Pogues after all.
 
It is really good though and thank you for posting it. I love this song.
 
Cheers/
 
Edit: Just to be absolutely clear... I think this is great. It's perfect actually. It's such an emotional and soulful song and I have been so close to it for so long I think you could let it be a just a teensy bit more human and raw.
 
I always feel like a d*ck giving critiques here which is why I stopped doing it but I just had to give this a listen because of the material. You really did do a great job. Well done.

Sounded good to me.  Nice job.  Good clean mix.

Hi Chad,
 
I liked your rendition of this Pogues number 
 
Phase cancelling is something I haven't had to deal with yet... I do have a couple of Rode NT1s, and an acoustic guitar, but I doubt if I'll ever bother recording them. Phase issues is another one of those scary things that would have me running to the Techniques forum to ask many stupid questions LOL.
 
Mix sounded well at my end... I could pick out all the elements nicely.
 
cheers
 
andy 

Good job Chad. 

Thanks everyone for your comments. I really appreciate it.
 
Beepster, I love this song too. It's been my favourite Pogues song since I heard it on Much Music (the Canadian version of M TV) back in the 80's.
The vocals were corrected quite a bit. I actually did about 7-9 takes for each verse and chorus which I used the comping ability of Sonar. And that's not counting the countless takes that were deleted. I basically stitched the lead vocals together a few words at a time. The truth is I was getting depressed with how bad my singing was. Out of tune and cracking constantly. I am not being humble. It really was that bad. I might have even cried at one point. LOL. But I know what you mean about maybe backing off a bit on the pitch correction. It takes a bit of the natural feel away. I can hear it myself.
The song does need something more going on in the background. I have thought about that when I finished it. I just didn't really know what to do. I tried to keep true to the melody on vocals and the guitar and bass. I put the violin in during that little break part where the banjo should be and just kept going with the violins. I thought that might give the song a different feel from the original. I wanted to keep the song simple but it is lacking a bit. I will mess around a bit more and see if I can add to the arrangement a bit. Maybe add another instrument doing arpeggios or something like that and back off some volume on the violin and lays over the melody.
 
Thanks again.
 
Cheers,
 
Chad
 

Oh, good. I'm glad I didn't offend. I just... well I'm weirdo who hears stuff. I've driven people nuts with it for years but it's all in the name of good art.
 
And this is good.
 
As far as being upset about not being able to nail Mr MacGowan's vocals on one of his best performances... dude, can't let that kind of thing get you down. He is a master (or was before he totally murdered his voice with booze and smokes). I spent over a decade trying to master his stuff (as well as Luke Kelly's). It's really quite difficult to get just right. He had that perfect mix of skill and raw edge.
 
Not that it needs it but I think if you tried tracking these vox again just for fun you'd be surprised how much better they turn out. It really does sound like you spent a lot of time correcting it to make it perfect and just having the pitch and enunciation jammed into your head is a huge part of a good vocal performance (at least for those of us who are not naturals... and trust me I am no natural... I have to work VERY hard to sing even reasonably well).
 
You have a good natural timbre to your voice. Young and modern. Like I said it has that appealing pop punk quality so there is commercial appeal without being lame and boring. This is a very difficult song so the fact you even attempted it and succeeded (despite having to stitch together a comp and pitch correct) is a good sign.
 
And don't feel bad about making a comp of the vocals. That's standard practice. Most of the stuff you hear released (and although I am not intimately familiar with Pogues production I bet it applies doubly) is comped together from multiple takes or overdubbed. Microphones and "tape" in the studio are VERY unforgiving. I used to make a have decent chunk of change singing live. Everyone loved my voice. I started recording... total freaking garbage. It was horrible. I had to totally change how I approached it compared to my live stuff because there is no PA, room or whatever acting as a buffer to the ever so slight nuances that can make or break a recorded vocal track.
 
The proper mics and other input equipment for vocals is really important too which is something I've realized (and partially why I've avoided recording any vocals for a long time now because my gear and production skills haven't been the best).
 
There are FAR better and more experienced guys here who can give you proper advice but I know the pitfalls of this specific song in the studio specifically (I've recorded it many times) and yeah... vocal cracks, things going off pitch, whatever... it all hard to control especially when you are getting all bunched up because you know it's going to "tape".
 
 
As far as THIS production... as I said I think all you really need to do is not go so nuts with the hard correction. Do it by hand if you have to and don't completely snap EVERYTHING to the EXACT pitch unless it's a really strong/importing note. Also don't completely snap it to the timeline. Allow for a little lead in before the beat or lag after the beat and I think this will sound way better without anything else added. A lot of work for sure but I prefer to do all that kind of thing by hand and ear (but I do it on drums and other instruments mostly... haven't gone nuts on a vocal track yet).
 
For an extra instrument, in this arrangement, I would maybe try just a very real sounding piano. It's not part of the original composition but you aren't going to find a decent midi banjo, accordian or penny whistle sound without spending a fortune on sample banks/third party synths... and even then it'll be kind of meh (and a massive PITA to program so it sounds natural). You can't really go wrong with a nice piano sound and you can easily get those arpeggios and chords the banjo and accordian are doing. It would also add a nice twist to your version making it uniquely yours. You could also hunt around for a nice sample to act as a nice whistle sound. I've always contemplated maybe using a flute or recorder sound and really programming the crap out of it to make it sound subtle and really but still able to cut and accent nicely.
 
Actually I just gave away some of my own plans for when I start recording my own versions of some of this stuff but hey... use whatever. I'm a fan now so I'm looking forward to whatever you come up with.
 
BTW, I'm also a Canucker so I am familiar with MuchMusic. I've even been on it and/or had bands I've been involved with showcased on stuff like The New Music and crap. Nothing major but yeah... I know MM. I was raised on that stuff and was always kind of on the immediate outskirts of the whole CityTV/MM ecosystem. I'm kind of "retired" now and all that crap has changed but yeah... those were some cool times and MuchMusic was absolutely brilliant back in the day.
 
Power Hour, biznotches!!! Lol...
 
Best to ya.
 
Edit: Again, I am saying all this at the risk of coming off like a total d*ck. This is indeed a great rendition as is. You've already got a lot of good, skilled ears saying it sounds great (and it does... the mix is wonderful... better than I could do). I just feel like I know what you were trying to accomplish and you seemed to confirm that with your reply. Just offering some suggestions to help you achieve that. This is top shelf so feel free to totally ignore me and I apologize if you are offended in any way.

This sounds terrific on my KRK's.  Don't overthink this.  Regardless whether you played this a million times or not, go with you gut feeling.  It makes my gut feel good.