Black Friday morning found me working in some piano to my maybe-demo for Christie. Liberated by my newly-acquired headphone extension cord (20 feet! Thanks Radio Shack!), I stood at the piano and, realizing I’m going to need a lot of practice, plucked out a few ideas. I I made many attempts to record and finally got down a simple, not-too-embarrassing part from which to work.
I then picked up my bass and played, and recorded, a simple part without too much trouble. The drums I attempted to play on keyboard did not fair so well. I deleted the track and will determine how to handle those going forward. The track:
I think I’ll re-record the vocal track and work out some background vocals. At that point, I’ll probably call it a demo and move on to the next song.
On the research front, I ran (so far away) across this article and copied out a few tidbits (see below):
-Off Bass
————
The tidbits:
‘Singer-songwriter Jane Lui:
…prefers Sennheiser HD595 headphones…
For mastering, she uses “Wavelab’s Vintage Warmer on a PC laptop. That app is magic.”’
‘Singer, songwriter and online chart topper Andy Oliver:
…started to get a more professional sound from his home recordings by “investing in the Rode N1 and mic accessories like the shield.”’
‘Songwriter Jason Perrillo
…greatly values being careful and patient, and taking your time. After you have mixed a track, he advises that you “put it aside and then listen back. I’ve always said that it’s impossible to mix a song in one day. You need time for everything to settle down and then go back to work at it.”’
‘Scott Horton provides services for new and established artists through Virtual Mix Engineer…
…reminds aspiring recording engineers that some things can’t be bought, “knowledge, above all gear, will take you the furthest (and is often the cheapest!). Read recording books, watch tutorial videos on YouTube, Groove3, Lynda, participate in forums such as Gearslutz and HomeRecording, and experiment hands-on. You’ll learn by doing, applying the rules, and then breaking them.”’
‘Rock drummer and studio owner Tyler Chen …recommends economizing by recording guitar and bass tracks at home “without the pressure wasting studio time. After you’ve compiled the perfect takes for each song, you can choose to either use amp modeling software (such as AmpliTube) or the ‘re-amping’ process. Re-amping means that your clean guitar tracks are played back through your amp and simultaneously recorded. If you re-amp at your home studio, it allows you to spend more time dialing in the perfect guitar tone and even re-amping the same track on multiple amps.”’
Coming along very nicely! Piano adds a bright melodic counterpoint. Get Up fans would love to hear some harmonies and a more belting-it-out vocal on the chorus (but you know how demanding they are).
Much obliged. Love those fans! Admittedly, that vocal track was half-baked. I re-recorded it this morning. See next blog entry.
Excellent progress sir
I found a good set of cheap monitors helped lessen “headphone” induced ear fatigue too and was a good cross check on headphone mixes. Consider adding this to that never ending shopping list of “shiny stuff” one must have to make the perfect song.
It’s interesting but I believe cheaper is better in regard to monitors. If you can make your song sound good through cheap (flat) middle range monitors it will probably sound good in multiple speaker environments like cars, computers, cheap headphone in-ears and regular stereo speakers.
Cheers
Dave
Thanks for reading and listening. I was browsing monitors a few weeks back and appreciate your 2 cents.