And I love "Funk 49" by the way! One of my favorite tunes, and you did it nicely. Way laid back, cool groove!
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Roscoe SoundClips 3 (from Roscoe Forum)
- Thread starter Ryan L.
- Start date
I eventually played it all in one take (on like the 15th take - LOL). It sounds like some old country & western baritone guitar payer to me.
LOL Sounds like my one takes. Except more like one take 40 attempts later!
It's got such a nice feel to it. Great use of panning too. Very effective!
Yeah, the panning worked out well for the call & response bit in the first verse ("deh-deh" on the left answered by "duh-duh" on the right). And on the solo parts I used a stereo delay that actually results in the sound coming from three different places in the left-right spectrum. The main track comes at you something like 30% Left, then one echo comes 40% left of that, and another echo comes 40% right of the original. That makes for a huge spread sound that stays out of the way of everything in the middle (namely kick, snare & bass).
I've recently started using a stereo chorus on the "bass" bass track, too. Not for any noticeable effect, but just to widen the bass track a little bit. I keep the kick and bass coming right up the middle, and the chorus just adds a little width to the bass that let's it dominate the kick without obscuring it altogether. There's so much give and take in mixing, but I like to let the bass shine through as much as possible...
I'm listening to it now.
So far my favorites are "Down The Road" and "Finding my Way (love the female vocals!) and Chillin! (yea, that's really NICE)...
Excellent work!
Roscoe (not the bass) should be proud!
Thank you! I'm very grateful for the positive vibes. That was a really rewarding project...I sure wish there were more like it.
Great tips Greg.
I need to experiment around a bit with those idea's.
I know that my next purchase needs to be a Reddi. I'm still just going straight into my Alpha Lexicon audio interface.
The REDDI is cool but, to really get a great sound with it you need to run two channels. One for the REDDI and one for a mic'd cab of some sort. Then, mix them to taste. You really need the mic to fill out the sound. For some reason the DI sounds thin on its own unless you crank it but, then it starts distorting.
We just got the mastered version of "Melting" recently. As soon as I get permission I'll post it and you can hear what a SKB with Nord DCs and Pope pre sound like through a REDDI and a SVT 810.
Also, Jerry, I'm loving the album! Right now I'm really digging the title track and, of course, Witch Hour. I've had a bunch of deadhead flights recently and your album is all I've listened to to drown out the cattle in back (whoops, did I say that out loud).
If I need to (or just want to) fatten up my REDDI tone, I use parallel compression. I send the uncompressed "REDDI" track to two different busses. One bus I treat like you'd treat any bass channel (mild compression, EQ to taste). The other bus I compress like crazy (10:1 ratio, real quick attack and release times) and boost everything under 120 Hz by 6-9 dB. That adds a nice amount of heft to the tone that you can dial in to taste with the bus faders. For my ears, the "usual" bass bus runs about 10 dB or more hotter than the parallel compression bus. The heft is nice, but too much just creates mud.
I may just be ignorant, but I've never had any luck blending a direct track with a mic'd track. There always seem to be phase issues that make the tone sound strange to my ears. With the parallel compression trick, everything stays in phase and you can get as monstrously thick a bass tone as you like.
I'll sometimes clone the original bass track and run it through one of several distortion units in my DAW. Remove evething under 200 Hz or so to keep the low end nice and clean, then blend that in to taste as well...
That's what works for me anyway. But there are a million ways to do it, and I like learning about all of them. Please do share your results when you have a chance!
I may just be ignorant, but I've never had any luck blending a direct track with a mic'd track. There always seem to be phase issues that make the tone sound strange to my ears. With the parallel compression trick, everything stays in phase and you can get as monstrously thick a bass tone as you like.
I'll sometimes clone the original bass track and run it through one of several distortion units in my DAW. Remove evething under 200 Hz or so to keep the low end nice and clean, then blend that in to taste as well...
That's what works for me anyway. But there are a million ways to do it, and I like learning about all of them. Please do share your results when you have a chance!
Cool ideas!
I know that it probably sounds crazy but I really haven't experimented much with getting bass tones. I've been so focused on the basic recording and arrangement side of things that by the time I've nailed that down I end up going quick and dirty on the rest of the tune.
Do you typically pan the 2 bass tracks the same?
I know that it probably sounds crazy but I really haven't experimented much with getting bass tones. I've been so focused on the basic recording and arrangement side of things that by the time I've nailed that down I end up going quick and dirty on the rest of the tune.
Do you typically pan the 2 bass tracks the same?
I do. Straight up the middle, not panned at all. Same with the kick (separate parallel compression & right up the middle). Then a little complementary EQ to get the bass and kick out of each other's way. In my case, I usually boost the kick around 140 Hz and HPF filter it around 60-70 Hz. Then in the bass, I'll shelf boost 110 and below and maybe HPF around 30-40 Hz. Also remove some 140 Hz from the bass plus wherever the beater of the kick is (usually somewhere in the 3-6 kHz range).
Here it is. Its finally done but, the only problem is that the artist hasn't paid for the work yet. Once she does it will be going up on iTunes. Hopefully, we can one day turn this into an entire album but, it seems to be slow going.
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Joel, thanks for the kind words! But, on to more important stuff....your track.
Man. I LOVE the bass playing. Great pocket, and just like the Dude's rug, the line ties the whole room together. Outstanding tone as well. I love everything about the tune....if I may....except the vox. The instrumentation, the changes, the voicings...absolutely perfect. It's a great tune. But the singer - she sounds far too much like Corinne Bailey Rae and the dozens of clones that are out there these days. Sorry to be so critical... Thanks for sharing the tune, and with it your awesome playing.
Man. I LOVE the bass playing. Great pocket, and just like the Dude's rug, the line ties the whole room together. Outstanding tone as well. I love everything about the tune....if I may....except the vox. The instrumentation, the changes, the voicings...absolutely perfect. It's a great tune. But the singer - she sounds far too much like Corinne Bailey Rae and the dozens of clones that are out there these days. Sorry to be so critical... Thanks for sharing the tune, and with it your awesome playing.
Yeah, man - sounds wonderful! Really terrific production. Great drums sounds. Heck, I love the sound of all of the instruments!
I am, however, of a mind with Jerry on the vocals. IMHO, that affectation is overdone at this point. It's so distinct and un-natural sounding, there's just no line between homage and imitation. I'd love to hear this singer take another run at it with her own voice. She's got nice timbre, rhythm & pitch. I'd love to hear her be herself... of course, I'm an old fart, so I probably wouldn't listen to me if I were in her shoes.
All that said, you should be really proud of that song. Very, very well done!
I am, however, of a mind with Jerry on the vocals. IMHO, that affectation is overdone at this point. It's so distinct and un-natural sounding, there's just no line between homage and imitation. I'd love to hear this singer take another run at it with her own voice. She's got nice timbre, rhythm & pitch. I'd love to hear her be herself... of course, I'm an old fart, so I probably wouldn't listen to me if I were in her shoes.
All that said, you should be really proud of that song. Very, very well done!
Thanks for the kind words y'all. The original demo was my first time in the studio and also the first time a producer sat down with me and said, "nope, that's not want I want, write it again." I was banging my head against the wall trying to lock in with the drums and keys.
It took me about an hour until I figured out that I needed to play off of the vocals more than anything else. That's probably why I think Jerry's comment about the Dude's rug is the best compliment my bass playing has ever received! It was was a weird revelation that she was carrying the groove of the song.
Right before the studio was about to send the song off to be mastered the engineer called me back in to re-record the whole track. For some reason my bass, which at the time was equipped with an Aggie pre, was overloading the REDDI and he couldn't get rid of the distortion. So, with a fresh Flexcore installed I played it again and, voila, no distortion.
Also, the entire track was recorded with my five-year-old daughter hanging off my leg. I brought her with me because she wanted to play the studio's drum set then, she got embarrassed. I figure the more music I expose her to the closer I get to having a family band!
Jerry, as far as the vocals, she is definitely not for everyone. She is trying to go in a more jazz oriented direction which I think is a mistake. In fact there is a jazz version of Melting. Americana and indy pop are what her voice was made for though. Give her a few more years to mature and she could compete with the Regina Spectors and Ingrid Michaelsons of the world.
It took me about an hour until I figured out that I needed to play off of the vocals more than anything else. That's probably why I think Jerry's comment about the Dude's rug is the best compliment my bass playing has ever received! It was was a weird revelation that she was carrying the groove of the song.
Right before the studio was about to send the song off to be mastered the engineer called me back in to re-record the whole track. For some reason my bass, which at the time was equipped with an Aggie pre, was overloading the REDDI and he couldn't get rid of the distortion. So, with a fresh Flexcore installed I played it again and, voila, no distortion.
Also, the entire track was recorded with my five-year-old daughter hanging off my leg. I brought her with me because she wanted to play the studio's drum set then, she got embarrassed. I figure the more music I expose her to the closer I get to having a family band!
Jerry, as far as the vocals, she is definitely not for everyone. She is trying to go in a more jazz oriented direction which I think is a mistake. In fact there is a jazz version of Melting. Americana and indy pop are what her voice was made for though. Give her a few more years to mature and she could compete with the Regina Spectors and Ingrid Michaelsons of the world.
One more thing, other than the vocalist and pianist (they come as a pair and I won't comment about them here) the other two studio musicians on this track are absolutely amazing. I played with them on a CD release party back in December and it was just a flat out joy to play with them.
I have never locked in with a drummer like I have with this guy. His inner clock is darn near perfect with just the right amount of swing. He never over plays and makes less equal more every time.
The guitar/mandolin/banjo/fiddle/dobro player makes my head hurt. How can someone be so good on so many instruments? When we played the gig in December all I did was watch him in amazement. It's just really cool how gifted musicians can bring the best out of yourself.
I have never locked in with a drummer like I have with this guy. His inner clock is darn near perfect with just the right amount of swing. He never over plays and makes less equal more every time.
The guitar/mandolin/banjo/fiddle/dobro player makes my head hurt. How can someone be so good on so many instruments? When we played the gig in December all I did was watch him in amazement. It's just really cool how gifted musicians can bring the best out of yourself.
Here's a new Bass Orchestra instrumental inspired by the grand kids playing hard at my mother in-laws 80th birthday bash last night. We held it outside next to the playground in our backyard and they played hard for 4 straight hours. Of course there were a few "Time Outs" imposed during the party! :>)
This one features my Roscoe SKB 3006 on all bass parts. It's mostly just the result of me playing around with a riff.
The drums were done using the Dr. OctoRex drum machine in Reason 6.5
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This one features my Roscoe SKB 3006 on all bass parts. It's mostly just the result of me playing around with a riff.
The drums were done using the Dr. OctoRex drum machine in Reason 6.5
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That's awesome, Joe. Sounds to me just like a bunch of kids zig-zagging through a yard full of adults. Cool riff.
