Well, I did a little holiday-type recording...

Discussion in 'Recordings [BG]' started by bman, Nov 27, 2005.

  1. bman

    bman

    Dec 4, 2000
    Sandown, N.H., USA
    We did six songs in two sessions...

    http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/album.php?aid=4837&alid=-1

    Alex, 18, on Gibson acoustic - sat in front of one of those old long, thin microphones that used to come with your computer.
    Ryan, 15, on vocals - a crappy Samson mic.
    Me, old, on Variax - straight into my laptop through the DI.

    The only songs with bass are "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Deck the Halls" (but that's also me on banjo on "Noel" and "Deck" and me on the keyboard "cello" on "Little Drummer Boy.")

    Over all, I'm really happy with the quality given the equipment. The timing drops out once in a while, and the mic placement on the acoustic varies.
    The Variax performed pretty well, I thought. I used the upright bass sound (the only reason I got it, really) on both "We Wish You" and "Deck." Sounds OK to me on "We Wish You" but it's muddy on "Deck the Halls" I think. At the end of the song the guitar fades out, leaving the bass line, so you can get a decent feel for what I was going for.
    I think I need to really try to sculpt the sound more. Define it better.
    We were going for a fast, jazzy/insane feel on "Deck the Halls" anyway, but it is a bit scattershot.

    Anyway, it was a blast. We used Cakewalk Pro Audio 9. Very little, if any, effects on the vocals. We double tracked her here and there, but whenever I throw reverb on it seems like overkill.
    What do you think?

    (Oh, and that's my 3-year-old daughter at the end of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas.") :p
     
  2. considering what you had to work with, its not bad at all...i'd just see if you could get a little more of your bass out in the mix, as i really couldn't hear it, except for the solo at the end of deck the halls :)

    very good though!