2024 06 17 Wind and Rain
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- Опубликовано: 16 июн 2024
- Welcome back listeners. Hope everyone had a nice weekend. We finally had some rain this week, we really needed it as the weather has been hot and dry for months. That inspired Saturday's home recording.
Moving along, and learning all the time, this experiment combines a meticulously tracked orchestra with band instruments like drums, bass, and guitar. I am recording at home with SM57 single microphones on speakers. With orchestra parts played on MIDI Guitar, automated with expression pedal mapped to Resonance within Spitfire Audio's Abbey Road One and Two, outboard reverb is called Rotospheres. These software instruments take on a new realism, and position nicely in the mix. Flutes are reverb dominant, and hover nicely. Subtle harp plucks and Triangle help guide the listener towards the band tracks, and develops into one of the loudest and screaming guitar parts I've ever recorded! It's the G&L Telecaster with new strings, for the entire song. To control the mix level and overall volume of the lead guitars, the Waves CLA-3A compression plugin is automated inside FL Studio, acting as a parallel compression mix.
When using video footage from Pexels, it comes pre-compressed and in a wide variety of frame rates. This can sometimes prove stubborn to use in DaVinci Resolve, but I discovered a way to minimize problems is to export the timeline first uncompressed and then import that video back into DaVinci and export as MPEG, with a fresh Uncompressed WAV audio file. DaVinci then exports with ease, as the entire video is in one single format which Resolve can easily understand. If using clips in multiple formats, it can cause frequent crashes. Good times.
All weekend I have been undecided whether to publish this. I slept on it, listened critically for days and decided this is who I am, I shouldn't be ashamed of my loud guitar tolerance. I like loud guitars, lead guitars, and singing melodies. That must be why I enjoyed this song, even after repeat listening.
Helping me make music is Brownie, my little bunny, under my desk and my cat Sonny, laying on the desk beside me. Both of them like to be in the room, and listening for the entire process. Loud volume doesn't deter them, which I find interesting. They said Hello, btw. ;)
Thanks for listening -Jim, Sonny, & Brownie
Production notes:
FL Studio 21.2.3
87bpm 32bit WAV audio 48k sample rate
EZ Drummer 2 (Drums)
Singer-Songwriter -The Mellow Backbeat Kit
West Coast Rock Grooves -Love You Still
Waves CLA-2A
FL Limiter
Bass DI
Ibanez Iceman
Fabfilter Pro Q3
Waves CLA-2A
FL Limiter (Sidechain to Kick Drum)
MIDI Guitar
Xaviere XV-900
Fishman Triple Play
Softsynth 1 (Acoustic Guitar)
Spectrasonics Omnisphere
Multi
-Twelve String Guitar Bright
-Hybrid Harmonic Magic
-Double-Tracked Six Strings a
Eventide H8000fw -Rotospheres
Softsynths 2, 3, 4 (Strings)
Spitfire Audio Abbey Road Two
-Cello/Loneliness/Rotospheres
-Violin/Rotospheres
-Viola/Rotospheres
Softsynths 5, 6, 7, 8 (Horns/Woodwinds)
Spitfire Audio Abbey Road One
-Brass:Horns/Rotospheres
-Brass:Low Brass/Rotospheres
-Wonderous Flutes/Rotospheres
-Vibrant Reeds/Rotospheres
Softsynth 9 (Harp)
Cinesamples CineHarps/Loneliness/Rotospheres1
Softsynth 10 (Triangle)
EZ Drummer 2 Claustrophobic
Low Gain Guitars (Rhythm)
G&L ASAT Classic Alnico
Neck and Bridge Pickups
Left Victoria Sovereign -2x Greenback G12M 25w
SM57 -Phoenix Audio DRS-Q4
Right Marshall JMP -2x Greenback G12H(55)
SM57 -Phoenix Audio DRS-Q4
Eventide Orville Gorgeous Delay
Low Gain Guitars (Lead)
G&L ASAT Classic Alnico
Neck and Bridge Pickups
Black Widow MGP-1a
Marshall EL34 50/50
L 2x Greenback G12M 20w
L SM57 Dave Hill Designs Europa 1
R 2x Greenback G12H(75)
R e609 Dave Hill Designs Europa 1
Eventide Orville Gorgeous Delay
High Gain Guitars (Lead)
G&L ASAT Classic Alnico
Bridge Pickup
ADA MP-1
L Peavey Classic 50/50
L 2x Alnico Blue -SM57
L UK Sound 1173
R Marshall EL34 50/50
R 2x Greenback G12M 20w -SM57
R Dave Hill Designs Europa 1
Eventide Orville Gorgeous Delay
Fabfilter Pro Q3 (6.6dB 244Hz Bass Boost)
Waves CLA-3A
Mix Buss
Waves SSL G Comp
FL Limiter
Loudness Penalty -.1dB
Pexels Video Footage
DaVinci Resolve RUclips format 
Видеоклипы
Jim this is simply beautiful. The tonalities are dreamy and crystal clear. Keep these coming!
Kept thinking of ZZ Top’s Rough Boy, where the guitar harmonics feature. Had fun with every orchestral element. Each one tracked separately and specifically.
That sounded awesome Jim! I'm always really impressed with your uploads. Every element was perfect.
Thanks a lot Colin, always amazes me how the orchestra instruments add together. They’re pre-placed in the room, some on the left and some on the right. Thank you for listening. 🙏
Otro buenísimo trabajo Jim, me ha gustado mucho, ha sido genial, enhorabuena una vez más y gracias por compartirlo, like 2
Muchas gracias Jose, que te vaya bien. 🙏😊
Amazing tune! Love it.
💪 Thanks a lot Sheila! 😊
I love it too 😊
Hi to Brownie and Sunny ❤
Those big bunny ears hear everything. Every bird, every bump in the night. 😊 Thanks Anne. 🙏
Nicely done as always Jim. Sweet guitar tone. I have been fighting with my 57's trying to get a good acoustic tone for something I have been working on. I have a feeling my wallet is going to be dispersing more of it's contents for small and large condenser mic's. I managed to get the lead and acoustic rhythm tones my ears were happy with, the lead is fighting me though. Double tracking with two different acoustics doesn't help. The warmth of a Taylor and the brightness of a PRS Angelus each recorded in stereo split to mono each panned L & R with a stereo track in the middle should sound pretty full and dynamic. The 57's just ain't cutting it as far as dynamics go. I've tried 12th fret and bridge, 12th fret ad a mic over my shoulder. I ended up settling one mic at the 12th angled toward the sound hole and one pointed at the body about halfway between the bridge and the butt of the guitar. It's funny though to not know what your ears want until they hear it. Then of course theres that whole recording wet vs dry thing that I will never decide on..
There are those very expensive secondary mics but I decided a long time ago that they’re really not necessary. Those Royers weren’t around in the 70s and people still made great sounds. So I don’t aim at center, or at the dust cap. Usually it’s the halfway point between the dust cap and speaker edge. Fabfilter Pro Q3 can create the bottom end bump as needed. And there’s no phase issues to worry about.
Limited space and limited budget. Of course I would like to try someday adding a Beyer M160 or a Sennheiser MD421, an AEA R88 or AKG 414… but that’s getting serious about room sound. I’m in an ISO box, there’s no room sound to begin with.
I have a classical guitar I’ve always wanted to record, and that would be similar to an acoustic. I would likely try to just use my 57s as well. Sometimes I’ll just call my Sound Pure representation and talk to them, because they have tried all sorts of mics, for all sources. Like a nice Gefell or something. The high end market changes all the time, and I would need to hear from someone who knows.
So I lean on a Reverb for ambience. It’s an easy out for me. Seems when mixing that I like to add more space and having a post reverb is a great way to sidestep the above mentioned techniques or professional recording space.
Speaking of, work will sometimes send me to professional auditoriums. Next Monday I’m doing some stairs at a local high school auditorium. And that’s a great example of what could be. There’s a local concert hall that I’ll sometimes work at as well. I don’t get to bring my guitars, but it shows me what a nice space is supposed to sound like. Then I can try to emulate these with a post process.
This song was actually accidental, there wasn’t going to be a bunch of guitars but as an experiment I tried to mix my analog recordings in with professional orchestration. Testing myself. There was a time when my analog home recordings were terrible, yet all of the instruments available as software synths were so beautiful. They didn’t mix. Thanks for checking it out, don’t be too hard on yourself when it comes to a home production, you can always try again and one things for certain, you’ll evolve. 👍😜
I'm not where I want to spend a bunch Lewitt makes some nice mics of both flavors and they're not bad from Sweetwater. I'm working in an untreated bedroom that tends to be pretty dry. Normally I layer in a 12string deeper in the mix to add some dynamics to the over all sound of whatever I'm working on. I do however get real finicky about the tone going into the DAW. I normally record with effects however and engineer friend of mine has been trying to convince me to record first and add effects later. I do find that eq is easier that way, but it's sort of like tripping on your own feet.
@@Troutflies71 Then perhaps you would benefit from thin picks for brighter sounds and thicker picks for more fatness. Stainless Steel picks provide a good scraping sound similar to players who use a coin, or Bone picks are stiff yet still significantly brighter than nylon. Amazing what can be achieved with a good collection of picks. I’m also in love with finger picking, but don’t have a way yet to record that classical, so I understand if you also favor finger picking.
When I mixing the songs together, almost every track is adjusted wet/dry during that process. So it is of enormous benefit to get your wet dry separated. For example, I will find a sound I think is good, but during the mix will add 4dB to the wet track. Sometimes more.
Or to edit. If there’s a mistake, I can edit that small clip, reapply the effects and this makes the edit disappear.
Or to apply compression, I can apply a compressor to a dry track and level off some of the peaks, an attempt to “keep alive”. Because during a mix some tracks die off and disappear from your mix, relative to other instruments. Because adding a compressor to a track with effects will increase the level of the effects, bringing up the quietest parts.
Sound Pure has been my source for all of my recording gear, they have been great partners for many years. If you talk to them about what you want to record, they have an expert opinion as to what you would need. From microphones to microphone preamps. I can’t say enough good things about them.
@@jimshomestudio4669 I listened today to what I tracked for guitars last night. I am glad to say I am happy with what I got. The perfectionist side of me is bothered when double tracking because the purpose is to have the tracks not perfectly in synch to get that fuller sound. But those little imperfections stand out like a flashing beacon. It's just something I have to get used to. The last release, you could hear a lot more of it than this one I am working on.
I usually go with medium picks for strumming and light for leads and such on the electric, but I don't like the feel when using them on acoustic. I tend to dig when playing acoustic and thin picks just don't give the feel. I have some picks, I don't know where I got them, that are felt covered that I really like for playing a soft acoustic lead.
I have been taking classes on Mastering.com on using compression and that has made a world of difference. I recommend it to anyone wanting to get better or understand how and when to use compression.
Last night after I finished tracking what I wanted I opened a new session in Pro tools and started messing around with ideas inspired by this video. A little more melancholy environmental piano heavy low bpm piece. Time will tell where it leads me.
@@Troutflies71 Those are my favorites!😊
Panning values can change, sometimes 70/30 as well. I think I was researching LCR and Mid/Side techniques when I decided to keep a mono center and add panned tracks. If you listen back on 5.1 speakers you’ll find your hard panned tracks in the rears. That’s when I decided to use a blend.
It IS hard to come to conclusions and release something you would be proud of, especially at pro levels. But I’m usually happy with some parts and that keeps me moving forward. Finally, drums are fun to get into. Drums and Bass, sort of a challenge when they’re not my main instrument. Takes me time to hear something I like, never sure. So have fun with each experiment. 👍😊
If it's too loud you're too old.
So true. Nice to have our summer sun showers, what a relief. Tele got new strings, and they bend super easy.
🤘😜🤘
@@jimshomestudio4669
We have had non-stop rain here it's just amazing. This whole week is going to rain every day until the weekend. We are actually getting too much rain.
@@zenn3339 Wow that must be nice to have those cool temps, just checked your forecast. But with a nice garden like yours, I can see how it can be too much. Did you take your new client on any hikes this weekend? Weather permitting?
@@jimshomestudio4669. Oh yeah we went to the park yesterday it was a beautiful sunny day part of the day so it was good today is just raining again.