first at home production, woo!! lounge music anyone?

[jdseptor]

Hello all!

Here's a first for me, created in my basement studio that consists of gear purchases I've made largely influenced by you gearslutz!

Just thought I'd share, feedback is welcome!

JD

[jdseptor]

21 views and nobody has any comments? thats no fun.

come on guys!

[santibanks]

the piano sounds slightly offtune which is I think due to the chorusing effect on it.

Imho, the trumpets could be a bit higher in the mix to stand them out. Maybe a bit more top end on it.

I love the drums though I think they should have a bit more bite and should be a bit clearer (to hear the ghost notes on the snare better). What drums did you use and what mics?

Really a nice track, though a bit more variation in rhodes chords, bass line and drums are welcome. I don't know what was recorded for real and what is sample based? I guess drums are sample based as they sound pretty consistent all the time and even a drummer would add some more fills or variations.

Generally, some minor things that can be changed in the mix and maybe some of the instrument parts but I really like this ! Really loungy stuff with some jazz overtones Good work !thumbsup

[jdseptor]

Originally Posted by rainy-taxi

the piano sounds slightly offtune which is I think due to the chorusing effect on it.

Imho, the trumpets could be a bit higher in the mix to stand them out. Maybe a bit more top end on it.

I love the drums though I think they should have a bit more bite and should be a bit clearer (to hear the ghost notes on the snare better). What drums did you use and what mics?

Really a nice track, though a bit more variation in rhodes chords, bass line and drums are welcome. I don't know what was recorded for real and what is sample based? I guess drums are sample based as they sound pretty consistent all the time and even a drummer would add some more fills or variations.

Generally, some minor things that can be changed in the mix and maybe some of the instrument parts but I really like this ! Really loungy stuff with some jazz overtones Good work !thumbsup

Thanks so much for the reply!

Tuning issues (just as you said) are likely due to the chorus I added, for all the key parts were recorded on a largely in-tune rhodes from around 1973 I believe.

I totally agree with your comment on the trumpets.

As far as drums go, I'm pretty happy with how they're hanging in the back, I was going for something pretty soft though I see how some of the ghost notes sound muffled. Everything on the track is real, though the majority of it is looped. The drums are a Taye TourPro kit with a 57 on snare, B52 on kick and an XY pair of AT2021's for overheads.

The rhodes chords, drums, bass in the verse, and trumpet were all 4 measure loops that a friend and I recorded seperately in the basement. Same deal with the choruses, but they were 8 measure phrases, looped.

Thanks again, and keep the feedback coming!

JD

[sgrocker]

what interface, preamps, and what not did you use

[jdseptor]

Originally Posted by sgrocker

what interface, preamps, and what not did you use

Everything ran straight into an ONYX 1640 w/ FW... so ONYX pre's were used. Effects and EQ were done ITB with Cubase Studio 4 (which I'd really love to know how to use lol).

Thanks again!
JD

[-Noodles-]

It's pretty good, certainly loving the feel of the track.

Good work!

[miqer]

make a bit brighter mix, lowcut everything a bit more. It's a bit boomy on my small monitors... what monitors are you using?

Turn up the snare (or is the hihat on the snare track?)! I hear more hihat than anything else... And the bass sounds like it's in a swamp (and not a funky one around new orleans)... so the track needs a stand up bass!!! :O

Anyway, don't mind me... I love the trumpet harmonies... keep them coming!

m.

[snüzz]

i think it is a pretty darn good sounding track. it get's a little boring though. that's a problem with sampled drums sometimes- you have to bring them in and out or insert fills or other drums sound during certain measures. i know what the above critique was saying about the horns not bright enough. it does fit with the "sleepiness" of the song though. i think you did a good job capturing the sounds and if this is your first at home production then you are going to be a fabulous engineer! have fun!

[jdseptor]

Thanks so much for all the kind words!

With regards to miqer's comments...

dude you're saying everything I thought when I first listened to the track on a different pair of speakers! I'm using Yamaha HS80M's, which I think is why the mix came out slightly muddy in the low end and a little soft up top. I'm not by any means blaming the speakers, It's just a matter of me learning them, and I've only had all this gear for a few weeks. From what I've read Yamaha monitors have accentuated mids/highs which makes them very accurate yet somewhat harsh to some... because I was going for that whole mellow feel I must've just EQ'd everything a little soft for the majority of listening systems. 'Tis a learning process indeed!

I wish I had a stand up bass lol. This was an Ibanez SRM1005EFM plugged straight into one of the two high impedance inputs on the ONYX. Hopefully not too many people cringe when they read that... haha DI suggestions anyone?

I think my poor 57 positioning led to so much hi-hat in the SD mix. Another thing I'll have to experiment with!

snuzz...

In all honesty I know the drums are somewhat boring but trust me, this was a stretch for me haha. I'm basically the biggest Carter Beauford fan ever, and a lot of my playing shows that. (for those of you who don't know, Carter Beauford is the drummer for Dave Matthews Band, and easily one of THE busiest players in popular music today). I had to bite my lip to keep things straight, even while just recording the 4 measure phrase that I looped for the whole song lol. That being said, in retrospect I regret not recording a fill or two to insert here and there... next time I suppose!

Thanks again guys, keep the comments coming!

JD

[drumnbimmer]

Nice Sounds good man... like the Rhodes, and the drums sound good, but I'd have to agree with some of the above posters... the mix between the hat and snare is a bit off.

Anyway, Carter is certainly one of the best drummers around IMHO, which is why he's one of the first drummers I started to look up to when I started

[dacart]

Here are the two things that I find extremely odd about this, aside from the fact that i think there are two questionable note choices in your solos (but hey it's only two,)according to my iTunes readout at 12 seconds into the tune you brought in the Rhodes only to cut off the drums at the same time and then bring them in 2 seconds later. Was this an artistic decision? I personally found it a bit bizarre but if it floated your boat, so be it. The weirdest moment for me is at 4 minutes into the song everything comes to a screeching halt with the Rhodes (on a very INTERESTING chord) and then the bass and rhodes comes back with the drums showing up 2 beats later.??? Did you mean to do this? Let me know if you didn't and let's talk about it but if you did those couple of things seemed VERY odd to me.

Now on the happy side, the horns sound awesome. If those are samples let me know what they are. They are totally believable. Everything else sounds great as well. If this is your first effort you're off to a great start. Just listen to what I mentioned at the top here and let me know if this just your quirky musical style (which is totally fine) or something you overlooked. And finally unless you're going for that dry 70's sounding thing (think the theme from Taxi) you might want to think about adding reverb to some of these tracks. Again the horns are a standout (including their reverb:-)

There...hope that's something to chew on:-)

Dan Carter

All the best

[theblue1]

My impressions (without looking at other folks')...

More chill lounge than classic lounge but it does it pretty well, I think. It has an agreeable groove that's nicely inverted in the hooky little central turnaround. The rhodesy piano is nice and the horn sample has a nice thing going -- the two voice part is somewhat provocative but it gives the track a nice little spike of personality.

I like it. It's going in my personal collection, heady praise around here.

[jdseptor]

thanks again for the responses.

regarding dacarts comments, any abrupt changes in the track were just a quirky side effect of the mood i was in, so i guess we'll go with the "bizzare artistic decision" card haha.

the horns you hear are real, as is everything else in the track. it's a 50 something year old trumpet into a 57 with lots of effects added in cubase.

i've since built some acoustic treatment for the basement and the bass is much clearer now, so i think future mixes will come out less muddy but i'll have to see what you guys say about that!

i've also adjusted positioning of the 57 on snare and now have significantly more control over snare levels in relation to HH levels.

just yesterday i posted some pictures of the basement studio with acoustic treatment, check them out!!

post #216

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