Recording a version of Chapel of Love?

[Benlittlejohn]

...so my mother and godmother just called me with what they think is the greatest idea for a bridesmaid luncheon invitation .

They want me to rerecord Chapel of Love by The Dixie Cups.

I mapped out the song after they sent me their modified lyrics. lol.

My question is how to get a great vintage sound because they are both generous people and I'm sure if it turned out great the payment would be more than great. They both want to sing and are less than great singers and i do not own a copy of auto tune (i swore to myself id never buy a copy of it but now it seems like it might be slightly useful).

Ive got vintage drums (50's Slingerland, Early 60's Rogers and Ludwig). So I'm not too worried about drum sounds i plan on using 3 mics and doing mono drums.

Kick-St55-sytek (just in case)
Mono overhead- Beyer mc930- Altec 1589b
mono room- chineese ribbon (fathead)- Sytek

the drums are pretty bright in a smooth way which i dig alot. cigarette pack on snare, a couple sweaters in the kick, and some tape on the cymbals.

for bass im thinking Univox violin bass with foam under the bridge with a Di through the Altec and a Portaflex mic'd with a beyer Tgx50.

guitar cant be too hard... ill prolly just use a tele through my 50's harmony amp.

guitar amp- Beyer m80- Altec- Gain brain II?

horns probably wont end up in the final recording sadly. i might find samples or recruit one of my horn playing friends over and buy em lunch. A ribbon or a sm7...

the bells will end up done on a glockenspiel with a mono ribbon and a bunch of fake plate reverb and compression and the treble rolled off.

they are singing ... and have very little mic technique and are semi-harsh so i plan on using a sm7- Sytek- gain brain II.

this is alot of work. lol. but family comes first!!!

Do you guys think I'm headed in the right direction?

Thanks
Ben

[Makinithappen]

Sounds like you're on the right track to me...

[Benlittlejohn]

well good. lol.

I just tracked vocals with them after making a acoustic guitar guide track and they convinced themselves i could fix their notes, even though i told them i did not have auto tune 20+/- times. They refused to sing separately which was fine and i ended up comping them and through clever fades and editing its sounding pretty damn decent. the gain brain II really helped me out lol. i had to use 10-12 of compression most of the time to smooth em out which sucks but it sounds warm and ill automate them . Thank you plate reverb plugin! thumbsup!!

they just left to buy me a rather large meal of italian food, that we will all share like a normal family dinner and not a stressful evening spent in my workplace.

yay!!

here comes drums and bass...

when im done in 2+/- days ill try to post it if i can figure out how to get mp3's up here.

i need a massage
Ben

[Makinithappen]

Originally Posted by Benlittlejohn

well good. lol.

I just tracked vocals with them after making a acoustic guitar guide track and they convinced themselves i could fix their notes, even though i told them i did not have auto tune 20+/- times. They refused to sing separately which was fine and i ended up comping them and through clever fades and editing its sounding pretty damn decent. the gain brain II really helped me out lol. i had to use 10-12 of compression most of the time to smooth em out which sucks but it sounds warm and ill automate them . Thank you plate reverb plugin! thumbsup!!

they just left to buy me a rather large meal of italian food, that we will all share like a normal family dinner and not a stressful evening spent in my workplace.

yay!!

here comes drums and bass...

when im done in 2+/- days ill try to post it if i can figure out how to get mp3's up here.

i need a massage
Ben

One of my old gigs used to be recording sound-alikes for toy companies in China. I always loved when they requested something unusual/ old school/ very distinctive. Try making MIDI drums sound like Motown! It was always a challenge, sometimes downright tedious, but very satisfying... Actually, that was the best job I've ever had... lots of fun...

[Benlittlejohn]

That's one of the coolest things I have heard.

I ended up tracking the bass with a di only cause the poraflex was a little mushy with the univox (not the tightest sounding bass). ran it through the Gain Brain II and it was sounding just right.

For drums...

I ended up getting a really nice kick sound from my 22' Slingerland and a st55 through the Sytek. only a little in the mix to add a little thump.

overhead with the 930 into the Sytek was kinda blah way up high in the mix, so i kept it down and just used it to control brightness.

the room was where it was at, i put the ribbon in my favorite spot and got a beautiful natural sound. put a little stereo plate on it and found my drum sound.

i also put a 930 on the rogers powertone snare! cause i read about someone doing that on here. it sounded great and i compressed it with the gain brain II, added a little zing to the snare.

so far its sounding great and pretty close to the original...

time for glock and guitar

I still need massage
Ben

[Makinithappen]

Post the mp3 when you're closer to done... I'd love to hear it.

[John Eppstein]

Sounds like a fun project! What kind of ribbon are you using?

[Benlittlejohn]

Originally Posted by John Eppstein

Sounds like a fun project! What kind of ribbon are you using?

A "Stellar" ribbon

it looks like a fathead or the nady one. Sure they are kinda dumpy but i like them on drum room. for $150? a pair i cant complain