Solo Project

[ChrisCummins]

Hi all,
this is my first contribution to this side of the forum. It's a song I wrote and performed for a little solo project I'm working on. I have no previous experience with sound recording and am learning by experimentation.

I recorded myself on the camera and edited it for YouTube - let me know if you think it would be better to add an audio only mp3.

YouTube video

Any comments regarding the audio quality, mixing, and also just the song in general would be greatly appreciated! It's a little different from the metal and hip hop I see a lot of on here.

Thanks.

[Dean Roddey]

It's an extremely creative and interesting piece. I couldn't quite get past the off pitch vocals there at the start. But head and shoulders above most the stuff the rest of us are doing in terms of creativity and uniqueness and that goes a long way in my book. Work on those vocals and you have someting REALLY good there, IMO.

[ChrisCummins]

Hi Dean,
Thanks for the feedback! Yes, on listening back, I don't know what I was thinking - the vocals in the first verse are really off! I have a good friend coming over tonight who is quite handy with her voice - I might see if she wouldn't mind stepping in, otherwise I'll give it another shot myself.

[john caldwell]

Your video held my interest, and I enjoyed your marriage of audio and visual content. Your use of treated piano, and other treatments was engaging as well. On the negative side, I think Dean was pretty kind in his appraisal of the vocal delivery; and I wonder how well this musical approach will hold up without the visual, and if the approach risks redundancy when applied to multiple compositions.

Keep at it, because you do have some creative notions here. But don't overlook the value of technically correct performance alongside novel use of performance.

Best wishes,

John Caldwell

[greatgreatriver]

I enjoyed it very much!

[marcher5877]

I agree with most of the stuff said above, its really interesting and creative and I really enjoyed it. The vocals seem a bit off key, but that is something fixable.

The video was interesting and provoking as well. Really great work. I would love to see more stuff like this.

In the second verse, did you do two takes of the vocals or just double them?

The paino sounds great, and it fits the song perfectly. Really captures the eiriness (sp??) that only a piano can make.

I'd love to learn more about how you mic'd the paino, what mics did you use? did you pan the signal?

[ChrisCummins]

Originally Posted by john caldwell

I wonder how well this musical approach will hold up without the visual, and if the approach risks redundancy when applied to multiple compositions.

Hi John - those are very valid points. That song is only intended for YouTube and so the audio and video will always be together - but you are very right about the limitations of the approach. It was as much a challenge to make a song using only a piano as it was a genuine composition. When faced with such a limited sound palette, you are forced to be creative with what you have.

In the second verse, did you do two takes of the vocals or just double them?

There are about 4 vocal parts in the second verse - you can see them all layered up on the video.

The paino sounds great, and it fits the song perfectly. Really captures the eiriness (sp??) that only a piano can make.

Thank you. Have a listen to this - isn't that just beautiful sound!

I'd love to learn more about how you mic'd the paino, what mics did you use? did you pan the signal?

I really wanted to try and capture an uncoloured version of the 'sound' of an acoustic piano, and actually used about 7 mics in total all placed very close to the piano in different places. There are a pair of Audio Technica AT4050/CM5 's that you can see on the over-the-shoulder shots, panned hard left/right to 'widen' the sound. That was the main sound, I'm not sure yet if it's the microphones or the placement of them but I really like the representation of the source material they give.

There was a Behringer B-2 behind the piano in roughly centre which gave a lovely and rather deeper sound, but a little too 'lofi' to use on it's own. The other mics were all clip-on condensor mics designed for drums (AKG C418 's), placed in different places (under the keys, next to the beaters), which all added a slight bit of colour to the sound when placed at different leves and different places in the stereo mix.

The other parts were usually all recorded by a Behringer B-2 placed quite close to the source. The guitar amp was miced with another clip on AKG C418.

Thanks for the feedback!

[ChrisCummins]

Hi all,
I recently made a second song - a 'reinterpretation' of one of the themes from the film Donnie Darko. No vocals this time ()

Donnie Darko: Liquid Spear Waltz

Let me know what you think!

Regards

[marcher5877]

The Donnie Darko soundtrack is great. The guy who wrote it is Mike Andrews and he performs using his alias -Elgrin Park-in the Greyboy Allstars and they are fanstastic. West Coast smooth funk. Every guy in that band is a San Diego legend and for good reason, they are all fantastic muscians.

He is an amazing guitar player but I think he wanted to challenge himself by only using synths and keys for the soundtrack.

Interesting guy, and fantastic music comes out of him.

[ChrisCummins]

Thanks for the info. I really dig the whole of that soundtrack (or what I've heard of it) - even the 80's pop. It has such atmosphere, and I love the industrial sounds he uses on some of it, I'd love to hear him collaborate with a great lyricist like Trent Reznor or Marilyn Manson!

[u2bonoman]

Man this is great work! Not just music wise, but I love the video and the editing. Must have taken you a while. Like someone else said, the vocals are totally off on the first verse, but other than that, this is great work!