Wake (Acapella) - RnL VideoSong

[DaVinci]

Very interesting track. Good arrangement. Scratch that... fantastic arrangement.

Mix-wise... Leveling is fine and all that, but it seems to my ears to be suffering for the compression applied. Specifically, it seems to be enhancing and smearing sibilances, flattening out lead lines, and possibly bringing out the boxiness of the vocal booth? Not sure about the last one, or if that has to do with the verb.

[Halloween]

Looks like Mr.T hit you with a mo-hawk grenade. HAHA!

[Innervisions]

Thanks, Callmeal!

I have 2 questions:
1. Did you watch the video in 480 or 720? 360 seem to really distort and compress things...

2. by 'Boxiness', did you mean too much low mid or something like that? I'd love to get a more in depth explanation about what you said...

[Washington]

Very good, congrats. You obviously learned to sing, your voice is quite remarkable. The song and the arrangement are very well written too.

If you care, two questions :

1. How did you choose the different mics you apparently used ? For instance, were all tracks of a same part recorded with the same mic, chosen for its particular timbre, or were different mics used to add variety while stacking ?

2. I don't suppose you had 150 tracks of vocals recorded with a prosumer camera humming 2 feet from the mike(s), or did you ? This has to be lip-synced...

Good luck with this project !

[Innervisions]

Thank you so much! Actually, I'm not the vocalist here. I wrote the music and did the arrangement, mixing, video editing ect...

There are no lip-syncing on our videos at all. This is the concept of a videosong: we film all the takes as they are recorded, and then we sync the actual used takes into the videos. For example, if you see more than one angle of the same voice, it's because it was double (or more) tracked, and we used different angles for the different tracks.

Regarding mics - indeed, I chose them for their color. I have 2 main vocal mics: the AKG C414 B-XLS, and the Rode K2, which both sound extremely different, and we sometimes A-B them for a specific part, or just choose by intuition (since we're very familiar with them by now). Sometimes we do stack using different mics though (like an AKG C451B, or a even a D112), even though not on this video.

Again, thank you so much!

[DaVinci]

Originally Posted by Innervisions

Thanks, Callmeal!

I have 2 questions:
1. Did you watch the video in 480 or 720? 360 seem to really distort and compress things...

2. by 'Boxiness', did you mean too much low mid or something like that? I'd love to get a more in depth explanation about what you said...

Tried it multiple ways... seems to only be affecting video tho.

The more apparent issue is the sibilant smearing... sssses sound heavily compressed.

I can't speak for what original track sounds like, of course... only what streams via youtube.

As far as the boxiness... it's not a big deal, and it's less noticeable. I'm not entirely sure if it's the recording space or a reverb being used.

I've noticed on some recordings if the artist records vocals in a relatively small booth with only acoustic foam treatment, that the high frequency reflections are killed, but everything below 500 hz or so goes through the foam and you can actually HEAR the little box they're recording in. Compression of the vocal tends to bring UP these reflections and make them more audible. Stack many takes done in that same space, and...

It seems that I'm hearing a bit of that... but I can't be entirely sure, because it's also possible that I'm hearing the space being defined by reverb choices. Either way, it's not a big deal. Frankly, if the sibilance issue were a bit more controlled, I'd say you have a phenomenal recording regardless. The arrangement is so well done, that everything else is just details.

I get chills each time the "Fred and Ginger" part comes up.

First rate.

[Innervisions]

Thank you so much for your detailed answer! I'll see what I can do about the sibilance if I get to make some changes in the mix (I'll revisit it if we decide to put the song out on CD eventually). It was very helpful!

[mountain_rock]

this could be the soundtrack of a Johnny Depp movie . this song remind me of him . It's really great . very creative

[JoelFan]

Congratulations.
The arrangement is outstanding, really catchy.

I also think about compression suffering, a little bit, but I think the rest of the effects are professionally used.
Compliments. Really nice.

[DaVinci]

Just wanted to chime in and say the song's been stuck in my head a few days now... and my gf said the same.

I think you need to do whatever you can to try and get it used in a movie or tv show... like on scrubs near the end where they take it down a notch and have a tender moment reflecting on the lives of the people in the hospital...

... frankly, i think the arrangement is so good it would absolutely MAKE a scene in a movie if used correctly.

[Innervisions]

Thanks guys!

Regarding your suggestions about sending it to movies and stuff, that sounds great, but I have no idea where to start (I barely know on which forums to post the link for this video...). Do you have any idea?

[Apollo Soul]

I just wanted to revive this thread to expose a few more people to what I believe is one of the best things I've come across since joining GS. I only wish I had the arrangement chops demonstrated here.

enjoy.