This batch of audio comes from a band called Hezekiah Jones. HJ is the brainchild of Philadelphia songwriter, Raph Cutrufello. He's an amazing artist who surrounds himself with a huge group of super talented people which makes for some seriously creative music.
We were lent almost the whole line of Telefunkens, as well as a D.W. Fearn VT2 and VT7. It was a long day with a lot of tracking… after the beginning part of the day we used mostly the Ela M251, Ela M260 and U47 through the Fearns (go figure…). It was a big eye-opener for me to learn what these mics sounded like first hand. I (obsessively) put links to all the gear used in the Track Sheet below. Thanks to our friend George Hajioannou at Studio Logic for letting us borrow them! Thanks also to Scott Wilson from Scratch Studio in NY for hosting the files again!
Oh, I almost forgot. Raph wrote the song to sync with a scene from Bride of Frankenstein. Check that out below too. It's hilarious. Enjoy!
(Don't forget these files are VERY LARGE)
Shaking Through: Hezekiah Jones - Borrowed Heart (no metronome)
Weathervane Music is a non-profit organization that exists to advance independent music and the community that surrounds it. Weathervane produces Shaking Through, a documentary video series that explores the birth of song by emerging independent artists in a high-end recording studio.
Thanks again Brian, so great you're doing this, a real boon for people like me who don't get a chance to mix other people's stuff very often and interesting to check out the track info, and the recordings are real nice. Quite a unique thing you've got going on, hopefully others will follow your lead.
Thanks, Manuke! I figured it's a great way to do exactly that. I probably could have skipped many years of reinventing the wheel if I only could have seen what professional tracks looked like. We also think that these artists are excellent and deserve peoples' attention. This is perhaps an unconventional way of reaching people who might not otherwise be looking for their music.
Thanks for doing this! Really dig this song and want to try to make a cool mix happening...
Is the mail response supposed to be slow? I have waited for twenty minutes for the download link but no luck...
Thanks again... Love the studio!
hey greatgreatriver,
posting on behalf of brian (I'm the video producer/director). it should be pretty instantaneous, so try it again if you could. if not, send me a message and I'll send you the links personally. sorry for the problems!
Hi! Great song and great sounding files! Excellent I would say!
Here is my "rough mix" some busy hours not, more than 3 and a half!
Mixed in Pro Tools, no automation, static faders, in my Mac Book Pro, with my Sony 7506 HP.
I leave the session file for the raw tracks!
If you want to share mixes, simply post them as mp3s!
Thanks!
B
Quote:
Originally Posted by VARIETE'S ACTOR
Hi! Great song and great sounding files! Excellent I would say!
Here is my "rough mix" some busy hours not, more than 3 and a half!
Mixed in Pro Tools, no automation, static faders, in my Mac Book Pro, with my Sony 7506 HP.
I leave the session file for the raw tracks!
First of all This is a bloody great song!
I'm gonna have a go at a Mix and don't expect greatness it's my first one. I've played guitar for years but have a nasty Elbow issue which has caused me to put down the guitar for a few months, so I've decided to have a go at learning about mixing.
I'll post a link up once I'm done (unless it's really really bad...
Thanks so much! I'm glad you like it. We think it's amazing too. You should check out the band, because they have two new records right now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by philait
First of all This is a bloody great song!
I'm gonna have a go at a Mix and don't expect greatness it's my first one. I've played guitar for years but have a nasty Elbow issue which has caused me to put down the guitar for a few months, so I've decided to have a go at learning about mixing.
I'll post a link up once I'm done (unless it's really really bad...
I wanted to take this opportunity to encourage everyone's feedback for everyone's contributions. Please listen to what others are doing to add to the general conversation! This shouldn't be considered a "mix off". This is an opportunity for all of us to learn from the recordings presented.
You can learn from the raw tracks (learning what a Telefunken sounds like... I didn't know myself before this), the mix stems (seeing our "step by step" so to speak... what would you do differently?), and from the mixes presented by other contributors. With the talent on this forum, many should be able to beat the pants off of me and Jon. No doubt about it.
So if you're going to put up a mix, please consider commenting on others' as well.
Thanks for the next song. :-)
I think it's amazing. I listened to the raw tracks and really dig the lap steel sound. it's just awesome. and i love the choir like vocals.
I hope to find some time to mix this song.
Once I got the sibilance taken care of, the mix came together quite easily. I took out some tracks which I thought took more away from the song than they added. I feel like you guys record vocals way too close to the mic. I hear a lot of overloading. Maybe you guys were going for that. *shrugs*
Huh.... interesting. You think the vocals are too close? I never thought of that. I don't hear the overloading, but I'll go back and check. It does seem with a U47 that proximity is very important to get just right, and it involves being closer, not farther away. The Ela M251 on the other hand was apparently designed for the voice to be captured a foot or more away.
Thanks for the insight.
B
Quote:
Originally Posted by japancakes
Once I got the sibilance taken care of, the mix came together quite easily. I took out some tracks which I thought took more away from the song than they added. I feel like you guys record vocals way too close to the mic. I hear a lot of overloading. Maybe you guys were going for that. *shrugs*
It seems you added a lot of high end and thinned things out pretty considerably. The highs hurt my ears a little bit, but admittedly I like things a little dark. Also your mix is very loud so I'm wondering: did you add that high end across the board in a mastering stage? Or is that added while you're EQing each individual track? Or both? I checked out your "Night Owl" mix again too and it's somewhat similar.
By the way, I know it's off topic, but did you think that vocal in Night Owl was too close too? I'm just curious. That was a Wagner U47. "Borrowed Heart" is a new Telefunken U47.
Quote:
Originally Posted by japancakes
And once you find the right distance for each voice, it's a different struggle keeping the singer there.
I couldn't get a link, but I did have some thoughts on the other mixes.
In general, it seems everyone has reduced the number of things in the mix and cut out the Frankenstein intro. I kinda like hearing the song presented in a simpler form, but I'm curious if there's a reason everyone is doing it this way?
Japancakes, it's funny, but I didn't notice any sibilance until I heard your mix. I, too, felt there's more high end in your mix than I would prefer. I really like how the choir at ~2:00 really jumps out. I prefer that to having it a bit buried like on the original.
VARIETE'S ACTOR, I like your balance between verb and dry on the male vox, but I found the delay on the female vox to be odd without any similar elements to balance it out. I like what you did with the choir as well, very "ghost-y". It kinda seemed like the rest of the tracks were really quiet after that, though. Overall, though, I like the simple, more subtle, presentation. Really relaxing vibe.
bdmctear, It doesn't sound like the male vox are too close to me. I like how close and intimate they are. Reminded me of Paul Simon. Not to argue with the band, but it's a little odd that there's a second male vox that comes in for a sentence or two and then just kinda disappears. I'm not a huge fan of having the banjo so loud during the choir part, but I'm a lush choir fanboy. Overall, the orchestral side of things is so lush and amazing, the vibraphone just slays me. Love the sweeping guitars...Great, great track. I could stand to hear more of these Hezekiah Joneseses!
__________________
Full Disclosure: I'm just a hobbyist.
The extra vocal was conceptual. If you watch the Bride of Frankenstein video that goes with it it's supposed to represent the characters on screen! I know... weird.
VARIETE'S ACTOR, I like your balance between verb and dry on the male vox, but I found the delay on the female vox to be odd without any similar elements to balance it out. I like what you did with the choir as well, very "ghost-y". It kinda seemed like the rest of the tracks were really quiet after that, though. Overall, though, I like the simple, more subtle, presentation. Really relaxing vibe.
Hi mprewett! Thanks for the advice! I spent just three or four hours, and no check in other players only my cans, but I'll try to check the delay thing with female voices. Do you think that in my short time of "mixing" the song I spent more time in aesthetics things that making the right balance for the song?? it's my personal doubt.
The extra vocal was conceptual. If you watch the Bride of Frankenstein video that goes with it it's supposed to represent the characters on screen! I know... weird.
Thank you for such great thoughts.
B
Oh! See, I saw the making of video and confused the music video with the making of because there was some of the BoF film in the making of video. I get it now, that makes a lot more sense. As a matter of fact, the whole mix makes so much more sense within the context of the music video. The choral part was dropped back to bleed in with the film sounds. I get it now! Interesting that it seems that the female voice is Frankenstein...
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It kinda seemed like the rest of the tracks were really quiet after that, though. Overall, though, I like the simple, more subtle, presentation. Really relaxing vibe. 
