Grand Piano cover of The Writer (Live Recording)

[steinarj]

Hi there Gearslutz

I just recorded a grand piano cover of The Writer by Ellie Goulding along with a video.
I used 2x SM81 on the piano, Rode NT1A on vocals and 2x Behringer C2 ambient mics. I used the Logic 9 built in compressor, Channel EQ, Platinum reverb and de-esser.



I know it's youtube (sorry) but 720p will get you 152kbps AAC.
So what do you think?
Any advice?
I would love to hear your thoughts!

[john caldwell]

Nice job. I'd have to hear the singer in person to know for certain, but the recording manages to convey lot's of content usually considered the vocal intelligibility range, yet is largely not intelligible to my ears. There is a persistent "baby talk through a loose paper lampshade" feeling, as I get it. Perhaps there is a diction component as well. I note you and the perform are may be Icelandic, and perhaps I am ignorant of the language and appropriate delivery style. In any case, the vocal sound is somewhat thin and tissue paper-ish. I think you could carve out more real estate for the vocal, meaning cut some of piano low mids; bring the vocal up; and back off of the low-teble range of her voice some, adding some midrange body in exchange. I'm suspicious that, perhaps, there may also be vocal performance issues in addition to engineering choices at work here.

Thanks for presenting this.

John Caldwell

[couch11]

I agree with John on the vocal sound. Not very detailed and thin. The piano doesn't sound like it was tuned before this performance. Am I correct in that assumption?

[steinarj]

Originally Posted by couch11

I agree with John on the vocal sound. Not very detailed and thin. The piano doesn't sound like it was tuned before this performance. Am I correct in that assumption?

You are very much correct, it was painful to see how the piano was stored too.
It was kept by the cargo door of the theater which is located in Iceland with temperatures constantly changing so I guess it messed up the tuning quite a bit. Unfortunately tuning was not in the budget so we pretty much had to use what we got.

In regards to John's comment on the vocals (very much appreciated by the way) her voice is naturally thin sounding, there was no low end to bump up exempt some of the leakage from the piano as this was all one take.
Oh and yes were all Icelandic.

[john caldwell]

Originally Posted by steinarj

... her voice is naturally thin sounding, there was no low end to bump up exempt some of the leakage from the piano as this was all one take.
Oh and yes were all Icelandic.

Consider placing her closer to the mic than what we see in the video. That will add body to her voice and reduce piano bleed. But still, there has to be some useful midrange in what you captured that will help her tone, I would belive.

I understand from my friend, sociologist Doug Harper who has spent quite a bit of time in your country, that Iceland is a fascinating landscape of culture, geography, cloud formations and weather patterns in general. Doug tells me that the Icelandic economy was badly mishandled by a small number of unethical men, and that recovering from that has been harder than Americans could understand. We regularly prepare a winter meal at our home that we learned about from Doug: Icelandic Fish Stew. It is a hardy base of mixed vegetables and fish that's moderately seasoned. We love that and hope to see Iceland ourselves one day.

Best wishes,

John Caldwell
Pittsburgh, PA
USA

[steinarj]

Originally Posted by john caldwell

Consider placing her closer to the mic than what we see in the video. That will add body to her voice and reduce piano bleed. But still, there has to be some useful midrange in what you captured that will help her tone, I would belive.

Yes I attempted to do that but every time I did, the singer would move away a little. Very unfortunate.

Originally Posted by john caldwell

I understand from my friend, sociologist Doug Harper who has spent quite a bit of time in your country, that Iceland is a fascinating landscape of culture, geography, cloud formations and weather patterns in general. Doug tells me that the Icelandic economy was badly mishandled by a small number of unethical men, and that recovering from that has been harder than Americans could understand. We regularly prepare a winter meal at our home that we learned about from Doug: Icelandic Fish Stew. It is a hardy base of mixed vegetables and fish that's moderately seasoned. We love that and hope to see Iceland ourselves one day.

And you're always welcome!

[Andreas Leonhard]

I agree with both colleagues in terms of the recording and mix in general.
I like to add that the vocal would benefit from a bit softer sounding reverb.
And I think that during a new mix and using eq in a sensibel way and a different reverb the final result could be improved a lot. It´s often a fact that you cannot change a thing and you have to go with what you have...

[john caldwell]

Originally Posted by Andreas Leonhard

I like to add that the vocal would benefit from a bit softer sounding reverb.
And I think that during a new mix and using eq in a sensibel way and a different reverb the final result could be improved a lot.

Yes a good point from Andreas here. Some talk about running vocal or drum reverbs through an aggressive de-esser for a similar reason. I've not done that but it could have a role in this instance.

John Caldwell