Weathervane Multitracks - Cat Martino w/ Sufjan Stevens and Man Man's Chris Powell
This week we're going to release the next episode of Shaking Through. The session features Brooklyn artist, Cat Martino, joined by the incomparable Sufjan Stevens and drummer Chris Powell of the band Man Man.
Cat has had an interesting career singing back-up vocals for some of the most revered artists of our day. She was part of Sharon Van Etten’s entourage back in January 2010, singing back up in the very first Shaking Through recording, “Love More”. She spent most of 2011 touring as a singer and dancer with Sufjan Stevens, and more recently joined The Shins on stage for Saturday Night Live.
We’re really excited for you to see and hear this one! We had mics from Telefunken, including a U47, M-81 and the very first matched pair of C12s. We also had one of our favorite tube pre-amps, the Electronaut M-63, from Rob Roy Campbell in Chicago, and a handful of pedals from Z.Vex. All of the above were used rather unconventionally in this oddly electronic recording.
I hope this stirs your more extreme remix impulses! Word of warning... there’s a lot of extra stuff to play with! You don’t necessarily have to use it all (we certainly didn’t). See what you come up with! There's no one correct way to edit and mix this track!
REMEMBER: Let's use the following naming protocol (file name, description, etc), so we can keep this straight for posterity:
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.
Here's a first mix.
It's a pretty much straight forward, a little raw and could be a little more polished, but still, I did my best to get the feeling of the song.
It's really a challenge, I'm not used to this kind of music and certainly not used to mixing that kind of sounds.
Please, give me your impressions about it...
Are my ears weaked or is the new "corrected" lead vocal track distorded ?
It sounds overdriven by a lot, isn't it ?
Anyway, i'll have a great week of fun working on this song, Thanks!
Yep. We only had access to the distorted one because she sang about 9 or 10 takes. It got confusing keeping them straight so we're only able to upload the processed vocal, distorted through the Electronaut. She was also not liking the vocal until it was distorted, so I knew she'd be more comfortable with this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ouidier
Are my ears weaked or is the new "corrected" lead vocal track distorded ?
It sounds overdriven by a lot, isn't it ?
Anyway, i'll have a great week of fun working on this song, Thanks!
Well, if I'm going to crash and burn on a mix I reckon it'll be this one. I've struggled with a lot of aspects of it, and I really could've kept working on it but work and time are against me so here's what I've come up with. I've cut a lot of parts, so much so that I've easily got enough left over to do a completely different mix, which if I get time I intend to do. I think the bit I'm least happiest with is from around 3:30 onwards where I think I really lose control of the mix. Now it's done I can allow myself the luxury of listening to see how others dealt with it.
Enjoy (or not...)
This was really tough for us as well. I'm not sure it'll come through in the video but the day was very long, and a little aimless. You're probably going through some of the same struggles we did.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serpico
Well, if I'm going to crash and burn on a mix I reckon it'll be this one. I've struggled with a lot of aspects of it, and I really could've kept working on it but work and time are against me so here's what I've come up with. I've cut a lot of parts, so much so that I've easily got enough left over to do a completely different mix, which if I get time I intend to do. I think the bit I'm least happiest with is from around 3:30 onwards where I think I really lose control of the mix. Now it's done I can allow myself the luxury of listening to see how others dealt with it.
Enjoy (or not...)
Dude, you have a great skill. I'm not sure the original mix / arrangement will beat this... I mean that. I would consider shortening it a tiny bit. Put it in some order that feels like beginning middle and end. Not that it isn't already that way, but a little more organizing and you have something just as good as we do! And that's hard to accomplish with a remix. Great work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by manuke
Cheers Brian, yeah, wasn't too sure where to start with this, v keen to hear the original mix.
Dude, you have a great skill. I'm not sure the original mix / arrangement will beat this... I mean that. I would consider shortening it a tiny bit. Put it in some order that feels like beginning middle and end. Not that it isn't already that way, but a little more organizing and you have something just as good as we do! And that's hard to accomplish with a remix. Great work.
Wow, thanks Brian, that's a nice start to my day. Very interesting this one, didn't spend as long on it as I normally would and kind of gave up as I didn't think my mix went anywhere, couldn't really get a handle on the structure and still haven't heard most of the tracks so thinking I might do another. Have you guys mixed it yet? Can't wait to hear it.
I like this song very much, and it was very difficult to mix for me. It is a good lesson though. Here I posted just 3 min excerpt because of the forum upload limits. Hope you like it
I really, really love what you are doing guys... I have this warm fuzz feeling all over me. Cat is just amazing, wow love her tone, feel... I just watch the videos -soo good!
I really, really love what you are doing guys... I have this warm fuzz feeling all over me. Cat is just amazing, wow love her tone, feel... I just watch the videos -soo good!
Thank you guys! Wonderful work - A.R.T!
So how about a mix from you then, it's been a while
And guys, that mix is fantastic, beautiful sense of space and just the right amount of the effected stuff imho. Good call leaving the drums off too, great though they are....
So, here it is, I took the time to make a proper mix of this song. A real challenge. I add a little bit of the extra material provided and managed to make a not so bad ending to the song...
So here's my rendition of the song! I downloaded the raw files on Tuesday, and was surprised by the sheer amount of live AND electronic drum tracks. I felt the elec. tracks were better suited to the feeling of the song, and so scrapped the drum tracks. My intuitions were confirmed when I heard Brian's final mix yesterday!
I really tried to attack this song as a songwriter, before I put on my mixing ears. What is essential to how I perceive the song? How can I maintain some of the original track's key ingredients, but not be bound by them? These are just a few of the questions I use when approaching my own writing, and production with other artists.
Thanks again, Brian, you are doing a great thing in this musical world. Allowing us to interpret these amazing songs and share our own creative voices is vital to healthy discourse and growth.
Peace,
John
If for some reason the SoundCloud player isn't working, click the direct link here: http://snd.sc/IXrHNF
So here's my rendition of the song! I downloaded the raw files on Tuesday, and was surprised by the sheer amount of live AND electronic drum tracks. I felt the elec. tracks were better suited to the feeling of the song, and so scrapped the drum tracks. My intuitions were confirmed when I heard Brian's final mix yesterday!
I really tried to attack this song as a songwriter, before I put on my mixing ears. What is essential to how I perceive the song? How can I maintain some of the original track's key ingredients, but not be bound by them? These are just a few of the questions I use when approaching my own writing, and production with other artists.
I had a similar approach and I've hesitated for a long time for keeping only the accoustic drums and get rid of the electronic drum tracks. I really like the organic feel that the acoustic drums give to the track.
But, finally couldn't resolve myself for such drastic choice.
Now, I do feel like the final mix sounds a little bit "empty" at time, compared to other mixes.
Anyway, thx Brian and thx Cat Martino for this song.
Done in my usual dark style (it is becoming a bit of a trademark for me, isn't it?) which goes very well with this song, I think. I have to say, Cat Martino has a beautiful voice! Too bad she would have been too young to be in Pandora's Box, she'd have done well.
EDIT: Sorry to keep doing this, but after listening to my mix a few more times I decided there were a few things I needed changed. I was originally going to let it go, but after realizing how much closer to my original vision this mix is than the other, I just couldn't. So, please ignore the first mix, and click on this one instead.
Hey everyone and greetings from Sweden! Here's my take. I've scrapped a lot of the instruments in order to make the track dynamic but can't help wondering if I went a little too far.
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