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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
1st One Man Band Home Recording
1st One Man Band Home Recording
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HarpNinja
1665 posts
Sep 10, 2011
7:43 PM
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I have A LOT of recording issues to work out - the DAW I bought won't sync with my interface so I am using Audacity...but here was my first pass at a full recording.
This is seriously the very first song I recorded. It was almost entirely live. I obviously set up the loop before starting...everything else was 100% live. I didn't even edit the beginning or ending.
Until last week I had ZERO experience recording with a laptop or recording in Audacity. I had no clue how to work an interface, how to record my electric rig and vocals at the same time, or how to even set the levels.
Point being, I suck at this, and made it this far with just a few minutes here and there (I did do my homework on what gear to buy). There is no excuse, other than lack of money, for not giving it a go!!!!
Really, all I needed to buy that I didn't have was the interface - Onyx Black Jack from Mackie. I bought some other stuff, but shouldn't had. The store I ordered from said to use Sonar from Cakewalk for a DAW, but there are issues with the drives and Mackie (unfortunately, I can't return Sonar and will try to call for customer support next week.
I think the quality here is surely demo quality. The playing isn't - the loop isn't in perfect time and I didn't come up with anything more than an on the fly arrangment.
http://mikefugazzi.com/files/Hey_Joe.mp3
***http://mikefugazzi.com/files/Black_Eyed_Kids.mp3
I recorded some loops, etc, for some originals, but I couldn't figure out a way to do vocals at the same time without massive bleed. In trying different mics, I used this loop and found it can now be done.
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Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
Last Edited by on Sep 10, 2011 8:30 PM
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oldwailer
1707 posts
Sep 11, 2011
9:09 AM
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This is all just IMHO, for whatever it is or isn't worth. . .
The vocals are the best part of the music, recording-wise--you have a very good voice and it comes through well.
OT: (On a side note, you have a habit of punching a second syllable with an "H" sound--an example is "Goin' way down "SOW-HOUTH." I don't know why--I just find this irritating and I have worked toward getting rid of that in my own vocal stuff).
The background loop recording is good technically, but might work better with a little syncopation to add interest--I just find that it gets dull.
Musically, the harp seems good, but almost as if it was from some other piece of music--kind of an old rock classic with a Beethoven bent--which would be cool I guess, but it doesn't fit the vocal.
Recording-wise, the harp has a kind of "ghost reverb" to it--like maybe too much reverb that sustains a bit too long. This makes a nice tone become a little irritating at times. (I am listening on a cheap-ass set of earphones--that could be the reason for this).
Overall, I think you have created a very interesting piece of music that has very a distinct mood to it. I do think it would take huge brass balls to do this as a solo OMB performance--I don't know why, I just find it a lot easier to do the rhythmic, driving chug stuff when I'm playing harp solo--the heartfelt ballad you are taking on here would be harder--on the other hand, doing this same song on the guitar would seem fine to me--go figure.
Very nice effort for a first recording experience--I think recording is a whole other genre of creating music--I like it a lot, but it sure ain't easy to do. . .
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Oldwailer's Web Site
Always be yourself--unless you suck. . .
-Joss Whedon
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KingoBad
904 posts
Sep 11, 2011
11:09 AM
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I agree, the singing was the star here...
The monotony of the low harp lick in the background was irritating in how it seemed to be off at times...
I, personally, would NOT do this at a live performance unless I was really into this and felt that I could keep people with me... I do find it interesting and enjoyed the harp playing. I perhaps am biased because I do like the Hendrix version and am not ready for this.
I think something that would make it more palatable for me would be some kind of imaginative harp fills. Perhaps if you had started with the melody on harp (an instrumental of the vocal part) I would have been better prepared and would have followed the song better.
I also think this is a unique creation that I would certainly continue to work with. It does have something special that I can't quite put a finger on, and does some interesting things.
My 2 cents anyway...
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Danny
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nacoran
4577 posts
Sep 11, 2011
11:53 AM
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Kind of trance-y. I can only get the one (hey joe) to work. The other one is giving me an error.
The vocal was great and the lead harp was great. I would have liked a little more variation it the chug line. One thing I've heard a lot of guys with loop pedals doing is laying down a couple different bass tracks clicking them on and off, switching between them. That might take care of the issue the other guys brought up. I would have liked to hear you running a loop of something on the lead harp in the background while you were singing for at least part of it.
You ended it a bit abruptly, especially for something so mellow. You might want to mess around with the fade effect. I didn't like whatever you were doing to produce the clicking sound.
It's hard to do live, but if you are miked so you can playing with the tracks separately (or just lay down track after track) you might mess with the right/left balance a bit more.
What did you end up using to get the sound into the computer? It seems to have worked really well. The recording seems to be nice and clean.
As a first attempt to get something recorded in Audacity this is awesome. That click percussion is driving me nuts though.
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Nate
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HarpNinja
1669 posts
Sep 11, 2011
1:48 PM
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I just posted all that and I realized that I can use a "chuck" or "shuck" articulation behind each chord/note and get a sound really close to an acoustic.
I also figured that if I loop the bassline last, I can turn it off and on during the song, which means I can move from the original bass line to the rolling bassline later in the song.
I am a dumbass.
***I also think my approach to arranging should be the opposite. Usually I start with the rhythm section first, but if I start with the harp first, that would make me play more percusively from the start.
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Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
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oldwailer
1709 posts
Sep 11, 2011
6:47 PM
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You're certainly on the right track, HN--keep on sharing so I can steal ideas as you come up with them.
One thing I do that works pretty well on some things is lay in a simple rhythm track by wiring my Band in a Box into the interface--then I have a track I can just lay in the instruments on top of in whatever order I want (using headphones to keep out the bleeds). After I like the recording, I usually just mute the rhythm track out for the rendering.
I use Reaper for a DAW--I like it pretty well--before I had Reaper I used a Cakewalk version for a while--then Audacity--then some other one I can't remember right now. Reaper is reasonably easy to use and there are decent tutorials and third party books for it. Someday I might get the time to learn all that stuff. You can check it out at http://www.reaper.fm/
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Oldwailer's Web Site
Always be yourself--unless you suck. . .
-Joss Whedon
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HarpNinja
1670 posts
Sep 11, 2011
6:55 PM
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I was so going to buy Reaper and then someone said I'd like Sonar more (but I can't get it to work yet, and don't have the time today to call tech support).
I figured out a way to play Hey Joe like an acoustic guitar...I am using tongue slaps in the same pattern that a guitar player would strum.
Immediately, I went to trying longer passages, and it is hit or miss when it works/doesn't work. I think I have the timing down well. I also have the dynamics pretty smooth. I pretty much worked around the house doing it all day. It worked well on the LG, moreso than the G. I might get to tape it/share tomorrow.
I *think* I got it figured out so I can change the bass line to the rolling part now too. I haven't tried it, but I thought it out and sang it over the acoustic recording I was stealing from.
http://mikefugazzi.com/files/Hey_Joe_Acoustic.mp3
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Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
Last Edited by on Sep 11, 2011 7:14 PM
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HarpNinja
1671 posts
Sep 12, 2011
10:47 AM
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Sorry to bump my own thread again, but here is my first pass with a new arrangement. It has bugs to work out, but for the first time through the whole song, I think it works really well with limited effects. I don't say it to brag so much as to shift the focus from performance to arrangement, but I had never rehearsed the song this way.
I did manage to time it ok to get the changing bass line, and I am 100% certain in a couple of passes I could cut down the number of revolutions where I am letting the loop cycle through to add a layer.
http://mikefugazzi.com/files/HeyJoeDistorted.mp3
I noticed the LG and the bass parts caused unwanted distortion. I can't figure out what is the cause. Any help? It is NOT:
The cable
Headphones
Mic
Pedals
It has to either be something with the interface or Audacity.
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Mike
Quicksilver Custom Harmonicas
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