How I Did It
Uses samples from:
Samples are used in:
Original Samples
I used a VSTi synth and a little MIDI work for the Synth Bubbles, instead of chasing ass through collections of loop files on my hard drive and the internet.
Process
I wanted to create a remix that I myself could sit and listen to, over and over again. I realize Shannon is looking for chilled out versions of her songs. I'm hoping to get around to feeding the pagan gods of music with some more remix track releases. It appears I need to add more memory to my PC. Limited number of tracks, VSTs and etc, I can currently work with before windows slows down to the point, I feel like tossing my PC out the window.
The Vocal track was fun to do. It tends to shock people when they discover I don't use any delay effect plug-in's. I simply duplicated the vocal track twice, then offset one by a 1/4 note and the other by a 1/2 note. I then use volume envelop controls for the wet/dry mix control. Basically working a delay is a bit like playing an instrument all it's own. Some artist like Bono from U2 totally understand delay, the tempo and dynamics involved. A lot of live sound engineers are back there tweaking the knobs in the middle of a song too. Sound men do not get enough credit at times. They can make or break a whole gig though.
I did use a Vocal Doubler that's specific for making Ozzy Ozbourne vocals. Most people would not think about slapping this down on a female voice. Basically, it's just a voice doubler that's slightly detuned and delayed. I made it a little less wet because I did not want to flood her natural voice out.
I did make a duplicate of the guitar track and slapped some reverb on it. This was a completely wet track. This seemed to blend well with the piano and other tracks. A sort of harmonic layer track with volume envelop control. It was not created to make the guitar stand out of sound different. The goal was to use it to blend harmonics from the vocals, piano and other tracks. Normally these type of harmonics occur naturally when a group of musicians are all playing together live at the same time. All too often seperation of instruments is stressed to death. At times it's great to have two or more instruments come together and sound like one big instrument. This trick really shines through on the Chorus sections of the song, making things sound like a blended wall of sound. I love using acoustic guitars for this effect, they seem resonate really well with cymbols and high-hats too. You'd be suprised at the number of songs that actually contain an acoustic guitar track. Even though the guitar does not stand out, it hads a certain degree of warmth to the music. Did you know the David Bowie's Rebel Rebel even has an acoustic guitar track. Don't believe me, go back and listen to it really well.
Anyway, I did not want to make the guitar track stand out, simply wanted to use it to augment the beautiful piano work going on.
I felt all the instruments coming in together at the same time at the start of the song was a little much. So I opted to do the way many bands start a song live. Somebody starts it, then other instruments come in.
Other Notes
I opted to use the original stub track files and not ReDo the music tracks. I stuck to doing a Remix in the literal sense, not a complete musical rewrite. Besides, if something is already great why mess with it. It's a bit like trying to fix things that are not broken.
Lately, I've not been attempting to do something called "Mastering" for a number of reasons. If anything my attempts at Mastering might make true Mastering very difficult in the end. Many people don't understand the art and logic behind Mastering. Once you do, you might stop trying to do it unless you are going to be putting out a whole album. Mastering applies to not one song, but the whole collection of songs for an album. Where a consistent db level is set for all the tracks, along with many other subtle things. I've been avoiding limiters and compressors now as much as I can. Those things can kill the dynamics of any track in a heart beat. I'm not totally against Compressors or limiters, just that I know I've been guilty of sin in Misusing them in the past. I'm trying to break a few bad habits.
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