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How I Did It

Cookin' & Singin' (The Guests...
by SackJo22
Recommends (47)
Sun, Nov 7, 2010 @ 12:54 AM
 

Tools I Used

GT40 Mic, Ibanez Acoustic Bass, Magix Music Maker, MAudioPro USB Interface

Samples I Used

Guests of Nature -- vocals
Haskel Joseph -- guitars
Unreal DM -- drums, flute
vo1ki -- flute

Original Samples

Bass
Vocals

Process

The first thing I did when I was ssigned to GON was panic. I have never remixed a melodic pell before and was concerned about my ability to match the key. Also, his singing is so incredibly soulful, I was concerned about my musical limitations in terms of composing a track around his vocals.

I picked the track to remix based on the fact, at the time the assignments went out, it had not yet been remixed.

GON is an incredible musician, who sings right on time. I search drum tracks in the stated bpm, and found Unreal DM's track which worked really well. I synched GON's vox to the drum track, arranging the bits to create the song. For a while, I started looking for keyboard and synth samples but that as going nowhere. So I figured out a chord structure, which I recorded on acoustic guitar. That gave me a framework for the bass part. Once I got the bass part, I felt like the song began to jell. I threw out the acoustic guitar because my playing was rough. Also, I prefered the space and syncopation of the bass. Once I had the bass, I added my vocals. I thought one of the ways to add musical interest would be to approach it as a duet -- him/her/together. I also liked the idea of a rich, padded, choral, chorus. I knew Haskel would provide the perfect tasty guitar parts. I worked with him while we recorded, giving some direction here or there, but mostly trusting him to do his thing only the way he can do it. I thought the introduction of one more sonic element would add some more flavor, and the light jazzy feel of the track suggested flutes. Luckily, the flute sample included in UD's pack was in the right key. Vo1k1's flute added some additional depth to the chorus section.

I spent a long time mixing/mastering. I got some input from MC Jack in the Box which helped with some refining, and for which I am grateful.

Other Notes

I need to sleep now.