How I Did It
Choicesby Whitewolf
Uses samples from:
more...Samples are used in:
Tools I Used
Magix Acid Pro Next Suite
Studio mic
a Yanaha keyboard
My laptop
Samples I Used
All samples from ccMixter artists, except drums/percussion, strings and a small tuba/trombone loop.
• Numbers by Kara Square © copyright 2020 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/mindmapthat/61233
• Chronic by bangcorrupt © copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/bangcorrupt/59149
• Techno Twang by spinmeister (c) copyright 2009 Licensed under a Creative Commons CC0 (CC Zero) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/spinmeister/23105
• Been Like That Too (Vox) by SackJo22 ©) copyright 2019 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/SackJo22/59985
• Drugs of Choice - Spoken Word version by Colin Mutchler © copyright 2009 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/commonsplice/19747
• Fixing My Brain (vocals) by brad sucks © copyright 2006 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial (3.0) licence.
http://beta.ccmixter.org/files/bradsucks/3548
Process
The inspiration for this track revolves around pairing Kara's driving bassline (Numbers) and bangcorrupt's smooth and crunchy guitar (Chronic). I chopped and rearranged each in a way that worked with each other, and matched both tempo and key in my DAW (ACID Pro Next Suite), using the built in track properties and élastique controls.
Next, I wanted a nice piano part I could use for the break, so after looking around ccMixter for awhile, I found spinmeister's song Techno Twang and thought "that's exactly what I needed". I changed tempo and key (see above) and cut the part I liked to size then placed it where I needed it.
That took care of the bare bones of my project. It was coming together so far the way I wanted.
Next, the beat. I tried quite a few from ccMixter artists, but I just couldn't find any I liked for this track (even after cutting them up and rearranging them), so I resorted to using my library, trying and rejecting a lot of them, until I found the ones I liked best.
I wanted another piano part to tie spinmeister's part into the whole, but instead of looking in my library or on ccMixter, I went in a whole different direction... I went to one of the local churches and asked them if I could use their keyboard setup for this project. The pastor was very accommodating. I hooked in my laptop and my studio headphones, dusted off my very rusty playing skills (very rusty!) and began.
I learned to play piano when I was very young (like in my preteens), but I can't remember now, some 40 years later, how to read music, nor am I as coordinated as this track makes it seem. Now, it's all played by ear. This is the first time I even touched a piano in roughly 32 years or so, let alone a keyboard...
What I did was a lot of fiddling around. I only played and recorded small chunks at a time before I married them together and placed them in the track. Post-production and effects make them sound much more professional then they are. (ha ha ha, recording in a church and having the results married together.... )
To polish it off, I opened my library again, found a nice set of strings, then a combo of trombone/tuba that fit in nicely as accents for the track.
Finally, the vocals. I had already picked the ones I really wanted to use (Colin Mutchler's Drugs of Choice, brad sucks' Fixing My Brain, and a part of SackJo22's Been Like That Too) because they fit the theme of what I wanted, eerily so.
After cutting and arranging them, everything was ready for post-production. I did nothing to Brad's vocals, they were fine out of the box. I only added some mild reverb to the others.
The only other effects I added was a background noise cleanup and a stereo widening effect to the flugelhorn (using the built in restoration plugins and the VST Avox Duo).
Then it was on to the final mastering. All in all, this track took a week or so from start to finish.
So, there you have it.... A short novel on how I did it :-) Enjoy!
March 31, 2021
Murray Studer (Whitewolf225)
Other Notes
Was a blast!
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