And Your Bird Can Sing - w/ Vocals now

I was able to crawl down to the studio and take a first pass at getting the vocals installed today. Wore my broken butt out doing this but I really wanted to hear this with most of the parts done. The only thing missing that I can think of, are the handclaps. I can get those later.

For Geoff: This IS the Mojave MA300 tube mic through a Golden Age pre73 tube preamp.

See what you think for an initial mix.

And Your Bird Can Sing - with initial Vocals installed (http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11362287)

great job on the vocals

Sounding pretty good there 64!

(IMHO, as always)..

..One thing I always liked about Lennon's vocals was how he could be very precise about his timing; to where his melody singing rhythm was like another percussion instrument that fits right in with the drums:

ex:

"Crabalocker fishwife, pornographic priestess
Boy, you've been a naughty girl
You let your knickers down"

I think "And Your Bird.." is another tune that works best when the melody singing rhythm is precise.

I'm hearing your vocals rushing and leading the beat often over the course of the tune.. (I've been listening to Beatles' tunes since I was a kid, so I'm probably overly sensitive to the rhythms).

Anywho, maybe check out how your vocal waveforms line up with the bass drum and snare drum track.

I have some ideas of how to line up what you've already sang more precisely in tempo rhythmically without having to re-record, FWIW; :smile:

Vocals sounded great. I thought you did well with tone from the guitars - a real nice bitey type of overdrive sound without too much mud. It really invoked the vibe of the original song for me.

Hi ScatMan,

I hear the same thing in some parts where it sounds a little rushed. I am glad you caught that though because I was hearing it too but the good news is, it is fixable when my broken leg allows more time in the studio.

The other thing I caught is there is one sung word that is wrong in the middle verse. In the "When your prized possessions start to" verse, He sang "bring you down", instead of "weigh you down". So he's going to re-sing that verse and double it for me.

What is the consensus on the vocal balance to the instruments? A little too forward yet? This is my sense of it right now. The vocals were done with our new Mojave MA300 tube mic and it has a much different character than the AKG 414 and Rode NT2000 we had been using on prior projects. It seems to be more intimate and has added presence.

Thanks to Thin Line and DeepSouth for the kind words also! I'm sure everyone on the forum here that is a musician knows that getting these little masterpieces right, is a real challenge.

This one will get sorted out!

Yeah!
Very nicely done!

Sounds like a great starting point for your mix. I'm sure you'll be tweaking your balances as you go, but from here, I'm hearing one of the harmony guitars (high part) as slightly weak, getting lost at the passage that starts at about :58 and also the one at 1:42 (same passage in different places). I think you really nailed the bass tone. Didn't notice the vocals too out front, but the harmony vocals crowd the melody every now and then. As always, IMHO!

But man, be careful on those dang stairs!!!

Great start on vocals and music!

Sounds like a great starting point for your mix. I'm sure you'll be tweaking your balances as you go, but from here, I'm hearing one of the harmony guitars (high part) as slightly weak, getting lost at the passage that starts at about :58 and also the one at 1:42 (same passage in different places). I think you really nailed the bass tone. Didn't notice the vocals too out front, but the harmony vocals crowd the melody every now and then. As always, IMHO!

But man, be careful on those dang stairs!!!

Thanks woodman!

yep, on the lead guitar, both parts were played at the same time and I have no independent level control at 0:58 and 1:42. By the way, the reason for the simultaneous parts is to be able to do the song live on stage. So, until we record those separately, I don't have control unless I do a little high part patch to augment those parts.

The bass part was my contribution, so it's good to know that is okay.

Re: vocal harmonies crowding....
Yeah, yesterday when I installed these, I kept pulling those levels back more and more until you hear it as it is right now. I need to get the whole vocal thing more homogeneous and time aligned in a few spots where it is slightly rushed. I might be able to get to it today and trust me, the stairs are not going to win the day! I'm determined to move forward.


brookdalebill & fendrguitplayr, thanks for your kind words!

yep, on the lead guitar, both parts were played at the same time and I have no independent level control at 0:58 and 1:42. By the way, the reason for the simultaneous parts is to be able to do the song live on stage. So, until we record those separately, I don't have control unless I do a little high part patch to augment those parts.


If it wuz me, I wouldn't burn time on a patch if you're gonna retrack separately (which would help the recording), but doing it live, it wouldn't be nearly so critical — it will blow by so fast nobody will notice (you know how that works!)

If it wuz me, I wouldn't burn time on a patch if you're gonna retrack separately (which would help the recording), but doing it live, it wouldn't be nearly so critical — it will blow by so fast nobody will notice (you know how that works!)

I think you're right!

I just got back from the studio, crawling back up the upstairs and I was able to identify the offending vocal track that was causing most, if not all of the "rushed" lyrics issue. For some unknown reason, it was slightly forward in time towards the Zero point. Which makes no sense to me, because everything was referenced to Zero. Another one of those things that makes you go.... Hmmmmmmm....?!?!

I also pulled back the harmony levels some more, ~2dB.

The balance between the vocals and instruments should also be better now.

So, until I get the one verse fix and the handclaps... this should be it for now unless my friends here in RIP hear something else that needs immediate attention.


Here is the updated track with all the above mentioned changes....
And Your Bird Can Sing v.02 (http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11362287)

Definite progress. But if you're gonna keep testing your luck on those stairs, get a team of mountain goats to drag you up and down on a travois.

Definite progress. But if you're gonna keep testing your luck on those stairs, get a team of mountain goats to drag you up and down on a travois.

I might just have to find me some goats and a travois! Can you get those delivered like Carry Out??? or better yet, maybe some Sherpas!.... because the more I listen to it, I hear a couple of more things I want to address tomorrow.

"Your day breaks, your mind aches..." that was my next thought, so good job!

Today's studio soiree involved fixing the lyric timings even more. I think I figured out why it is doing this... my singer has started recording his vocals at 48kHz 24bit and the project is at 44.1kHz 24bit, so when it converts the vocal audio files sample rate on import, time gets slightly distorted.

I also did more vocal balancing and mixing.... Today's version should be even more solid than the previous iterations.

Your ears and feedback are greatly appreciated!

And Your Bird Can Sing v.03 (http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11362287)

Very nice

the vocal time smear works.... it sounds more true to the original

Since vocals are the focus right now::: the 'seven wonders' verse (~ :22) feels a little rushed. Also the verse around 1:20 to a lesser extent. Might be worth zooming in and making sure your harmony vocals aren't coming in before the lead vocal. Purely personal, but I always like to give the lead the initial attack, with the harmony attack coming however many milliseconds later — not many but just to give the lead that initial attack on the beat. ... If this doesn't pertain, well, drive on!

Since vocals are the focus right now::: the 'seven wonders' verse (~ :22) feels a little rushed. Also the verse around 1:20 to a lesser extent. Might be worth zooming in and making sure your harmony vocals aren't coming in before the lead vocal. Purely personal, but I always like to give the lead the initial attack, with the harmony attack coming however many milliseconds later — not many but just to give the lead that initial attack on the beat. ... If this doesn't pertain, well, drive on!


thanks! yesterday, the word 'wonders' caught my attention as being a bit rushed but I left it be because I had just adjusted the lyrics right after it. So I'll scrutinize that whole 'seven wonders' phrase and see if it needs adjustment. I will look at the 1:20 mark. Also, I will try to get the handclaps in today and the tambourine. I also want to look at the guitar panning and maybe EQ the rhythm guitar a bit.

So I moved 'wonders' a bit... but more importantly I added the handclaps and tambourine today and it definitely improves the authenticity to my ears.

And Your Bird Can Sing v.04 (http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11362287)

From where I sit, the handclaps are nigh-invisible and the tambo is respectfully unobtrusive, which to me is a good thing — feel without excessive audio pollution.

It still *feels* to me like the vocals are pushing the beat in certain spots, but I'm sure you're on top of that after all the discussion. [I say *feels* because I have no means of precise audio analysis and don't feel comfortable stating it as a fact.] ... Just out of perverse curiosity, how much predelay are you giving them on the reverb?

From where I sit, the handclaps are nigh-invisible and the tambo is respectfully unobtrusive, which to me is a good thing — feel without excessive audio pollution.

It still *feels* to me like the vocals are pushing the beat in certain spots, but I'm sure you're on top of that after all the discussion. [I say *feels* because I have no means of precise audio analysis and don't feel comfortable stating it as a fact.] ... Just out of perverse curiosity, how much predelay are you giving them on the reverb?

The one that I am 'creeping' up on is the word 'And' at 0:25, the start of the phrase - And your bird is green. I moved it today but apparently not quite enough to eliminate the rushed feeling in that spot. When I look at the drum tracks and the bass, the vocals are really close to being on the beat. There are two things I'm trying to avoid... 1) deforming the vocals 2) sounding mechanically, robotically perfect.

on the reverb, I'm using Perfect Space, a convolution reverb.... and on the vocals, I'm using it very sparsely on the vocals in this song so far.
Here's a quick youtube overview of it, if you are interested....
Perfect Space overview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E76t90Cj_1g)
If I recall correctly, the predelay on the setting I have is about 1.6 mSec. I am using a natural, real Hall in a Near X-Y configuration.

I'm glad to know you thought the claps & tambo were tasteful! The more I do this, the more I realize to step lightly.

Speaking of step.... This song does a good job of putting a spring in my step. or at least what I remember a step to be. :lol:

Today's studio mixing session included getting the rhythm guitar panning sorted out to the left and level set about 1dB lower. I panned the lead guitar harder to the right and down 1dB also. Worked on getting the handclaps and tambourine settled in better. I also worked more on the vocal push issue and it seems to be better and lowered all the vocals about 2dB. Finally, I lowered the bass 1dB also. So, the only instrument that stayed at the same level was the drum kit.

To my ear, this mix sounds MUCH better. Can I ask you one more time to lend me your ear on this to critique it again for mix, pan and levels?

Thanks so much!

And Your Bird Can Sing v.05 (http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11362287)

It's cooking down into some pretty good soup. One thought — if you brought the vocals down 2 dB, it wouldn't hurt to bring the bass down one more dB ... it sounds bigger now with the vocals back.

So I moved 'wonders' a bit... but more importantly I added the handclaps and tambourine today and it definitely improves the authenticity to my ears.

And Your Bird Can Sing v.04 (http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11362287)

Funny - all these years, I though the line was "you say you've seen certain wonders"-LOL I thought the english accent cobined with the singing style just made it sound like "seven".

At the previous level I had the handclaps at, several people thought they might be digital clicks.... Sooooo, to create no doubt about what they really are, I brought the handclaps much more forward in the mix now.

Secondly, I nudged the drums up a little more in the mix too.

So, if you're not sick of it yet... here is v.06 :roll:
And Your Bird Can Sing v.06 (http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11362287)

The claps still aren't intrusive ... I like where the snare sits now, but wondered if it might be a little hot to be period-authentic ... ???

I enjoyed that! Great stuff...

many thanks Sooper! Glad you enjoyed it! It was a lot of fun putting that one together.

Just as an aside, my close friend and the singer you hear on all these tunes we are doing together, just did a private audition two days ago for the tv show, The Voice. He got recommended to them from a big name talent promoter in NYC. If he makes it through the early screening, that could be some good exposure for him. Too early to tell what the outcome is going to be yet.

We also have started recording another Beatles song now.... The Word - from Rubber Soul.

That's pretty darn good!

Hey 64,

Just had a listen....WoW! That sounds super! Nice job man!

Hope the legs coming along!

KC