I'm On Fire (Bruce Springsteen cover)

[paulman]

My vocal mic, the Avantone CV-12, shitted out on me recently. It might just be the tube, and since I replaced the stock tube with a vintage one immediately when I bought the mic, I still have the stock one to try. And I will. However, there's a modded version of the mic called the CV-12 BLA that I've been wanting to try, so I bought that. It gets a fuller sound without having to fuck around with EQ like I did with the old one, and it's useful for more things. So everything on this track (aside from the direct bass and the SD3 drums) is miked with the CV-12 BLA, and the guitars and banjo are also miked with the Avantone CR-14 ribbon mic. Oh, and I also used both mics for the harmonica (first time I've ever recorded one).

I'm dedicating this song to my girlfriend when I post it on Facebook so maybe she'll feel bad about making me move my studio into the cat bathroom.

NEW MIX:

I'm On Fire master 2.mp3

old mix:

I'm On Fire master.mp3

[rayc]

Referring to the male partner as daddy & the female as little girl then explaining the urges is another world these days.
Nice recording the string squeaks get to me but I know most folk aren't bothered.
Brief fire but a good one.

[Alison]

This is probably my favorite Springsteen song and you do it justice. Love your use of banjo in this. I don't really hear the guitar much except for the squeaks and then I know it's there (my only criticism!!). I really like your version.

Had a band back in the 80s that did this song, I think I played cello and sang harmonies, hard to remember!
Good job!

[vomitHatSteve]

I'm dedicating this song to my girlfriend when I post it on Facebook so maybe she'll feel bad about making me move my studio into the cat bathroom.

The mix sounds pretty good to me. The only nit sticking out is that some of the vocals are getting a little buried. Especially the tails at the end of phrases

[paulman]

The only nit sticking out is that some of the vocals are getting a little buried. Especially the tails at the end of phrases

Ok, I’m glad you said that. I was worried I was going down a rabbit hole with mixing the vocals, so I just left well enough alone. But I felt like they weren’t as audible as I wanted. I want them sparkling and clear, without losing the weight of the baritone. But I was also afraid of making them too big in comparison with the rest of the mix, cause I tend to do that a lot of times. Now that you’ve mentioned it I feel like it’s a green light to keep working on it.

[paulman]

Referring to the male partner as daddy & the female as little girl then explaining the urges is another world these days.
Nice recording the string squeaks get to me but I know most folk aren't bothered.
Brief fire but a good one.

Thanks Ray. I’m going to see what I can do about the squeaks. Seems like all this Izotope software I got should have something for that.

[paulman]

This is probably my favorite Springsteen song and you do it justice. Love your use of banjo in this. I don't really hear the guitar much except for the squeaks and then I know it's there (my only criticism!!). I really like your version.

Had a band back in the 80s that did this song, I think I played cello and sang harmonies, hard to remember!
Good job!

Thanks Alison! I probably need to balance the guitars better. I actually didn’t intend for the banjo to be out front, I really just want it all to blend.

Yeah, this is one of my favorites of his too. I also want to record Backstreets, which will be an epic undertaking for me between the razor-gargling vocals and the piano part I’ll have to learn. I do Dancing in the Dark live, also with harmonica playing the synth part. Not sure if I’ll do a recording of it or not.

[Lt. Bob]

Sounds good mang .... I agree bout vox being slightly low ...... I like vox way up and present.
Harp is great ....
instruments sound great ......

I like some squeaks ....... let's it sound like it's real.

when are you coming down to Laggerheads?

[paulman]

when are you coming down to Laggerheads?

What night(s) are you there?

[Greg_L]

I think this is really nice. I agree with the comments that the vocals are a little low, but just barely. I like the folksy americana feel you got with the tracking and this mix. That's real good.

[Lt. Bob]

when are you coming down to Laggerheads?

What night(s) are you there?

I'm only there if I decide to be .... a friend plays there every wed and I often go just for fun if I'm off. Sometimes I'll go every week for months and then sometime not at all.

I will not be there the next few weeks as I'm going to N.O. so really unlikely to go before Feb.
And since it's me going for fun, don't just show up ....... I may or may not be there.
but if you let me know you're coming then I would make a point of it.

And it is outside so if the weather's bad, it wouldn't be a good night to go.

But just lemme know .... love to see ya'

[JD01]

Yeah, this is really good.

[TripleM]

Overall this sounds great. Nice performances. Close to the original, but still has your fingerprint. I like covers that way usually.

Nice singing, but I'm also hearing words at the end of lines that drop out.

The harmonica in the intro was a bit loud relative to the guitars and banjo. More so the guitars.

Nice.

[paulman]

What night(s) are you there?

I'm only there if I decide to be .... a friend plays there every wed and I often go just for fun if I'm off. Sometimes I'll go every week for months and then sometime not at all.

I will not be there the next few weeks as I'm going to N.O. so really unlikely to go before Feb.
And since it's me going for fun, don't just show up ....... I may or may not be there.
but if you let me know you're coming then I would make a point of it.

And it is outside so if the weather's bad, it wouldn't be a good night to go.

But just lemme know .... love to see ya'

Well that's perfect, because my off days are Wednesday and Thursday. Let me know when you're back from N'awlins and we can figure out a good Wednesday.

[paulman]

Thanks everybody for your input! I think I agreed with every nit,and addressed them all. I also shaped the bass better, please let me know if it's too loud. That's another thing I tend to do.

I'm On Fire master 2.mp3

[vomitHatSteve]

Some of the vocals are still a touch buried, but it's definitely a little better.

[TripleM]

I like the way the levels are sitting now. The banjo now sounds a little dark. Maybe brighten it up just a small amount? Be careful not to over-do it.

Overall sounding real good.

[JD01]

Paulman - I think you should park this one now. Its really good and you're probably into the area of diminishing returns if you get into endless tweaking.

[paulman]

Paulman - I think you should park this one now. Its really good and you're probably into the area of diminishing returns if you get into endless tweaking.

Thank you JD. It’s done. Hey, how is Ozone working out for you? I know you had issues with the Elements version. Is it as bad as it seemed at first?

[JD01]

Paulman - I think you should park this one now. Its really good and you're probably into the area of diminishing returns if you get into endless tweaking.

Thank you JD. It’s done. Hey, how is Ozone working out for you? I know you had issues with the Elements version. Is it as bad as it seemed at first?

Elements is weird. You basically have no control... but, it always turns out quite good.