Return to recording from a break - The Cure cover version.

[Bubba]

Hi, chaps.

I lost my mojo this year with one thing and another, that's why I've not been interacting much and commenting. I don't really have access to the Loin Fruit like I used to either, so I thought I'd make a track using my old 80s Alesis HR-16 drum machine, just to try to re-kindle my enthusiasm. This track lends itself to a drum machine because of the flat, ambience-free drum sounds that were created by contact pads on the original recording.

Another reason for doing it was to really capture the sound of my Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120 with the Fender Jaguar. There are three guitar tracks on this, each recorded in stereo - double-mic'd on the amp with the onboard stereo chorus engaged.

Bass is my brother's 1978 Precision bass. The original record was recorded with a 1977 precision identical to it but the sound was a bit muted, so I referenced live performances of this track from the time for the growly, pick-heavy tone on this.

Hope you'll find time to give it a listen.

In Your House.mp3

[Greg_L]

Damn I had to stop halfway through. I'll revisit later. That bass sounds mean. There aint no beating those 70s P-Basses.

[Bubba]

Thanks Gerg. I love this thing.

20180816_180417_001.jpg

[Armistice]

FIFY... I'll have a listen on the way to work...

Capture.PNG

[Bubba]

FIFY... I'll have a listen on the way to work...

Capture.PNG

Gee, thanks, Armistice.

[rayc]

Bubba,
The drum machine fits really well - the rhythm section could be quite metronomic in concert early on.
The chorus really places it in time.
Bass is great - but that's to be expected from that bass.
Guitars - lovely - it'll be time for another Magazine cover soon.
Voice - you really have his inflections and phrasing sorted - terrific stuff.
MIX? - lovely.

[musicturtle]

Sounds great Bubba. Really nice vocal work there. That clean chorus sound on the guitar is stellar to me as well, brings back 80s memories for sure.

[Armistice]

That's stellar Bubs... And the best vocal performance I've heard from you yet. Congrats. You'd have to be happy with that.

I had that drum machine and gave it away to someone along the way.

[jonny deep]

Hey Bubbbbbba - had a listen to this last night. Sounds lavverly to me. At first I found the position of the snare compared to the kick a bit weird (on headphones), but it sits nicely once everything's going on - I haven't heard the original, so maybe that's the way that is there. Great vocal - is that you?

[JD01]

Just listened to it at home on monitors and it sounds great.

Is that the "Matt Johnson" drum machine?

[Bubba]

Bubba,
The drum machine fits really well - the rhythm section could be quite metronomic in concert early on.
The chorus really places it in time.
Bass is great - but that's to be expected from that bass.
Guitars - lovely - it'll be time for another Magazine cover soon.
Voice - you really have his inflections and phrasing sorted - terrific stuff.
MIX? - lovely.

Many thanks, Ray. I hope this helps me to make a return to the forum and contribute more with listens and comments. I read about the recording of the Seventeen Seconds album with Mike Hedges producing and I was shocked to find that Lol Tolhurst actually played drums on this! The contact transducers they used on the drums turned the sound into something very like a Linn drum, which was compounded by the fact that they actually chopped the drum track into tape loops and ran them halfway around the studio to make it work! Strange times.

Just listened to it at home on monitors and it sounds great.

Is that the "Matt Johnson" drum machine?

Cheers, JD! I don't know if The The used this particular one, but I was pleasantly surprised how it recorded.

Hey Bubbbbbba - had a listen to this last night. Sounds lavverly to me. At first I found the position of the snare compared to the kick a bit weird (on headphones), but it sits nicely once everything's going on - I haven't heard the original, so maybe that's the way that is there. Great vocal - is that you?

Ha ha, I read the Bubbbbbba in the style of the Blue Monday drum machine riff. I'm surprised you haven't heard the original, I thought you were of the right vintage and musical background to know the early Cure stuff. You must be younger than I thought! Yeah, that's me singing. I dunno with the vocals, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - it definitely depends on the song. Thanks a lot.

That's stellar Bubs... And the best vocal performance I've heard from you yet. Congrats. You'd have to be happy with that.

I had that drum machine and gave it away to someone along the way.

Ta very much, mate. I often look at the drum machine box gathering dust on top of the wardrobe and think of getting rid, but once in a while a use for it comes along. I think I'll always be a hoarder.

Regarding the mix, I've never had one come together so quickly from the tracking stage. I spent so long tracking, tweaking the mics and live effects on the guitars, finding the right synth sounds and getting hold of the right instruments the mix just did itself. Even the vocals - in total from tracking to the final mix the vocals took about an hour and most of that was spent twatting about getting the reverse reverb right.

[jonny deep]

Ha ha, I read the Bubbbbbba in the style of the Blue Monday drum machine riff. I'm surprised you haven't heard the original, I thought you were of the right vintage and musical background to know the early Cure stuff. You must be younger than I thought! Yeah, that's me singing. I dunno with the vocals, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - it definitely depends on the song. Thanks a lot.

Lol, I'm definitely familiar with a bunch of The Cure, but I came to them a bit later on. When you do early Radiohead stuff, that's more my vintage - I was around 15 and an indie kid when The Bends came out, so I've listened to that (and the Ok Computer) era a lot, so I can hear the authenticity in your attempts at their work.

Friday I'm In Love was the first Cure song I heard, probably, as it was on Now 18 (or whichever), but that was on their 9th album and I'd've been about 13 and still mostly into pop rubbish. It's now just about my favourite of theirs, along with In Between Days and Lovecats.

[JD01]

Lovecats.

My sister put Lovecats on a mixtape for me when I was a kid, I really liked it.

[Greg_L]

Hi, chaps.

I lost my mojo this year with one thing and another, that's why I've not been interacting much and commenting. I don't really have access to the Loin Fruit like I used to either, so I thought I'd make a track using my old 80s Alesis HR-16 drum machine, just to try to re-kindle my enthusiasm. This track lends itself to a drum machine because of the flat, ambience-free drum sounds that were created by contact pads on the original recording.

Another reason for doing it was to really capture the sound of my Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120 with the Fender Jaguar. There are three guitar tracks on this, each recorded in stereo - double-mic'd on the amp with the onboard stereo chorus engaged.

Bass is my brother's 1978 Precision bass. The original record was recorded with a 1977 precision identical to it but the sound was a bit muted, so I referenced live performances of this track from the time for the growly, pick-heavy tone on this.

Hope you'll find time to give it a listen.



In Your House.mp3

I think it all sounds really good. I don't know the original, so I can't compare. But what you got sounds good to me. Nice vocals. Great guitar and bass tones. That amp is super clean. My only critique, and this is just personal preference, is that the stark separation of the instrumentation is kind too much. To me it really sounds "multitracked"...like everything really is very separate and pieced together instead of being a "band". Does that make sense? I think it needs some gentle "gluing".

[Bubba]

I think it all sounds really good. I don't know the original, so I can't compare. But what you got sounds good to me. Nice vocals. Great guitar and bass tones. That amp is super clean. My only critique, and this is just personal preference, is that the stark separation of the instrumentation is kind too much. To me it really sounds "multitracked"...like everything really is very separate and pieced together instead of being a "band". Does that make sense? I think it needs some gentle "gluing".

Thanks Greg, yes, I entirely get what you're saying about the separation. I think that sound is a feature of the original in that it was kind of developed like a collage and may have been an attempt to move away from the "live band" sounds of the seventies, breaking new ground. Before I compressed and mastered this I actually feared that the instruments weren't glued very well but the mastering was a 100% improvement. Perhaps it needs a little more?

[JD01]

What do you use for mastering, Bubba?

[Bubba]

What do you use for mastering, Bubba?

The Limiter No.6 free plugin by Vladislav Goncharov(!) I think it's quite transparent, at least on the settings I use. There is some compression in the mastering suite. I usually use a tweaked version of the limiter no.2 preset. I've tried mild gluing with the Red 3 Compressor before I hit it with the limiter, but I don't think they play nice together. I can detect a little pulsing/pumping that I don't like.

[Greg_L]

Thanks Greg, yes, I entirely get what you're saying about the separation. I think that sound is a feature of the original in that it was kind of developed like a collage and may have been an attempt to move away from the "live band" sounds of the seventies, breaking new ground. Before I compressed and mastered this I actually feared that the instruments weren't glued very well but the mastering was a 100% improvement. Perhaps it needs a little more?

Yeah I get that. Maybe just a very gentle low ratio compression in the mix phase on the master bus could help gel it a bit better without negatively affecting the clean separation. You know what else could work? Distortion. A very gentle analog distortion plug could "warm" it up a bit.

[Bubba]

A very gentle analog distortion plug could "warm" it up a bit.

Interesting. Do you have a recommendation?

[Greg_L]

Interesting. Do you have a recommendation?

This one's probably my favorite for that sort of thing.
https://www.kvraudio.com/product/ferric ... y-of-sound

This one's tricky to get used to, but it works.
http://www.shatteredglassaudio.com/product.php?id=106

And then this is the best stereo compressor to me for things like a master bus or a group track with lots going on.
https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... sity-MKIII