New Recording From the SoundByte Studio

[Arjan P]

Okay, so the last few weekends I've been working on this recording by (15-year-old) Rowena, who wrote her own song, words and music. It's called 'Alone'. She's the daughter of a friend of mine and this was indeed her first time in a studio and I must say she did very well.

She played the Nord Electro 3 piano to a click, which I recorded as MIDI for more control down the line. On that same session we recorded a guide vocal and then I added synth strings and bass guitar (HALion). Later on also a basic drum track (also inside Cubase) and a shaker and doubled acoustic guitar. On another date we recorded the final lead vocal and backing vocals, made some decisions on the arrangements and then mixed it and later I also mastered in Wavelab 10.

If you have time to listen, let me know what you think! Thanks.

https://soundcloud.com/soundbytestudio/alone-rowena

 

[Mark Richards]

Nice work, Arjan.

Balance, sound stage, imaging all spot on.

I might have brought out a bit more presence in Rowena's vocal to add to the song's emotional impact (just personal choice).

I think the song will resonate with young women. It certainly would with my 18 year old granddaughter, on more than one level.

 

[Arjan P]

Thanks for the compliment and taking the time, Mark.
And I think you're right about the 'target' audience too

 

[-mjk-]

Nice work, @Arjan P - really clean. I agree with Mark about the imaging and soundstage, and also the presence. I would try running the mix though an exciter (I'm a HUGE Aphex user from the 80's!). It's a nice sounding record! The cymbal underneath the piano at the head made me want to turn it up to hear it better. It was hard to identify until it was up louder. Good psycho-acoustics!

 

[Arjan P]

Thanks @-mjk- also for your time. I don't have a hardware exciter but usually add some from the Izotope Ozone plugin in Wavelab. This time however I decided not to use Ozone since I couldn't get it right in mastering and it was creating distortion. I'll try to look for a separate exciter plugin for next time, cause I know it usually nicely adds to the sound.

 

[David Porter]

Enjoyed that. Well done!