Seattle Techno

[tapeman01]

Hello,
Here is my new number "Seattle Techno" an A/V production by me, aka "Remix21", where I mainly use my new DP-24SD. This number is going to form part of a collection called “Places in the world I love”. I have two other numbers I will submit later with production details. In the past I've made lots of recordings with tapebased machines like Fostex (4trk) and Yamaha (8trk). After this I used DP-008 and DP-02.

Here are the production details:
TRK 1: Bass guitar (w. Boss compressor and very little Boss room reverb). Hofner 1962 violin bass.
TRK 2: Rhythm guitar (clean). Fender (US) Stratocaster.
TRK 3: Lead guitar (w. Boss compressor, Boss overdrive and very little Boss room reverb). Fender (US) Stratocaster. DP-24 chorus applied during the last sections of the guitar solo.
TRK 4-6: Three part background vocals (during guitar solo). Recorded with DP-24 reverb (Hall)
TRK 7-9: Three part vocals for the intro. With DP-24 reverb (Hall).
TRK 10: Bass guitar. With Boss compressor and very little Boss room reverb. With DP-24 Chorus. Hofner 1962 violin bass.
TRK 11-12: Two additional vocals for the intro.
TRK 13-14 (Stereo): Roland organ with chorus (from the keyboard). Techno drums from the keyboard.
TRK 15-16: FX (Airplane). First recorded on my Yamaha 8 trk cassette recording console, then transferred to this stereo track.
TRK 17-18: FX (Computer, printer sounds). First recorded on my Yamaha 8 trk cassette recording console, then transferred to this stereo track.
TRK 19-20: Main vocal (two part). DP-24 chorus.
TRK 21-22: Main vocal (two part). DP-24 chorus.
TRK 23-24: Cymbal and cowbell

The reason for 2 tracks with bass and many tracks with vocals in the intro, is that I decided to make an intro with bass and many vocals after I had recorded the main part of the song. I could easily move and insert this part at the start with the DP-24. As I wanted to adjust and change a lot of the internal effects of the DP-24 during mixdown, I used neither mastering nor normalization of the DP-24. I connected with a high quality cable the stereo outs of the DP-24 to the inputs of my DP-02 and used this as a master recorder. I then made a CD on the DP-02. Microphone used is an ADK Model TL large diagraph condenser.

Link to the number on YouTube: Seattle Techno - YouTube

 

[Arjan P]

I think it's an interesting song, nice how it goes in different directions musically - the sound and arrangement reminds me of the seventies. Mix-wise in my view the bass guitar is nice in the start, but later disappears a bit when the rest of the music starts. Also the vocals are dominating in some places. All in all I like the instrumentation but the mix could be better. Also I must say the tightness in tempo is a bit too loose to my liking. I like the reference to Boeing and Microsoft in audio but that could also be a bit less prominent in the mix..

And yeah, and I like Seattle too, been there a few times

 

[tapeman01]

Hi Arjan, Thanks for your feedback. Actually there is also a reference to a Mr. Hendrix in the solo and my painting . Nice to have some response with so many views.

 

[Mark Richards]

I just found this thread of yours (for the same reason as I wrote in my post in your Seattle Piano Trio thread - one inconsiderate member spammed this forum with his song threads. Your thread got buried until the moderators removed the spam).

I like what you've done with the vocal placement and blend, but I agree with Arjan that it gets out of balance starting at about 1:08.

My primary critique is that I'm hearing a build up in the 200Hz - 400Hz range that muddies the mix. There's a lot of frequency overlap of the mix components. That overlap also causes everything to appear as though in a line across the sound stage, with no front-to-back depth to the image. These factors are making the mix monotonous.

The next time, I suggest paying more attention to where in the frequency ranges the voices and instruments overlap, and use some judicious EQ, compression, reverb, and fader adjustment to help differentiate the various components of the mix and move them to different locations on the sound stage.

As I wanted to adjust and change a lot of the internal effects of the DP-24 during mixdown, I used neither mastering nor normalization of the DP-24.

Not sure what you meant by this. Mixdown and mastering are two completely different processes with completely different objectives.