Hey Sally & Kings Shilling

Steinberg Lounge
#1

Hi all,

I have been using Cubase for a few years now, starting with LE4 and graduating up to 7.5.2 and I love it!

The VST connect has allowed me to get together with our old band vocalist (who lives over 50 miles from me) and our old drummer (180 miles from where I live) and we have started making music again after a 40 year gap!!

These are 2 new songs we have written and recorded in my “mancave” studio and, even if we do say so ourselves, we are all pretty happy with the result!

https://soundcloud.com/stanhope-road/hey-sally
https://soundcloud.com/stanhope-road/kings-shilling

Everything on the track is Cubase (effects & plug ins etc) & Halion Sonic, all recorded through the CI1 usb interface so many thanks and hats off to Steinberg, Cubase and Halion Sonic!!

#2

Hi, good effort with Hey Sally!!..bit of a “maggie May” feel about the song but reckon it’s effect is reduced by quite a lot of timing issues, would be worth putting them right,

Kings Shilling is a good song about an unusual subject so well done there, the drums seemed to be coming from about 11o’clock left on my system, maybe that was intentional…dunno but well done. :slight_smile:

Kevin

#3

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for the critique , and you are right, there are some timing issues with Hey Sally that I’m not quite skilled enough (yet!!) to clean up!

I guess that’s the problem with multi-tracking everything myself (except the drums) but I’m pretty confident I will be able to improve the timing issues by just focusing more on that section of my mixing.

I will have a crack at tempo detection & set definition from tempo over the next few days and let you know how I get on, unless their is another route I could take to clean up the timing?

Regards the drums on Kings Shilling, I normally just listen for a “gap” that will fit whatever part I am recording and place the sound there. I also record all audio in mono but maybe I should be doing some (like the drums) in stereo?

Anyway thanks again for taking the time to both listen and to write a post,

Jim B

#4

Nice, great to hear about your success with VST connect! I may have to breakdown and get it were you able to transmit multi channels off the drums??? Was it an easy process? Please share with us your experiences using it :slight_smile:
I hear the drums in left channel also but that doesn’t bother as I grew up in a time where recording was so often done that way. The drummer is playing on the backside of the beat and it feels good to me be careful about moving it to much.

Great writing!!! And congratulations on the upgrade
Kenny

#5

Hi Kenny,

I am away from my computer for a few days but, basically, I mix down the track I want to use for the performer to play/sing along with, then use the VST Connect template, drop the track into it and basically follow the instructions!!

I know that sounds simple but I’ve read so many complicated questions about the programme that I wasn’t sure about using it, but I have found that by using the template it all works fine!

Once I am happy with the performers performance, I just bounce down their track to the desk top, close the template, open the CB song folder, import it in then mix away!

Regards the drums my brother is using what I call an electronic kit so there is no mikes as such, he DI’s into his CI1 interface and I record it. The vocalist is using a usb mike and he has to use asio4all but, again, it all works remarkably well!

Overall you may have gathered that I am not a computer techie but it works for me and my fellow band mates and that is what I think is important!!

And thanks for the feedback on the 2 tracks, much appreciated!!

Jim B

#6

Hi Jim B,

Hey Sally : I thought this was nicely done. Agree with shadowfax about the song having some timing hiccups. I was also a tad distracted by the vocal recording. I had no problem with the singing itself, it just sounded like it was recorded in room that had a lot of sound reflections, and there’s not much to be done about that after the fact.

If you had the means and inclination, I think you would get a much better vocal sound if you were able to deaden up your room a little–perhaps with something as simple as one of those half circle reflection filters (like the sE Electronics Reflexion Filter X Portable Vocal Booth or something similar). I don’t use them myself because they just feel so… claustrophobic, and make it hard to have anything to read your lyrics / music from. I opted for a full room treatment solution instead. Anyway, it’s something to think about if you’re looking to improve your recordings. Beyond that, I thought it was a really nice song.

Kings Shilling: Similar thoughts about the vocal recording, and one more thought about it. It feels like there’s a disconnect between the vocals and the instrumentation. That might be a mixing thing, or simply the recording thing I mentioned earlier. They just don’t feel like they’re in the same space. I like the harmonizing–it’s nicely placed and really adds a nice effect to the song at the right moments. Liked this song a lot. It certainly is my favorite of the two. :slight_smile:

#7

Hi SLD,

The vocalist was about 50 miles from where I was when we did both recordings, and I could only see his “studio layout” through VST connect image.

I’m fairly sure it was a room with a desk and painted (no drapes, wallpaper or acoustic dampening materials) walls which is what I think you are hearing!

A few months ago, before VST connect, he came over to my “mancave” and did some recording. There is a lot in my room to break and / or deaden acoustic reflection, and we got some fantastic results.

To be blunt, when we are recording I am not really listening to the “sound” but more the performance and thanks to your comments that is something I will certainly be doing from here on in!
I will get him to, at the very least, put some drapes or soft materials in the room he is recording in to break any acoustic reflections and deaden the sound a little.

Thanks for the guidance and comments

Jim B