PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase It Could Be

pariahdise,

First, thank you for that. It's nice to know that someone believes that I'm at least getting close to what I am trying to achieve.

You made me chuckle a bit. I am, like you. "just a working stiff". And the good news is... I don't have "the expensive stuff". Almost all of my "sound" - what you hear - comes from BIAB. The credit belongs to Peter and the people at PGMusic and the incredible musicians that they have given us. I will do my best to explain what I can....

I have no "secrets". So I'm more than willing to share whatever I can. (This may get long, so bear with me). That's what this forum is for (I believe). To share and learn from each other.

Like I said, I don't have expensive stuff. Quite the contrary, I'm probably on the low end of most of the people here. My computer is 10 years old and can't always handle all that BIAB wants to throw at it. XP and 2G of ram. The side is off because the plastic clips that hold the heat sink to the CPU chip broke a long time ago and I have to make sure it doesn't move off of it or my computer won't boot. I had to scrape and save in order to buy BIAB - which I got at the 2012.5 release (that seems to be the only time a discount wasn't offered, so it wasn't easy).

I typically start by getting a drum track and a bass track that fits the feel of the song. I believe that they are the foundation of the song. But that may be just the area that I "work in" - let's call it "commercial country music". Add a guitar - either acoustic or electric, depending on the song itself, and you've got all you really need. Everything else is what I consider "sweetening". It's your "basic track". I drag those from BIAB to a folder. Those then go into a DAW. I use Sony Acid Pro because I've had it for years. There are a lot of people here that swear by Reaper and a friend of mine told me it's very similiar (and likes it better). That's for mixing. It's got a lot of super-duper fancy things, but I don't use most of what's available. Mostly, I just turn things "on or off". Many of the RealTracks play "more stuff than what I want". So, sometimes, I need to "turn them off". Keep them from getting in the way. The volume envelope in the DAW provides that functionality. Most DAWs come with at least basic effects (EQ, reverb, compressor,etc). I don't use much of that, either. Typically, I will EQ the drums just a bit, to give the snare a bit more "pop". But that is pretty much it. The tracks are, for the most part, exactly what comes out of BIAB. I chose to leave the BIAB reverb set where it is - some people turn it off before rendering them. I do set all the volumes to max (127) and center everything, before the "drag and drop", so I can choose where they sit in the mix.

Before adding the "sweetening tracks" (guitar licks, fiddle licks, that sort of thing), I record the vocals. I do have "a bit of money invested" here - and I think it is one of the more important places to "put your money". I have a condensor mic and a decent mic pre-amp. They cost about $400 apiece - 20 years ago - that's how long I've had them. I would think you can find something comparable on craigslist for around $150 each (just guessing). And there are people here who get very good sound from much cheaper mics (Robert posted a song recently that he says he did with a $13 mic - and it sounds good to my ears).

I add the vocals to the mix and usually some harmonies. Usually I try what I call "the BIABettes" first. Load the BIAB chords into RealBand, add my vocal track, and use the TC Helicon plugin to generate harmonies. That sometimes sounds good and sometimes not - depends on the song. If it doesn't work, I'll do a harmony myself.

Mix that to a good place. Then start finding the "leads and licks" to fill out the song. So I guess you could say I "mix in stages". If it sounds good with the basic rhythm tracks and the vocal then the rest is just a little icing.

So, that's the mixing. And that's about it. I don't do any "mastering". It's just the mix. And it's mostly, just the BIAB tracks. It's the "sound" I'm looking for.

From what I can tell with your stuff, you do most of the guitar work (I could be wrong about that), so that "flavors" your songs. And I like your sound! It has a personal, unique quality to it that, I think, fits your material well. It has a "raw" quality that is very cool. Your lyrics are interesting with a "rawness" that fits right in with your overall sound. There are occassionally places where you have to "rush" to fit the words in and the lyric might benefit from a little different wording to "eliminate some syllables", but they are still "thoughtful and interesting". And, like I said, I like the "uniqueness" of your sound.

I choose to use the BIAB guys for my guitar sounds. I can play adequately (acoustic well) but I cannot get the "polished sound" that BIAB provides. I don't have the equipment necessary to get a good electric tone. And I certainly cannot play like Brent can!

In the "Tips and Tricks" section, there is a thread called "Recording Vocals" that explains my "mic setup" and how I record my vocals. Others have added their "methods" as well. Also, in that section, Steve Young has a thread called "Mixing Tips" which is very good. Find and listen to some of Steve's songs - they are VERY well done - better than mine, I think.

Hope that explains it to some degree....

floyd