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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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This is a subjective question,but I'd like some input.
To make a good backing track, I wonder what other are thinking about how much solo RT instruments to blend with rhythm rt's instruments.In other words, rhythm tracks behind the vocals and solo rtrack's between vocals if the space is at least a measure long, longer or shorter.
I'm wondering how personal intuition plays in this arranging of songs.
The reason for the question is that a friend of mine had a song that he wrote and chorded sent to a fellow that created the arrangement and played each instrument of the arrangement for that song.
I noticed that there were more solo riffs than rhythm backing in the arrangement that I would have expected.
I'm just at the stage of starting to use both solo and rhythm rt's in some of the things we're doing and thought to ask others who have been at this far longer than I.
Thanks Wyndham
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Oh yes...absolutely. I do this all the time. It's totally subjective to the person mixing it.... production engineering. Intuition is a MAJOR factor in how these projects turn out. Do I want it sparse and acoustic or do I want a big band sound with Hammond organs and several guitars? DO I want it straight forward or do I want lots of embellished fills and solo's going on? Each tune is different and demands it's own production ideas. In my tunes, I decide if I want a fill, or if I simply want the rhythm instruments to play and leave the space empty.... I like to keep things balanced.... what I do one place needs a counter-balance somewhere else. For example, in a verse, I try to keep all the fills being played by the same instrument... then in the next verse, the instrument handling fills changes....and in a verse, I want the energy level up....so more things will be playing....I may add the B3 and let the fiddle play low but audible throughout... Basically, I try to think, how would a band arrange this, given the instruments they have at their disposal. A good example is to listen to this song... http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13017714 it's my latest project. You will hear mandolin fills, fiddle fills, and dobro fills. As things come in and out, I also vary the underlying background rhythm instruments to create a different sound. For example, as the song goes into the mandolin solo after the chorus, I brought the Hammond B3 into the mix, and it drops out again in the verse while a clean guitar is brought in to change the feel. In a few places, You will hear the piano play the fills.... this is one of the solo-accompaniment tracks... not a solo track but more than a straight rhythm. NOTE: I write in BB and then use RB to render my real tracks. I then import them into SONAR where I find mixing and editing to be easier and more convenient. I use audio level and panning envelopes to automate the functions of bringing levels up and down. No way could I do that all manually. If you have specific questions...just ask. It's not a secret.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 01/08/15 06:42 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production
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Joined: Jan 2008
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Thanks good song & lyrics filled with the truth.
When I get some better at this I'll know what to ask, thanks
Wyndham
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Herbie old friend, that is one of the best songs, and mixes you have done. The vocal was spot on, and the lyrics were .... very very nice.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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You've done a great job picking through the parts on this project and giving an example of the original questioned method. Nice job.
I'd have mixed it differently, but as mentioned by you, that's all subjective. Again, nice job using the RT's. That in itself is an art.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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That song is in the User Showcase now.....
I used it simply as an example to the OP's questions and comments.
On any given song, if 10 people mixed it, yes, there would be 10 versions...all different. None of them would be wrong, simply different.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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On any given song, if 10 people mixed it, yes, there would be 10 versions...all different. None of them would be wrong, simply different.
Herb is making a good point. Check out Floyd Jane's post in the OFF TOPIC FORUM titled, "The Formula for writing country hits". He links to a blog and video where that poster dissects, mixes and merges 6 recent country hits into a single song. It's sort of reverse engineers Herb's point of 10 versions of one would all be different into 6 different songs are really just one. For hit songs, it does not appear to depend as much on intuition as it does emulation. Vocabulary.com says: "When you emulate someone, you imitate them, especially with the idea of matching their success."
BIAB 2025:RB 2025, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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In my tunes, I decide if I want a fill, or if I simply want the rhythm instruments to play then I will prefer to learn music as I have decided for my little kid that she will learn proper music, That's why I am searching for the perfect music school near Burlington ON and I found Performance School of Music and Dance.
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Where is the 'Mark As Spam' button?
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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