# Lubricant



## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Here's something our other guitar player and I have been playing around with. Mostly him (Brian), who did most of guitars and bass, we borrowed the drummer from his son's band, and I've added the vocals and the itty bitty solo break. We've done this by just passing stuff back and forth via email as MP3's. We've had a bit of trouble syncing up between the 2 programs which is why the vocals are a bit "off" timing wise. We're definitely not done yet but let me know what you think, good, bad, or indifferent. Everything will be taken constructively.

http://www.songramp.com/mod/mps/viewprivtrack.php?trackid=49021

Dave


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## TheTallCoolOne (May 15, 2006)

Dave T, that is pretty wild.
I'm not that familiar with that song, I did hear it a few times on the radio, but you definitely come very close from what I can remember of the original.

The vocals didn't seem to be off, or so little, I reall had to listen very carefully to notice it, and it's only at times, not all over.
The only thing that sounded off a bit, or not thight enough, seems to be the rhythm guitar, expecially at the beginning.
I know the rhythm of the guitar is very off from the beat of the drums in the original but it still gels.
In your version, there seems to be a little off balance between the drums and that guitar.

The only other thing is your voice (which is quite nice by the way) does not sound like it's with the band. I mean, it's sound like it was plastered over the band, it's not a part of it. But that is probably normal at this stage of your recording.

Otherwise, a damn nice song very well played and put together.
Can't wait to hear the final cut.

Yves


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Thanks Yves, that's what I was looking for. We know about the rhythm guitar (harder than it sounds to keep that beat btw) but that's also great feedback on the vocal. Cheers :food-smiley-004:


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

TheTallCoolOne said:


> The only other thing is your voice (which is quite nice by the way) does not sound like it's with the band. I mean, it's sound like it was plastered over the band, it's not a part of it. But that is probably normal at this stage of your recording.
> 
> Yves


Yves, any suggestions on what we can do about that? I recorded the vocals separately and sent them to Brian as an MP3, which he then imported in his mixing software. Hopefully he will register and chip in with what he did to come up with what we have so far.


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## lost_cause_bb (Aug 1, 2006)

Hi Yves, further to what Dave explained the vocals were compressed and centered in the mix. It would be helpful for me (a novice) if you could explain how to better connect the vocals with the rest of the mix. Are you talking about EQing a whole in the rhythm so it doesn't clash as much with the vocals?
thanks...

btw... I'm Brian


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## TheTallCoolOne (May 15, 2006)

lost_cause_bb said:


> Hi Yves, further to what Dave explained the vocals were compressed and centered in the mix. It would be helpful for me (a novice) if you could explain how to better connect the vocals with the rest of the mix. Are you talking about EQing a whole in the rhythm so it doesn't clash as much with the vocals?
> thanks...
> 
> btw... I'm Brian


Hi Brian, 
err... I'm no pro at it either and never recorded vocals or worked with some.
I'm sorry to say I don't have much to offer on this matter.
The only thing I can think of would be to add some reverb to the vocals, this seems to push back the sound a little and help to blend in.

There are few guys in here that are a lot more experienced in this matter to ask. I'm thinking Mr. Severson (can't remember his full nickname now).

If I were into your situation, I'd spend quite some time experimenting with various effects and see what does the best job.
Trust your ears and listen to the original and compare.
That's basically my approach when I record my guitar.

Yves


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## lost_cause_bb (Aug 1, 2006)

Hey Yves, thanks for your input, it's great to get some constructive criticism.
I’ll try adding some verb and other effect to the vocals to hopefully get them to “fit” a bit better into the mix. Adding effects is really one of the great benefits of using recording software, if you don’t like it, change it and try something new.
Thanks again !!

Brian


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## TheTallCoolOne (May 15, 2006)

lost_cause_bb said:


> Hey Yves, thanks for your input, it's great to get some constructive criticism.
> I’ll try adding some verb and other effect to the vocals to hopefully get them to “fit” a bit better into the mix. Adding effects is really one of the great benefits of using recording software, if you don’t like it, change it and try something new.
> Thanks again !!
> 
> Brian


I whish I could've been of more help but all the experience I have is from my cheap home stuff so quite limited. Sorry.

Post the changes, and how you mod it.
Looking forward to hear your new clip.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

I was hoping Mr. Severson might chip in but I suspect he took one listen and almost died laughing. :smile:


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## Mr. David Severson (Feb 3, 2006)

No.. no laughing...It takes guts to post stuff on the world wide web. The clip is pretty good. I noticed what you noticed. The sync is out in certian sections not all but it some sections..Are you in any way able drag certian sections of the track? Are you guys using the same program to record? are you starting with recording starting from the very beginning and letting it run or are you punching in?


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Hi David, thanks for listening. As you can probably tell this is a hobby for us, thank God. :smile: 

As you've guessed we use different software. I use CuBase LE that came with my Lexicon Omega, not sure what Brian is using. When I recorded the vocal I just ran the backing provided by Brian from the beginning and sang over it. I then dumped the vocal out to MP3, again from the beginning, and sent it to Brian. Pretty much the same process for the solo except he just sent me that section of the track to record over.


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## lost_cause_bb (Aug 1, 2006)

Hi Stage Hand (Dave),

Further to what Dave explained, I used Samplitude to do the recording and yes I can move sections of a track around about pretty freely. I also tend to record from start to finish with not allot of "punching-in", unless I am just trying to fit-in a solo or a smaller section.. We started with the drum track, then recorded the bass, the 2 guitars tracks, then layered on the vocals, lead and the extra intro chords etc. The bass and rhythm were particularly hard to do against just the drum track as the drums seem to play the off-beats, and I’m a basic 12-bar guy so this song was fun to do but also a real stretch. 

Any advice would certainly be appreciated.

Brian


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