So this is the results of the first second draft.  Not too bad.  The scratches you hear obviously won’ t be part of the actual song, they’re just meant as a tag in case somebody wants to try something slick.

Here’s the rundown of what’s in the recording:

1. Sequenced drums
2. Snares from “Hit the Road Jack”
3. Recorded drums, live: Beta 52 on the kick, PG58 on the snare, AT2020 overhead (mostly the ride cymbal with natural reverb)
4. Live guitar, Epiphone Les Paul Special II, direct through a Studio Projects VTB1 preamp with tube injection at 12 o’clock, through a Samson C-Com16 compressor, IK Multimedia Amplitube DUO on the Bluesy Combo setting5. Cakewalk Studio Instruments Bass Guitar (later to be replaced by an actual live bass [Epiphone Viola Bass])
6. ReFX Nexus on Ballad Grand Piano
I’m enjoying this so far, and I can see where I can take this and maybe add in some hip-hop elements.  I may employ the vocal talents of one Harmony Speaks to join me on this.  We’ll see. =]

More coming soon!

-mnshyn

Both previous attempts involved me using FL Studio fully as a sequencer and using VST’s.  Sampled drums were used, as well as Nexus for various instrumentation including strings and piano.  First try came out too overdramatic, and the second iteration was too loose and modern pop/R&B.  I felt if I strayed too far, I’d be doing the original an injustice.

So this time, I figured I would rely on a hybrid of acoustic and synthesized instruments, using the same key and arrangement of the original.

The drums are a mix of sampled drums and live drums.  The live acoustic drums I have here at Lunar Base Studio are from a 5-piece Ludwig drum set I bought off of Brian Bullion a few months ago.  The sampled drums come from a batch of different drum sounds supplied by a DJ in one of the rap boards I frequent.  Since I only have two inputs on my E-MU 0404 card, I was restrained to recording the kick (Shure Beta 52) and a mic that encompassed all the other drums and cymbals (Audio Technica 2020, overhead, through a Studio Projects VTB1 preamp and a Samson CCom16 Compressor).  I have a Samson MDR6 mixer I use sometimes to get multiple signals that feed into a mono signal, but Cocoa has my other boom stand and PG58.   I do have an Audio Technica PRO37 that I use to record acoustic guitar sometimes, but I don’t have a spare mic stand.

The electric guitar used was an Epiphone Les Paul Special II (cheapest Les Paul they make. lol) recorded direct through the VTB1 and Compressor.  It was then fed into the free Amplitube plugin (only had two different amp sets because it was free via Tunecore).

The bass used was an Epiphone Viola Bass.  This bass is in the similar shape of Paul McCartney’s bass which was a Hofner.  This was plugged into an Acoustic B20 amp, then recorded with the Shure Beta 52 through the same preamp and compressor.

Piano was reFX Nexus, Ballad Grand Piano.

The result came out very juicy, with a good mix of live and sample.  It’s nowhere near completed, since it’s just the first verse and chorus.  I will post this one as a single however when this is done, so you can refer back to these notes once you’ve heard the final project (free because it’s a cover. =])

Destiny can really kill songs like these, as her best asset is her powerful voice.  Out of the four MsP girls, she has the  most power in her voice.  I don’t necessarily mean volume, but more along the lines of a presence that just commands attention in the best way.  DiMpLeZ is very soft, acoustic singer style.  CoCoa’s voice is smooth and soul-like.  Harmony’s very technical with her singing and covers a slightly lower range, with a well-rounded vocal quality for different genres and harmonies (hence the name).

So the style we’re looking at for this is almost like the original, but I would like to shy away a bit from the ballad-y over-reverberated atmosphere.  I want it to be a little more dry in terms of spacing, but rich in instrumental sound.  I’ve read from different sources that on ballads you should give the singer a decent amount of reverb to give that solo feel of being in a room singing.  I’m going to go against the norm on this one and try to be more dry on this one.  I don’t necessarily mean NO reverb, but definitely less than what was on the original.

I also refuse to use any kind of synth-like instrument for this one, and will stick to real instruments or VST’s that simulate real instruments.  I would like to take some of the lead parts of the piano over in the second verse with a smooth slightly-blues distorted guitar to give it a small edge to the instrumental.

Considering this is the first live recording of drums I’m doing here in Lunar Base, I’m quite happy with the results so far.  Let’s see where this goes from here.

More coming soon!

-mnshyn