using Zoom PS-04, nTrack
And now for something completely different…
I got so burnt out on that last tune that I had to “quiet things down.”
This is a more lo-fi project than some of my others, consisting of:
acoustic guitar
upright piano
vocals (lead and background)
some warm electric guitar
muted jazz trumpet solo
This is my first tune using real acoustic piano instead of the electronic version, and only my 2nd one to include trumpet (my main instrument).
It’s also the most “jazz” influenced of my works, I think.
I had a bit of difficulty with the piano and trumpet recording - I did it at the music studio where I teach private jazz trumpet lessons, and the street outside is a bit noisy.
The piano was pleasantly in need of LOTS of work - I thought the broken-down sound was perfect for this song.
The trumpet is muted with a solid copper “Harmon” style mute (the kind Miles Davis always played on), but with the “wah-wah” stem inserted, a la the old 20s-30s jazz trumpeters.
With that said, it was WAY HARD to try and record and then mix without overloading the middle frequencies and totally peaking out. Eesh.
Let me know what you think, thanks!
JamesMGregg.com or Soundclick below:
Soundclick
JamesMGregg.com
That’s a nice clean recording! The trumpet came out very well!
I’ll insert my standard blanket recommendation of adding a little (more?) room type reverb and compression to the master mix to blend things a little bit and make it sound a little more live. But not too much - you don’t want to lose the dynamics.
There are two things you might want to address:
1) The piano is indistict. When it first came in it took a few bars before I realised it was infact a piano. Maybe try a scoop-type eq and boost it’s overall level?
2) The lead vocal that comes in during the harmony bridge (“Find our way home”) comes in too loud. I’d pull the beginning of the phrase down a few dB.
The guitar sounds really nice. Consider boosting the lows with EQ. The vocals are very clear also. Quite a few sharp notes but nice job on the recording.
On the trumpet, consider putting it more in the distance with reverb. Maybe add some echo also.
Nice job.
Keith