Recording - June 2019 - 66

Readers'

TRACKS
BY MARTY PETERS

Listen online at www.recordingmag.com
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Wayne Wilson
Equipment: PC with Akai MPK25 controller running
Steinberg Cubase 6.5 and Image-Line Fruity Loops 12, Fender
acoustic guitar, Ibanez bass guitar, Shure KSM32 mic, Event
20/20BAS active monitors.
Music: "Song With No Name" is a male vocal "folk, easy
listening" tune. Wayne was the one-man band on the project.
Recording: Wayne has submitted a pretty, plaintive ballad that
succeeds on several levels and falls just short on a few others. Let's
look under the hood and see what's what.
Starting on the plus side, he has done a nice job with his
acoustic guitar here. The sparse part is well-executed and
presented with a touch of chorus that adds a nice shimmer to
its sound. The bass guitar is also well played, although we
found it to be tucked pretty far back into the mix, particularly in
relation to the punchy kick drum sound. The addition of the the
string pad in the bridge was a great touch, serving to add a lift
to the track right when needed.
On the minus side, we aren't quite convinced that the track
benefited from the kick/woodblock percussion, at least as
presented. Ultimately however, it's the vocal and darkness of the
final mix that we find most troubling. Wayne has written a heartfelt
and poignant set of lyrics which are for the most part buried in
processing. The murky sound of the processing seems to infiltrate
the entire proceeding, leaving us wishing for more clarity overall.
Suggestions: As we've said many times is this column,
orchestrating sound sources other than one's primary instrument can be a slippery slope, and drum programming seems
to be at the head of the class in that regard. While we would
certainly encourage Wayne to get better acquainted with his
drum software, we might also mention that playing to one's
strengths in often the best course of action.
66 RECORDING June 2019

A prime example would be Gordon Lightfoot's early-1970s
recordings: two guitars, bass, and vocals were the format, and it
definitely stands the test of time. To that end, reducing (or eliminating) the percussion volume and raising the bass volume would go
a long way towards balancing things out.
Speaking of vocals, processing can be a boon in many
instances. That said, we can't help but get the feeling that
Wayne was attempting to "hide" behind the effects here. We
would urge him to reconsider how much is too much; dialing it
back some would free up both the intelligibility of the lyrics and
the general cl arity of his mix.
Summary: Addition by subtraction. Try it!
Contact: Wayne Wilson, awaynewilson51@gmail.com

Blues Intervention
Equipment: PC with PreSonus interface running PreSonus
Studio One, Tapco mixer, Behringer Truth B2031A monitors,
Yamaha bass, and "the guitar used was a first-year Les Paul
Custom that I have owned since 1958."
Music: "Louisville Blues" is a male vocal blues/rock song. Cliff
Jordan wrote the track and played/sang everything. Paul Stottman
took care of the recording end of things.
Recording: In his production notes, Cliff tells us that "Louisville
Blues" was the first non-instrumental he ever recorded. After three
attempts at wearing all of the hats, he enlisted Paul's help, a fruitful
decision that led the guys to forming a band together.
As with the majority of our submissions, Cliff's track is something of a mixed bag. While we applaud him for tackling all of the
sound sources (not easy, friends!), we found both the timing and
mix balance to be questionable in spots.
Starting with the rhythm section, the guys did a solid job with
the drums. We hear a nice room ambience on the kit, organic in a
good way! Unfortunately the bass guitar volume overwhelms the
drums though our monitors, resulting in the two dance partners not
meshing as they should. The electric guitar again has a nice ambience, sounding distant in a way that gives the track a slightly ominous feel, lending a cool, spooky JJ Cale vibe to the proceedings.
The vocal recording carries that feel as well. We are unsure if
Paul used the same processing for the guitar and vocals, but they
share a "family resemblance" to our ears. As for the timing issues,
while nothing is positively out of time, there is a looseness to the
track that makes it wander uncomfortably in spots.
Suggestions: In our experience, a click track can be an
invaluable asset in certain instances, none more than when
one is layering all of the instruments individually. Of course the
other advantage is that the click allows for some tightening up
of parts to a grid in software.
Now before we get all "yeah but the Stones never used a
click", please remember that those tracks captured a band
playing mostly live... and they sped up like crazy! That said-
and this is key-they sped up and slowed down in sync, as a
unit. In Cliff and Paul's case, if there was a click, we suggest
going back to Studio One and "do the Tighten Up" (Archie Bell
and the Drells, kids, Google it!).
While you're there, try backing the bass guitar volume down
until it plays nice with the kick drum, and then rebuild your mix
with that new foundation.
Summary: Good first effort, easy repairs.
Contact: Cliff Jordan, cliffj2@att.net

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Recording - June 2019

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