New Song Initially Sketched With R2

[mauvehead]

Hello....

"Route 119"

(P) Mauve Music Co

I initially sketched this one out using RiffWorks2 and then I did my final recording in Mackie's Tracktion2. Some parts were exported from R2 into T2 and RiffWorks2 made the whole writing/arranging process way more convenient. Everything was done using my Line6 UX2 TonePort (for all guitar and bass tones), a American Fender Deluxe V-Neck Strat, a Conklin 7-string bass, Drums On Demand loops, a Digi-tech Space Station pedal (for the intro weirdness), a Crybaby 535 wah, and several plug-ins for various sounds and effects. This one was a lot of fun to work on and I really like the guitar and bass tones I was able to get. I used GVst's Multi plug for pre-mastering and then the final stage of mastering was done on my Roland VS-2480 (I really like the sound of that thing).

Hope you all enjoy!

[mauvehead]

Yep. Did the WAV thing. Works well for mastering.

Thanks for posting!

Todd

[mickeymix]

excellent tune......

[gatorjj]

Nice job Todd, and I like the descriptions you write (I can't recall the name of the last song you posted and did that, but it's always a good read).

Keep the hot sauce comin'!!!

[mauvehead]

Was the last song "I Don't Care"?

Glad you all enjoyed the song. Thanks for posting!

Todd

[gatorjj]

I don't remember the title of the one I'm thinking about, though if I was ambitious I'm sure I could search here and find it. It had the girl speaking in the middle, that's the part I remember of the song. I recall you guys took it out of RiffWorks at some point to re-record it and put either real or MIDI-played drums to it. The description/blog was well written (as is this one) and generated a lot of good thoughts for me!

J.J.

[mauvehead]

That was "I Don't Care" and the girl was my wife Julia. She has a good recorded voice for stuff like that. That was a great song to work on as well and even though there are things that I nitpick about it (the bass tones come to mind), I really enjoy listening to it still. That's really cool that somebody would still remember over on this forum. Glad you liked it as well.

Thanks again!

Todd

[yahsteck1]

This is probably my most fave creative cast i've ever heard on R Caster.This is the kind of stuff that makes a guitar player want to go home and create all day and night.I am very impressed! I know you are a do it your selfer (applause for that) but man i would huge like to colab with you on RiffLink or whatever. Of course you must do all the mixing too,lol!
Way cool stuff mauvehead!

[mauvehead]

Haven't got into RiffLink yet. No time seems like. I have a ton of songs in my head that just need fleshed out a bit more and then recorded before I try to jump into somebody else's projects. I guess my immediate recording agendas don't need RiffLink. Too many irons in the fire already seems like. And it just takes so much time if you do things right to make things sound good. On the other hand having said all of that, I did do a collab with a guy in Germany a few months ago. He was a keyboard player over at the KVRAudio forum who was looking for a way to have guitar tracks on a song he was working on. I actually used RiffWorks2 to make him several guitar sections with a ton of tonal variations. Sadly, that project didn't sound so great once it was done (he couldn't mix very well nor sing). But the very notion that someone like me who lives in Illinois could collab with somebody who lives on the other side of the world via emails and passing mp3's back and forth was pretty cool.

Thanks for the kudo's and especially for the comment about being inspired to practice. I have no real desire to become "big and famous" someday (too much hassle and I really enjoy my private life), but I wouldn't mind being somebody who is known for being an inspiring "working musician" among my peers. That and a small write-up in GuitarOne or GuitarWorld......

Glad you enjoyed the song and thanks for posting!

Todd

[mauvehead]

BTW Yahsteck1....got any songs posted? I'd like to hear your stuff.

Todd

[yahsteck1]

LOL, well put! Here is a link to my stuff: http://www.sonomawireworks.com/riffcaster/index.php?artist=rick_ndrws@yahoo.com
and "My Space" http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=80382871

[Les]

Very Very Nice,Your sound quality is exellent,as well as arangement and playing.
Thanks!

[mauvehead]

Actually, per the recommendations of several folks at other forums, I'm thinking about remixing the song slightly to give the drums more low-end punch and girth. Wish me luck.

[mauvehead]

OK.........here's a new and hopefully improved mix of the song. More drums and bass (I took someone elses advice and ran the drums through an expander to open things up a bit) and I also mastered the entire mix through a slightly different process that softened the mids and didn't squash things so much. The only gripe I have now is that you can now tell where the drum loops meet up. I didn't catch that issue until late last night while listening in headphones when I went to bed after I had already submitted this mp3 version to my hosting service. I am going to tinker with things a bit more tonight and see if I can make the loop points sound less obvious or else get "creative" and turn an otherwise flaw into something interesting.
"Route 119 v2"
So how do the drums sound now (minus the loop flaw) and how about the bass guitar and the overall low-end of the mix? I tried not to overdo things but it does seem better than before. I'm all ears......

[mauvehead]

"Route 119 (v2)"

(P) 2007 Mauve Music Co

After many helpful critiques and suggestions from several members of this forum, I now have a much better sounding mix of this song. More low-end definition in the drum and bass departments, smoother mids, and less overall compression. Thanks so much to everyone that offered their two-cents about the first mix that I posted. Couldn't have done it without you.

Enjoy!