In Answer and Further Development
This recent post about the Trusting Tag brought in an interesting comment from my buddy Dave. I thought I’d address it here and maybe delve into the subject a little more.
No, Dave, that’s not what I meant! Come on, you gotta admit that drowning in reverb is fun once in a while! Actually, that was a quick final mix, and I’m sure that reverb was just the standard default n-Track plugin, not even tweaked any. There are better reverbs in the world.
Good job on the voice tracking, you got that one nailed. After I hit the post, David pops up above By and ends up on top of the stack in falsetto. We actually did that kind of swapping and switcharooing a lot.
We did it in order to best achieve the sound we wanted at a particular spot, while playing to our individual strengths and avoiding our individual weaknesses. For example, By’s got the high full voice notes (as well as the mix/falsetto stuff), David has the next highest full voice and a great (and high) falsetto, and I can pick up the leftovers, e.g., next highest (not high) and maybe biggest full voice and passable falsetto stuff.
So, on Trusting we wanted a high, big, power ending. I’m on a high (for me) root, if By takes the third above and David takes the fifth below, that’s probably going to be ok but it could be a lot better. And I might be too big and heavy on the post for that particular stack to balance very well. We want to move the chord stack up a notch, but that third is too high for David to consistently nail and hold. By can do it in his sleep, so we have By pound the full-voice third and send David on up above him floating in a falsetto tenor!
So then we have the type of tag we wanted, and we do it in a way that we can pull off fairly well and consistently. Not only that, but since we’re all in (or close to!) our comfort zones, we’re probably going to have a pretty decent blend and match.
Like I said, we did this kind of stuff fairly often. See if you can pick out more AHQ switcharoo moments! And yes, “Keep in the Middle” is another one. Same story as Trusting, we needed the full voice power note in the middle so we saddle By with it and fill in around him.
As far as overtones, once in a while we’re in tune and blended enough that they happen. The only overdubbing we’ve done has been to double parts (same octave) or fill in fifth or sixth parts, and even that’s been very little. As far as acoustic environment, we recorded all of Purpose in my old room. Carpeted, multi-angled ceiling, pretty dead room.
I’ve been thinking recently on taking a look behind-the-scenes of various AHQ issues. So thanks for bringing this up, Dave. Look for an upcoming post going in-depth and behind-the-scenes with “When I Lift Up My Head.”
All this stuff ain’t free, Dave, this post is going to cost you. I want some more mp3’s from your quartet.
11 Responses
May 13th, 2005 at 5:36 pm
Actually Tom, I have some morbid recollections of drownings, so I just can’t get myself to agree with you. Only by my shrill, nasal, tenor voice of six years did my older brother came to my rescue. I can still see the fish swimming past my face… No joke either.
OK-about the reverb-for fun sure, but not actually on a record. I’m really picky about reverb. I like the reverb that you ended up with on Purpose though.
Yeah, I’ve noted your “maneuvers”. “Purpose” was another one, in the chorus: in all that I do-ooooo. That one bugged me for awhile, till I figured it out.
So if your room was blah, and you didn’t lock your voices too often, the digital reverb actually produces/enhances an overtone. I find that amazing.
I know what you’re talking saying custom chords, but I have tear-jerkingly little quartet experience to fully relate. The quartet you called mine is an intangible reality. Everybody tells us we are a quartet. We even believed we were ourselves.It’s here, really, we’re gonna do it, really; we just can’t make it fit into our lives. We almost (so close*sniff*) recorded this spring – “The Lord Is Come”. But, Tenor and Baritone committed to a Kenya trip this summer; no time to sing. Bass, after struggling with doubt and the authenticity of the Christian faith, decided to become an agnostic; no heart to sing from. Lastly, Lead, all comrades having left him, shelves the idea of a quartet and began intensive research on recording studio construction and equipment, dreaming fantastic dreams for the future, in an effort to overcome his present disappointment; nobody to harmonize with. We recruited a bass to help us sing at a wedding; that turned out ok.
I’ve found some release though, through MHC this spring, and now am eagerly anticipating Tap ’05! With the seemingly inevitable return to Canada, my hopes of a 4-person quartet are pretty slim. I’ll experiment tracking myself, but that just seems so cheesy. I don’t know if it can actually be a decent product.
Oh, I forgot this isn’t my blog. :-)
May 14th, 2005 at 5:57 am
Go ahead and give us all the behind-the-scenes stuff you can handle. I just love music and recording topics!
Oh, another guess on recording technique: “Purpose” and “Hit the Mark” were recorded one track at a time.And “I’ll Live Again” of course. Although, now that I think about it, you just said you didn’t overdub much, but on By’s blog you said you experimented with it.
May 14th, 2005 at 5:43 pm
Maybe you shouldn’t give away all your secrets!! Actually, this was rather entertaining….
May 14th, 2005 at 5:43 pm
Oops. That was me. Lauren
May 15th, 2005 at 9:19 pm
Dave, according to my understanding fx won’t “produce” an overtone. But they can enhance an overtone/harmonic effect that already exists.
May 15th, 2005 at 9:23 pm
I forgot to answer the other question. Nope, both of those were done together. What made you guess they were tracked one at a time?
May 16th, 2005 at 8:02 am
Hmmm – I thought I heard to much of the overdubbing effects for it to be normal. I think I hear By overlapping himself in some lines and the beginning of some chorus’. You must have done a lot of patching then.
Also, I hear it every time the songs start: a slightly different sound. Different mic position or wetter reverb setting or something; the voices sound more isolated from each other. That’s why I thought they were recorded one at a time.
Did you guys have a hard time with noise getting into your recording “studio”? Or is Utopia blissfully free from screaming jake-brakes and earth-shaking Harleys? Maybe your house was nestled in a side of a valley, far away from the road? I compared GOP’s latest recording to yours yesterday; the actual sound quality, mind you. It is noticeably cleaner. But I wasn’t ever dissapointed in your recording either. The difference is minimal.
About the publicizing AHQ’s “secrets”; I considered that too, in one of my comments, but apparently Tom is optimistic about it; it just might boost the album sales!
May 16th, 2005 at 8:24 am
Or make us go put that cd back in the player to listen for falsetto!!! Lauren
May 16th, 2005 at 2:59 pm
Ok Dave, we’re going to start playing hardball!!
Email me the specific times and places where you think there’s an overlap, I’ll see what I can figure out.
So you hear a different sound (at the beginning) on those 3 than the rest of the album?
Our studio actually was right along a main road. I think I had more trouble with electronic noise though. I had an inexpensive mixer tied in running a couple of the mics, and I think that brought in a little noise. But it wasn’t consistent either, some places were worse than others.
I’ll have to try the GOP/AHQ comparison and see if I agree.
Hey, I have nothing to hide, I’m an open book! Just wait until the promised “When I lift Up My Head” post! Unless I chicken out.
May 16th, 2005 at 5:11 pm
“On the mound this afternoon is #52, Dave Friesen. A sneaky right-handed Canadian, with a excellent fastball and an impeccable ear for acoustics. Wait a minute, I’m not sure what that has to do with anything, but that’s what it says. Oh well, we hope that it comes in handy somehow and helps Friesen to nail down his 15th win of the season. OK, get ready for some real baseball folks, it looks like ITF has sent their best man to the plate, hoping to start this game off with a solid base hit. Troyer, well known for his prodigious consumption of Iced Tea, slowly and deliberately plants his chunky frame in the batter’s box, cooly sizing up Friesen taking his place at the white rubber. He takes a couple practice swings, taking his time adjusting his gloves. Friesen makes a mental note of the frequency produced by Tom’s heavy swing. He leans in for the sign, taking one last look at hitter, gauging his bodily expression. Then he strightens, rocks back, and ladies and gentleman, here’s the pitch!…..
Couldn’t resist; this spring weather always does this to me. Nostalgia attack indeed…
May 16th, 2005 at 5:25 pm
Ha ha!! Oh you are ready for some hardball!