Hey Jude - Beatles - replaced with newer, better version!

[des0free]

This post was a several year old post of an old attempt to record an acoustic version of Hey Jude. 

I logged in today after not logging in for many months and was surprised to see someone had just commented on it!   But I listened and didn't like myself.  So I deleted the old recording and posted a newer one - a "full version" with me playing piano, guitar, bass, and drums.

In fact this "newer one" I did about ~2 years ago.  At the time I was fooling around with a multitrack recorder app for the Iphone (Multitrack DAW).  Recorded with an Irig Mic HD and Irig guitar interface into the iphone one track at a time.  It was recorded, mixed, and mastered on the phone.

My singing definitely improved from prior attempts (and D was a better key). And this was the first time I ever recorded piano and drums (playing a Yamaha electric keyboard and electric drum pad kit - both of which I only crudely learned to play for this song! ).  Someday I'd like to redo the whole thing again (not using the iphone...).

[Mach]

Recorded into Reaper on Win10 notebook.

- Gentle compression on vocal using T-RackS Classic Comp, followed by T-RackS Classic Eq, 225 Hz Low cut & boost above 2 kHz, followed by "JS: MDA Pseudo-Stereo" Comb 50% wet

- EQ on guitar using T-RackS Classic EQ, 125 Hz Low cut, reductions around 300 Hz and 750 Hz, and slight boost above 5 kHz, followed by "JS: Stereo Upmix" 50% wet

- Master: Reverb: OldSkoolVerb -12dB wet, gentle compression using T-RackS Classic Comp, followed by T-RackS Brickwall limiter to tame a few spikes

Any tips would be appreciated.  I realize that a good performance is more important than any amount of processing - so I should probably just practice playing more 

Yes performance is trumped over processing any day but, I think your well on your way by keeping "notes" for your tracks.
Something I never do, but should, I rely on the software to keep the parameters. I have lost several mixes because I don't jot down these little things.

Mach

[kenny mac]

Nice one mate,always great to hear some fresh new recording  stuff coming in from new people.
Your info is interesting as well.
Well done.

[Hook]

Very nice!
Rock on!

[Groundy]

Nice one Des,
Like it....

Alex

[TPB]

The way I like it a man and his guitar well done
Tim

[cuthbert]

Good to see you back again, des0free! I think the production choices you made are serving the song well, and I enjoyed listening. I also enjoy reading all the details, and so thanks for that, too.

Getting a great recording live in the room can be difficult to do (at least in my case, it always seems to take some magic, multiple attempts, or some other inspiration for me to get exactly the right feel - or at least close to it - in a single recording). My usual approach is to create a skeleton track (usually, guitar or uke with vocals, recorded to a single track) - then I build up from there on extra tracks so I can add some nuance, such as dynamics, an effect, different instruments, etc. Sometimes I keep the skeleton track in the mix, and sometimes not.

Oddly enough, the first recording can sometimes be one of the best for one reason or another, which is enough to keep it in the mix or even use it alone. Other times, I don't really like it and remove it soon after the next few tracks are recorded.

[alfstone]

Very good cover, and it sounds great too!

Alfredo

[Redler]

To my ears the recording sounds really good and warm, thanks for sharing the settings, too. It's always nice to see how the folks record their songs.

Enjoyable listening!

[modric12]

Great job. Well done