Now That You're Sleeping - AndyR Original

[AndyR]

Thanks for the comments folks

Production Notes/Waffles:

It's a Godin 5th Avenue, Geir. An acoustic arch-top (I got the version without p90 pickups or a cutaway, it sounded better acoustically). I love it for recording and general noodling. It's got a mellower tone than my flat-top, but still with enough zing to do folkie stuff. I was originally going to use it for Elizabeth's Room, but it didn't have quite enough zing.

There aren't any particular patches aside from the BR1600's "Vocal Comp 1" preset that I tend to leave on the input for all mic'd stuff. For some parts (long notes left ringing) I have to turn the noise suppressor off because it damages the tails. Otherwise I use the preset as is.

The main/original guitar was recorded differently this time: using a trick I picked up on here for making a big stereo guitar out of one part (I was expecting one guitar only at the start, I just couldn't play well enough) -

Close mic the guitar as usual (I used a Rodes NT1000 condensor), then stick another mic a few feet back (I've only got one other, a rusty SM58). When mixing, put the close mic track down the middle with reverb or whatever. Clone the other track, pan it hard left and right and invert the phase of one of them. It works! ... except you can't really hear the effect on here because it never plays on it's own .

I can't remember who posted this trick - but many thanks (Except I'll have to buy another large condensor mic now!! )

All the other guitars were recorded with just the NT1000. Most were recorded in pairs and panned opposite each other at various positions. There was also a lot of using complimentary EQing and different reverbs. I tried to keep compressors out of the equation on guitars this time except where I wanted to "round" the tone a bit or make two similar guitars sound different.

The lead vocal was recorded with both mics and then mixed - not sure this was a good idea because it produced quite a thick sound and i've got a bit of a cold at the moment anyway. I've had to fiddle with this vocal a lot more than some of the recent ones. Tip: (not sure where I got this one) an EQ cut at 500Hz, or there abouts, clears a "muddy" or "too rich" vocal and brings out some clarity you didn't think was there. I first used it on orh's voice the other day when I was bedding him into a rock track. It means you can get the vocal performance coming through the mix without having to turn the vocal track up or boost any of it's EQ. This was a life saver on my vocal here...

The backing vox were done in the now traditional "Russe" way - set the markers, clear some tracks, sit on the sofa and "arm a track, record it, arm another, record it, etc". The more often I do this, the easier it's becoming. There's all sorts of little tricks like adjusting the mix so it's easier to sing a part, lower the master volume and raise the headphone volume, sing a rough guide for a part (for the notes) and then record the real voices... anything that makes it easier for the singer. I'm also experimenting a lot more with using what I would call "silly voices" - use 3 or four of them and they sound "interesting" rather than silly. And I'm begining to better identify where "ooo", "aah", "mmm", or "bmmm" might be most effective - and I've discovered you can actually mix and match in different parts of the chord to some extent. A week ago I would have said that basses going "mmm" and others going "ooo" or "aah" at the same time was a no-no... I've discovered that this is not necessarily so!

Although it was recorded in a very "relaxed" and "see what happens" kind of way, as soon as I had the main guitar and lead vocal, I had a very clear vision of where the finished mix needed to go wide, where it needed to go deep, etc, etc, for "emotional" purposes... so all of the arranging and subsequent guitars and vocals went on knowing what else I was expecting to put on afterwards to achieve the effect. There was actually a final vocal stage planned that I decided not to use in the end - a close harmony on the lead in certain choice places like the end of verses or the start of verse 2. The only thing left of that is in the second chorus ("waiting for somebody's hand", and "someone who might understand"). Those are actually the original "working out" voices recorded while we had a flat full of screaming kids. I wasn't able to sing yesterday to replace them, and with a lot of trickery I was able to use them as they are, but not for the effect I was originally aiming at... it kinda worked anyway, so I kept them in. All the other ones of that layer weren't good enough, so I decided not to bother with them and left the idea out...


I have to admit, I am really proud of this song. I'm always proud of new ones, but I felt especially grateful when this one popped out. I am exceedingly happy with this recording, but I'm not sure it does the song itself full justice... I'm glad I held back on the extra layer now... I'd love to be able to record it how Rachel first heard it, me and a guitar, so I might attempt it "live" in the future when I have more mics.

[Saijinn Maas]

What a great recording! The harmonies were great too! Great song all around

[Facemask93]

I personally think this is a major departure from your usual style Andy , not production wise , just your singing style , but after a couple of listens , you got me hooked mate , great lyrics and all round superb production

Rob

[stoman]

If that's not superb ... !

The style reminds me of something or someone ... can't tell who or what though ...

What I can tell is that I love this piece. Nice to hear a 3/4 bar song from you. Perfect timing for folk/acoustic ballads, isn't it?

I downloaded the song to my mp3 player and will listen to it some more in bed.

Regards,
  Steffen

[OsCKilO]

Wow........

This is an amazing song!

The instrumental section gives you just enought time for the song to sink in then the harmonies send it sky high!

Stunning!


Whilst I was on the 3rd listen of this love song, I fell in love with your Guitar!

Lol



She is stunning!

And most important... She sounds like a classical!

Your Playing is sublime bro!



Awesome song you have here!

[Geir]

She is stunning!

And most important... She sounds like a classical!

She does, doesn't she ? Quite an instrument !!

[AndyR]

I'll let her know you like her

I suspect you might find the strings a bit close, though, T. Another reason I played Elizabeth's Room on the flat-top was that I struggled to consistently get the open strings ringing using this one.

(btw, that pic is of the version that has a P90 pickup just by the neck - take that off, and the two knobs, and that's mine... even the colour is right)

[sq51]

what a lovely song. nice guitars and wonderful singing with som beautiful vibratos and all of it packed with tons of emotion. just beautiful

[chapperz66]

That is quite beautiful Andy.  Great song, beautifully played and superbly recorded.  You can't ask for much more than that, really.

I don't get as much time to attend the site as I once did - but I'm really glad I listened to that.

Paul

[AndyR]

Thanks chapperz & sq51.

But really this is just a shameless self-bump

But it's also to let you know this one's mp3 has moved to alonetone.com .

I'm not sure downloading from our single-player widget (in the first post in this thread - it's playing from alonetone) is working though?? I never really use this functionality so I'm not sure if it's just me. Anyway, if you want to download this or any other of my songs, just follow the alonetone button in my signature below.