Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

picksail,
That's a very interesting (and rather strange) olio of music styles in one piece, but it's done well. Just curious...what type of cd compilation is this for, and how does it tie into a magazine?
thanks, Roy

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Hi Ray,

I thought it was pretty crazy that anyone would be willing to risk ther publication for drivel such as this. I guess I got one over on them!! Thanks.


Copied from PTLE mac Forum:

The compilation CD is an accompaniment to a publication based here in New Orleans called City Life Magazine.

The issue on which I worked is considered a 'themed issue'. It will be exclusively dedicated to music and the people who make it; not just the musicians themselves. The concept with the CD anyway, was to uncover and expose another side of the local industry. There are so many misconceptions surrounding this city culturally and musically. I can, at least, assure you that none of the artists on this CD operate intruments such as: washboards, jugs or accordians. Albeit, there are some traditional elements included, but this is definately a vast departure from the norm. It was a real treat having as much involvement as I did. I am happy with the results.

The CD is currently being pressed, actually I think it was supposed to ship today. Another story unto itself- if you perform a Google search on 'cd duplication' the second name that pops up is eDoc Publishing. Stay as far away from them as possible. We consequently had to move the project elsewhere at the last minute. The editor has since learned not to take her assistance's word when she says that she has it covered.
Anyway, it's scheduled for an April 20th release along with the magazine. It was intended to conicide with Jazz Fest and The TapeOp Conference, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The magazine, like most, are primarily purchased by subscribers. A portion of the circulation in distributed locally. I may be able to procure a few copies of both the CD/magazine if anyone is interested. I would be happy to mail them out at my cost.

Thanks, for your interest. It means alot.

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Here's an internet collab I did with people over at Mixerman's forum. I sang lead for Team Europa, who was spread over Norway, Finland, France, Italy and Belgium. Mastering courtesy of Brad Blackwood.

http://cape.prosoundweb.com/Europa.mp3

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Killer song, Paul... so nice I had to listen twice...
Who's on guitar and drums? Great vocal, mix and great job by all.
-Roy

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thanks Roy !
Drums are done by a finnish guy called "Mikko Kaakkuriniemi" (gesundheit ! ) and guitars are done by a norwegian who goes by the name of "Trazan" at MM's forum.
Those interested should check out the other team's efforts at PSW (check E-shaun's forum who hosts this "competition"), there's some fab tracks being submitted.
Cheers.

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Paul,
Did Brad Blackwood do all the mixing, or just the mastering? Great mix...
-rh

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Trying to catch up with you guys:

Hey John

California is my favorite song. I just feel like in a pub by the beach when I listen to this song. I really like the live feel that you guys got… Keep up the good work.

picksail

What a GREAT tune… I just feel like I’m on a movie theater or something. Very well mixed. Great composition. Nice coin sound on the end. I’m really impressed. Was all this made using LE? Let us know.

Paul Curtiz

Roy said it all… Great song and great mixing. Vocals are great. Man, you guys are GOOD!!!!

Gene Backlin

You might be very proud of your kids … This is great.

badperson


All The Time is just a peaceful song. What a kind of mic are you using? It has a midrange that I like. Nice guitar sound as well. Good Job.

Telepc

This songs has a great vibe. Even though its slow… That’s hard to achieve. I like the vocals a lot. Bass sound is good. Is that a fretless? Nice work.

groovilator

Monkey is by far my favorite. Great vocals. Great melody. I like the snare sound a lot. 80’s sound. Maybe we could do something together. Dude, you are a great SINGER!!!! GOOD JOB!!!


Here is my new ROUGHMIX of my new song. I just finished the drums. Tomorrow I will start mixing it. Let’s see what you guys think of this one.

No Name Yet

You guys all are very talented. I’m so fortunate because of the fact that I can share my music with all of you. Thanks for all the support and collaboration (Especially Thanks to Roy and James). I know that isn’t easy to post songs here and let everybody criticize. I’ve learned a lot with all of you.

Thanks a lot,

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Hi rogerhavoc,

Yes, this piece was recorded, edited and mixed exclusively in PTLE. The mastering was performed at my new studio on an HD Accell/G5 system using a Waves Ren Compressor for subtle compression. Electro/ 1.25:1 ratio/ max 3db of reduction. Waves Lin EQ - Hi Pass/40Hz, Low Pass/13.5 kHz both wtih 6db slope. Waves L2 added approx. 6 db-no reduction and fortunately no clipping. If time had permitted I would have compressed a bit more, but I don't think the dynamics are too offensive. It was BTD at 24 bit then imported into WaveBurner Pro and dithered with p-OWR 3 dither. Burned to Plextor drive @ 2x speed to TDK disc.

mp3 file was converted using BarbaBatch.

I would be happy to offer a complete overview of the entire process if you would like. Let me know. It's all very well documented.

Thank you for such kind words.

Stewart Cararas

P.S. I am available for work. If interested, I can be reached at [email protected]

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Roy, Brad "only" did the mastering. Skwaidu from Finland did a most excellent mix (and he's 25 years old at the most...damn kids ). Then Brad did his stuff, which was impressive.

Re: Mac Mixes!!!!!!!!
 

My studio website has alot of music by myself and some that I have recorded on my digi.
Check it out and let me know what you think!

www.upstairsstudios.net

AiKon

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Rogerio, thank you. It is an amazing group, all the way down to even the director. She herself is only 25 years at most.

I enjoyed your tune. Man, you have such a driving sound, it is really Great !

Take Care,
Gene

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Hello Paul,

REALLY nice tune !!!

Take Care,
Gene

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Nice tune. Love the guitar playing. Nice mix. Nice production.

Really cool especially since all of you live so far away from each other!

John

Re: Mac Mixes!!!!!!!!
 

Sorry, for continuing to bombard you with this tune. I am on sort of a 'promotional campaign' right now and want to obtain various perspectives of this song. I have brought it to you first because, I am certain that you guys are of the scrutinizing type and will be painfully honest. This piece will be re-recorded with more live instrumentation. Let me know what you think and when I do get a chance to re-record/re-mix, what I could do differently.

"Five Bucks Gets You Nowhere"(edit)
Composed, performed, produced, engineered and mastered by Stewart Cararas
©2004 Phlorescent Beacon ASCAP

This is a track from my forthcoming album which was included on a compilation currently being pressed.
This particular song is more of a sociological satire. The parts which sound horribly cheesy were designed to sound that way. I in no way mind being the brunt of my own twisted joke.

Unfortunately, this recording wasn't intended to be released yet. I had hoped I would have been able to re-mix it but, given the time constraints regarding this release, it was virtually impossible.

At the time I was asked to be a part of the compilation CD, I was working 12/14 hour days trying to get our studio up and running. And since the studio wasn't ready I intended to bring it to Trent Reznor's place, as he has an SSL/PTHD, and mix there. But again, f**king time constraints.

The low-end punch is something I feel is missing. This definately enters into the re-mix equation. I really, didn't want to add any 'false bass presence' to the mix because I felt that the bass guitar sounded pretty good . Albeit, I wish that I had the time to have done something. It is kind of deceiving when the theme enters just after the 'quasi-industrial ostonato' and the bottem disappears. In retrospect, I would have dealt with this by continuing with the 808s on the quarter notes during the main 7/4 theme. Next time!!

I wasn't crazy about the long dramatic fade at the end, but it seemed like an appropriate segue into the next song, which was a slow meloncholy piano peice. Come to think of it, it's a very cool song performed by Rock City Morgue, Sean Yseult's (of White Zombie fame) new band.

At the time, I had to complete the mastering of the compilation CD as my deadline was 7:30 am last Monday. This was paramout. Not only did the CD have to be out the door but, also the magazine which was hosting the CD. Boy, did I learn a thing or two about magazine publishing turn-around time. These guys don't screw around. I mean, you can delay the release of an album - but a magazine, no way. Anyway, I was cutting it very close and felt that the bulk of the mastering had to be completed before I could even begin adding my song. No way was I going to compromise the entire CD for one song; not even my own.

When I was mixing/mastering this song I felt as though it was as 'finished' as it was going to be. I left the studio at 4:00 am, 3 1/2 hours before my deadline.

This is yet another example of an ALSIHAD production. Recorded and mixed within a Digi 001 w/ Benchmark DAC-1.

I guess sometimes you gotta bite the bullet just to get some press.

6.1 Mb
MP3 compressed @320 kbps

Five Bucks Gets You Nowhere

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Rogerio,
'No Name/Lo G' is sounding great. the drums are tuff, and the middle part is excellent...a great buffer so it can kick ass again at the end. Sounds like you use little or no verb on the drums, which is great... really adds to the presence of the piece.
-Roy

Re: Mac Mixes!!!!!!!!
 

Aikon,

Just checked out your site. Nice! I really liked cut 14. Tequila Moonrise (more-acoustic)

This piece IMO embodies the description you have on the site of your music style the best. It’s organic, slick and has interesting melodic lines and textures. Nice mix and great female vocalist too!

dk

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Hey rogerhavoc,

The new mix of Low G# sounds good. Just curious if you ever were able to do anything with the acoustic guitar part that I put together for that middle (quieter) section.

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

catching up on some listening....

telepc, 'alice' is a very good tune. The vocals sound great. Great performance, cool production.


"in the tube" has a great sound to it, very good guitar sound and playing.
very good sounding vox on "no pain" very nice production.

picksail, do you do a lot of mastering? your piece sounds great, I like the odd meter vibe to it, and the syncopated melodies. You get a great, pro, crisp sound to your mix. How much of that do you attribute to the benchmark you mentioned in your post? that's running the mix buss out thru the benchmark's d/a to another device, correct?

{Paul, great job on your team europa effort. I've been meaning to check out the rest of the cape team stuff.

That mastering does make a huge difference, but all parts of the process sound very, very good. Great sound, great playing, nice job.


Roger, "no name" sounds great also. Very clear, crisp production. Nice job.

bp

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Thank you Mr. badperson ( you can't be that bad ),

You know, I never boast or promote myself as a mastering engineer. It just seems too highly esteemed. I can't even fathom working exclusively at that level, I just do what I think is best for the song/songs. I often get requests from people to do mastering and I do it, I just feel very uneasy about it. I almost don't even want to take credit for it. It requires utter objectivity to achieve acceptable results.

When I 'mastered' my peice I literally spent about a half an hour with it. The thing seemed to be mixed to the point at which, little else was necessary. I did not have enough time to devote to the song. I had to get the CD, in it's entirety, out the door. Damned deadlines!!

And yes, the Benchmark converter initially made a dramatic difference in the entire listening experience.
It revealed all the imperfections attributed to the substandard A/D conversion. All the jitter introduced from the A/D converters, which was most apparent around 300Hz/4-7 kHz, was now audible. I no longer had to be concerned with notching out the 300Hz, assuming that it was just an EQ issue and ultimately resulting in a thin, flat mix.

Now I have grown quite accustomed to the sound of the Benchmark, so much so, that I come straight out of the 192s into them and out to the monitors. Nothing in between.

Thanks,
Stewart

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Cavet Your Eruptor

I didn't have the chance to try it... I had a fatal crash on my HDD back on that time... I remember that you sent me a great Clean Guitar part... Sorry! If you want to send it again, feel free.

Thanks for taking your time to do it!!!

NO NAME YET

nu 1
 

http://www.iamjen.com/broken.html

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picksail-

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Here's a new one...


Of Madness and Magic



~Roy

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Very nice, Roy. Full rich mix of instrumentation and as always, great slide soloing.. =)

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Really nice, sounds like you had a good time doing this one, it comes through !

Take Care,
Gene

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Thanks you guys...

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Roy,

I have to admit that I've been very impressed with your compositions for some time. Your use of technical ability is very reminiscent of the Vai's and Satriani's out there, however most guitarists with this level of refined technicality lose sight of the music in their compositions and end up with recordings that amount to little more than a showcase of their playing ability. I haven't heard too many exceptions to this, maybe Joe's self titled (and IMO very blues influenced) album. To me, it's the difference b/w ego and class as a musician and composer. Well done. I can't wait to start doing some collab as an engineer.

-Chris

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A little bebop for the afternoon. I was messing around with some new gear I got; an rnp and an re20, love them both.

this has all my usual problems, played too fast to get the head right, didn't leave enough space, etc. But it was fun.

I'd be especially curious if anyone had some eq advice for this piece.
thanks.

bp

roy, "of magic and madness" is very cool as well. Your stuff has always been good, but it felt to me in the past some things were overly quantized and sounded a tiny bit stiff. (the guitar playing has always been burning) this sounds really top notch. Are you using those mandolin samples you mentioned earlier?

thanks.

bp

bp

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Bp,

I love it. You asked for couple eq suggestions, so here goes:

try just a subtle scoop in the comp guitar between 1k and 4k, exactly the opposite in the lead guitar...we're talking small adjustments here, between 1 and 2 dB. On the lead, put a high pass somewhere between 125 and 175Hz with a pretty gradual slope (like .7 on the Q if you're using a rennaissance plug from waves)...you don't want it to screw with the tone, just enough to let the comp guitar carry the bass line throughout the tune without it being covered up by the lead. I can't emphasize subtlety enough in the eq of a jazz guitar. Cool tune though! (I'm assuming that distorted sound is just amp grill buzz or something.)

Thanks for the tune. I'm enjoying it, I think I'll let it loop for while.

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Calling Roy Howell..

i shot you an email, dont know if you got it though i used the email in your profile, dont know if thats the right one..

the song is ready, mail me back for a link..

tim

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Hey, bp, I love the bebop track. Reminds me of Phish's Rift... All things reconsidered especially.

But one thing, there's some kinda baddd buzzz going on. I can hear it up high, and it's driving me nuts. Do you know what that is? It seems to get worse the less guitar stuff is going on... Actually it seems to be on both guitar trax, as it gets worse right when the second guitar comes in. It also pops out at 0:33, and other places, so it's giving away your edits, or maybe it has something to do with limiting?

Again, great track, this is no criticism, merely a minor technical detail. What guitar are you using on the right? sounds quite a lot like my Ibanez LP sounds (when other people are playing!)
-Olaf

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

And Roy, that's yet another great track. I even feel silly telling you that after all the other great songs you've posted, but it is another really great song.

There is one really huge problem with this song... I hate to point it out... but that's what we're here for, right? Anyway, this really really obviously huge problem with this track, is that... you're just too good!

Expectations are waay high if you just keep putting out good song after good song, man. Listen, take it from me, spend years putting out nothing but crap, then put out these songs, people will be that much more impressed! Or even just put out one crap song, would you? I've searched and I've listened, but I can't find any of your tracks that rank below 'great'...

I'm telling you man, it's failsafe! Now, if only I could get to the second part of my formula...
-Olaf

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Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Olaf... ...(thanks for the advice... )


Chris,
Thanks so much. I highly respect your opinion and really do look forward to working with you. (the song is almost ready, and I'll email you as soon as it is). -Roy


metaltim... Cool about the song. I'll email you later tonight.


bp- Thanks...looking forward to hearing your new one a little later........ -Roy

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Yeah, I actually meant to mention that in my original post. My amp had a HORRIBLE buzz going on. Usually it just goes away after awhile. I probably need to get it serviced again.

thanks!

bp

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Magic Roy,

What a great piece!!! It brings a peaceful vibe to me. Man, i will repeat... You are TOO GOOD!!!! Thanks for sharing this great tune with us...

AAA+++++

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Dear Digidesign,

Please make Roy Howell your official spokes-engineer. He can do more to sell your systems in 6 minutes than all the ad space you can buy in Mix.

That is all.

-Telepc



( )

Re: Let\'s hear your latest stuff....right here
 

Thanks very much Rogerio and Telepc...

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Roy... I swear I'm gunna confiscate that mandolin sample if I hear it one more time!
No, actually I really like the recurring themes you have. You could easily release a Mark Knopfler / Going Home type CD. Really nice.

One comment though... the bass I'm assuming is a real bass? Doesn't sound like samples. Anyway it seems to waver in and out of tune. Old strings????? I can't imagine it being your playing

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Hey Mark...
I promise not to over mando-lize you for a while...


The bass is a clean fretless, dry/no verb, with a very slight chorus on it....there's also a deep cello, which comes in and out in the song. The 'tuning' thing you hear may be either that slight chorus or a slight phase issue.



You Aussies with your good ears kill me...