Goodnight - final version

Finally...
For anybody that's not familiar with this one... I wrote this mellow ditty last year and started recording it way back before xmas. I'd originally written it with a female vocalist in mind, but since I didn't have one at the time, this first recording was done with my own vocals.

About a month ago I started corresponding with Ruth Cocheral, a singer from California. She was nice enough to lay down some vocals for me & snail mail em up to me in Canada in .wav format. Basically, she took a quick instrumental acoustic version that I recorded for her, then recorded several tracks of herself doing the vocals in her own studio.
When I got her CD, I took the isolated vocals, picked the best parts, then started from the beginning and redid the song from scratch in D.

Goodnight (final)
http://www.schmange.com/GoodNight.Min.mp3

This one's the original:
http://members.rogers.com/ktaylor0204/GoodnightPremix.mp3

Comments welcome. :)

Would bringing the vocals down (just a touch) further into the mix help gel the vocal and back line together? Maybe some more obvious backing vocals further up in the mix would help. Kind of sounds like its missing something and I’m not sure what (that’s helpful Simon !!!!)! Still, regardless, top notch job!

Schmange, I downloaded your song a while ago, just didn't get to reply until now. Actually, it almost put me to sleep. HAHA. I mean that in a good way man. :) I really liked it, very nice atmosphere. I didn't download the first version with you singing just the one with the female vocal. In my opinion, the song is awesome but I would have put it in Eb instead of D. I think that might be what it is missing, the result will give the song more impression and in fact make it more mellower. D in fact is almost neutral between mellow and bright. So the song sort of sways back and forth throughout the song, and also D makes the song sound weak or "flat". Eb gives it a solid mellow impression and a stronger sense of what the song is trying to express. I actually put it in a pitch bender on Soundforge (transposed up) to check, and it made the guitar and vocals more prominant, while the bass and synth keep the mellow atmosphere. I really liked the result, and I suggest trying it. But then again it's your art and my opinion. Good job on the song and keep 'em coming.

[Edited by noticingthemistake on 03-17-2003 at 04:43 PM]

yeah... that was a real pain. I originally did it in E for my own vocals & it was way outa her range. The only key that worked was D, so I had to redo the entire thing from scratch. Her singing style was totally different from mine so I had to keep re-recording each instrument until I found something that fit. Would ya believe 2 months and 60+ tracks.
If I hear this song one more time I'll end up in a mental institution or something.

Originally posted by schmange
If I hear this song one more time I'll end up in a mental institution or something.

I can definitely relate to that one, man. :) My rule now is if it aint done and recorded in a month, it aint getting recorded.

Originally posted by schmange
I originally did it in E for my own vocals & it was way outa her range. The only key that worked was D, so I had to redo the entire thing from scratch. Her singing style was totally different from mine so I had to keep re-recording each instrument until I found something that fit.

Here's a suggestion and everyone has a different opinion on it but try using a simple pitch bender. I'm pretty sure all music software has one, Cool edit, Soundforge, Cakewalk. Usually if you just need to transpose up or down a few semitones, you can get very good results without making it sound too artifical. Which would happen if you transposed up an octave or so. Ehh.. If you don't like it for final results, you can use it to help figure out what key works instead of re-recording parts over and over. Then record once you find the right key. That would definitely help if that kind of situation came up again, or any similar situation. Like you said E was out of her vocal range, just transpose it down with a pitch bender to D. Then send it to her to record over it. It will definitely save you all that trouble. Hope thats helps.

Never tried it on a full song before but it's worth a shot to save time.
As it was, all I had to send her was a basic guitar/drum/bass intrumental for her to record her vocals to so it only took me about 15 minutes.
Actually, speaking of pitch bending, I had to use it on one word in the song. She sang the very last word, 'GOODnight' one note lower than it should have been, so I had to take the word 'good' and splice it out, open it with voice processor, move it up, then splice it back in. First time I ever tried using a vocal processor & it suprised the hell outa me that you can't even tell.

Originally posted by schmange
Actually, speaking of pitch bending, I had to use it on one word in the song. She sang the very last word, 'GOODnight' one note lower than it should have been, so I had to take the word 'good' and splice it out, open it with voice processor, move it up, then splice it back in. First time I ever tried using a vocal processor & it suprised the hell outa me that you can't even tell.

Yeah I definitely didn't notice. I've done the samething many times before, digital editing is amazing. I couldn't imagine trying to do that with an analogue tape deck or reel.

Originally posted by schmange
Never tried it on a full song before but it's worth a shot to save time.

Yeah it saves alot of time, and it's also good to just experiment with it. Sometimes just a slight key change makes all the difference in a song. I still say try transposing it to Eb, I really think you would like the results. The song is alot more powerful and positive in Eb, D makes it sound alittle downish. I really can't say enough about it, I've listened to the song several times in Eb. It's amazing. :D If you do, just do the whole wav. file or whatever you have saved it as, you don't need to remix it.

It will probably sound strange at first cause your used to hearing it in D. But I think it gives it that kick in the right direction. Eb is a very mellow sound, which is perfect for the song expression. D is more downish or sad sounding which the song as it is now is sort of depressing. It just doesn't have that strenght that Eb gives it. It's not necassarily brighter just stronger and more sensitive.

[Edited by noticingthemistake on 03-18-2003 at 10:07 AM]