Mini Rec Goes Country (kinda)

[KiwiJoe]

It's Little Feat, who blended rock with many different styles. This classic, written by the group's founder, the late Lowell George, is a bit country. The Mini Rec did well.

This is my cover of "Willin'", a tribute to Lowell, one of my biggest inspirations and influences.

This is my first attempt at doing it all myself, from the drum track to the vocals and everything in between.

I tried to do the song justice. Hope you like it, and thanks for listening.

http://soundcloud.com/kiwijoe-1/willin

Gear disclosure:

*Epi Dot, stock pups
*Ashton acoustic w/DiMarzio sould-hole pup
*Mesa Mini Rec "clean" and "vintage"(OD), Mini slant cab w/V30
*Rode M1 mic for vocals and cabinet mic'ing

 

[Blaklynx]

Hi KiwiJoe,

Really enjoyed that. Well done. I think a little compression on vocals and maybe on the overall track is required to tame the peaks a little.

Nice to hear a recto amp do something other than metal and thrash. It's refreshing to see so-called metal amps being used for other genres, like this one I found on youtube 3~4 weeks ago that surprised me, an Engl Powerball II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRYEOcNH5yc

 

[KiwiJoe]

Hi KiwiJoe,

Really enjoyed that. Well done. I think a little compression on vocals and maybe on the overall track is required to tame the peaks a little.

Nice to hear a recto amp do something other than metal and thrash. It's refreshing to see so-called metal amps being used for other genres, like this one I found on youtube 3~4 weeks ago that surprised me, an Engl Powerball II http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRYEOcNH5yc

Hey mate, thanks for the kind words and the compression tip. I thought compression might have been in order, not so much to tame the peaks but to help the valleys (bring up those quiet parts a bit). I've always been leery of compression, though, because it's one of those elusive effects that I just never seemed to master or use properly, and I don't want to lose the dynamic range. I'll give it a go and just play around with it. I'll take any advice on how to set thresholds and such. Thanks!

And that Engl is sweet. I really never fell into the stereotypes that a certain amp is only for __________. It's the player who decides what he's going to do with the amp, and that dude has it going on.

 

[Blaklynx]

I'm not an expert with compressors. It's one of those black arts that I can't immediately hear what's going on. I had to search the net and read up on compressor applications with different instruments and vocals. That's my suggestion to you because I wouldn't be able to explain it all when professionals already have.

In my DAW (Cakewalk Sonar) there are presets for drums, vocals, guitar etc and then I tweak from there. The beauty about using compressors in your DAW is that you can visually see what's happening with the signal (if the compressor interface is graphical enough). It gives you immediate visual feedback if you're constantly compressing a signal or not and by what amount it's being compressed. Here are the two types used in Sonar:

http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation/SONAR%20X2/EN/images/Plug-ins.2.41.png
http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/kb/images_Tips/SFX_multiband.gif

Generally speaking I only use a little bit of compression in each track (settings depend on what instrument) and I avoid killing the dynamics where appropriate. Sometimes heavy compression is required (depends on instrument). I then apply compression on the master track to tame peaks only. Seems to work OK without going overboard.

Mastering is a whole new ball game.... I don't profess to be a sound engineer but generally speaking if the song / music sounds OK across speaker systems (car, hifi, headphones, etc) it's good enough for me.

 

[KiwiJoe]

I'm not an expert with compressors. It's one of those black arts that I can't immediately hear what's going on. I had to search the net and read up on compressor applications with different instruments and vocals. That's my suggestion to you because I wouldn't be able to explain it all when professionals already have.

In my DAW (Cakewalk Sonar) there are presets for drums, vocals, guitar etc and then I tweak from there. The beauty about using compressors in your DAW is that you can visually see what's happening with the signal (if the compressor interface is graphical enough). It gives you immediate visual feedback if you're constantly compressing a signal or not and by what amount it's being compressed. Here are the two types used in Sonar:

http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation/SONAR%20X2/EN/images/Plug-ins.2.41.png
http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/kb/images_Tips/SFX_multiband.gif

Generally speaking I only use a little bit of compression in each track (settings depend on what instrument) and I avoid killing the dynamics where appropriate. Sometimes heavy compression is required (depends on instrument). I then apply compression on the master track to tame peaks only. Seems to work OK without going overboard.

Mastering is a whole new ball game.... I don't profess to be a sound engineer but generally speaking if the song / music sounds OK across speaker systems (car, hifi, headphones, etc) it's good enough for me.

Thanks for those bits, mate. Mucho appreciated!

 

[Dreamtheaterrules]

Good job, KJ!

 

[KiwiJoe]

Thanks man! If you wouldn't mind, have a listen to my take on Green Onions I put up here as well. Same rig (Epi Dot, Mini Rec) with the EQD Organizer. I'm convinced the Mini Rec is an amp for all styles.

 

[Dreamtheaterrules]

Going to find it now.