Video & comments: https://youtu.be/PjY9jLPHOpU
Recording sheets and details: link
Recorded between Jan-Feb, Apr 2018
Backing tracks: link (Audacity project)
An outstanding song whose lyrics really play nicely with its structure and justify why the solo is in the middle of it, just like life is usually the busiest in one's middle decades.
This recording started out from the solo which was a side project between working on the two solos of Comfortably Numb. Time has a definitely simpler and shorter solo line. Nevertheless tasteful, as my instructor described it.
After recording the solo I moved to the the rhythm guitar. Initially I was having fun with the original distortion patch of the solo but realized that it won't sound well in the mix. So then I gradually simplified the tone eventually settling on the 01A SprechenSieBlues factory patch of my POD HD500X. It's a decent sound only my tempo has some teething issues - hey, I'm learning.
Then I moved to the drums. These ended up a bit repetitive but I enjoyed the practice quite a bit as these aren't your typical drum patterns. The first track recording was with the DTX-900 sound but then I re-recorded it with the Studio Drummer patch (over MIDI) and the results were a lot better. I always feel claustrophobic with the sound of the DTX-900 module and Studio Drummer is a major step up every time.
It took a while to find a good sound until I stumbled upon the Scarbee Vintage Keys samples with the first one (Breakfast in NY) sounding like a good match. I kept things simple and when panned to the right of the sound field it doesn't sound too awful.
Eventually got to the bass line. I spend some time adjusting the action on my bass so that it doesn't buzz nor is it too high. To be fair, I struggled with this track quite a bit because it's super complicated compared to the typical simple lines I was playing before. Even here I settled on a significantly simplified version to which I linked. This session convinced me that I need to get better at bass, so agreed with my guitar instructor on some lessons in the future. Then I might re-record it.
By far the weakest track of this recording. I tried really hard to produce something better. I made sure to spend 10-15 minutes on vocal warm-up and a few practice runs before the recording session. In version 1.5 of the recording I re-recorded the vocals using this strategy: keep the verses one octave lower (I can't yet reach that high consistently) but match the pitch of the chorus and outro sections. It's a step up from version 1.0, that all I can say.
During the two verses I had to record a couple of rhythm licks which are a very rough estimate of the original, but yet, it's a good start.
The drum fills during the intro got recorded with the same drum samples. I spent less than an hour on practice and recording multiple takes. It was fun but a bit too busy. It would be worth redoing these with some more closely matching patterns.
As the final track I added the organ instead of the original song's backing vocals (I just didn't trust my abilities). The Basic Jazz 3 from the Vintage Organ pack stroke the right balance by not sounding too "churchy" but with a long sustain to help my ailing vocals during the chorus sections.
This was my first recording that I can consider done and I only improved on the vocals in v1.5. That's why I also created the video edit for it. It also convinced me that it might be worthwhile starting YouCanPlayBetter.org. Since I already knew the guitar solo of it I saw it a waste not to record a full song around it.
All the tracks in this recording are mono. At that time I didn't have a clue how to enable stereo recording with Reaper and my mixer. That's something I fixed in the meantime.