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Seventh Circle Audio

Update - just spent 2 hours recording a new song.  Executive summary:  The unit is great.  Great tone, zero noise even at maximum gain, great sound.

I like it.  Now to build the other one!
 
Good news! Glad to hear it! Don'tcha just love it when a plan comes together?
 
Thanks man.

Here's the song I recorded last night.  Disclaimer:  this is nowhere near my usual minimum allowed quality required for public consumption in both songwriting and production.  But it it shows what the preamp sounds like. 

Note - the clicking you hear on the vocal track is me playing guitar (I recorded both at the same time).  Yes, there is reverb.  Drums and bass are robots.

http://www.cornflowerbluemusic.com/BandDownloads/files/Mary%20JosephSept11Mastered.mp3
 
Sounds great! Problem is I'm no sound/recording engineer so I don't know how to critique the preamp. For all I know it's just a great mic properly applied. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I shouldn't hear it, right? I haven't used standalone preamps before, but I was always under the impression that aside from powering the mic they were primarily used to improve your S/N ratio.
 
Preamps for mics are a lot like pickups for guitars.  There are a bunch of major styles, they all have a major purpose, however the implementation causes color to the sound.  Then opinion enters.  Still if you want it to sound like X they used this or that with this kinda mic is the general process.  Some people will sniff corks, others will grip it and rip it.  Different scene, same paradigm.
Patrick

 
ok here's a more acceptable version of the song - one I can listen to without puking.  For this one I used a home made ribbon mic on the lead vocal.  Had to crank the gain on the pre ALL THE WAY.  There's some hiss, but no hum.  I like it a lot.

http://www.cornflowerbluemusic.com/BandDownloads/files/MaryJosephSept12Mastered.mp3

I also have a Grace Design channel strip that includes EQ and compression as well as the preamp.  The Grace allows you to skip the preamp and run right into the comp/EQ section, so I tried that with the N72.  I didn't like it.  It took away alot of the openness of the sound.  I erased all those takes. 

Very interesting.

 
It is kinda hissy. Also, the mix sounds somewhat unbalanced. The background vocals are too far back, IMO. Then, the lead break, while well done and appropriate, is a bit hot.

The line "I've had impure thoughts regarding your chastity" might flow better if you changed "regarding" to "about" to cut down on the syllable count. Sounds a bit rushed/busy.

Similarly, where you say "position clear", there's too much emphasis on the wrong syllables of "position".

All that said, it's an addicting piece. It was caught in my head for hours after I heard it the first time. I've listened to it about 15 times now. I'm sure it's going to be a popular tune once you release it. It's musically good just for starters, but the lyrics hit some base emotional points. Chicks dig emotional points, especially when they prey on their insecurities.
 
Patrick from Davis said:
What mic is this you speak of???  I just got a kit for a ribbon mic and need to put it together.
Patrick
Click to expand...

I speak of the Austin ribbon mic.  I made two of them and boy I have to tell you THAT really really tried my patience.  The ribbon material used is simply impossible to work with.  I think I got something useable only by pure luck.  I'm much better at electronics.

Have fun!  :evil4:
 
Cagey said:
It is kinda hissy. Also, the mix sounds somewhat unbalanced. The background vocals are too far back, IMO. Then, the lead break, while well done and appropriate, is a bit hot.

The line "I've had impure thoughts regarding your chastity" might flow better if you changed "regarding" to "about" to cut down on the syllable count. Sounds a bit rushed/busy.

Similarly, where you say "position clear", there's too much emphasis on the wrong syllables of "position".

All that said, it's an addicting piece. It was caught in my head for hours after I heard it the first time. I've listened to it about 15 times now. I'm sure it's going to be a popular tune once you release it. It's musically good just for starters, but the lyrics hit some base emotional points. Chicks dig emotional points, especially when they prey on their insecurities.
Click to expand...

Kevin this is really great feedback and it's greatly appreciated.  I wish I could get this kind of thing all the time with songs that I write.  BTW - did you notice that I ditched the last verse?  It was totally lame.  :)
 
Mayfly said:
might flow better if you changed "regarding" to "about" to cut down on the syllable count. Sounds a bit rushed/busy.
Click to expand...
[/quote]

I dunno - fidgety baby sleeping in the next room so.. I'll listen later, but lately I've been playing with straight hard driving rock rhythms, gut level topics, and sesquipedalian words, and it's kinda fun. Like someone put a thesaurus in a sack and beat Brian Johnson with it. I'm dying to use 'myocardial infarction' instead of the really lame overused 'heart attack' in a song.
 
Mayfly said:
Kevin this is really great feedback and it's greatly appreciated.  I wish I could get this kind of thing all the time with songs that I write.  BTW - did you notice that I ditched the last verse?  It was totally lame.  :)
Click to expand...

What can I say? I'm a non-stop hypercritical bitch <grin> Normally, I try to keep my mouth shut about original material, but this was too good to pretend it didn't matter. I really think you could turn some heads with it.

I did notice the cut, and I think it was a good move. I wouldn't have called the last bit "lame", but it sorta fell into the "belaboring the point" category. I mean, there are messages and stories, then there's overwrought whining/crying/nagging. A little bit country is ok, but you don't want to get too Nashville lest you risk alienating a substantial percentage of the listening audience.

But, I'm no one to judge. I originally thought "rap" (or whatever they call it now) would only last 6 months because there was nothing there, and look where that went. I'm still to this day absolutely amazed that it grew any legs at all.
 
Cagey said:
It is kinda hissy. Also, the mix sounds somewhat unbalanced. The background vocals are too far back, IMO. Then, the lead break, while well done and appropriate, is a bit hot.

The line "I've had impure thoughts regarding your chastity" might flow better if you changed "regarding" to "about" to cut down on the syllable count. Sounds a bit rushed/busy.

Similarly, where you say "position clear", there's too much emphasis on the wrong syllables of "position".

All that said, it's an addicting piece. It was caught in my head for hours after I heard it the first time. I've listened to it about 15 times now. I'm sure it's going to be a popular tune once you release it. It's musically good just for starters, but the lyrics hit some base emotional points. Chicks dig emotional points, especially when they prey on their insecurities.
Click to expand...

If the bold line was left to me it would probably come out as "I wanna hump you like a randy fox terrier" - I'm a terrible lyricist....  :tard:  :toothy11:  :dontknow:

So good on Mayfly for keeping it as classy as he got it....  :icon_thumright:

 
Hehe! I change lyrics in my head all the time, for fun's sake. Could never publish any of them since I'm not a rapper/hip-hop kinda guy, but they work well in the shop or the locker room <grin>
 
Update:  I've finished the second unit.  It was much easier to build second time around, and it sounds pretty much like the first one.  I really don't know why people have so much trouble with these things - they went together pretty well for what they are.

So I did some recording using both of them.  In this track I recorded the vocal in stereo using a pair of the Austin ribbon mics set in a Blumlein pair configuration.  Again I had to max out the gain on the preamps and you really hear the hiss - I threw some automation on there to slowly bring up the volume of the vocal and you can really hear it when it comes in.  But other than that it sounds really natural with a nice stereo effect.  I like it.  I sense a pair of U87 clones with switchable figure 8 patterns in my future.

Update: some photos of the setup:
1229865_10151900393627112_1208323413_n.jpg


63899_10151900393592112_1721095252_n.jpg


Have a listen.  Doesn't make me puke.

http://www.cornflowerbluemusic.com/BandDownloads/files/CantHelpMyselfSept17Mstd.mp3
 
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