Everything old is new again...
Several years ago, I approached the band Full Frontal Folk with an unusual and unorthodox idea. They had already been breaking the mold of contemporary folk music by performing their own acoustic arrangements of songs by the likes of Tom Waits, Bad Religion, and The Bloodhound Gang, taking something familiar and presenting it in a new context... I decided to return the favor, by proposing to use their acappella recording of the traditional spiritual "Wayfaring Stranger" as the foundation for a dance remix. They gave me the green light, and I whipped up the first iteration of what you're about to hear. We performed it live together at the North Star in Philadelphia, with me onstage providing the "instrumentation" via a pair of Pioneer CDJ800's. It was deemed a success, and the band decided to re-record the song using my backing tracks during the sessions for their second studio album.
Unfortunately, as they were headed into the studio, I got transferred to Denver. Unable to get hands-on and face-to-face with the mixing process, I was forced to send them a 2-track rough mix of my instrumental, leaving the final mix to their engineer, who I imagine has not had much experience mixing dance music tracks. The end result that made it onto the album was a bit sonically disappointing: it lacked punch and definition, and the vocals didn't really sit in the mix right.
Whatever my misgivings regarding the finished product, it didn't stop the song from making it into WXPN's top 100 songs of the year countdown! My first "hit song"... *snif* :-)
I later asked the band if I could have the multitrack recordings of their vocals, as I wanted to eventually do the remix myself properly, and give the song a second lease on life. I got them, but never really got around to working on the mix. Four years passed...
Well, I was in a mood to be productive today, so I dug out the multitracks and started to work. I substituted all-new drum sounds (adding the punch that had been absent), altered the bass synth patch dramatically, and adjusted the mix levels of the different elements in the instrumental. Then I recorded the whole thing fresh into Pro Tools, did some minimal EQ (a 2dB boost at around 800 or 900 Hz to help the synth arpeggio sit up a bit during the second verse) and threw a little compression on to beef up the volume (mild dosage: maybe 3 dB altogether). Imported the vocal tracks, lined them up (by eye and ear -- I haven't started screwing with Beat Detective yet), put a little delay and reverb on them, and set up the rough mix you hear here.
I still think there's a little too much delay on the vocals in spots (something I'll probably remedy within the next day or two), but here it is anyway: 1000% improved and closer to the "Director's Cut", if you will, of the song.
Full Frontal Folk - Wayfaring Stranger (The Kindness Of Strangers Mix by DJ Luminal) - 2007 Remix
Enjoy! If you listen, please leave a comment. I want to know how many of you are actually out there listening to these tracks I post. Anonymous comments are screened but if you tell me who you are, it'll get unscreened.
Unfortunately, as they were headed into the studio, I got transferred to Denver. Unable to get hands-on and face-to-face with the mixing process, I was forced to send them a 2-track rough mix of my instrumental, leaving the final mix to their engineer, who I imagine has not had much experience mixing dance music tracks. The end result that made it onto the album was a bit sonically disappointing: it lacked punch and definition, and the vocals didn't really sit in the mix right.
Whatever my misgivings regarding the finished product, it didn't stop the song from making it into WXPN's top 100 songs of the year countdown! My first "hit song"... *snif* :-)
I later asked the band if I could have the multitrack recordings of their vocals, as I wanted to eventually do the remix myself properly, and give the song a second lease on life. I got them, but never really got around to working on the mix. Four years passed...
Well, I was in a mood to be productive today, so I dug out the multitracks and started to work. I substituted all-new drum sounds (adding the punch that had been absent), altered the bass synth patch dramatically, and adjusted the mix levels of the different elements in the instrumental. Then I recorded the whole thing fresh into Pro Tools, did some minimal EQ (a 2dB boost at around 800 or 900 Hz to help the synth arpeggio sit up a bit during the second verse) and threw a little compression on to beef up the volume (mild dosage: maybe 3 dB altogether). Imported the vocal tracks, lined them up (by eye and ear -- I haven't started screwing with Beat Detective yet), put a little delay and reverb on them, and set up the rough mix you hear here.
I still think there's a little too much delay on the vocals in spots (something I'll probably remedy within the next day or two), but here it is anyway: 1000% improved and closer to the "Director's Cut", if you will, of the song.
Full Frontal Folk - Wayfaring Stranger (The Kindness Of Strangers Mix by DJ Luminal) - 2007 Remix
Enjoy! If you listen, please leave a comment. I want to know how many of you are actually out there listening to these tracks I post. Anonymous comments are screened but if you tell me who you are, it'll get unscreened.