"Ghosting" Chuck Berry, McCartney, and the Beach Boys.

[manning]

Oren mate.
i cant wait..but take your time.
in the interim someone told me about a cute likkle
auto arranger.
so of course i had to do a likkle new song idea.
n try it out.
(oh no says oren.lol.)
heres my review of it on KM plus brief demo mp3 .
http://www.kara-moon.com/forum/index.php?topic=5652.0

[Oren]

Looks cool, Ed! Not bad fro 25 bucks, either....

Here is a mix, including Ed's big strummed guitar accents for context, featuring the bits of Mario's staccato surf guitar that punch the song up at just the right spots. Listen, and comment please.

Next job is to have a go at James' guitar stylings...

[Oren]

Finally got James' guitar edited and deployed...

Here it is with some surf reverb applied to both James' guitar parts, and to Mario's edited riffs.

[manning]

Oren.
re malibu james.
1. really superb..the burble at 1min6secs.
CLASSIC KEEPER SOUND PICTURE.
2. love the bass run at 1min13secs. yep.
3. at 2min6/7secs is this geetar counter point.
superb. THATS THINKING..YES !!

yes coming along nice.

ps mate..only thing that troubles me a tad is the
snare syncopation at 52 secs.
what about just a "snare snare"" TA DA instead ??
ie everyone one must come along "TA DA" ..
two snare hits ??
i think frankly the rhythm backing is pretty much there mate.

at this juncture , n mebe you n everyone else might disagree is to step back
n think what other instruments in an orchestra
might be usefull to use in this song ??

let me explain...its all sound picture topics.
so far we have drums n bass n geetar rhythm.
but are there other places for "different instruments".
this is what they were so good at in the 50's.
asking such sound picture questions.

its just a discussion i feel all of us contributing to this song might have ??
for example..any place for brass ?? (via a plug in)
or other orchestral instruments (via plug in.) ??
i'm not saying necessarily we should do such.
its just a mild suggestion. and asking does anyone hear in the
song any other instrumentation that might elevate the song further ??
latin perc subtly for example ??
reason i'm asking is i hear "something" but i cant quite put my finger on it.
ie..very subtle stuff that can contribute to sound picture.
shoot me down if i'm wrong mates.
i'm just suggesting we discuss such before moving on to the next phase..
critical lead parts of the song.
god bless.

[Oren]

Ed,

I'll see if I can edit out that snare at 52 seconds, and replace it with something more suitable.

If I could anything instrumentally to this puppy, it would be some old-school Hammond organ. Kara has the chops for that, as does Thom, and Mario, for that matter.

Orchestral instruments in a live beach band seem a little out of place, from where I sit...

[offthewall]

 
I don't know if this is of any help .... just the other day I came across this free VST called Efthimia Organ by Iliadis.  This is the first time I've tried it ...  and it is SO sixties 

Anyways .. I'm no keyboardist but here is a single take of the whole song.
If it is of any use, please just cut and stick.  If you think it can be explored further, then I am willing to give it a go. 

 
James

[offthewall]

 
And here is a very 'ruff' mix with it.

If anyone wants to give it a try you can find it here: http://www.iliadisorgan.com/freeplugins.html

 
James

[Oren]

Holy shenanigans, James, that ain't too shabby!

Give me a couple of days with it - this might be just what "Doctor Ed" prescribed...

[Oren]

James, my wild and hairy friend , may I impose on you to lay down a full-length track of that nasty Hammond sound... just two notes, the root and the fifth?
 Move around with it a little, if you like, sometimes playing the root alone, sometimes the fifth.  And would you end the song with that nice sustained two note "chord", holding on for a few beats after the rest of the instruments are done, and allowing the reverb tail to run it's course before ending the track?

It feels like this may be the cohesive element that holds the whole production together, and I want to have enough material to really exploit this opportunity to its fullest. Am I making any sense...

[offthewall]

 
No problem ....
get back to you later   

 
James

[offthewall]

Oren,
   As requested (with a few embellishments) 

If you need any more just let me know.

 
James

[manning]

chaps.
my apologies if i didnt explain myself well
re orchestral sounds.
please allow me to explain further.
in essence, yes one wouldnt use orchestra
stuff in a surf genre. but, and ive only talked to a few folks who sold
a slew of records in the past, who were very shareing with their time.
and one of the major points they told me was the process of
stepping back  and re evaluating the song.
so no worry..i dont hear a chorus of violas ..lol..
but for example..does the likkle triangle have a place ??
or some other likkle subtle thing ??
one "trik" i was told is some producers keep a huge list in their studios of all
orchestral /other instruments from various countries
..and what they sometimes do in
the reevaluating /stepping back process is...scan the big list of instruments
and just spend some time thinking of possibilities.
not that they might actually use one, but it helps think bout sound picture.
frankly one of the reasons ive always tried to stay in the background
cos i was told by one artist who sold several hundred million records
how scary life becomes if a song breaks thru.
in this songs case i just hear something i cant put my finger on.
mebe i'm full of it mates..dunno. but something sound picture wise
is nagging at me.
honestly i just want the best for you good chaps.
god bless.  

[Oren]

James,
Could you possibly be a little quicker and more enthusiastic, please... ?

Ed,
I'll noodle around with this lovely bit of Hammond action, then you may want to suggest further tweaks/additions to the mix to complete the sonic landscape. We're down to the short strokes, now ( as they say in golf), and I think we are still on the same page...   

[manning]

Oren.
okey dokey mate.
please feel free to slam me if i get too "pernickety/picky". lol.
i sometimes get too detailed.
but i hope my heart is in the right place cos i just
want the best for you good folks n the song.

[Oren]

Progress report:
   This old-school organ stuff that James has cooked up has got us sounding like "Deep Purple on the Beach" - it's absolutely fantastic!
 A preliminary mix is still a couple of days away, but buckle up your harness and tighten that chinstrap, 'cause it is going to rock!
(we may have found our missing ingredient, after all, Ed...)
This is a scream!