Kara-Moon Forum

 :o

James,
When Azell heard you couldn't come to the gig , she was very disappointed  :'(
She really wanted to do a duo with you... luckily we have the forum, so everything is possible  ;)

First challenge was to find a song that was done in English and in French and that you both knew.
After some searching the choice became 'Blowing in the wind' from Bob Dylan. This song was done here in France by Richard Antony.

So, if you choose to accept this mission  :o :D
The structure of the song (BPM 125):
4 verses
First verse : Azell completely in French
Second verse : You completely in English
Third verse : Azell 1° and 3° phrase and you the middle phrase
Fourth verse : You 1° and 3° phrase and Azell the middle phrase

She did the effort of singing the choruses in English, so you're supposed to sing with here as a duo  :)

Please record your voice as dry as possible, there is no reverb on Azells voice, I want to apply the same reverb on both your voices to get you both in the same room.

So James, you have a mission, don't disappoint the lady  ;D

k

This is going tpo be good :- :- :-

 :D
I'm certainly up for the challenge, mon ami ..... :-\
.....however, there is no way I can sing it in that key.
As my vocal range is so limited I'm afraid that (I just tried it out in various pitches) the best I can do would be in F, or at a push possibly E.   ::)

Sorry !
Let me know if either would work.

 8)up for the challenge
James

ok, no problem in F it will be !

k

 8)
I shall look forward to it .....
but  ???

The only versions I can find lyrics for have only three verses, not four  ::)

I know that you French tend to use more words per sentence than we do .... but how do you spin it out to an extra verse  :-X

  8)up for the challenge
James

 ;)

Here it is James, same song, same construction in F

You are right, I"ve extended it to 4 verses.
The goal is that you both do the full 1° verse, once on french once in Englsih
Then combine verse 2 and 3
Makes a total of 4 verses  :D

k

 8)
I just had a quick 'run through' of this .....  a single take, just as a try-out.

Is this what you are looking for?   :-X

I would like to refine this a bit, and maybe play acoustic guitar backing to add in to it, if that is OK.  :-*

 8)up for the challenge
James

This is sounding very VERY good :;

Very good draft James  8)
And there is certainly room for guitar

k

Lovely gentle arrangement and singing of this classic.

 ;D
Here we go, Kara.

I have taken the liberty of adding an intro 'click' to line things up properly. I have started by putting this click onto the first verse as a marker.

Then I have made an acoustic guitar track.

Then I have four vocal tracks. They are all recorded independently, so don't rely on each other.
I hope that Azell will choose which of these singers she wishes to work with  ::)
You may decide to chop bits out of different tracks to make up another. That is up to you.  :-X

This is the first batch.

 8)up for the challenge
James

 :D

Here is the second batch

 8)up for the challenge
James

 :D

And here is the last .....

 8)up for the challenge
James

 ;D
And, just so the listener does not feel left out, here is a mix using my favourite version .... with no processing other than a very slight EQ.

 8)up for the challenge
James

James,

I've just listened to you mix
Your vocal part sounds very good  8)
I'll work on the mix tomorrow. Thanks for your parts, getting Azell collaborating here could open new perspectives for other collabs.

K

This is now seriously impressive. It is very hard to syncronise to someone else's singing without face to face O0

Hmm. My reply just got eaten by a 'net gremlin :(

This is seriously impressive. It is very hard to synchronise to someone else's singing as a duet without face-to-face O0

no it isn't, it's there twice ;D
K

 8)
Thanks,
I'm glad it works for you .....

do you want anything else for this?

My next idea .... ::)
.....if I can find the time .... :-X

would be for me to make a video of my side of things .... so that you can play it at the 'actual' performance as something for Azell to sing to  ???

Could that work, in practical terms?

 8)up for the challenge
James

Here is my mix  ;)

This was a very interesting experience, it's quite some work to get 2 singers in the same studio when they where recorded at different places.
I'm personally very satisfied with the result, but I'm interested what others think of this.
And of course about the opinion of our canadian audio master  ;D

James,
That video experiment sounds pretty interesting, have t think how we could this.

k

 ;D
Excellent mix, Kara.

Definitely everyone in the same room, sitting on stools next to each other  ::)

The ending took me by surprise, though.  :-[

Thanks.

 8)up for the challenge
James

I'm glad you like the mix.
She insisted on adding the end ;)

k

Excellent choice, excellent performance, and excellent production.

Well chosen, well executed.

One of the first half dozen songs I ever learnt on guitar, so it has a special spot with me.

And I love the ending.  :)

On my monitors the vocals are nicely matched, very much "in the same room".
 (I had lost touch with this project for a few days... :-[)