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What Would Dad Say?


drathbun

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Wow Doug, great song... a lot of lyrics are close to home, cheers to you, cheers to good dads.

 

On a more technical side - how are you going about the recordings, are you doing video and sound together - or are they two separate things. What mics, audio recording, video SW are you using - how do you do the picture in picture.

 

Rgds - billroy

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Thanks, folks!

 

In answer to some of the questions; the Taylor is a GA-3 12 string. It is a discontinued model which came with standard chrome tuners and no pickguard. I added the Taylor pickguard and swapped out the tuners for gold ones. The Gibson is, of course, my beloved SJ200 Golden Age 75th Anniversary.

 

I do two types of music videos; one where I'm playing AND recording live and another where I put multiple tracks together and then mimic the parts by playing along with the recorded track and then cut the video together with the multitracked audio. This one is me playing and singing live with the Taylor and then going back and playing along live with the Gibson. In order to do the live video, I have my DAW (Presonus Studio One - having abandoned Cakewalk when they abandoned me) open and two tracks armed - one with the input from Taylor's expression system pickup and one from my Rode NT1acondenser vocal mic. I set my iPhone 7 Plus on a stand and get the video recording going and then hit record on the DAW. Then I do the same thing again with the Gibson, playing back the previously recorded live tracks of my vocal and Taylor through my headphones as I record the SJ200 with my iRig Acoustic Stage pickup AND the NT1 into two tracks (panned left and right).

 

I end up with four audio tracks and two video files. I mixed the four audio tracks using Studio One and adding compression, reverb and EQ into a single stereo WAV file. I then process the WAV file (fade in and outs, mastering compression and loudness) in NCH WavePad (free).

 

Then I open the NCH VideoPad editor and drag the two iPhone videos and the mixed WAV file into the program. VideoPad (like other video editors) has the ability to do PIP (picture in picture) and rescale or reposition the various video tracks plus add various effects. I line up the audio recorded and linked to the iPhone video with the WAV file using the first recorded note then just mute the audio tracks from the iPhone files. Once I've cut the video together and added transition effects (crossfades) and titles, I save it to a video MP4 file and upload it to YouTube.

 

The more I do it, the more addictive it is. I can spend an entire day recording and editing. It is wonderful to be retired! I get SO much done! ;)

 

As to the song; I wrote that about 10 years ago when I thought I might try my hand at songwriting. In one of those moments most parents will recognize, at breakfast, I heard myself saying something that sounded just like my Dad - same voice - same sentence. So the lyrics just poured out of me in about 30 minutes. I have no idea where the guitar riff came from but it sounds vaguely Beatlesque.

 

Thanks again for all the kind comments. It has taken me a while to attempt recording live because I make so many mistakes!

 

PS: I should note that the VideoPad software allows you to record video and audio from multiple sources, so if you have a good video cam that links to your PC or Mac, you can hit record and record video AND your audio together rather than have to import the video separately (like I have to do to use my iPhone 7)

Edited by drathbun
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Beautiful in so many ways. You should not keep songs like that hidden for ten years!

 

Your productions are really unique, and always cool to watch. Retirement is at least fifteen years away for me, but just like you, I know exactly how to spend my days once that time comes [biggrin]

 

Lars

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Beautiful in so many ways. You should not keep songs like that hidden for ten years!

 

Your productions are really unique, and always cool to watch. Retirement is at least fifteen years away for me, but just like you, I know exactly how to spend my days once that time comes [biggrin]

 

Lars

 

Thank, Lars. When I was eyeing retirement, I thought I'd organize my days and weeks around a schedule. One day would be for reading, the next for music/recording and then the next for photography. Perfectly logical and organized. Life doesn't work that way. Some weeks, I'll spend days at a time squirrelled away in my studio, other weeks I can go days just driving, reading, lunching on the patio and be super-non-productive. Regardless of the organization, there is never enough time to do all the things I want to do and it is wonderful. I'm super-excited to continue to be creative, even if it is for my own amusement.

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Great tribute to your father, Doug. It really is interesting how we find ourselves having so many mannerisms and similar perspectives to our parents. Things we literally despised or laughed-at as teens, we find ourselves doing now, because it's natural for us and likely the right thing to do or say..........Anyway, great song. Good, good playing and songwriting. Nice story and summation of how our lives are interconnected (without us even realizing it) with those who loved and raised us. [thumbup] [thumbup] [thumbup]

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Great tribute to your father, Doug. It really is interesting how we find ourselves having so many mannerisms and similar perspectives to our parents. Things we literally despised or laughed-at as teens, we find ourselves doing now, because it's natural for us and likely the right thing to do or say..........Anyway, great song. Good, good playing and songwriting. Nice story and summation of how our lives are interconnected (without us even realizing it) with those who loved and raised us. [thumbup] [thumbup] [thumbup]

 

Thank you, MP. Well stated and much appreciated. :)

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The more I do it, the more addictive it is. I can spend an entire day recording and editing. It is wonderful to be retired! I get SO much done! ;)

 

Ironic. And hilarious.

 

 

Thank, Lars. When I was eyeing retirement, I thought I'd organize my days and weeks around a schedule. One day would be for reading, the next for music/recording and then the next for photography. Perfectly logical and organized. Life doesn't work that way. Some weeks, I'll spend days at a time squirrelled away in my studio, other weeks I can go days just driving, reading, lunching on the patio and be super-non-productive. Regardless of the organization, there is never enough time to do all the things I want to do and it is wonderful. I'm super-excited to continue to be creative, even if it is for my own amusement.

You offer a fine sales pitch for the whole retirement thing. Wish I'd heard of it earlier.

 

Thanks for taking the time to pull back the curtain, and tell about your setup, and for putting the links to the equipment used.

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Ironic. And hilarious.

 

 

 

You offer a fine sales pitch for the whole retirement thing. Wish I'd heard of it earlier.

 

Thanks for taking the time to pull back the curtain, and tell about your setup, and for putting the links to the equipment used.

 

Thanks so much! It is a blast working into some of these songs. It is like doing an autopsy, taking it apart to see how everything works (not just because I kill the song).

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