White Lines (a cappella)

These are the sort of things that occur to me as I go for my daily walk. Four-and-five-part harmony plus solo, bass and vocal percussion. Recorded in GarageBand using my MacBook's built-in mic.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by the_bone (11 comments total)

Wow! That was great! Did you sing all those parts? That's an incredible vocal range. I really like the hiphop (is that the right term?). Keep 'em coming.
posted by sluglicker at 1:46 AM on April 22, 2007

That was gold.
posted by buriednexttoyou at 8:16 AM on April 22, 2007

Thanks, all!

Yes, all sounds are made by my voice. I fully admit that the rapping is kind of sad... but I'm pleased with the harmonies, and the beatboxing was a fun experiment (I'd never done it before except as a goof). In retrospect I wish I had mixed the bass a little louder, but I'm really a tenor and there are some pitchy moments in that part, and it was easier to bury the part in the mix than fry my voice while continuously re-recording it.

This was fun, and I fully intend on doing more when I have time (which may not be for a couple of weeks).
posted by the_bone at 11:54 PM on April 26, 2007

This has potential.

Buy a microphone.
posted by Ynoxas at 9:41 PM on April 29, 2007

Don't take this the wrong way, but what if you removed the rapping and tried it on its own? The dop-doo-wahs and all the background and atmosphere are so fun to listen to I found the other voice distracted me. But then maybe it would cry out for another voice? I dunno, just talking out of my ass.

The moral: this is great fun to listen to.
posted by ORthey at 11:28 AM on May 1, 2007

*sniiiiiiiiiiiiffffffffffffffffffffff* I LOVE IT!!!
posted by phaedon at 12:12 PM on May 2, 2007

ORthey: You're not talking out of your ass at all. When I finished the backgrounds, I almost didn't want to add in the rapping, especially given the fact that some people just shouldn't rap and I am one of them. I figured it would sound really weird and context-less without the lead vocal. It'd be easy enough to do a mix without the lead, so maybe I'll post a "karaoke version" sometime.

Ynoxzas: I agree about the mic comment; mine was ganked by a nefarious (and thankfully temporary) ex-roommate. My M-Audio interface doesn't want to talk to my newish MacBook for some reason, but I haven't spent too much time trying to figure out the problem. Once I do, I'll buy another microphone and use that for future a cappella endeavors.

Again, thanks!
posted by the_bone at 9:50 PM on May 2, 2007

God Bless you for using "ganked." You didn't grow up in the bay area, did you?
posted by ORthey at 5:13 PM on May 3, 2007

This is delicious. keep up the good work.
posted by mmascolino at 7:54 PM on June 3, 2007

what an ear, what a voice, what a mind !
thanks
posted by nicolin at 3:20 AM on June 21, 2007

I only just found this, but for what it's worth: bone, you are awesome.
posted by Pallas Athena at 6:54 AM on July 12