from the bridge,

watching the river flow, I stumble upon some memories - more vivid than others.

(Get Flash to see the track player.)
posted by nicolin (10 comments total)

Two guitars were used on this one : the first was offered by my grandfather to my sister (begins like a pulp fiction story) who actually never played it. I inherited this guitar and have been trying for years now to make something meaningful with it. The second one is a collective gift for my birthday. It is the one I play during the short solo. So you can see that this song is bridging the gap between my childhood and my adult self (wink). This is a reworking of some of the ideas I used in seafront.
posted by nicolin at 2:10 PM on August 6, 2007

I only got the first half for some reason, but it was great. I like how you work the guitars together. It's really good stuff.
posted by snsranch at 4:38 PM on August 6, 2007

That's very pretty, nicolin. It's nice to hear something so chill, so utterly relaxed.

This could've been mastered a little hotter, I think. Had to max out the volume on my laptop and still wanted a little more level. Do you use any compression when you record?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 1:56 AM on August 7, 2007

well, I didn't use compression on that one. I think that I'm posting too often with a low level, maybe because I'm checking all this with my headphones on. to sns : well, the ending takes you someplace else, but not too far. thanks.
posted by nicolin at 2:37 AM on August 7, 2007

Well, a combination of phones and speakers is a better way to go, if you can. Of course, if you have the time, listening to your mix on various speakers, as many different listening situations as possible, is a good idea. And I'd definitely recommend using compression. May I ask what sort of recording setup you're using?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:37 AM on August 7, 2007

I use an aiwa cm-ds6 (kidding) plugged into a minidisc, which is connected to my soundcard input. What kind of cheap setup would you advise for a neophyte ?
posted by nicolin at 6:36 AM on August 7, 2007

Hmm... unfortunately, I'm not really a font of good information on cheap setups. I'm a semi-pro (and more on the pro side of semi in a good month) musician, and I use a relatively expensive setup. I am out of touch with what's out there in the budget realm. I'm also a Mac user, and am completely ignorant of any non-Mac applications. But if you were to head over to AskMe seeking advice, I know there's lots of people who could help you in your quest for a better, more flexible recording setup within a "neophyte" spending range. I think your playing is great and therefore deserves better recording!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:28 PM on August 7, 2007

That was nice. I had to crank the volume a bit as well, I think maybe just making sure the gain on your minidisc (and subsequently your soundcard) is set as high as you can make it without clipping should get you a decent signal. Otherwise, there are probably cheap or free audio editors online that have compression capabilities.

A quick google turned up this. I've never used it, but it appears to be free, and the "features" page mentions: "Adjust volumes with Compressor, Amplify, and Normalize effects."
posted by erikgrande at 9:36 PM on August 7, 2007

Thanks eric, I' already use audacity. But I think I didn't bother to check what it was able to do. I have to try the effects, and the mixing capabilities too. Thanks.
posted by nicolin at 1:55 AM on August 8, 2007

Beautiful playing, but I agree that the mix should be louder.
posted by emelenjr at 8:16 AM on August 25, 2007