Cock Robin [second take]

A four-part a cappella take on an old English nursery rhyme. The melody is traditional; the harmonic lines were written by my friend Laura, who also sings each line. This is our first attempt at this (her first performing, my first recording/producing) and I'm still trying to think of ways to make it better.

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posted by Rory Marinich (5 comments total)

This is really good!

Beware the unison! :-)
posted by Zenabi at 9:06 AM on January 24, 2011

Sounds decent... I think the lower harmonies can get kind of muddy at times.

Also, I agree that sometimes the unisons are out of tune with each other. When writing choral arrangements, avoid Parallel Fifths and Octaves.

Maybe add a little more reverb to the vocals? Not too much though.
posted by XhaustedProphet at 3:51 AM on January 25, 2011 [1 favorite]

This is fascinating. There's a tension in the song that almost makes it uncomfortable to listen to, and I mean that in the most positive way you can imagine.

Really cool.
posted by ORthey at 2:47 PM on January 25, 2011

this is good. I've always liked the rhyme, and never though of it as having a melody. If you're taking suggestions, I would try editing out the mouth noise between lines and that little false start....
posted by dubold at 7:22 AM on January 26, 2011

I'm definitely taking suggestions! Thanks! And I'm really happy that you like it.

Right now I'm in a voice course in college, but I have no formal education in vocal performance/composition/recording. So when Zenabi commented I hadn't got a clue what "unison" was. But I'll read up on this before the rerecording.
posted by Rory Marinich at 7:23 AM on January 27, 2011