The Smiley Smile Message Board

UPDATED. Go to bottom of thread for link to finished track


This is "5". Just the track at present. Hope you enjoy the groovy horns and the carousel. Very rough mix. Vocals to follow


https://soundcloud.com/wrongbutton-1/5-section-1-2-test-edit (https://soundcloud.com/wrongbutton-1/5-section-1-2-test-edit)

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Thanks, all VST instruments apart from guitars and bass. Yes, there will be many vocals on this.

I like it.

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The sax is just a Native Instruments one, and not great, but the trumpet is from the Sonivox Broadway Big Band set, which is seriously good.

Thanks for kind comments guys, I'll post soon with the backing vocals on the track.

Wow, very nice use of the VSTs. Had me fooled.

I must say I was skeptical (reading that it was mostly computer-generated sounds), but this sounds very nice! The only elements of the first movement I felt that don't quite sound realistic were the cymbal crashes and harpsichord that starts near 2:50. The 'circus' part did seem somewhat computer-generated though!

The section starting 2:50 was all done on my old Yamaha PSS 780 (from 1989), so that's purposefully cheesy!
Section before that, from 2:26 is an even older Casiotone from '85, and was culled from an old tape I made onto a cheap boombox. I put it through melodyne, isolated all the notes and turned it into a playable instrument.  Retro 80's bedroom sound! Can't be beat.

Other than that it's still "in progress", so pretty much unmixed. Cymbal will be less clashy when I  mix. (Drums are Abbey Road 60's drums, all recorded in studio 2 through vintage analogue gear - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AV-BQy-WlA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AV-BQy-WlA)) I'll also endevour to add a bit more realism to the carousel organ on mixdown.

Thanks for these helpful criticisms Donny.

ah gotcha! if the goal ws '80s bedroom cheese, then 'realism' goes out the window !

Here we go then. Track 5 of my new album. Mammoth mixing session over 4 days. Completely fed up of it, but let me know what you think.

There is the song, plus the backing track and vocals only, so you can hear the intricacies.

https://soundcloud.com/wrongbutton-1/sets/5-1 (https://soundcloud.com/wrongbutton-1/sets/5-1)

Enjoy!

Sounds good! "Pet Sounds" (the track) mixed with a little Neil Innes.

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Thanks!

Wow, this is so wonderful! I don't even know where to start, everything seems in its right place: the transitions are perfect, the orchestration is top-notch, great vocs (despite some nasality during high notes) etc. etc. That said, the circus segment is the best, I'm a big fan of clowns, roller-coasters, tricks & stuff. You don't need to eat chocolate to cheer up yourself - just play some goofy, childlike, joyful melodies like this one.
Many thanks for posting this gem, Mr. Newcombe! You've got real talent in music-crafting.

From the guy who produced the best "Surf's Up" cover ever. Brilliant!  I think your H&Vs Stephen.

I was going to say something similar, incredible cover is surf's up.

Great song! Every part is so clear.

I had no idea you were a musician  :)

I love it!!  ;D If your other work is this good I'd buy it all in a heartbeat.  :) I love the horn sounds. It kind of reminds me of the best work of Chicago.

Oh man, this is great. I even broke my self-imposed board hiatus to say so  :-D

Incredible stuff!  Great mix, too... everything's nicely balanced.  Clear.  SQ is impeccable.  Are you doing all this yourself?