Qual 1 Estrela

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pdechery
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Qual 1 Estrela

Post by pdechery »

Hi there,

This is one of the first "real" songs I've ever wrote and one I'd already presented live a few times, just guitar and voice.

I've been trying for quite a long time to figure out the right arrangement for it, and I think I'm finally happy with the result now.

I've tried to make the most subtle arrange possible, letting the nylon-string arpeggio lead the song along with the voice. I don't feel much confident working with synth drum sounds (even if I like the idea of using them) so I've just used the Black Pearl kit in Hydrogen, as I do often.

I've also experimented with an Hammond plugin for the fist time and loved working with it. Originally I had strings doing that part, but I was never really happy with the result.

To make sure the loudness would be the best possible, once broadcasted, I've tried to do some mastering in Ardour this time (instead of just dropping my mix in Soundcloud). Nothing too technical, I've just created a new Session, imported the song and played with the limiter and did some subtle EQ modifications. I'd even check the LUFS information, something I was completely unaware of before. The result was significantly better.

As for the song itself, it's an acoustic ballad sung in Portuguese, and the title could be translated in something like "As One Star". The vocal performance is quite challenging for me now, since when I wrote the song I could reach easier the high notes. I even could sing the chorus in falsetto back then!

NOTE: The only thing I'm not satisfied with in the mix is the guitar. It got itself eated up by the bass and, to me at least, it's barely audible. I'm realizing that it's no easy to mix nylon-string guitars when you have bass and other instruments in the arrangement. I've tried to fix this working with the panning but I don't think I got it this time.

So, I think that's it. Hope you like this one.

https://soundcloud.com/pierre-dechery/qual-1-estrela
Last edited by pdechery on Mon Mar 15, 2021 1:23 pm, edited 17 times in total.
I make music and you can listen here: https://www.mundolunar.art.br/
Basslint
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Re: Qual 1 Estrela

Post by Basslint »

Beautiful song! Please teach me something, anything :lol:
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pdechery
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Re: Qual 1 Estrela

Post by pdechery »

Basslint wrote: Mon Mar 15, 2021 7:08 am Beautiful song! Please teach me something, anything :lol:
Thank you! Glad you liked it. If you like this style, I'd suggest to hear Milton Nascimento or Lô Borges, they had influenced me a lot at the time I wrote this.
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Tenaba
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Re: Qual 1 Estrela

Post by Tenaba »

Wow, I'm glad I gave this a listen. I love the vibe it gives off! I don't think you have to worry about the levels on the guitar, I find it clearly audible. It might sound different on your end, as you likely wrote it with a specific vision of how you wanted the bass and guitar to balance out; but I like the mix that I hear. Though I can't understand the lyrics, I like your translation of the title.

It's quite convenient that Ardour gives you an LUFS and true peak reading on export. I've never really been able to make use of it to maximize the perceived loudness however. Glad you got it to work though.

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Basslint
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Re: Qual 1 Estrela

Post by Basslint »

pdechery wrote: Mon Mar 15, 2021 11:59 pm Thank you! Glad you liked it. If you like this style, I'd suggest to hear Milton Nascimento or Lô Borges, they had influenced me a lot at the time I wrote this.
I certainly will, thank you :D
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Re: Qual 1 Estrela

Post by Rainmak3r »

Very smooth and relaxing, I liked it! And I think you did the right choice picking the Hammond as background, as it gives a more unique feel to the whole thing.
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Re: Qual 1 Estrela

Post by jeanette_c »

It is a lovely song. Well played, sung and arranged, too. I think I'd prefer the organ to strings any day, in this place. It flows so well into the arrangement.
Also you showed off the Hydrogen kit well. I'm not a big fan of them, normally, they sound too thin or sampled in my ears, but you found and used its sweet spot.
I know that mixing acoustic instruments can be a challenge. How far did you try EQ'ing and a little bit of high and low cutting on bass and guitar? Also a little more compression might help. I know, the problem is to compress, while still retaining the acoustic, breathing feel. Someone once suggested to me using two compressors in a chain with moderate settings.
Thanks for sharing this beautiful song!
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Re: Qual 1 Estrela

Post by oscillator »

So beautiful! I especially like the high note in the chorus. Sometimes it is the small movements, sometimes it is just a higher note that can make a whole song.

I think the mixing is great too, very easy to listen to. Maybe a bit more higher frequencies on the guitar?

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Re: Qual 1 Estrela

Post by milo »

I really like this song, and the sound you achieved. I'm pretty sure I've heard it before. Did you post an older version of it before? I notice it was posted to SC in October. Maybe I was browsing your catalog back then and found it.

My first guitar had nylon strings, and I love that sound, but I haven't used it very much in my recordings. You have inspired me to try it.

The sound reminds me of Nando Lauria, perhaps because he is Brazilian. Great sound!
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pdechery
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Re: Qual 1 Estrela

Post by pdechery »

milo wrote: Wed Mar 17, 2021 7:01 pm I really like this song, and the sound you achieved. I'm pretty sure I've heard it before. Did you post an older version of it before? I notice it was posted to SC in October. Maybe I was browsing your catalog back then and found it.

My first guitar had nylon strings, and I love that sound, but I haven't used it very much in my recordings. You have inspired me to try it.

The sound reminds me of Nando Lauria, perhaps because he is Brazilian. Great sound!
Hi @milo

Indeed I've posted this song here before, but I wasn't much confident with the arrangement so I've decided to redo most of it. I've redone the voice, the drums and finally remixed and even mastered it. To me, it's almost a new song now and I'm happy to finally achieve something closer to my vision.

Nylon-strings are very popular here where I live, Brasil. And there are many many great players. I'll definitely check Nando Lauria, thanks for that!
I make music and you can listen here: https://www.mundolunar.art.br/
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