http://newfunkorder.com/Q...sShake.mp3

Something I've been throwing in and out of the oven for some time now ...

Frank Axtell on Guitar
Yamomma everywhere else ...

Total Over-kill! Yes. But that's kinda what I was looking for.
This is my submission to the project "Quest for the Minneapolis Sound" (The Prince simulation album) I wanted a live recording sound that, in my opinion, is Prince at his best so I got the crappiest mic out of the studio and did most all vocals in one take and did a lot of improv with the layered vocal tracks.


In the beginning and almost there at the end, you hear the electric buzz that is supposed to represent that crystal ball thingy from the "Sign of the Times" movie. (My favorite) and my rendition of that deep voice ala "1999". "Serve it up Frankie" (2NU4WC) ... Well, my studio partner is Frank Axtell and he's on guitar kickin axe. Like the Batman recordings, I wanted to use a celebrity sample with the balls of someone like Jack Nicholson. So, thanks to some inspiration from Beau Hall, I chose Christopher Walkin's "Cowbell" skit from Saturday Night Live. And I put some heavy reverb on that puppy too! "Explored the studio space" if you will, ha ha!




I've always dug Prince's horn arrangements A LOT, so there's nothing to explain for that over-saturation. I've also thrown in some other nods to Prince's own inspirational artists which is what I believe is what the whole "Minneapolis Sound" is all about. And that is the fuzion of all those aspects together such as James Brown riffs, Jimi Hendrix solos, The Temptations harmonies (I know, I suck at it, that's why I didn't go for it) and George Clinton's "whole song is just one big vamp" type thing.


It ends with a nod to the infamous "Lovesexy" and "The Black Album" type "What kinda F*CK ending was that" vibe, but with my own touch.

Well I'm done. Meaning I'm kinda tired of it for now. I'm not really happy with it, so I'm asking for a homework assignment. There's a George Clinton vibe I wanted to it as well, but George had like 25 people on those recordings so I can't exactly do that by myself.

Find a spot or compliment a section with YOUR OWN VOICE. Send me a recording and I'll put it in the mix. Tell me the time stamp in which it is to be inserted as well please.

Some lines to consider are:

• "Doing the org shake"
  
• (Falsetto or female) "Minneapolis ... Shake!"
  
• "Move Something"
  
• "What it is, is what it is"
  
• "The org-Shake"
  
• "Emulate, Deviate, Procreate, Reinstate, now you're doing the org-shake"
  

If you have something else, I'm happy to re-record along with your track.

Those are some areas that could use some work, but whatever you feel up to is cool by me. So when we're done, it will be credited to THE P.ORG ALLSTARS or something like that.

SEND 'EM = klmcclain@earthlink.net
Any other opinions and suggestions are MORE THAN WELCOME! I really planned on this one to be the signature song for the album. After trying to cram as much stuff in just under 7 minutes, I got a little lost me thinks.

Hey Kelly, I'm going out of town this weekend, so I'll check it out when I get back. Cool?

In that case, you'll have to burn a copy for your trip! Seriously, I think you'll get a laugh out of it. I hope ...

Love this, just a little busy as of late. I need to listen to it on a better sound system because I know I'm missing all of the little cool things you've described. Did you use Soundtrack for those horn arrangements? They sound perfect. I'll edit this post over the weekend when I listen to this for real.

Oh yeah, gotta give Frank one of these for his musicianship.

Slave2daGroove said:

Yep, Did all recording through Soundtrack then gave it to Frank where he recorded his guitar using Audio Logic Pro back at his house then he exported his guitar track seperate and gave it back to me to mix it back into Soundtrack. From what I understand, Soundtrack is like a stripped down version of Logic, but recently they have made "Logic Express"

When we get all this hard disk recording stuff figured out, look out!

Everything is great!

But (sorry, Sir), I don't hear the cowbell!??

(andtheopeningchickenscratchguitarriffisabitoff)

Schöne Gruß

nayroo2002 said:

Right there at 0:00-0:06 and 3:17-3:36
The pickin' is dead on it. The solo is more relaxed, but still dead on. Not sure what you are hearing there.

O.K. so on re-listen, I like it but here's a few suggestions.

The vocals are lost in a lot of parts and in some parts there just seems to be too much going on all at the same time.

Then the mix sounds great (balance of lows, midtones, highs) on certian parts and very tinty and thin on others.

If it were me, I'd do a break down with drums and bass or vocals alone or just drums. Make it a little minimal in between the transitions but then again, what the hell do I know?

Who is playing that bass? That's my favorite thing about this, that and the speed of it.

Amazing, Kelly and Frank! This is not music, this is a trip!

I have to get my voice on this. So much fun!!!

nice Kelly. it is definitely a jam. I would put a little more bottom in the mix. more kick drum and snare. u know the brothas like bottom.

I'd like to throw something in on this ... might take me some time 'cuz of the crazy schedule. Got a deadline or no?

Slave2daGroove said:

Co-

I also think there is a little too much of the cowbell guy on there. I know you're going for the Batman feel, but you're also going for a lot of other feels and it's a little too chaotic. I would take out about 75% of Mr.Walken. There definitely needs to be some breakdowns, like S2G said. Break it down, yo.

I don't like the "Emulate, Deviate, Procreate, Reinstate" because it sounds too much like that INXS song. I think I know why you put that line in though... Because we are copying, puting our own twist on it, giving it life and putting it out there. I still don't like it. Every other effect is cool. I like the slow 1999 voice and the electric buzz.

Man, it's very well done! congratulations. I didn't find it chaotic at all, i loved the horns, the bass, the effects, the guitar. You both tore it up with this arrangments!

Freezing burning compared to cool!

Oh yeah!!! You two are killing this.
I will agree with Tal that it needs more kick in the bottom.
Great job!!! You and those horns!!!!

Slave2daGroove said:

Oh yeah, this is still a big 'ol draft. I've weeded this thing already a 100 times.

SimonaleX said:

Thanks for your clip! I think I know where I'm going to put it. I welcome MORE people to do the same!

talmuzic said:

You know this thing was so bottom heavy I thought it would blow my car stereo speakers! I spent almost a whole night soloing each track and pulling back one notch at a time until it peaked just outside "the red". Before that, it sound too distorted in areas.

I'll see what I can do though.

VinaBlue said:

I agree with you there on Mr. Walkin. I'm going to try it first with him spread out over the song a little more. He's really on just the first half, then way over at the end.

That's funny you brought up the whole INXS part. That night, I was thinking HEY! that would be really COOL right about there. Jot, jot, scribble, scribble, hit record ... But after listening back to it, nah, not sure it works so well, or try it a different way, and only once at that instead of the four bars (I think).

BTW, on the way in this morning, I was thinking to myself, I sure hope Vina got a chance to listen ...

7salles said:

Frank can shred, can't he?

psykosoul said:

I'm a horn nut! All my favorite Prince, George Clinton and James Brown recordings have a ton of horns. I'll double check the bottom. I'm almost certain I just pulled back all the low ends just enough to keep them from clipping.

co-sign...Its just the bottom that needs a little more tweaking

Otherwise,

I'm digging it!




Jshua

Re-mixing the low ends ... Just some thoughts ... You get drastic results when you mix from headphones and when you mix from monitors. Not to mention computer speakers vs home/car stereo. I'll make it bottom heavy, but for some, it will have mixed results.

Hey K. I will check this out today at lunch on my computer here at work.

yamomma said:

What's better?
Headphones or monitors?
I've heard mixed opinions on that one!(PTP)

Schöne Gruß

nayroo2002 said:

I'm leaning tward monitors. But then there's those factors that maybe you have an eq already present on those puppies. Not to mention if you have a sub present. I can hear everything just fine on headphones, but I get a better feel for the mix when there's open air. For me, it's where is this thing going to be most heard. Home stereo, computer speakers, and car stereo. So the obvious choice would be to mix on monitors.

Thanks for the response, yamomma!

The reason I asked was cuz someone told me that mixing on cheap, crappy headphones was better. I guess they meant that the distortion would be more noticeable if the bass levels were in the red.

But, I agree. Mix it the way you would listen to it.

Would be kinda difficult in the ride, though, wouldn't it?

Schöne Gruß

Reading some more on mixing ... I hear that the "clipping" on the lows really only matters if you can hear it and to take it with a "grain of salt". So ... I'll upload a new one the way it originally was. I guess those digital meters only really matter when your mixing for 5.whatever surround sound stuff where a virtual EQ preset is almost always present.

BTW, I'm mixing with software that is made for film. Here at the studio, Frank has his toys and I have mine. I don't really feel ready to venture over to his side of the joint just yet. I'm more used to editing/mixing existing recordings and not usually part of the recording process itself. I'm learning a lot with this song. One of these days I'll try to sit down with Frank on an audio project and try to gather as much as I can on this engineering process.

HUGE RESPECT for what Frank does. He's got way more buttons, sliders and blinking lights than me, ya know?

SHHHHHUUUUUTTTTT UPPPPP!!!!!

BucketOfBouncyBalls said:

Need some help?

I like the "Shake"! I don't hear the cowbell though. I can't help but to need more of the cowbell.

The horns are nice, Frank is tearing it up on guitar. The transition sounds like the break in "Cool" by the Time a little. This sounds like a "Le Grind" era Prince song from the Black Album, and with Frank's guitar, it sounds kind of like Michael Hampton from Funkadelic. This is a cool blend of all of that stuff, with a little latin flavor in the time signatures also.

Nice stuff guys!

Peace,
Jason

Thanks man! I'm gonna re-record some parts tonight. Again. As well as include some of the recordings people have sent me. If you can lay down a vocal track, JD please send it my way. Same for Tal and everyone else on that project.

Some lines to consider are:

• "Doing the org shake"
  
• (Falsetto or female) "Minneapolis ... Shake!"
  
• "Move Something"
  
• "What it is, is what it is"
  
• "The org-Shake"
  
• "Emulate, Deviate, Procreate, Reinstate, now you're doing the org-shake"
  

New Mix up: http://newfunkorder.com/QFTMS/QFTMS.mp3

much better.

Ha! Those horns really make it sound like a 70's spy film track...or the flip side of Car Wash. Funny cow bell