Artist Name: Frederick Crounse / Tsadzu Title: Loup Garou Genre: Rock Rating:
Equipment Used
PowerMad Industries QuadReactor PC with PreSonus Firepod interface, running Cakewalk SONAR 6 Producer. Plug-ins: Native Instruments Battery 3 and Guitar Rig 3, IK Multimedia Miroslav Philharmonik, Spectrasonics Trilogy, URS Classic Console Strip Pro, S Series Mix EQ, Waves Renaissance EQ, Compressor, De-Esser, and L2 Ultramaximizer, Audio Ease Altiverb 6 reverb, iZotope Ozone, PSP Vintage Warmer. Audio-Technica AT4033a mic (vocals), Epiphone Dot with P94 pickups.
Production Notes & Credits
“Loup Garou” is a male vocal one-man-band effort.
Reviewed By Marty Peters
A very cool track here with plenty of character and vibe. In his production notes, Frederick tells us that he was not totally satisfied with his results, but unsure as to why things weren’t quite jelling. Fair enough, let’s take a closer look and see if we can help.
In order to create his “old world” yet modern vibe, Frederick seems to have taken an approach not dissimilar to that of one of the masters, Mr. Tom Waits. We hear ambient drums, synth pads/strings, oompah bass, sustained electric guitar and vocals, along with various other synth-derived ear candy shots. Everything here is very well recorded and presented, though we did detect a bit of condenser mic “toppy-ness” on the lead vocal.
Frederick has managed to deftly give all of his sound sources their own space and character, employing well-managed panning and frequency choices. Now for the rub: the very individualistic nature of the sounds in Frederick’s mix may well be the thing that is making it less than a success to his ears!
Suggestions
First of all, kudos to Frederick, not only for his performance and recording skills, but also for the composition and arrangement. As for suggestions, we offer them based on his original premise that something is still not quite “there” in the final analysis.
We suggest that Frederick spend a little time with Mr. Waits’ Swordfishtrombones or Frank’s Wild Years. Very few (if any) artists have been so adept at taking seemingly disparate elements and constructing them into a unified, albeit personal stew. Mixing is like cooking—too much salt and there goes dinner!
As for the vocal sound, modern condenser mics are often hyped in the higher frequency ranges. We have published many fine articles throughout the years here at Recording discussing other options, including the benefits of dynamic and ribbon microphones. We suggest that Frederick give them a read—today’s recording world is full of worthy options.
Summary
Good stuff.
Contact
Frederick Crounse / Tzadzu, [email protected]