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Soaring
Hi MP Fam!
Just wanted to share a new song/video with you all! It’s a pretty chill instrumental featuring me whistling. Boy! Have you all ever tried recording/mixing whistling?!! Because I found it to be quite challenging! Just full of resonances, plosives, and all kinds of tricky things! It was fun for me to experiment and learn about using dynamic EQ to help push some harsh sounds down when they got out of control. Anyways – Hope you enjoy the video! – Best, Jesse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUeFjmVB_ag&t=20s -
9 Replies
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Jesse This is cool, and I’m assuming we have moved away from down by the river. Just when I was thinking “Would auto-tuning the whistle drift be a good idea?” you drop some seriously blue notes and a whack-a-doodle chord or two and then I said to myself… “Self, chill! The birds are flying up there for me as I watch the clouds drift by. It’s relaxing. The birds don’t fly along human-designated highways, the guitarist can follow their lead.” Very chill, effective, and dramatic simultaneously. PT
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Thanks so much, Paul! Haha – yeah I know what you mean about the pitch! I thought about correcting it and then was just like… screw it! kind of an exercise in just letting myself be a little real and raw. I’ll be back to the river soon haha…
I’m working super hard right now on an electronic track where I’m singing (also a bit out of tune) and I’m trying to get it to a place where I can submit it to get feedback from you all! More soon!
Thanks as always for listening and checking it out.
Best,
JLew
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I really dig this, Jesse! Interesting warped notes with delay later on there too before the “lap steel” sound starts. Thanks for sharing
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Thanks Pete! I appreciate you checking it out! I used pitch envelope automation in Ableton to create some crazy whistle dive bombs in there haha! having fun with it! Thanks again for listening!
Best,
JLew
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So gorgeous, Jesse – musically and visually – as always, my man!
Few musings that come to mind:
- beautiful, enchanting, mildly haunting.
- the mood and similar-ish beautiful/haunting chords and melody remind me of a song from my childhood that’s always transfixed me: the chorus from “Calling You” from the 80s indie film “Bagdad Cafe”.
- yes! whistling is tricky to record for all the reasons you mentioned. Same deal with flutes. When mic’ing flutes and whistles I often opt for more of an overhead mic position so that the mic is still close to the sound source but the mic capsule isn’t getting bombarded with wind. If resonances and overtones are harsh you might also try mic’ing a bit off-axis (not pointing directly at the mouth or mouthpiece), or try a darker mic in general like a ribbon. I love using ribbon mics on brassy or overtone-rich sounds cause they kinda smooth a lot of that stuff out.
Keep crushing it man! And thanks for sharing your audio-visual journey with us here!!
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Thanks so much, brother!
I LOVE “Calling You!” That’s a really special song for me as well. I actually played it a bunch with Amy Cervini’s group back when we had our residency at the 55 Bar (RIP) What a heavy tune!
I sure could of used all this micing info before I recorded hahahaha, probably should have asked! Well – now I know, which as they say, is half the battle.
Working on an epic tune right now, trying to get it to a place where I can share it, because I’ll need some input from the MP crew!
Love,
JLew
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Jesse! Hope u won’t mind me copy/pasting my response from our sidebar text, and the awesome youtube rendition you did with Amy Cerveni too so that others can check it out – and damn, wasn’t expecting those pipes of yours too! 😲
That’s wild man – i love that u too have a connection w that song. I saw that movie many times as a kid when it came out, and while as an adult I don’t remember the movie at all, but I remember vividly the first time I heard that song as a kid in the film – i was spellbound!!! I couldn’t get enough of it. And of course there was no Spotify back in the 80s, so the only way i could hear the song again was on VHS lol. – Dana
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Hey Jesse,
I thought the whistle sounded great, first of all. It’s relevant for me as I’m mixing a whistle track and have been A/Bing with PBJ’s Young Folks. I never realized how crazy loud they’re whistle is and how it definitely has some resonant frequencies that bother my ears. Yet, that didn’t stop them from becoming a mega hit.
Your whistle however is very gentle and quite pleasing and ethereal and fits great with those haunting chords. Really enjoy the visual pairing as well!
Lovely work,
Jeremy
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Hey! Thanks so much, Jeremy!
That’s cool about the whistle track you’re mixing. I’d love to hear it if you wanted to share when you finish!
Best Wishes!
JLew
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