# A 70's groove a la Herbie



## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 23, 2004)

Here's an older tune that I had done for Thomas Scarbee RSP73 Rhodes.
I wasn't happy with the initial mix and just re-did it :

http://www.decamusic.com/the_performing_arts/mango_kid.mp3

Scarbee finger'n'slap bass
Scarbee RSP Rhodes
A Stylus loop revisited
All other percs from Stylus as well
Atmosphere for the strings and pads
A little bit of real guitar...

8)


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## lux (Nov 23, 2004)

Cool piece Patrick. Bass and rhodes sound really good.

Luca


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## Craig Sharmat (Nov 23, 2004)

Hey Patrick,

Sounds good and i love the vibe. I wish there were more drum fills, though I like the groove alot.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 23, 2004)

Luca & Craig, thanks!

definetely missing some fills :wink: 

I had done the tune ante RMX and did a bunch of editing with the midi files (changing the backbeats to upbeats at times ...etc) so unfortunately I can't use RMX's chaos feature to bring a little bit of variation into it.
Maybe there's a way to take the drum track midi file and still manage to use chaos? I just couldn't think of it. When the midi track has already been exported I think you're toast...

All I need is someone like D. Chambers or V. Colauta to do the drums... :D


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Nov 23, 2004)

Very cool track, my friend. I love the extra odd-time touches on the snare. Good playing on the keys as well. 8)


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 23, 2004)

Thank you Monsieur Ned! :D 

Craig forced me to go back to the drawing board and spice up the percussion tracks:

http://www.decamusic.com/the_performing_arts/mango_kid.mp3

This time, I did use RMX!

I'm grateful to have guys like you for the relevent, good advice.

Merci beaucoup :wink:


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## Frederick Russ (Nov 23, 2004)

Nice playing, vibe and mix! It does sounds like a 70s piece (shag carpets and all.) Tell us a little of what you did to make the mix shine - high end EQs & maximizing?


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 24, 2004)

Thanks Frederick  

I mostly use a UAD1 for compression (1176, LA2A, Fairchild), limiter (precision), EQ (Cambridge) and plate reverb (the new 140 is great) and also Voxengo for convolution reverb, EQs and mastering tools.

With this track, I used the great features of Stylus RMX to process the older Stylus loops, added an RMX bongo track (also processed within RMX)

For the main Rhodes, UAD1 Fairchild compressor, Cambridge EQ (I took out some of the low bottom to leave space for the bass and boosted the highs). I doubled the track and sent it to a mono buss with an very strong compression on it as well as a plate reverb. I panned that at around 14R
The other Rhodes has a Phaser from Kontakt on it and I compressed it with the Voxengo comp: Crunchessor. 

The bass is boosted in the high mids and compressed (I think i used the UAD 1176)

I used Pristine Space convolution for room ambience on drums and a tinny bit on bass. 

At times, the Rhodes, when in the low register, was fighting with the bass so I did takes extra bottom out on the rhodes for just these parts.

Mixing and mastering are full time jobs that we also have to come to terms with.
Like there aren't already enough things to keep us busy with music as is! :roll: :wink:


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## CJ (Nov 24, 2004)

That's impressive Patrick! 8) Great comp, mockup & mix!

Equally impressive that you were able to use a UAD card to get high end sounds - the cambridge EQ sounds punchy and clean.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 24, 2004)

Thanks CJ !

I cannot say enough good things about the UAD1. 

The plugs available with the UAD1 are some of the best sofware tools around.

Now that they have finally released a great plate reverb, I am definetely going to buy a second one...


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## Frederick Russ (Nov 24, 2004)

Thanks for sharing the rebuild of the mix! Interesting use of the Fairchild. The Cambridge really brought out the Rhodes and reduced its tendency to "honk". Overall an enjoyable piece all around


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## TheoKrueger (Nov 24, 2004)

Nice work man , very enjoyable mix and production


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 24, 2004)

Frederick & Theo: thank you both! :D 

This was one of the first tracks I posted at NS about two years ago but my production chops were very limited back then. 

I got zero feedback at the time :cry: :D


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## tob (Nov 24, 2004)

Cool track Patrick!!! Sounded like my favourite phaser VST on the Rhodes... http://www.sonictimeworks.com/p_phazermodel88.php ?

/Tobias


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 24, 2004)

Hey Tob, thanks man!

Funny thing, I remember sending you a link for the original , crapy mix version 2 years ago and you asked me which plug I used for that sound. I mistakingly told you it was the Kontakt flanger and you replied "strange, it sounds like a phaser"
I remember at the time thinking: 'I hope he doesn't think I am trying to keep my mixing secrets for myself!" :wink: 

In any case, this phaser is the generic Kontakt phaser and it works nicely with Scarbee's RSP73.


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## Herman Witkam (Nov 24, 2004)

Great stuff Patrick!
I really like the 70's Hancock style. You've done really well recreating it.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 24, 2004)

Thanks Herman!  

Yea, Herbie was really great in the 70's! 8) 

I also love the 10 years tenure with Miles (and with Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter) 'Miles Smiles" is one of my favorites of that period.

The funky, electric stuff was great. The drummer would turn the beat around, which I tried to emulate and the guitar down slide in a phaser and delay is also a trademark of that period 8)


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## tob (Nov 24, 2004)

Patrick de Caumette said:


> Hey Tob, thanks man!
> 
> Funny thing, I remember sending you a link for the original , crapy mix version 2 years ago and you asked me which plug I used for that sound. I mistakingly told you it was the Kontakt flanger and you replied "strange, it sounds like a phaser"
> I remember at the time thinking: 'I hope he doesn't think I am trying to keep my mixing secrets for myself!" :wink:
> ...



hehe.. very cool! Love phasers.. really like all psychadelic stuff from the 70's. Just had a chance to play around with Zero-G's "Sounds of the 70's"... Those guys have really digged deep. They even put everything on vinyl and then back to digital to make it all authentic. Just have to rex it and get it into RMX now....

/Tobias


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 24, 2004)

Now that RMX is out, I bet you that a lot of companies are going to include the REX format with their libraries :wink:


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## rJames (Nov 24, 2004)

Great piece, Patrick. You really know your stuff. I love it! Outside and groovy.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 24, 2004)

Thanks man!

I could say the same thing about everyone that replied to that thread :wink:


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## Simon Ravn (Nov 24, 2004)

Groovy!


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 24, 2004)

Hey! Thanks so much Simon :D 

I got the funk 8) , You got the funk 8) 
We got the funk 8) , They got the funk 8)


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## Alex W (Nov 24, 2004)

Very nice, really enjoyed it.

The bass touches on all the right notes, as does the rhodes.

The drums are mixed very well, 0:22 -> when the bongo comes in sounds great.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 25, 2004)

Thanks Alex, glad you enjoyed it!

I added the bongos after Craig pointed out the lack of variations with the rhythm track.
The bongos is the only thing that is not in the Herbie's style but it made the rhythm section more interesting.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 27, 2004)

tob said:


> hehe.. very cool! Love phasers.. really like all psychadelic stuff from the 70's. Just had a chance to play around with Zero-G's "Sounds of the 70's"... Those guys have really digged deep. They even put everything on vinyl and then back to digital to make it all authentic. Just have to rex it and get it into RMX now....
> /Tobias



Tob, do you actually mean that you are gonna go through gigs of samples and recycle them!?
That would probably take days, no?


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Nov 27, 2004)

I'm doing that REXing myself these days (BT's Breakz)... when I find the time. :shock: :roll:


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 27, 2004)

How much time does it take you to do one loop properly Ned?

Cause I know it is worth it considering RMX capabilities.
I guess a few loops at a time, every day... :(


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Nov 28, 2004)

Patrick de Caumette said:


> How much time does it take you to do one loop properly Ned?



Not that long actually, because BT is such a perfectionist. Some of the loops sound like they were already ReCycled by him. Some others already have a gated-feeling about them, so it's not like you're going to lose anything by ReCycling them! I just do a few a day, and not the whole library. I just choose the loops that I'm pretty sure I'll be using. One of the nice things about ReCycle is that if you're in test/audition mode (or whatever it's called), you can actually hear the results of radically changing the tempo. This allows you to see if your slicing is right or if you need to do smaller slices.


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 28, 2004)

Ned Bouhalassa said:


> Patrick de Caumette said:
> 
> 
> > How much time does it take you to do one loop properly Ned?
> ...



Cool. 
I've had Recycle for many years now but wasn't using it much anymore.
RMX is certainly changing that!


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