Green Fields of Canada (Space Re-Mix) by michael2
Genre: Psychedelic
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Keywords:
melancholy (59), irish (46), traditional (75), folk (413), psych-folk (3), psychedelic (78), ambient (583), drone (17), thanks Rebsie (1)
Description:
This is a song that Rebsie originally did, and I added some synths, percussion and various sonic touches. It's a traditional Irish folk song that Rebsie has sung so beautifully that I had to be a part of this.
Check out the original:
http://www.macjams.com/song/7911
Check out the original:
http://www.macjams.com/song/7911
Lyrics:
See Rebsie's original postHardware:
intel mac mini, m-audio MIDI keyboardSoftware:
GB, and Audacity (for the vocal effect)You must be registered and logged-in to comment.
cjdaley
and the invention of the dark drone folk genre. It gives something very "elemental" or "telluric" (clumsy words to the song), and hence add to its archaic -in the good sense of the terms- roots. This is sure to fuck up Julian Cope's Head on any eclipse day.
michael2
think that Julian Cope has more to worry about than Rebsie and I. Thanks so much for checking this out, i know this isn't for everyone, but I think that it's beautiful (98% of that would be Rebsies doing).
echoroom
... of Rebsies wonderfu voice and lyric, and your musical talents Michael, which make this really quite unnerving (even rebsie sounds quite spooky). The whole track is like sustained tension - reminds me of the first time i saw Lynch's Lost Highway - uneasy for 2 hours.
Great work - what else ??!
Steve
michael2
i feel like i could have put Rebsi's vocals over the sound of a mule braying and it would be a thing of beauty. I do like her over the top of a bed of "sound for sounds sake." I couldn't stop listening to her original, and this is just an extension of that. now after having listened to it for awhile, i'm thinking that maybe i should have taken out the backwards reverb when the percussion started.
bud
it has a lot of emotional weight - and the kalimba/marimba with the simple percussion are perfect add ins. In Altman's "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" he uses some drones to set up some moments that lead into Leonard Cohen's music. Very effective - yet almost invisible.
Very cinematic effect you've got here. Rebsie always sounds great - but you've made her a real nice bed to lie in.
michael2
i'm really glad you approve of this one. it was a lot of fun putting together the music. i loooove a drone; I can remember hearing "within you without you " as a kid and being immediately drawn into it. i'll have to check out that Altman flick, haven't seen it. Thanks for listening.
Vic Holman
i think steve pretty well nailed what i was thinking. how did you treat Rebsies vocal. seems I'm hearing some backward vocal mixed in. if so you nailed the reverb tail perfectly. Alot of subtle treatment and detail here that really is great and a bit of what I had mentioned on a different scenario.
Excellent production Michael
michael2
i took her vocals, reversed them in audacity, flew them back into GB and added a ton of reverb, and then reversed it back to normal in audacity (which made the reverb reversed). that track is mixed with a dry take. thanks for the compliment; guess the next step would be to perfect my production values ( i just love to doo it quick and dirty).
:-)
I like how you have worked with voice here
caroline
take a person back through time and space and into other lives - its a looong time since i downloaded anything here but - for me - this is a must - fabulous - thank you x
TobinMueller
This is a very cool track, with great mood. I listened in headphones and there is frequency saturation and distortion occasionally throughout, I think caused by your voice being pushed too loudly, that is in contrast to everything else in this fine production. Consider another mix that doesn't include this. It is worth the redo, I think. (If you need to know when the distortion kicks in, which is throughout, email me.) Also, consider posting lyrics. Very cool arrangement/collaboration.
michael2
thanks for listening. you are right about the saturation and distortion, i noticed it right away; but the vocal take is so wonderful I chose to ignore it. i just can't imagine Rebsies voice being any better than this track; if she wants to re-do the track, i'd gladly put it together, but I can also live with this one. thanks so much for listening, and for your honest critical input. oftentimes people jsut say: good job; but i like when people point out things that could be better. chances are I'll never get around to fixing completed songs, but i keep all of the tips in mind for pending projects. and who knows: maybe I'll get a vacation someday and actually re-do some of the older numbers. thanks for coming by.
the distortion/saturation
Rebsie
Ah, that link makes me nostalgic for the days when MacJams had four-figure song numbers!
It was over two years ago that I posted it and although I have thought from time to time about reworking it into a more interesting setting I never came up with any ideas. So to have you do all that for me and present me with the finished article was a great pleasure. The feel of the track is completely new and different but it still retains the aching melancholy.
I learned the song from a fiddler I used to jam with ... sadly he died of leukemia a couple of years ago and that's what moved me to record it. While it has some flaws it's certainly one of the most heartfelt vocals I've ever done.
Thanks so much Michael for giving the song a new lease of life and creating something new and beautiful from it.
lavalamp
First of all great production. Never heard the original (Will do). I could see it at the beginning of some movie during opening credits.
Really liked it guys.
SmokeyVW
i really like that backwards vocals echo. i'm not sure i got all the lyrics tho.
i really dig the drone, but it's clipping the voice here and there. maybe just reducing the overall volume a tiny bit would fix it right up!
another approach might be to reduce the drone only, but also mix in a second drone exactly an octave higher. somehow that can fool the ear into hearing the bass almost as loud as the original, but without introducing the headroom problem here. just a thought...
wow. nice tune
thanks
michael2
SmokeyVW, you know i tried lowering the volume a bit, but the clipping is on the vocal track; that's a good idea to do the drone an octave higher though. i think i'll give it a shot when I get a chance. thanks for listening and for the helpful comments.
Rebsie
I'll send you a copy of it with the levels adjusted if you want to do a fixed version.
I can't hear any distortion on the track I originally posted but it does push the levels to the limit so you may find it easier to work with a slightly subdued version, or with the vocals and drone on separate tracks. The original GarageBand recording is distortion-free.
the voice and the backing music.
SmokeyVW
the levels shouldn't matter too much - you can always lower the track level - which i imagine was already done - something else must be happening here...
were there large changes in the volume? would a little compression help?
michael2
tried a little compression on the original track ( there was a jump in volume at a couple of points, but i didn't ride the levels as I did this with an MP3 and no GB files). haven't got a chance to try out some tips i recieved (especially from you), but if they don't work i will get rebsie to send me the whole file. seems a shame to have the song be less than it could be.
Mystified
I especially like the percussion additions in this remixed version.
beautiful!
stevel
Nice remix of this one...as Mysti has said the percussion is a really nice addition. Exotic and ethereal!
Lovely
Steve
mikkinylund
Very different, pure, and original. Rebsie's voice and your music work so well together in this peace of art. The mix reminds me of some Finnish/Swedish acts (folk/modern), and I am very pleased to hear some Irish tunes coming this way. This is very emotional, as well as nervy.
craft
you did a great job here... dark and relaxing at the same time... Rebesi vocals are well mixed... Very good work on this song...
THis is a great collab. Almost early peter gabrial sound. Love the hanging bass in this lots of space! great song!
dajama
one of the things collaboration is all about - the meshing and mergin of two distinct approaches to create something new and interesting. This is terrific - the vocal is beautifully done, and the effect works really well. The music is spooky, and effective - laying the groundwork for the vocal, and filling the spaces, without cluttering. Very cool. Unsettling, but cool. Nice work to both of you. Peace.
Drew Kopr
I love that melodic minor, maybe dorian scale i believe, that i hear...reminds me of the tones Jimmy Page used for awhile in Zeppelin music. Cool. Maybe its not dorian...can't remember the name of that mode, but think it starts from the 5th degree of the scale.
This is dope! I loved the song rebsie did, what a voice. I love the Dead Can Dance approach/ feel. It has a hypnotic quality. The violin (i think) works very well. Fx on Rebsie's voice is awesome! What sort of fx is it, a reversed pre-delay/pre-reverb somefin??? Wicked mon. Keep walking on these dark yet illuminating paths. Btw, at the end you use a nifty background sound.
grand effort!
michael2
this was really fun to work on. for the vocals i took the vocal track, dumped it into audacity and reversed it, put it back into GB and added a ton of reverb, then reversed it again in audacity so the vocal track was right but the reverb was reversed. then i put it behind her real vocal track slightly.
the noises at the end are just synths that i messed with (wish I could remember what the abrasive one was). the violin is all rebsies doing. she's really great huh?
MJG
Haunting, vocals were beautiful, but a little hard to make out what she is singing about, still a very cool song/sound Michael, thanks for sharin' love the ambience of the percussion.
slumbering
I wouldn't have imagined that Rebsie's version could be any better, but you have made it even more beautiful with these magical touches! You definitely succeeded in becoming part of this - you sparkle along in this, with your contribution.
michael2
so much for giving it a listen. glad you liked it, had a lot of fun.
steck
V V V interesting Michael. I had no idea where to start given the volume of your uploads. I listened to a few and settled here.
Production is totally so spot on.
(When the guitar appeared at the end, I was (personally) hoping for a full blown riff and climax to the track.)
I don't yet know this composition well enough to call any shots so would not dream of going there.
Bloody brilliant work though I say, and the Celtic/Rebsie aura is truly stunning.
Fab work dude.
Graham
michael2
thanks so much for the willingnes to cjheck out my back catalog. as you can see there is no specific genre that's being mined, so I really appreciate it (takes patience perhaps).
Heightened
You had me at Canada.
Alannah
... that sound .... which I now believe to be "reverse reverb" ... very kewl effect .... there seems to be an added heaviness too which shudders right down to one's core while listening .... Rebsie's voice (as usual) rich and full of emotion! Gotta visit the M2 vault a little more I suspect ....