"Silverado" by The Cheap Advice Guy

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This song was recorded in my 8-track "hobby studio" on a Yamaha MD8 8-track recorder (the one that uses MiniDiscs). The keyboard parts were all played on a Casio PSR-220, which I consider to be a great keyboard for this kind of recording.

I started with a click track, then added an acoustic guitar miked with an SM57. I filled the remaining six tracks with six vocal parts (using an SM58 and a compressor), which I then premixed in stereo onto two of the tracks I had used for the vocals (after making a backup copy of the song, of course!). This left me with four empty tracks.

I recorded two keyboard clarinets on separate tracks and then premixed them onto one of the empty tracks. The three remaining tracks were used for a keyboard tuba, keyboard congas, and a normal-keyboard part. Finally, I erased the click and re-used its track for the electric guitar that plays during the second half of the solo segment.

For the mix, I left the vocals as they were since I had already premixed them. Instruments-wise, I panned the tuba and the congas to the center, the clarinets and the acoustic slightly left and right, and the keyboard and lead guitar somewhat further left and right. I added a fairly long reverb to most of the tracks, in modest amounts.

This song, which is about Robert Louis Stevenson's honeymoon (as if you hadn't guessed), is discussed further in the article "Write A Song About Someone Else's Life" at www.cheapadviceonmusic.com.

Further information is available at www.cheapadviceonmusic.com

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