Recording a Kalimba

dean712 · Post by **dean712** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:50 pm

Okay... I finally have a link to post to a sound clip of the kalimba part!

(The copyright forms are in and the CDs are being manufactured as we 'speak').

When we mixed the album, we bumped the Kalimba track up quite a bit and took all effects off of it. What you hear is me standing next to the Manley vocal mic and playing the kalimba (probably about 18 inches under the mic). The other tracks you hear in the mix are vocals, guitar, bass, drums, and percussion (including hand snaps and claps, on the same beats as the kalimba plays). The section I've posted is a key part of the song, but the song overall has some dramatic changes, acoustic guitar flourishes, etc.

Again, this is not a complicated kalimba part, but one that was neat in how it added an important element to the song. I'd be interested in any feedback y'all might have.

Oh, and the bass is a '00 mapleglo 4003 recorded direct on 2 channels via SansAmp and BassPOD (and mixed). The sound quality of this clip is a compressed mp3, fyi:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ib12pixx/theonlyway042006.htm

dean712 · Post by **dean712** » Tue May 02, 2006 8:35 pm

Any thoughts/comments on the kalimba sound?

Also, we have a CD release party coming up on May 12th, for those within easy range of Springfield, IL. If anyone else is interested in a CD, send me an email to the address on my profile page.

jps · Post by **jps** » Wed May 03, 2006 4:14 pm

Which track has the kalimba?

dean712 · Post by **dean712** » Wed May 03, 2006 7:18 pm

Sorry, my posts have been rather verbose...

Here is a sound clip with the kalimba:

http://home.earthlink.net/~ib12pixx/theonlyway042006.htm

Thanks for the advice, guys, I appreciate the help I got here on the Forum!

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu May 04, 2006 3:22 pm

Sounds cool. I'd prefer it a touch more up front in the mix, but it seems a nice added touch. Sounds like a good song too!

jps · Post by **jps** » Thu May 04, 2006 4:29 pm

Sounds good but I agree it needs to come up in the mix.

It sounds like it may be a Blue Boy Kalimba, but I have a feeling if it were louder it may reveal itself as a classic Fireglo Kalimba.

dean712 · Post by **dean712** » Thu May 04, 2006 5:47 pm

Haha. It was actually a Cedarglo kalimba, handmade in Arkansas (?!) of all places (Melody Mountain). Thanks for the kind words, guys - we had a lot of fun with that song; it was kind of the "kitchen sink" where we threw in all the crazy ideas we had. At the end, we even recorded Jessica tap-dancing (I kid you not). We put a piece of plywood down in the isolation room, and Jessica did a tapdance, and we mixed it into the fadeout. Fun stuff! We didn't have a lot of studio time, so it was fun to cut loose on one song like that.