This is a cover of “Children of the Night” by Jamie Walters. The song comes from a 1990 show called “The Heights” and although I hate to admit liking a drama about teenage angst and musicians I had a feel for it back then.

Here is a video of the original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIN3WK9T52g&list=PL3KSmeEcwexWkv9H-qo6hhyyd0eJVgvvL&index=2

I should state that I used Studio One exclusively to record all tracks.
For my cover, I decided that I would base the main riff on the piano which I really know best. Presence XT has one of the best-sounding ballad pianos I have ever heard so that is what I chose throughout this track. 

From there I decided to keep the beginning simple: just the main vocal and the piano. For Vocals I used my Studio Projects C3 multi-pattern condenser mic into a Behringer X32r mixer. The Fat Channel plugin handled compression and EQ.  All Vocals had three takes and I comped together the final tracks.

The next thing I added was low orchestra strings on the second verse. This is a combination of Spitfire Albion and BBC Symphony Orchestra. I used the Celli, Bass, and Viola panned in various places across the stereo field to give the sound depth. 

I brought in two of my bandmates to do the harmony parts for the choruses. The two ladies used the same signal path as I described above and I also did three takes that I comped together. I really love the way all three of us sound together.

For bass, I once again turned to Presence XT. I decided that after the second chorus that the song would build so I used a moving bass part to lead the way.

One of my bandmates dared me to use a men’s chorus in the song so I looked to the new Hollywood Chorus to fill in the outro. I also added an Organ glissando and chords on the solo to thicken up the instrumentation.

Oddly drums were added in the final stages and those come from EZ Drummer. This plugin has some of the best sounding rock drums I have heard.

The last things I added were the rhythm and lead guitars. Those came from the Line 6 Helix and a custom patch that I created.

For final touches, I added two reverb busses, one for the drums and one for everything else to glue the sound together. 

On the master fader, I used another instance of Fat Channel and a limiter to bring the overall levels up close to 0dB.

I had a great time creating, editing, and mixing this tune. I hope you all like it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Children Of The Night Final

Ice Cream Man - Star Star 13

I'll Be There For You - Star Star

Black Velvet - Star Star 13

This is an excerpt from the Prince of Egypt "Deliver Us" with rock instrumentation made in Studio One 5.

Prince Of Egypt Rock Exerpt

This is a test track for my new Axe FX 2 Mark 2. It used the AtmoSynth Lead 5 Scenes from Fremen Quantum 1.0 presets that are outstanding. This is a raw recording from the Axe FX 2 through my Focusrite 18i20 into Sonar Professional. These has been no effects or mastering added. Signal path is Line 6 Variax 89f to Axe FX via from instrument cable. Out to stereo XLR's to Focusrite 18i20 then to Sonar via USB. Thank you for listening.

Chris Saraga