Stones Cover-"Live With Me"

queepy

aka Variaxman
Listening to a lot of old Stones jams latley and thought this one would be fun to cover.My vocals suck as usual but it was fun to do.Any mix/arrangment critiques are welcome as doing these covers really helps me with learning how to mix my own stuff ...

Live With Me
 
Mix sounds ok. Way too much reverb in the mix for my taste though, especially on vocals. Levels are decent, though I would do something about trying to mix the bass a bit better. Maybe lower the bass levels a bit....Don't know if you are doing this, but referencing the original track usually helps.

I think you should aim to make the whole mix sound "dryer", would prob sound better, and give it a more rolling stones vibe.
 
Ahhh reverb!!I always seem to use to much of this in my mixes!Don't know how it gets so "wet"...maybe cause i keep adding a "little bit more...then a little bit more..." :rolleyes: ...
Agree about the bass as well...this is the 2nd mixdown I did of the tune and my 1st one was kinda lacking in the bottom end so I think I over compensated with kicking the bass up in the mix.
Thanks for your ears...I really appreciate the feedback!
 
No prob.

Reverb is dangerous. When in doubt, use less then more. What are you using to record btw, and do you have one reverb on an auxillary track sent to all the tracks you wanted reverb on?
 
frankieballsss said:
No prob.

Reverb is dangerous. When in doubt, use less then more. What are you using to record btw, and do you have one reverb on an auxillary track sent to all the tracks you wanted reverb on?


I use Cakewalk Guitar Tracks Pro 3, drum loops from smart loops,Line 6 variax guitar and pod xtlive,Peavey T-40 bass.I had all my vocal tracks going through an aux. bus with verb and a bit of delay.I also added some verb to the drum loop track.I think I have a Phil Spector wall of sound complex or something cause evreything I do seems to just sound very clutterd and dense.
 
This track sounds like a Kiss demo. :D

Keep the same reverb settings on the vocals but up the clean : verbed/ delayed output ratio, and you'll just about have Ace Frehley nailed. Reverb on the drums is just about right IMO; kill it entirely on the bass, that should be right up in your face. The guitar just needs a tiny bit of room, except on the solos... cheese works for that I think. Alternately, just add a second guitar for rhythm that's completely clean and leave the lead guitar alone.

*edit* All that's IF you want to make it sound even more like Kiss. If you don't, pay it no mind.
 
Discord said:
This track sounds like a Kiss demo. :D

Keep the same reverb settings on the vocals but up the clean : verbed/ delayed output ratio, and you'll just about have Ace Frehley nailed. Reverb on the drums is just about right IMO; kill it entirely on the bass, that should be right up in your face. The guitar just needs a tiny bit of room, except on the solos... cheese works for that I think. Alternately, just add a second guitar for rhythm that's completely clean and leave the lead guitar alone.

*edit* All that's IF you want to make it sound even more like Kiss. If you don't, pay it no mind.

Why would he want to make it sound like a kiss song, assumption is the mother of all fuck ups :o
 
Discord said:
This track sounds like a Kiss demo. :D

Keep the same reverb settings on the vocals but up the clean : verbed/ delayed output ratio, and you'll just about have Ace Frehley nailed. Reverb on the drums is just about right IMO; kill it entirely on the bass, that should be right up in your face. The guitar just needs a tiny bit of room, except on the solos... cheese works for that I think. Alternately, just add a second guitar for rhythm that's completely clean and leave the lead guitar alone.

*edit* All that's IF you want to make it sound even more like Kiss. If you don't, pay it no mind.

I dig alot of the old Kiss albums up to about Destroyer,so I could see how some Ace slips into my playing...I'm gonna try your suggestions and see how it sounds...Thanks alot for the feedback!!
 
frankieballsss said:
Why would he want to make it sound like a kiss song, assumption is the mother of all fuck ups :o

I think maybe he was talking about the raw basic sounding vibe KISS had on there early albums..
When I do my covers I try to do them in the spirit of the original,but my own interpretation..I have a very broad taste in music so I try and convey that in my playing if I can.So I guess what I'm trying to say is I try and capture a mood or feeling rather then try to emulate a bands exact sound.
 
Alright Variaxman does the stones, cool.
I like the way you mix up the covers, your vox sound extra obnoxious on this one :p
With all the verb it sounds like a live song or even a demo. Like a band jamming away in the basement studio. I always like the sound of reverb on drums, with that much reverb on the vox you sound faraway from the mic though, you might want to increase the volume level a bit or I think what Discord said would work pretty sweet.

I use GTP3 too, and for the new song I'm working on I had to click on the "17-32" button for the tracks. When I got the program a year ago I was thinking "Yeah right, I'll never use that many" :eek:

YEah back to the song, fun listen!
 
frankieballsss said:
Why would he want to make it sound like a kiss song, assumption is the mother of all fuck ups :o

I wasn't assuming anything, sorry if it came off like that. And I know I annoy the hell out of people when I say what I think their stuff sounds like, sometimes I can't help it. I certainly wasn't accusing him of intentionally emulating another artist.

I have a whole long rant about that and "the anxiety of influence," yadda yadda yadda, almost a Philosophy of Rock Composition, but I'll save it for another time.

Mostly I just wanted to post that because this track made me grin... and it's a cover anyway, so why not have fun? :cool:
 
Very cool, dude. It does have an early Kiss sound to it. You may not be Jagger, but good job on the vocals. I agree with just a bit too much verb on the vocals. Dry them up, and let them sound like you. It's a cover, so make it yours. Awesome playing. Love the tone you chose. Really seems to fit the tune. This sounds to me like some dudes just having a blast somewhere. Keep it that way....Makes for a fun listen.
Ed
 
Pretty cool. :)

I'll be one of the few people and say that I actually like all the reverb just the way it is. It has a very Cheap Trick sound to it. Especially kinda like the theme song for That 70s Show.

All you need is a loud Hello Wisconsin at the end, :).

Man, the solos are always cool and jamming. :)
 
bigbubba said:
I'll be one of the few people and say that I actually like all the reverb just the way it is. It has a very Cheap Trick sound to it.

Yarr!!! I'm not the only one!


Especially kinda like the theme song for That 70s Show.

All you need is a loud Hello Wisconsin at the end, :).

That's a cover of a Big Star tune called "In The Street." They're from Memphis. Cheap Trick is from Ohio. :(

But they probably listened to Big Star. :)

I'm a nerd? :confused:


Anyway, I think we can all agree this is a superfun Stones cover, and mainly because it doesn't sound like the Stones...
 
just wanted to say thanks to evreybody for checking out the tune!have not been able to hang out on here as much as I usually do cause of work and stuff...but I do appreciate all the great feedback and tips!Rock on!
 
Discord said:
Yarr!!! I'm not the only one!
Hehe, that's good. :)

Discord said:
That's a cover of a Big Star tune called "In The Street." They're from Memphis. Cheap Trick is from Ohio.

But they probably listened to Big Star.
So the theme song for That 70s Show is a cover of a Big Star tune and is done by Cheap Trick? I was curious. I googled for the song 'coz I thought it might be fun to do a cover of it. What I really like Cheap Trick for is stuff like the self titled album that had songs like The Flame, Don't Be Cruel, I Want You To Want Me, Surrender, and so on. Lisa Loeb did a cool cover of I Want You To Want Me, BTW.
 
Remixed version 12/1

For anyone interested,I've tweeked this one a bit and wondering if it sounds any better.Removed the verb from thew vocals,lowered the bass a bit and tried to get evreything fitting together better.Any opinions welcomed.


Live With Me
 
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