Back to my rockin' roots

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Jagular

Jagular

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An internet friend of mine over in England approached me to see if I would like to collaborate with him on this cover. I loved this song from way back when I used to still dream of being a rock & roll star ;) :D. He put the music together & I just added the vocals. Mixing comments welcome. I didn't mix it, he did, but he certainly is open to suggestions. Maybe I can even get him over here :D. Plus I'll probably have him send me the raw tracks if want to ever give the mix on this a go (if I ever have time that is):D.

Anyway here it is…

Don't Fear The Reaper Originally done by Blue Oyster Cult.

Thanks for listening in advance :)
 
I hardly recognized you, which is probably what you were looking for in this. Dude, as far as I'm concerned, you nailed it. I don't care what you do for a living, you're a pro.

As far as the mix, the tempo seems a little slow, but that's not really a mix issue I guess. I didn't like where he replaced some of the guitar parts with synth parts, but that's really a personal choice. The one part that I feel deserves an actual criticism is that bizarre snare stuff about 2/3rds of the way through. It's too loud, it's too dry, and there are some clams...programmed or not, lol.

Man, he nailed the guitar tones for the melody. Pretty close on the solo too.

I love country singers doing rock...I'm a rock fan at heart. I'll have to share some of my more embarrassing tunes with you soon. You nailed this, man. If I were him, I'd be thrilled.
 
"Needs more cowbell."

-Bruce Dickinson


seriously though...it sounds good but the tempo is wayyyyy too slow.It sounds like it's dragging compared to the original.....this is one of my favorite tunes of all time...vocals and guitars sound good so far......the guitar tone and effects are nailed.I would have like to have heard the guitar play the part you replaced with a synth.......the snare stuff during the solo is out of whack too....Im sure you can fix that.

The beat is all out of wack on the ending tag.


Overall a good cover jagular.It's just too sllllooooooooooowwwww!LOL.;)
 
Cool Jag-Sounds like the guitar player played the opening riff without his "D" string!--I like this song-this was one of the few bands Long Island had to be proud of during the 70's -80's when I was growing up there. The vocals are perfect really-You've got a real strong voice-sounds like this was a piece of cake for you. Holy shite batman what in darn tarnation is going on with the snare during the guitar solo? Sounds like the thing just took off on its own-I would have used the "less is more" philosophy with regards to that snare---during the end off time too....But these arent your problems are they-the vocals are as good as they can be---great job on your part-and an enjoyable listen overall.
 
I don't know why, but this took forever to download?

Good one. I like the way you sing it better than the original. It's more realxed or something. The snare thing around 3:30 and at the end is the only thing I didn't care for also.

Joe
 
This was a very good recording... nicely done. Very true to the original too. Some of the drum sounds coulda been a bit better.. :p there were a couple flubbish snare hits too, and I would try something other than a full-on snare roll during the intermission, 'cause it's just not working with the samples that you're using... Also the effect on the second elec that comes in was a little too "nasty".

But other than that... all sounds nice. Good deal.


WATYF
 
Thanks guys. I will share these comments (and any others that come up) with him when I get back to him tomorrow with my own mix comments. I really appreciate it.

Chris - Thanks :D. I found this unbelievably easy to sing, yet unbelievably hard to make sound good. The light & airy sound isn't the one I typically choose ;) :D. I found it difficult to hold back on the vocal, yet still make it sound like it had some energy (that was the first take on all 4 vocal tracks). On the second take (which is what you are hearing) I learned a few things, made some mic & vocal technique adjustments and there they are. I must say…my friend did a nice job mixing my vocals in from what I hear so far (much better than I did on a rough mix) :D.

Yeah he song is slow. That is intentional in this case. He liked the groove of it at this tempo. I had a hard time at first getting used to it because of my familiarity with the original, but after awhile, it started feeling OK. Besides, I figure there must be some program out there that could speed it up if I wanted too :D.

The snare is a known issue. I brought that up to him already. There is some somewhat bizarre drumming in the original as well, but it didn't stick out like this. Yes they seem too dry, too upfront & a little mistimed in the spots you mentioned. Frankly, I don't think they would be missed if just left out. I'm not sure how he got the guitar tone. Gonna have to ask him about that.

Kramer - Don't make me post a cowbell version of this song :D. Thanks for the listen & compliment. Your points are covered above.:D

Stratomaster - Thanks for the nice words on the vocals. As I mentioned above, they were deceivingly difficult for me. The notes were easy to hit, but the feeling took awhile to find. Haven't been singing those 70's rock tunes for awhile :D:D. This was actually fun and a learning experience for me vocally as I may have found another nuance to use in vocals in the future. Drums…Yeah… I know :D.

Smokepole - Well now…that is a compliment indeed. Where the heck was BOC when I was 18 and ready to live the rock & roll lifestyle. Bastards…all my wild oats molded and had to be thrown out :D. Seriously thanks…this was fun and a good learning experience. The download thing?….Hmmm…just could be that comcast decided to take little break for awhile. They like to do that from time to time :mad: Hmmmm….snare drum… where have I heard….:D. Thanks :)

WATYF - Thanks man. Drums, snare, roger :D. I'll have to check our that second elec sound. I hadn't noticed that, but I'm listening on my infamous computer speakers so, that could have something to do with it :D. Thanks again.
 
jag, I`m on 56k cuntry cable and I dont think theres insulated wiring all the way across alabama. I`ll set one of the other machines in the house on this one and let it slowly reel it in to listen to.

ken
 
Jagular said:
The light & airy sound isn't the one I typically choose ;)
Click to expand...
Well, you did a damned good job of faking it, lol. Out of all the cover tunes I've had to play in my life, this is probably the one that I've gotten the most compliments on in terms of the vocal. It's just a real "soft" vocal that seems to come naturally to me, but I know what you're talking about, b/c even with my mushy voice, I have to consciously *think* about singing it really laid back. Anyhoo, glad to see the snare is a known issue. :D
 
I've said it before and Ill say it again, You are definitely ALL PRO talent. The best vocals on nowhere for sure and probably better than most pro talent IMHO. Though I think you have a place waiting for you in the country music scene . On the mix there was a garbled section but all in all a great job.

Peace
Bill
 
Ok kid, I believe you now. It sounds like your gettin serious bout this thang!! :)
very good work, and a pleasure to listen to.
 
wfaroni - :blush: Thanks a lot man. I really enjoy singing and it is by far my best instrument (although trumpet used to be many moons ago :D). From your lips go God's ear ;) :D. Where is the garbled section you refer too? Is it in the instrumental break? Let me know. I want to know what you are hearing. Even though this was a lark, I still don't mind it sounding as good as it can ;). And don't worry…I'm not giving up singing Country anytime soon :D.

Toki hehehe…."kid" :D…that made my week :D. Thanks for taking the time to dl this huge file on dial up. You deserve a medal. Thanks for the nice words too.

Hey guys…I listened to this in the car today. I'm thinking the main doubled bg vocals might need to be eased back a couple decibels and maybe have a roll off somewhere in the low mids. I don't know around what frequency, maybe if one of you guys remember your listen to this you could give me a hint (I'll guess at 250 just to get the bidding started :D). Whadaya think if you have time?

Thanks
 
Jag;

This is cool :cool: ) Bro! Brought back some memories! I thought it was BOC when it started. You sing this sucker VERY WELL! :D

The mix was nice. There were a couple of flubs on the drums, but nothing that really jumps out at ya.

Again, Very Cool! :cool:

CR ><>
 
Jagular:Reply to : where is the garbled section?

I dont know if you remember but Im the DEAF guy 6-7k tops :(
But to me at the break at 3:10 has a synth sound which gets very muddy to my ears. then at 4:20 - 5:00 the background sound is overprocessed. Then again the effect may be exactly what your looking for.
For heavens sake dont modify it for the hearing impaired!!, see if anyone else picks up on this and finds it objectionable. I may have bad hearing but when things get jumbled up (to me) Im especially sensitive to it since I dont hear what many others do. I seem to strive for clean distinct sounds and it just seemed like there is too much going on for my ears to appreciate at those times.

Still a great recording
Peace and Prosperity to you
Bill
 
Hey Jag,
..yeah man, this sucker is loading sloooooowwwwwwww. The first 20 secs sound great though:) Im gonna try to hit this again later.....

g
 
nice 'slowed down laid back tempo' version..

We used to sing 'don't spill the reefer.' :D

:rolleyes:


sounds great.. very nice vocal!!!!!!!!

something sounds a little strange with the big break @3.. Some minor drum clammage..

yeah I agree with WATYF's comments..

I liked it though!:D
 
Hi everyone :) I'm the guy who did the music for this track and I'd like to thank everyone for their comments and useful constructive criticism. Feedback like this is invaluable, so it's much appreciated.

For the technically minded here's how I did the recording :

The majority of the backing track is done using Reason 2 - that is, all the drums, bass, synth and some of the lead guitars. I recorded the live guitar using a cheapo Yamaha Pacifica electric using a Line 6 Pod II which went direct into my PC. If I remember I used the Line 6 Crunch patch with a small amount of compression/reverb for the rhythmn parts. I then imported these back into reason and added some chorus and a little delay.

I then took Jag's excellent vocals and imported them into Cubase VST and rewired this back to Reason to synch them together. Jag's vocals hardly needed anything doing to them, as they were so good - I just added some reverb, a small amount of compression and rolled off the low frequencies below 100hz. I did add a touch of a stereo widener effect, too, just to give them a slightly more ethereal sound.

I then did some final mastering in Soundforge - mostly compression and a touch of EQ to bring things out more.

As for the tempo, yes, it's slower than the original - about 14 bpm or so. This was deliberate as I actually liked the layed back feel, but also I have to admit I couldn't play the guitar as well at the original speed :) I think once you get used to it, it's quite cool, but I can understand it would seem a little slow if you're a fan of the original.

The drums are one thing that has turned up the most criticism, and I can understand why. The original has some pretty weird bits in it, and trying to replicate these in MIDI was very difficult. It's hard getting that human groove, and I agree some parts sound forced and a little strange. I think I'll mix down the snare rolls bit in the middle 8 and try and make them a little less abrasive, so they're not as prominent in the mix.

I don't have any decent monitor speakers, so I had to make do mixing using headphones (Sennheiser) which always makes things difficult. I'm glad, though, for the most part that it works out OK. I'll do a bit more work on the drums and hopefully get those a bit better.

Thanks again for all your advice, and a huge thanks to John (Jagular) for the vocals, as they really make the track. I'll be definitely posting more of my music here as you all know what you're talking about :D
 
Hey Dan...

Welcome to this side of the internet. Great bunch of folks here and very helpful. There's also the Dragon Cave if you want to get into any heated discussions ;) :D (I am actually avoiding it with a passion :D:D).

Welcome man...good to have ya!!

Oh yeah... hey noob :p (never have been able to say that to you before :D)
 
I like it! Especially your vocals, Jagular. Very relaxed. Cool is the word. The tempo doesn't bother me, but I do agree with Chris that the snare hits could be more dynamic (especially at 3:02) and quantize those f*ckers, bro!. A shame, because the rest sounds very, very cool. (btw, the snare hits at the end don't work either...I'm sorry. With a different sound, perhaps)

Fix the snare hits and I'll love this!

(I don't know what kind of program you're working with, but reducing the velocity of the 'dead' notes with 60% in the 3:02 area usually works fine...)
 
Very nice cover.

I'm sorry but the snare is all over the place in spots and thats really the only complaint I have. It's driving me nuts!

everything else sounds very good.

Thanks for the tune, Dave
 
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