Davemania Returns: My newest single, a COVER

  • Thread starter Thread starter A Reel Person
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A Reel Person

A Reel Person

It's Too Funky in Here!!!
www.nowhereradio.com/davemania/singles

"Solitary Man", my newest recording.

PS, I added another unreleased cover tune from the Davemania archives!

Something new/something old.

Listen, enjoy, & critiques are optional. Have fun!
 
I always thought this was a well written song. One of my favs from him.

I thought this had a bit too much midrange all around. I heard a pitch issue or two on the vocals here and there. Harmonies would be nice here too.
 
Dave,
I went straight for the U2 cover. :cool:

Sounds nice with the female lead. I can barely hear the BU vox. I'm guessing you had fun playing that one, you do a nice job emulating the Edge. The whole thing is a little faster than the original, but WTF. It was a fun listen, and pretty damn good for "Recorded live onstage at some dive bar, with a normal cassette deck"

Curiosity point, if it is a 3-piece band, was the lead singer on the bass or drums?

Queue
 
Hey RP,

I agree w/ Triple M, this is a great song. There are alot of great potential covers and remakes in the Diamond Archive. Regarding the recording, I would have liked to have heard a little clearer acoustic guits. They sounded a little muddy and indistinguishable. The drums/perc. is kinda buried too. I really couldnt hear what they were until the very end. I wish i could play the horns. Since getting into Lt. Bob, I have a new respect for horns and horn players. .....cool stuff. I like the lead vocs. great voice........ nice work reel........ :cool: g
 
to a real nice gent...

... with one too many Ibanez Roadstar IIs ;)

Nice loosey goosey, fun feel; you've captured that feel from the original. The handclaps are out of time. Pretty good singing. The midi horns are kitschy, but they work good for a cover tune. Your strumming is top notch. Sounds like a nice folk guitar.

Some harshness; can't really nail it down. Probably some high harmonics around 15kHz (the stuff that's just below dog whistles ;)) and something near 5kHz. But we're talkin' 4-tracks here, and you're looking for song crits. Good job on the playing and singing! Sheesh, if I try to sing and play at the same time -- one or the other suffers! ;) Nice.


Chad
 
what chad said

loosey goosey, :) good way to describe this, sounds like an older recording(in a good way) i like it!

you were one of the first people to help me out a long time ago in the newbie's forum, i didnt know you were the davemania guy!!
this is the first time iv'e heard any of your stuff!!

cool!

peace
rick.
 
Neil Rules!

Nice cover,and the horns nailed it.
I agree with the above,guitar sounds a little distorted,good playing though!

My favorite song by him.
I used to do "Play me",well I tried to anyway:D
Dude's still touring,amazing!

Good stuff Dave!

Best to you,
Pete
 
Thanx guys!...

Track Rat- Yeah, "New Year's Day" was an ambitious tune to stage with a 3-piece. We used to fancy ourselves as a "power trio", but I don't want to seem to heady about it, haha.

You do have to cover something again. Not only is it fun, it's MANDATORY!;)

[thumbs up]Thanx!;)

------

MarshaMarshaMarsha- [TripleM]- Yeah, it's a well written song, and one of my fav's too, but I don't think the original has any harmonies.

I listen to my mixes every day, and each day my head's full of remixes and 'what-ifs'. I think that's only natural in the artistic process of home recording.

Thanx for the listen and for the comments!;)

------

Queue- Yeah, the U2 song was really fun to play. It's faster because of the usual adrenalin rush one gets onstage, that cranks you up a few notches, I'm sure you know what I mean.

It's not the greatest recording or mix, but it captures our live sound of the day. It's not bad for a simple cassette deck with stereo X-Y micing, and we did overpower the PA a little bit, but it's still fun to listen to.

The BU vocals on this cut are minimal, but they're there. On backup, I didn't want to come out in front of the lead vocal, so I hung back a little. Also, as I said, we were overpowering the PA system a bit.

As a trio, guitar/bass/drums, my then-girlfriend, played drums and sang. I sang lead most of our tunes, and played the guitar, but we had a few tunes that showcased my girlfriend/drummer on vocals, too. She had a really nice voice, and played drums with a good, solid beat. [Girl's got rythm, she got the backseat rythm!] ;)

Thanx for listening & for your comments! ;)

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Guernica- Yeah, Neil Diamond has a pretty rich catalog of great tunes, and I'll probably do more. I like older stuff like "Cherry Cherry" and the like.

[Solitary Man...] There's a whole lot going on in the mix, and overall it's a pretty dense sound for a 4-track, almost like 'wall of sound' in it's own way. Something's bound to seem buried, when all the elements are put together.

I buried the basic drum pattern a little bit, because it was the plain kick/snare/kick/snare of the drum machine, [Roland TR606,... like the oldest drum machine out there,... way before PCM sounds],... plus a pinch & dash of hand percussion in the mix too.

The horn-synth is my trusty old Casiotone 101,... [probably the oldest Casio out there,... with wood side panels, I kid you not,... but way-pre-MIDI,... NON-MIDI]. I wish I could play horns, for real, too, and I also have great respect for horn players, [f/i The Green Hornet's a horn player].

I like the vox too, it's a really fun vocal to cover, and there's something honest and gutteral in Neil Diamond's voice.

Thank you for listening & for your comments, much appreciated!;)

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Par-ti-pants- [I like that name MrQQ gave you!]- You can never have too many Roadstar II's ;)

I think strumming is my specialty, haha. I'm no shredder, that's for sure, but if I practice, maybe I'll grow up to become a shredder eventually. Naaaahhh.

I like the ultra crisp high harmonics, and that's why I got into digital to begin with, haha!

At 5Khz, I think there's a lot of elements competing in the mix. As above, I think I got a dense 'wall of sound'-type sound out of that Fostex FD-4.

That little synthy-horn is pretty cool, huh, but no midi,... all manual.

Nice guitar? Heck, it's the best Mitchell MD100 that $170 will buy!

If 'loosey goosey' is what you hear, then loosey goosey is what it is. My main goal is to capture the essence of songs, tribute style, while not forgetting I'm me. If I can capture the essence of something, and still hear my own personality in the recordings, then I'm basically happy.

Thanx for the listen, and thanx for the comments! ;)

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Fenderlikingood- Yeah, loosey goosey is probably pretty accurate, ahaha.

It may sound somehow like an older recording, and even though I've gone digital, I haven't lost my analog roots. Part of the old-recording-sound may be the stark old-school songwriting and arrangement. Old songs have a 'period' feeling to them sometimes, and this Neil Diamond cover is from about 1970, isn't it?

Whatever advice I gave you, I hope it worked out, haha. Since you're still a presence on this board, it probably did. Heck, no problem, I'm here to help.

Yes, I'm the Davemania guy! At a certain point, I might as well change my user name to Davemania, because that's what most people know me for.

You know, having been on this board for about 18 months, and having pushed THE DAVEMANIA COLLECTION 4-cd set for about 9 months, I rightfully assume that most regular HomeRec'ers have already heard my stuff, and have gotten my discs, but every once in a while, there's a newcomer who comes along who hasn't heard my stuff, but maybe caught the tail end of the 'buzz' about Davemania. That someone is you.

I must say, that if you're interested in catching the whole Davemania phenomenon, I'd still make discs available, and you should email me off this board for more specific info. The 105 songs contained on 4 full length DAVEMANIA CDs are all covers, that are basically on par with what you hear on NWR, with recordings that span 20 years. Some cuts are a little raw, but it's all for fun. Ask anyone who's "been there".

FenderLKG, and anyone else, feel free to email me off this board about THE DAVEMANIA COLLECTION 4-CD SET. Most HR members have alaready gotten it, with 100 4-cd sets shipped worldwide, and you can too. Likewise, most HR members remember the hype, and I'm not here to hype Davemania. Just a friendly word. Pls email me off this board for more info, and pls continue to check my stuff at NWR. I'll be posting more stuff as time goes on.

Thanx for the listen, & the comments! Cool! Peace!;)

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Muzeman- Yeah, Neil Diamond's the bomb! He has quite a few songs I like a lot, but this one is probably my fav. He's written a lot of genuine hits, for sure. I'm mostly into the 70's Neil, when the energy was highest. Hot August Night, & all that stuff.

Yeah, the synth-horns are the icing on the cake, huh? It's just the right unusual element to spice up my normal humdrum formulaic recordings, haha! Anyway, horns are part of the original arrangement, and I do stuff mainly in 'tribute style'.

I remember way-way back, you & I were discussing equipment and upgrades. Man, that was a long time ago. I decided on what I wanted as an upgrade: EVERYTHING! Since about 18 months ago, I've collected a massive amount of gear, and nearly spent myself into the poor house, haha. Anyway, I'm maintaining as a recovering gearaholic, haha, but damn, I've got GEAR!

If by chance you'd also like to score the Davemania cds, pls email me off this board.

Thank you! Likewise! All the best, Dave.;)

-------

Thank you all for taking the time to listen and comment on Davemania@NWR. Comments much appreciated. Pls listen or download again at NWR, and/or contact me off this board about CDs. I'll post to NWR again soon, when I get a chance. I'm still itching to do more new recordings, and there's still a few gems in the Davemania archives.

Last but not least,... Thanx to Waldo for having such a great site.

Anyone else just catching this thread, go check me out:

www.nowhereradio/davemania/singles

;)
 
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D A V E M A N I A L I V E S

another good cover Dave, I knew you'd get hooked after putting up a tune or two. So, you like the Fostex digi? Sounded like you got everything down pat as usual. There's only one more thing to say, "pass me the whiskey, now".

dtb
 
Hey now, Hey now!

You got it, Davemania LIVES! The legend continues!

Yeah, NWR is a really cool site. I held off for a long time, but I am really addicted now. What sold me was watching everyone from HRcom hop on NWR, including dtb, and hearing all the great stuff that's being posted there, including plenty of covers.

Doing basically covers myself was the thing that was holding me back,... rights,... but I finally took the plunge. Most covers done by HomeRec'ers on NWR are well below the radar of copyright lawyers, I'm sure.

Anyway, the Davemania CD project took most of my time and resources for about a year, but I eventually needed another outlet for my stuff. Maybe I'm a slow starter, but I'm hooked on NWR now. It really gives your stuff instant visibility, that's for sure.

I've also thought about checking out the collaboration website, but believe it or not, I only have limited time for the web. 24x7's just not enough time, haha.

That's not to say I won't release another CD some day, because I'm sure I will, once I've recorded enough new stuff for another CD. In the meantime, I'll post my singles to NWR.

As far as the Fostex FD-4 goes, yeah, I like it, but it's damn quirky sometimes. It skips when the disc gets hot, and does other flaky stuff sometimes, but it sounds awesome. Right now, with only 2 songs, I'm out of data space on the 230MB disc, so that's a limitation, but otherwise it's a cool little unit. I've thought about scoring an FD-8, since 4-tracks is rather limiting, as you know.

Despite always getting new gear, and recently getting the digital FD-4 and 564, I still have more pure analog recording on my agenda. The real challenge is to get the analog stuff to sound as clear and strong as the digital, so the digital has given me a new point of reference. Having done only a few all-digital productions, it's made me want to go back and remix all my old analog stuff, but realistically, that probably won't happen. I just have to keep moving forward, making all-new recordings.

dtb- Thanx for listening, for your comments and support, and for being in on the whole Davemania phenomenon, from day-one!

Hey now, hey now!

;)
 
Man, I have been working on a cover of this song but I gave up because I couldnt get the vocal right. I am glad someone covered it because it is a great song. I like your version, a great effort...

Keep Em Comin'
The King
 
Mike, you know what they say,... great minds think alike.

I can't imagine that you'd not be able to cover this satisfactorily, because I've heard your stuff, and you're quite capable. IMO, you could probably post a version that would put my version to shame.

Yes, it's a great song. It's fun and has a lot of depth of feeling, but that's Neil Diamond for ya.

Anyway Mike, you-da-man, you-da-King! Thanx so much for listening and posting your comments, and I'll definitely keep them coming.

There's nothing else I can say, but...

"Aah, bowakama pousse', pousse'...
-Aah, bowakama pousse', pousse'..."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;)
 
kinda a rough, raw, demoish sounding recording with some timing issues here and there.
vocals are low in volume.
 
yeah I dove for the U2 cover too...interesting...

i bet it sounded pretty cool live....the bass and guitar work is nice.

anyways, on solitary: low bitrate encoding..how come?

I am sure a lot of the "swirling" going on is from that.

It is a little rough...I think i'd try that guitar miked in stereo to give it a little more room to breathe - it sounds a little harsh.

I really like the vocals though.
 
>>>

mixmkr- Thanx for listening and for your comments. I know, I have 'issues', but I'm just having fun. Being raw or rough-hewn is practically one of my trademarks by now, but I'm practicing, and I have a strong practice ethic. I'll work on my delivery, I promise. Really, thanx much for listening.

wes480- Well, the 56kbps is due to the lofi free download I'm encoding MP3s with, called 'Audiograbber'. I didn't notice lofi 'swirling' effect, but I'm sure it's from the 56kbps encoding. I'll look into upgrading my mp3 encoder sometime soon, otherwise, it's an all-digital production at 16 bit/44.1khz on the Fostex FD-4. With 4-track, there's really not a lot of room for fancy/open production value, but it's fun nonetheless. BTW, the bass is tracking the guitar 100%, and that may be the harshness you're referring to. It does sound 'wall of sound'-ish. The vocals might be the most compelling part of this song. Thank you very much. Thanx for listening and for your comments.;)
 
Re: >>>

A Reel Person said:
Well, the 56kbps is due to the lofi free download I'm encoding MP3s with, called 'Audiograbber'.

The free version of MusicMatch Jukebox works great dude.The free version will encode up to 160kbps.

You should give it a try or download the .dll for the audiograbber program that will give you higher bitrate choices.I know waldo said something about problems with it but I have NEVER had a problem with it and never will.

It's located on an audiograbber url:http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/download.html

The file you want is the LAME MP3 DLL. Scroll down the page a 1/4 of the way and you'll see it.When you unzip the download look for this file "lame_enc.dll ".......copy and paste this ONE file into your Audiograbber Folder located at C:\audiograbber.

Thats the only file you need to update it.Now when you open your audiograbber up you'll have the higher bitrate options available.



You'll be able to encode as high as 320kbps with audiograbber with this update.
 
Thanx Kramer,...

I've already downloaded the A/G .dll, but now I have to clone over a copy of Winzip from my laptop. This computer I'm on presently doesn't have Winzip.;)
 
Re: Thanx Kramer,...

A Reel Person said:
I've already downloaded the A/G .dll, but now I have to clone over a copy of Winzip from my laptop. This computer I'm on presently doesn't have Winzip.;)

I use a Free zipper Program called Cam Unzip that is killer.It's got to be the simplest zip utility ever made.You just click a zip file and choose where you wanna unzip it and wa la.Same with creating zips.2 clicks and you have a zip.You can download it off the net for free.......here's the url to the file at Zdnet:
http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/3000-2250-10020220.html
 
Got it, thanx!

Maybe I'll re-encode these tunes later.;)
 
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