Deep Purple - "Highway Star"

  • Thread starter Thread starter GONZO-X
  • Start date Start date
Well done, solid cover. :cool:

What did you use to do the organ track?
 
miroslav-

thanks for listening!

xenophile played the keys...

i'm not sure his setup....
let me find out, and i'll get back to you.
he sent me audio files, of the keys and drums, so i never got to mess with any of the midi side.

here's what he originally told me:



drum samples here are from EZDrummer.

The organ parts were played in real time. That was quite an exercise for my chops. The combination of precision

and slop is really important for capturing Lon Lord's feel. It would have sounded too sterile if I had programmed

it. I recorded it in two passes, one for the upper keyboard and one for the lower. But the lower part doesn't

sound right coming through the same overdriven Leslie as the upper, so I've now split it off to another track and

separate instance of the B4 with a little cleaner tone.
Click to expand...
 
Great cover. Always loved this track, and your version is scarily close to the original. The organ sounds fantastic. My only tiny nit is on the 2nd bar of the intro the way the organ falls away doesn't sound natural. The vocal is brilliant. I like the way you effortlessly hit the high notes without seeming to stretch for them Very Gillan. Nice job
 
The intro Hi Hat is a bit odd.
The rest of cool - nice to revive a bit of old Hard Rock.
 
bulls
thanks for the review!
yep, this was a 20 minute faders down, back up mix.
LOL

i've got some tweaks to do now....
so it's good to have the feedback to know what to focus on.

i just literally scratched the original mix, and started over.....
 
This sounds amazing! I really like how this whole piece was executed! The only gripe I have is that I wish the drums were more out front. Not too much... Just a bit. But everything sounds so good! A+++++ Very well performed, mixed and mastered!
 
rayc-
yep, intro is a bit odd.
LOL

the keyboard player wrote the drum parts, in EZDrummer, but only sent me the audio file.
i cloned the track, and tried to take the hi hat down, but keep the snare strike, the way it really is on the original..
and blend that track in.
a simple EQ tweak did not do it.
i think i may have to just go in and automate all the snare hits...
or, clone the track again, put on a gate, let nothing but the strikes thru, and then mix THAT in with the original, bringing the level of the original down, and the edited snare strikes up.
that'd be the easiest thing to do, i think.

yes, hard rock.... revivial..... it's never been dead to me!
hehe

i listen to Mastodon on one side, Humble pie on the other!
 
STAT1STICK

thanks, glad you liked it!

drums are tricky..
i only have the original two track stereo file to work with.

plus, i'm kinda matching the original drum level in the original mix..
but i do have some ideas to tweak it a bit more.
could be just a volume thing......

still compiling suggestions before i do the final pass....
 
wow..................blew me away man....this tune is one of my earliest faves from the 70's............it was all the "older" kids were listening to so...I had to too....ya know?

this was a great version man but, there are slight timing/dynamic issues/differences....and when I say timing I am talking pauses.....and when i say dynamic...your track is a wall of sound where I think the original had less pop on the drums which made the organ and guitar ring clearer.....I think they mixed that way back then so that the bass and kick wouldn't make the LP skip off the needle......ya know?



but,..........damn....this is good.....kudos....
 
joro
thanks, i appreciate the feedback!

when i first did this project, i chased a more 'original' mix, and guitar and bass tracks...

but after finishing that first pass, it didn't sound right to me..... in terms of the vibe..
i made a decision to RE-track guitars and bass, to make it a bit more modern,
more of a 'READ' on the original, rather than trying to copy every note or turnaround or timing..

i know exactly what you are saying, about the discrepancies...
but it was by design, that it ended up the way it did,
not because we didn't hear the differences....

that original mix was some magic sh!t, you know......
 
GONZO-X said:
joro
that original mix was some magic sh!t, you know......
Click to expand...

Absolutely. This tune set the standard for thrash metal. Nothing else even comes close. One of my all time favorite, ballz-to-the-wall rock tunes. I challenge myself as a guitarist to play it regularly -- not that I ever achieve Blackmore's precision. But I digress...

Your musicianship and vocals are solid. If you played every instrument ... wow ... really impressive.

Great mix, overall, too. My only complaints (vs the original, admittedly) relate to bass/kick/snare. Would like to hear some lower frequencies punch thru a bit more, so they defibrilate my heart rate the way the song intended. But then again I can't expect much out of Apple earbuds on my laptop.

Really great job, bud. Enjoyed it a lot.
 
mbrusko

oh man, you gotta listen to this on a BIG SYSTEM.

:listeningmusic:


ON THE ORIGINAL: having that big hotel, having all those big rooms, lots of marble floors, space to 'move out', add room mics, man, it's a dream come true.

granted, live recording in a big room, can get messy, i've done it several times.

but with the right gear, and a brilliant engineer, they really found a 'sound' in there.

true to the lyric "with a few red lights, a few old beds, we made a place to sweat"

and you can hear it in those recordings!

LOL

most of my sourcSe, were direct, with zero room bleed, so i didn't really have any 'magic' to work with.
but really, that wasn't the point.

it's just an homage, to a great band that influenced my playing and singing style growing up.



i did a new mix last night...

really brought the 'snap' of the drums out, and fattened the kick drum.
it sounds more 'modern' now, and not so flat and smacky like the original. (yes, listen to it, it's pretty flat)

so, i'm having someone else master that mix, i'll post it when it's available.
thanks for listening and commenting!
 
just as a matter of fact..
doing the final mix tonight, having it professionally mastered, will post a new link when it's ready.


most folks wont hear much of a difference, i'm doing a bit hotter mix on the key solos, and a db or so more on the vox overall, and then it's fork time.
 
Forgot myself after a while and I thought I was listening to the original....

Great job.
 
chili

that's cool man, thanks for sharing that...

it's old school, i know, but still fun to do....
 
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