"Dream On" by Ramismith. :D

[RAMI]

Big Aerosmith fan. Favorite album is Get Your Wings, all of it.

You doing this really takes some balls. I think your voice is not close to the original (would be impossible to do), but it is close to the spirit and sounds very good. I suggest just f'in going for it in the same vain and take a few liberties within the frame work you've set out. You have the chops and it really is a very good cover.

I wasn't going to listen as I just expected cringing results. Some songs just can't be redone. After reading the comments I had to give it a run. Really was surprised, very good result.

I was reading through the comments as I was listening, and I thought Greg was right on. I thought the vocal delivery was a little tentative. And the screamo thing is just really tough. I wouldn't even attempt it.

The instrument tracks sound fantastic and really close to the original.

Thanx guys. I have to say that I wasn't feeling tentative while singing. It probably ended up maybe sounding a little that way simply because I'm trying to do a song by one of the all-time greatest rock vocalists ever. Having said that, I will re-do this soon, and I'm pretty sure I know what I need to do to make it better. I can do a good Mick Jagger and a pretty convincing Alice Cooper. But I'm not ashamed to say that I'm no Steven Tyler. I'm not a very good Pavorotti either.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Yeah, tentative isn't the word I'd use to describe the vocals. You were belting them out.

I feel like the vocal slides and warbles throughout the verses don't really fit your style. I think a straighter delivery would probably have served better.

What happened on the octave-jumped "dream on"s? It sounded like you backed way off from the mic.

Overall though a pretty cool rendition of the song. Better than I've generally heard from karaoke and bar bands. (Which I'm pretty sure is the only other place I've heard this song. )

 

[RAMI]

Yeah, tentative isn't the word I'd use to describe the vocals. You were belting them out.

Yeah, that's what I thought. I was belting them out, and felt pretty confident doing them, so I wasn't holding back or anything. It just might be that this song isn't really a style of singing I'm used to doing.

I feel like the vocal slides and warbles throughout the verses don't really fit your style. I think a straighter delivery would probably have served better.

When I get around to re-singing parts of this, I'm going to try a few different things. You might be right about the slides, etc......

What happened on the octave-jumped "dream on"s? It sounded like you backed way off from the mic.

I probably did for that part. If there's one part I might have been tentative about, it's that part. So, I might have back off AND mixed them down a bit.

Overall though a pretty cool rendition of the song. Better than I've generally heard from karaoke and bar bands. (Which I'm pretty sure is the only other place I've heard this song. )

I really appreciate that. I do this for the love of music and just the enjoyment of occasionally trying to pull off a song I've always loved. It turns out the way it turns out.

Thanx guys.

 

[Bop Stop Studio]

Nice job, instrumental sounds great, what was your set up? Drums? I know the SG on guit. How about tracking chain.

Nice effort on the vocal. I am not a singer so I would never attempt it, but u did a nice job. Obviously matching the voice is not going to happen. I did feel like u were trying to own the song yourself in a good way, except for a few moments at the end of your phrasing that didm;t have as much conviction and a few of the vocal runs were a little less tight. You did a nice nice job for sure tho! I like your voice, it has a lot of clarity and it sits nice in the mix.

At around 3:30 when the scream comes in I can hear a sudden shift in processing or in something, almost like you moved far away to compensate for the scream volume. Something sounds abrupt and choppy there.

Otherwise congrats!!

 

[RAMI]

Nice job, instrumental sounds great, what was your set up? Drums? I know the SG on guit. How about tracking chain.

Nice effort on the vocal. I am not a singer so I would never attempt it, but u did a nice job. Obviously matching the voice is not going to happen. I did feel like u were trying to own the song yourself in a good way, except for a few moments at the end of your phrasing that didm;t have as much conviction and a few of the vocal runs were a little less tight. You did a nice nice job for sure tho! I like your voice, it has a lot of clarity and it sits nice in the mix.

At around 3:30 when the scream comes in I can hear a sudden shift in processing or in something, almost like you moved far away to compensate for the scream volume. Something sounds abrupt and choppy there.

Otherwise congrats!!

Thanx a lot Bop. You have good ears, and Steve also noticed that something weird happened at the screaming part. What you guys are hearing is the fact that I was having trouble belting out that part with headphones, no matter what volume I was attempting it at. So, at one point I turned on my speakers, cranked them and tried doing the part that way. Sure enough, I was able to hit it that way. When I tried again with headphones, I couldn't do it. So I kept the take with the speakers on. So, what you guys hear is a lot of (possible out of phase) leakage coming through with my vocal, since I also backed off the mic quite a bit at that point. Not much I could do about that other than keep trying 100 times until I nailed it with headphones. I figure it's not worth ruining my vocal chords just for the sake of nailing a part in a cover song.

Thanx for the comments.

 

[RAMI]

Oh sorry....to answer your question. I mic my drums with 4 mics: Kik, snare, and 2 overheads. Guitar is the SG into a Fender Superchamp X2, miced with a 57.

 

[fat_fleet]

Pretty impressive for one day. It's a lot closer than I'd get, and with a song like this it's always gonna be compared to the original. You even got kinda close with that bat screech at the end, though it sounds a little punched-in.. But if anything, this version suffers a little from being too clean. The vocals are kinda proud and coherent for the tune. Like someone mentioned- I never knew a lot of these words 'til now. The performances are all really solid, but the transition from the clean part to the overdriven chorus seems a little anticlimactic at first, like the first couple choruses could use something to beef 'em up...like a second complimentary guitar- I know that's what they do on the original and I guess my ears just wanna hear it. In general I like your covers a lot. You usually capture a lot of the nuances, no exception here. All the levels sound pretty good...the Rhodes sound in that break @ 2:20 is a little quiet, but could be my system. Sounds good dude.

 

[RAMI]

Pretty impressive for one day. It's a lot closer than I'd get, and with a song like this it's always gonna be compared to the original. You even got kinda close with that bat screech at the end, though it sounds a little punched-in.. But if anything, this version suffers a little from being too clean. The vocals are kinda proud and coherent for the tune. Like someone mentioned- I never knew a lot of these words 'til now. The performances are all really solid, but the transition from the clean part to the overdriven chorus seems a little anticlimactic at first, like the first couple choruses could use something to beef 'em up...like a second complimentary guitar- I know that's what they do on the original and I guess my ears just wanna hear it. In general I like your covers a lot. You usually capture a lot of the nuances, no exception here. All the levels sound pretty good...the Rhodes sound in that break @ 2:20 is a little quiet, but could be my system. Sounds good dude.

Thanx man. Yes, I've already erased the vocal lines I'm going to re-do. I'm beginning to think it would have been better for me to sing the lyrics the way I heard them, before googling them and finding out what they were, because I was like everyone else for over 30 years. All the years I heard this tune, I just mumbled along what I thought the lyrics were. I probably shouldn't have read them before recording.

 

[TAE]

Damn fine job for a one dayer bud! Look forward to hearing what you do with the vocal lines...

 

[RAMI]

Damn fine job for a one dayer bud! Look forward to hearing what you do with the vocal lines...

Thanx TAE. Yeah, I'm just going to sing them "looser", the way they should be. I was too proper, like I was sipping tea with my pinky in the air.

 

[Tobe]

I'm not really into covers but... Wow, putting yourself up against Tyler is brave, and I think you pull it off. And it seems to me you used much less reverb and general ambience than the Aerosmith versions I have heard...

 

[RAMI]

I'm not really into covers but... Wow, putting yourself up against Tyler is brave, and I think you pull it off. And it seems to me you used much less reverb and general ambience than the Aerosmith versions I have heard...

Thanx a lot Tobe. It's funny you say that because, even before I ever got into recording and knew what "reverb" or "ambiance" was, I remember noticing that the reverb on his voice in the original seems out of place and almost amateur sounding. There was too much of it, I always thought. I didn't deliberately try to put less when I mixed this, but maybe I just ended up putting less sub-consciously, always finding it sounding cheap when I tried putting more. Thanx for taking the time, man.

 

[Tobe]

Well without hearing your A/B's I can't comment on what sounds better, but generally adding ambience and reverb is a singers best friend, so well done to sound so dynamic with what sounds like a dryer mix to me...

 

[RAMI]

Well without hearing your A/B's I can't comment on what sounds better, but generally adding ambience and reverb is a singers best friend, so well done to sound so dynamic with what sounds like a dryer mix to me...

Thanx man. I just did a re-mix, and it's a very little bit wetter now.

 

[rayc]

I had Toys on cassette in 76 and I acquired Toys in quad in 2012. I've tried other ASmiths but nothing competes with what I have. My wife likes the 80/90 ASmith and the song from that Bruce Willis movie but she's a complete sucker for power ballads.
Good version Rami - king of the keys (personally I think they could use a little more top end) - 1 day's work blasts quite a few full works professional recordings I've been exposed to lately.

 

[PDP]

Yeah man, nice pipes. I wouldn't dare sing Steve Tyler, you did a good job though.

Enjoyed listening, one of my favorite Aerosmith tunes.

 

[robgreen]

Hey, this is really impressive for a day's work. I didn't click initially because I don't really know/like much Aerosmith, but your tones sound great and the vocal performance seems spot on to me. It sounds like a tough melody to sing - I actually really liked that oversaturated tone shift on the scream part (kudos for attempting that and not chickening out going for an octave down). The lead guitar tone is cool too.

I listened through a few times and thought I heard a bit of compressor sucking on the first time or two - not sure I can now, so I either imagined it or my ears acclimatised? The only other thing that I picked up on is the reverb tail. To my ears the tail is either a touch too long or some of the higher frequencies on it could do with attenuating. It's weird hearing your vocals with noticeable levels of reverb on in the first place.

Good work man

 

[mbrusko]

Stellar mix, bud. Really clean. Every instrument sits nicely, with no clutter. I admire your consistent ability to achieve that, in your offerrings.

Performance was superior as well. You're about as good a multi-instrumentalist as I've ever heard.

Enjoyed the vocals, too. Tyler is tough to emulate, because he's able to project well into three octaves with great power and rock grittiness. Aside from a few spots where you choked off your vowels -- and only someone who's had to cover that song in clubs would notice -- you nailed it.

Really a first class effort. Every time I think I'm making progress with my mixes, I go back and listen to yours and realize how much I still have to learn. Someone else said it: gold standard.

 

[RAMI]

I had Toys on cassette in 76 and I acquired Toys in quad in 2012. I've tried other ASmiths but nothing competes with what I have. My wife likes the 80/90 ASmith and the song from that Bruce Willis movie but she's a complete sucker for power ballads.
Good version Rami - king of the keys (personally I think they could use a little more top end) - 1 day's work blasts quite a few full works professional recordings I've been exposed to lately.

Thanx a lot Ray. I made the mistake of using an electric piano sound on my piano. I realized after that I should have used a real piano sound. Luckily, it's just playing a supporting role so I was able to tuck it in. But you're right, it's a little dull sounding.

Yeah man, nice pipes. I wouldn't dare sing Steve Tyler, you did a good job though.

Enjoyed listening, one of my favorite Aerosmith tunes.

Thanx dude (and thanx for the comment on my site). Much appreciated.

Hey, this is really impressive for a day's work. I didn't click initially because I don't really know/like much Aerosmith, but your tones sound great and the vocal performance seems spot on to me. It sounds like a tough melody to sing - I actually really liked that oversaturated tone shift on the scream part (kudos for attempting that and not chickening out going for an octave down). The lead guitar tone is cool too.

I listened through a few times and thought I heard a bit of compressor sucking on the first time or two - not sure I can now, so I either imagined it or my ears acclimatised? The only other thing that I picked up on is the reverb tail. To my ears the tail is either a touch too long or some of the higher frequencies on it could do with attenuating. It's weird hearing your vocals with noticeable levels of reverb on in the first place.

Good work man

Thanx Rob. Yeah, earlier, someone commented on my version being drier than the original, so I added a touch more reverb. If you listen to the original, there's a pretty long reverb tail on his voice. I would never mix one of my songs like that, I hate too much reverb on a vocal. But I tried to get a little closer to the original with it.

Stellar mix, bud. Really clean. Every instrument sits nicely, with no clutter. I admire your consistent ability to achieve that, in your offerrings.

Performance was superior as well. You're about as good a multi-instrumentalist as I've ever heard.

Enjoyed the vocals, too. Tyler is tough to emulate, because he's able to project well into three octaves with great power and rock grittiness. Aside from a few spots where you choked off your vowels -- and only someone who's had to cover that song in clubs would notice -- you nailed it.

Really a first class effort. Every time I think I'm making progress with my mixes, I go back and listen to yours and realize how much I still have to learn. Someone else said it: gold standard.

Thanx man. That's encouraging. I was actually thinking I need to buy a new snare, and I need to do this, and I need to do that, after listening to Greg's cover. I was a little down on my sound. Your comment picked me up. I appreciate that.

 

[SteveAlton]

Originally Posted by Chili
Ya gotta give Steven Tyler a lot of credit for hitting those notes in the Dream On (7x) section. and I give you a lot of credit for putting it out there. I couldn't do it.

Rami....I listened for 2 reasons

1. To see how anyone could possibly handle the above mentioned part. It is one of the greatest vocal licks in rock history.

2. To settle once and for all if after 40 years of listening to the tune to finally get a definitive answer on the lead vocal line in the Chorus...

After much debate in my mind I have to say I still like my line better, And though you clearly show me the correct wording, I am unwilling to change the way I sing it after 40 years...

"Sing women sing for the year, sing for the laugh and sing for the tear. Sing women............