Sorry for taking so long to reply. I usually try to respond right when I get a post. I didn't even realize the last 3 responses were there as I was looking for the notification in my email.
I mentioned before that the last few seconds of the song got cut off upon uploading.
I am not sure what is going on with the snare. I try to take notes on everything I do so I know what is working and not etc., but it seems there is always something that I don't write down.
Of course, it boils down to the fact that I would really want 'real' drums in a song such as this. I was actually trying for a big 80's kind of snare and I threw in a big reverb on there. I have 2 channels for snare in Fruity Loops both using a sample called 'snare1' panned only 9% left. One has reverb on it and the other not, I guess so I could adjust the amount of reverb. That's not what we hear though. A look at the wave form for each sample shows that they are actually different snare1's. The 1 with the reverb must be a stereo sample that was recorded to make it sound as though the snare was coming from the left. I see no other way of explaining the snare appearing to come from much further to the left. However, I haven't been able to figure out what sample that was I used.
However it came about, I must have liked the wide sound at the time and used it. I used to really pan the drums wide in mixes, with the hi-hat the whole way to one side or the other (it's about 60% left in this one) and the floor tom the whole way to the opposite side. So to me this is less wide than it could be. I don't know if the snare would cut through better if I just used one sample rather than 2. Maybe that hihat is too loud and gets in the way, too.
To continue on the width idea, I did not use any plugins or effects 2 create an artificial sense of width, if that is what Bass Master was referring to, but there is more than one take of everything in that mix, with exception to the programmed drums (besides the already mentioned snare). There are five tracks of rhythm guitar spread across the stereo spectrum, and three tracks of vocals, one up the middle and one more than halfway to either side at less than half the volume of the one up the middle. There are three tracks of bass, one up the middle and one to either side, where the two to the sides have the bass rolled off steeply below 650HZ to give me more attack. I have trouble getting enough bass attack or presence normally it seems. For the first half of the guitar solo, there is just one track of the lower harmony and two of the upper harmony, and the three tracks are spread across the spectrum somehow. On the second half of the solo, there is just one melody line and I believe it was triple tracked as well.
What's even weirder is I did not mix it that way. I am usually someone who does not like submixes, but likes the control of mixing everything at once, but on this song, I submixed the multiple tracks of each instrument. This may explain some of why the vocal could be better, because I did compress it, but I only compressed the entire submix of the three vocal tracks. Maybe?
Cyndi Lauper, huh? I am gonna have to listen to "Money Changes Everything" or something now as I've never heard my voice compared to hers before. I know a lot of times I do sound a lot like Plant though, but I didn't think this was really one of them. I sang this one that way 'cause Geddy Lee doesn't anymore (of course I haven't heard any of Vapor Trails yet and I heard they went back to more of their earlier sound). Actually it started out that I was in the mood to try and do an 80's hair band kind of thing with the poem, but it seemed to evolve more into the Rush inspired thing as it went.
And the guy's name is 'Burt'! -to rhyme with 'hurts'. I guess that points to some sort of weakness in the vocal, because you want people to understand the words, but then again, I never thought MJ was saying "the KID is not my son" even though it makes perfect sense. Thanks to everyone who has commented so far. I would appreciate any further comments, and welcome you to evaluate it on a professional level. Harvey? Or any of the other pros from that big long thread in one of the other forums? Again, I hope I can get a song up with a 'real' drum track soon, too. Thank you.
WHat's that guy? His name is vern? He shot me where it REALLY HURTS!! (Those lyrics??? 
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Two bits in the tip cup
