I Hold Your Secret - Hard Rock

  • Thread starter Thread starter David Katauskas
  • Start date Start date
D

David Katauskas

New member
Well, here's a song that started out as a metal song, but ended up sounding more hard rock. Three things stuck out as I listen to the results:

1) I have a long way to go before being any good at this
2) Those vocal lessons I just signed up for will help immensely :D
3) The heavy guitars sound like they've been recorded in a tube

The technical aspects of the performance are very vanilla...by design. I was more interested in practicing my mixing skills...or lack thereof.
I Hold Your Secret

If that link gives you any trouble, then please try this one:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=283771

Any feedback to help improve my skills is always welcome...and why we're all here. :)

Thanks in advance!
 
Last edited:
I really like this song. It sounds sort of Ozzy-ish.The one thing that would make it better is if you let someone else sing it.:) Why don't you post a version without vocals and let someone else take a crack at it? You could make it into a contest.
 
ocnor, those are 2 good ideas. I played this song for my wife, and she immediately suggested that I take voice lessons. :D I know my vocals suck, but I still try.

Anyone willing to lay vocal tracks on this are MORE than welcome. Just PM me.
 
Your wife is great. Not only does she listen to your music, but she offers you honest feedback. :) Actually, your voice isn't terrible--I've heard worse--but you tend to lose it in a couple spots. For example, 0:45 where you seem to slide into the note... Maybe try breaking it down into a few purposeful notes just making sure you hit them. 1:23 is another spot... During the "Ozzy" sequence ;) the top harmony sounds a bit off. Around 4:00 I hear some Deep Purple? Pink Floyd? It's one of those groups... The fade out can be cut by a full 30 seconds and maybe try cutting the vocals out? Good effort.
 
This is quite cool!! Nice long epic song. Guitars are great throughout.

As far as the vocals go: I think you have a good voice and lots of great vocal ideas; it just needs some refinement. It sounds like you are more or less comfortable doing it, so take a little more time laying the tracks and redo anything mediocre right on the spot.

You are headed in a good direction. Keep it going!!!!
 
Very cool song. Sounds like you're working on the vocal end of things, so I won't mention that. The acoustic guitar is nicely recorded. To my ears, the bass sounds a touch out of tune with the acoustic guitar at the beginning? Maybe that's just me.
I love the Zakk Wylde sounding guitar and also the solo at around 4:48 is great, but I would also like it to last a little longer, since it sounds so cool.
I would like to know what your guitar signal chain is. Guitar & pickups, fx/stomps, amp etc.
Nicely done.
 
I listened to your tune and I liked it. You have a nice voice for singing, and like myself, you just need to have better voice control. I can hear your confidence fade as you drop key. and waver.
I have found the only way to grow in confidence, is to keep singing, and practice, practice, practice.

Soooo..unless you do not enjoy singing, I would not quit. :)

Great song!!
 
I liked the tune. Won't comment much on the vocs, as I can't sing worth a damn myself. If you like singing, keep working at it. You will imrove. If you don't care to sing, you can probably find a vocalist on this site as Ocnor suggested. But anyway, cool tune. I like the plodding feel to it. Moves along very well, but not so speedy. Very cool feel.
Ed
 
dude, ok the vocals do need some work, but dont give up alltogether.
I can sing it if you want, but, really your on the right track, you need to experiment with singing at different levels is all I think. The softer parts sound like your uniterested. Add some more melody to it I think, or sing a little harder, deeper, also experiment with the post production effects to get more sparkle. pretty much practice is what you need on vocals..... its not like you dont have a singing voice, it just needs refined with practice recording it and playing it back.

I think the metal vocals in the heavy parts are sweet!!! I hear some chris cornel, and some days of the new alice chains... in the soft parts.

You did some harmonies and PULLED it off, and that is not easy. I assume that you did harmonies, or is that an effect?

THE SONG ROCKS, I would LOVE to give it a take on vocals, but I thing you should do it your self!! this is YOUR song, and its not like your that far off base.

Thanks love your song

FatesWebb
 
Thanks to everyone for the nice comments on the music, and the honesty on the vocals.
The guitars got some help from a thread to which Sonixx responded with good advise.

v6v6v6:
Yes, my wife is very supportive. I'll be practicing a lot more on my vocals...I've only started using them in the last 2-3 months.

Incanus:
Thanks...I'm almost happy with the guitars. There's something about them still that irk me...not sure what it is yet. Or maybe I'm my own worst critic.

NuChris:
I'll probably put in a longer solo against the heavier parts. I was actually trying to get more of a Dimebag sound, but ended up with Zakk. Not sure why. My signal chain is as follows:
Kramer (EMG 81 and single, both on), PSA-1 preamp (custom settings), Crate combo (clean channel), e609 mic, UB802 mixer, laptop.

true-eurt:
I appreciate the confidence in my potential singing ability. I'm not giving up on that. It's my next challenge.

Dogman:
I actually had to restrain myself to not speed up on this while playing. This song is typically much slower than my other rock tunes. Thanks for the listen.

fateswebb:
Thanks for the critique. I may take you up on that offer to sing. There are a few things that I want to shuffle around before I pull the trigger. I'll keep in touch.
 
Cool song David. Good guitars. Vocals have a rich sonority in the soft sections and a good edge in the heavy sections.

As far as pitch control... just do what every vocal student does and spend a little time each week singing while playing the line on keyboard and work on matching pitches.

I think the drums sound good in the heavy section but less so in the softer parts (Maybe something like a backbeat rosewood sticks sound would fit better there). I'd drop most of the reverb from the vocals in the soft section.

If you got the vocal intonation nailed and the drums fixed, this track would sound very professional IMO.

Tim
 
David Katauskas said:
Well, here's a song that started out as a metal song, but ended up sounding more hard rock. Three things stuck out as I listen to the results:

1) I have a long way to go before being any good at this
2) Those vocal lessons I just signed up for will help immensely :D
3) The heavy guitars sound like they've been recorded in a tube

The technical aspects of the performance are very vanilla...by design. I was more interested in practicing my mixing skills...or lack thereof.
I Hold Your Secret

If that link gives you any trouble, then please try this one:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=283771

Any feedback to help improve my skills is always welcome...and why we're all here. :)

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...


Ah I knew if I waited long enough I would hear a Zakk squeal!!
Nice song, I really enjoyed it. Yes vocals need some help but they are not at all horrible! As some one else stated the hi part of the vocal harmony sounds off. And yes I like the pink floyd break lol.......A Great Day For Freedom maybe???

If you don't mind me asking (and this is for everyone) how are you guys doing your drums? I am a guitar player, but write songs all the time that are mostly acoustic, but my heart is with the heavy stuff and would like to add some drums. They sound like you used a sequencer (which is not bad)......just wondering how you are doing it.
 
Tim:
Thanks...those are truly inspiring words. Time to break out the keyboard that's been collecting dust. I too thought the drums sounded a little overbearing during the soft parts.
There were actually some stick slaps to sound like a clock ticking, but I replaced them with the louder drum track...sounds like we were thinking alike.
That's why home recording is so great...you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for studio time to change things. This is so much fun!

evhwanabe:
That's interesting...you're not the only one who makes reference to Zakk's squeling. I've been doing that for about 20 years and have progressively gotten better at it. Sometimes it accents a song, but it can also hurt.
The drums are DFH2 (similar to DFHS)...I see you already visited the thread that discusses this a bit. It really is a great product, and the programming is not that bad...4 to 8 hours and you have a consistently repeatable programmed drum track.
The version in this song was very vanilla...I didn't want to get too fancy.

Thanks again for the feedback...it truly is appreciated.
 
wow David... the opening guitar sounds great...

the guitar riff at 4:55 is nice... fits very well and great tone...

I like a wider heavy rhythm... my preference though

great job David

-kp-
 
Cool song man! I'm not trying to pour salt in a wound but... you really gotta get someone else to do the vocals. That song needs someone to wail and do it justice! It's a good song.

I think the kick and the snare could use some beef. They sound a little thin to me.

The guitar tones are NICE! I really like the distorted guitar tone. I agree with comment about the solo. I was wanting alot more guitar solo.

Nice work!
 
Sonixx,
Thanks. If I remember correctly, there were 6 guitar tracks to help fill out the heavier parts. The accoustic parts had just 3 (Left[6string]-Center[12string]-Right[6string]). You may not remember, but a few months ago you actually helped me with that heavy tone...thanks again.
My current journey is to get a very heavy metal sound. This is causing me to turn the pre-amp settings down...it just doesn't make any sense, but I think its working.

Scottgman,
LOL, don't worry. I know the vocals are lacking...mmm...how to say...oh yeah...talent. I'm still looking for a singer. This song had Geoff Tate in mind when I wrote it. All I need to do now is track down Geoff to lay a few tracks for me.
I'm glad you like the guitar tones. The next song coming soon will have lots of solo...promise. It'll actually have about a full minute of guitar solo.
 
Last edited:
I really like that clean guitar at the beginning, sounds great. :)
Definitely resembles Floyd at around 4:00, sweet!

Vocals aren't that bad, but better vocals would defnitly add alot!
 
prostomation,
Thanks for the listen. Retracking the vocals in a few weeks...maybe they'll be better. I'll probably do a few more takes than last time to get it closer to being on pitch. Wish me luck. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top