As with Crossed Hearts' previous effort, absolutely amazing.
I cannot fault the recording in any way.
All I would say to Dave (if he still visits here) is that I wish his considerable talents had been expended on a better, more worthy song.
Leaving Home Ain't Easy surely must be next on the list of covers?
As usual, great stuff from Crossed Hearts. Good recordings, nice production and just general niceness!
And me being the grumpy bugger when it comes to covers and critique, here are my thoughts...
Thought the drums were a bit midi-like. And dare I say it... did I hear autotune on the lead vocal?
Peace,
Adam.
Bohardy wrote:
All I would say to Dave (if he still visits here) is that I wish his considerable talents had been expended on a better, more worthy song. Leaving Home Ain't Easy surely must be next on the list of covers?
Oh yeah, I still visit here. Mostly into listening to the covers, though.
A more worthy song? Seems like people generally don't like "She Makes Me". Yeah, it plods along a little. . . but I've always loved it. Very moody and like a typical Brian-May-sung song, it's in the key of A. First heard it in 1975 when I first started getting into Queen. I guess it takes me back to being 8.
How'd you know LHAE was next? I'm almost done with it. Also in the key of A.
Thanks Valentine and Richard for posting the covers!
Dave
Adam Baboolal wrote:
And me being the grumpy bugger when it comes to covers and critique, here are my thoughts...Thought the drums were a bit midi-like. And dare I say it... did I hear autotune on the lead vocal?
Good ears, Adam. Yeah, though the drums were actually played on V-drums using DFH Superior, I quantized after playing them. BTW, I think I remember you mentioning BFD drums at one time. I highly recommend DFH superior and C&V if you haven't checked 'em out already.
Autotune? Honest, no. Double tracking, yes. Though, I notice Brian slides into his notes more than I do. I tend to sing more rigidly than he does. Maybe that's what you're hearing?
Peace,
Dave
About the autotune thing - I'm starting to wonder if I'm hearing things. I guess some people just sound like that.
Yeah, DFH Superior is something I'd like to try out sometime. Hopefully, I can get a listen to it from my m8 at college as he's got that, while I have BFD. I really like BFD and I hear that DFH Superior has similar mic mixing features. Yes/no?
Anyway, can't wait to hear LHAE as it's a fave of mine. Just one of those tracks...
Peace,
Adam.
Hey guys,
Here's a mix of LHAE I just got done, in case you're interested. Sending it to Richard and My Valentine as soon as I clean up some things on it for the SOC. link
Btw, Adam, the mic mixing capabilities on DFH are much more advanced than BFD. If you're wanting control of every little detail, including mic bleed, go with DFH. Plus, I haven't heard drum sampling software that sounds better than DFH. Even if I had the money to buy everything I'd need to record actual live drums, it wouldn't be worth it.
I'm using DFH Custom and Vintage on this LHAE cover, btw.
Peace,
Dave
Leaving Home is great!
The drums sound very nice, except the snare reveals the drums being 'fake'. But the rest of the drums sound great!
Also very great harmonies and acoustic guitar sound!
damn! :D
Yup, great stuff as always!! Especially liked the guitar harmony bits. It's not something I've done much of, so if you could pass on some recording/mixing tips, I'd be most appreciative.
Great to hear these kind of covers as they really are stellar quality and make the stage of champions a legit thing. Well, along with myself and Fried, I hope we too, can bring something to the stage sometime over the next month or so.
Peace,
Adam.
Adam Baboolal wrote: Yup, great stuff as always!! Especially liked the guitar harmony bits. It's not something I've done much of, so if you could pass on some recording/mixing tips, I'd be most appreciative.
Thanks Adam. As far as tips. . . for the guitar harmony bits I was using Native Instruments Guitar Rig 2, more software I highly recommend. I just used my Fender Strat with an Avalon preamp. I don't have a Red Special copy. :(
It was a 3 part harmony thing. So, for each harmony part I recorded 3 duplicate tracks, one centered, one panned right, one left.
Then I did a stereo submix of all the guitar parts, deleted the individual tracks and just used that stereo submix in the mix that you're hearing. That way I could control all nine guitar parts with a single fader for that crescendo and decrescendo effect at the beginning. Plus, I added a fair amount of reverb using the UAD-1 card Plate 140 reverb. I couldn't find my guitar slide, so I just bent the strings with my fingers for the slide effect.
Also, the guitar part at the beginning also reappears later in the song during the "Stay my love. . " part. So, the great thing about digital, I just cut and paste the beginning section underneath the vocals there and had it lower in the mix instead replaying all that stuff.
Also good to keep in mind if trying to imitate Brian's sound is that Brian's finger vibrato is really slooow and dramatic, almost like a cellist's. Most guitarists vibrato is really fast. The slow is not easy to do.
That's all I could think of for that one. Hope that helps.
Peace!
Dave
Thanks for the notes. Always nice to hear how stuff like this is put together. Quite surprised you used guitar rig 2. But it does have some good sounds. It is impressive software. I wonder what Waves GTR is like for this kind of stuff. Hmm...
Peace,
Adam.
Dave,
Your voice is perfect for singing Brian's songs.
Actually I think your a even better singer than he is!!!!
In the early years Brian used his voice in a manner more suitable for him, I think. When he tries to sing with a "heavy" voice it just isn't as good. The voice sort of "stops in his throat".
Love your version of "LHAE" as well, brings on some memories I tell ya.
/Adam