slstone

You're welcome bro. having mixed a lot of music myself, I cringe at my own voice when its too loud. an easier way to do it is to record your high parts on a separate track. Then you can edit all the high parts at once giving them consistency. The trick is that since we push more air to reach higher notes, our volume output tends to be more, thus making them much louder than lower parts. Also, when on separate tracks, it makes it easier if you need to record a part over. You just end up doing that part and not the whole song over and over, if its all recorded on one track. It is time consuming, but it pays off in the long run. Anyway, glad to help.

Hey bro, your mixing skills are getting better. Nice use of chorus. Only advice is on your mix, when you hit the high notes, edit them to lower the volume a little(I don't know if your DAW will allow you to edit just those parts without affecting the whole track). That way, they are no louder than any other note. They are just a little hot in the mix.

This was the very first Dio album I ever bought. Brings back some good memories. I too am working on a Dio song. 

I think you mean Rich(Williams). Dave(Hope) was the bass player.

See what I mean? a few words made you very defensive. Yes I know everyone doesn't have a studio. Do you think mine was just given to me? Of course not. I worked very hard for a long time to acquire and build it, the same as my skill set. As far as your response to people taking critique, I think yes they should listen to pros. You mention Simon Cowell. Many people have said to him, "if you think singing is so easy, you get up here and do it." And he doesn't. The record label pays him millions of dollars to critique others. They don't pay him to sing.   The point I am getting at is, do people post here because they do want the feedback, to become better? or is it just a place to post their music? If they are here because they genuinely do want to get better, then it helps when constructive critique is given by someone knowledgeable in the business. By the tone of your post, people only post here for an audience and nothing more. After all, if someone critiques, and the posting person says, "I don't care what you say, I am going to do it my way anyway", then nobody progresses, and they want nothing more than to showcase their stuff. By the way, were I to post more critiques myself, I base it solely on the skills of the vocalist, not the quality of the recording. However, I am glad you are passionate about what you feel, but I sense a little animosity in that last post. Just an observation. And the couple of slams you made there about my having my studio, etc., no big deal, as the main point of this discussion is for people to not be thin skinned when it comes to what other people say.

Re-reading this thread and thought I would throw some thoughts in. As most here know, it's not often that I give a review, and my bro, ronws, points out very effectively the defensive stance most people take. I very much agree with the tough love approach. Why? Most people post here to get feedback on where to improve. It is nice when people accept the advice and use it to better themselves. There are a few who have come a long way in improving over the last few years...(Igor)...and there are those who still need a lot of work. I am a pro. I have spent many years honing my musical skills to write and play, learning to record and mix(not just my own album, but for others whom I have recorded and mixed in my studio). I listen to a lot of people, both recorded and live performances. I have also spent years developing pitch and technique.   I would give honest reviews for people, but I think I would probably make a few enemies in the process. I have seen some posts here, that I thought were really bad, but everyone who commented thought it sounded great. So sometimes I wonder if I am listening with the wrong ears...lol, or is everyone else not hearing what I am hearing?   I think personally, I could help a few people if I gave reviews, but sometimes people need a little more pointed advice at which point they look at you/me and say, "Well, what makes you such an expert?"   And bro, at least you are honest enough to admit to your own defensiveness, i.e. our collaboration. I see that you are trying to change your thinking in that regard, which shows we can all make progress in becoming better at all we do.   Now if you don't want critique, then maybe we need a place here in the forum for showcasing material rather than posting for critique. That would be my suggestion for the day to improve the forum.

Nice to see somebody covering some good ole Blackie Lawless. He never got much credit as a vocalist, either.

Or one can commission me to record music for them...

Normally, I don't post in regards to other's performances on songs, But this time I feel like I have to. Maybe I will start. Everyone knows I generally don't post critiques, as some people get their feelings hurt if you post less than stellar comments. That being said, I feel the need to comment on this one.   This was absolutely outstanding. Many have seen me post comments about technique and waiting to post a song until you have given it your all. In other words, performing your absolute best, then posting it.   From pitch to timing to execution, etc., this was awesome. Kind of fond of your acoustic version of Living on a Prayer as well...

1st time I have ever heard an Evergrey cover. I've been a fan since 'A Touch of Blessing". As a matter of fact, musically speaking, it was my inspiration for the music in my title track of my album, 'Book of Shadows". Also, I believe Evergrey are from Sweden. This almost makes me want to break my own rule and comment on it..

Interesting...nobody has commented yet.

This is why I say, if you, meaning anyone, consider yourself to be a serious singer, even if you are just working on bettering your skills, take the time to make it your best, rather than just recording something quickly, just so you can say you posted. As many people know, I don't critique anyone here. The reason for that is because I am very honest in my opinion, just ask my brother, ronws. There are quite a few here whose singing I like, and quite a few who need a lot of work. And I've noticed people here and there who are very defensive and get their feelings hurt easily when someone gives a Simon Cowell type of review. That's why I say that if you put more effort into your recordings, you might do better. If it takes 20 takes, then so be it. When I recorded my CD, I guarantee you I did not record a song in one day. I spent 5 years, between recording and mixing. All in all I probably took 2 years just for recording. I would spend weeks on one song. My thought was, if I am going to post my music, my singing publicly, I wanted people to hear my absolute best performance, even if that meant taking extra time to work on it. I know I will probably get slammed by others for my opinions, but for me, good enough is not good enough. To me, only the wow factor is good enough. I am my own worst critic, and I can't tell how you many times I cringed listening to myself, then re-recording something until it was right. So all I am really saying is that if you take singing seriously, put everything you have into it.

I'm gathering, from the hint, Mr. Brownstone?

I hear some Dio in there...

Just a little treat if you care to listen. Most here know of my thing for prog metal. But a few years back, my lovely wife, Debra, wrote a little ditty. I rehashed the words a little into more of a music format and wrote the music for it. A musician friend of mine and I worked together on recording it at his home studio. The lyrics reflected my life at the time, as I used to be a long haul truck driver. The link below will take you to my website where you can find this song as well as a few others. "Long Road Home" by S.L. Stone Drums, Acoustic Guitar and Electric Guitar: Rob Pepin Keyboards, Bass and all Vocals: S.L. Stone http://www.slstonemusic.com/smtv.html p.s. It's been a while since this was recorded. p.p.s If any of you remember garageband.com, this song won song of the week back in April 2006 and was featured on the front page of the country genre. p.p.p.s One little error, my wife did not write this one, she wrote JD on Ice, which can also be found at this link. I wrote this one all the way through....dang brain cramps at it again...

First 2 maiden songs I learned way back were 2 minutes to midnight and hallowed be thy name...

It's their shortest song(time wise).

I would always suggest some Nightwish...

nobody has commented yet...hmmm...don't know why AIC was referred to as grunge. I don't like grunge. I always thought of AIC as mainstream rock, then and now. Tasty guitar lines, astronomical vocals. Too bad Lane Staley didn't live longer. The guy had unbelievable technique and control. Might be time for an AIC challenge....

Funny you should mention this one. I've been singing this one to my wife since the day we met, lol. I remember hearing it many times on the radio when I was a kid. I should do a metal version...crank it up a bit. p.s. I usually do it with an exaggerated southern twang which is funny since I have been living in New England for the past 21 years.

It took me 5 years to record and mix my CD, so a few months is a piece of cake, lol. And nice to see someone else posting my philosophy, that some others took a huge issue with a while back, and that is, that good enough isn't good enough. I have always said that when you settle for mediocrity, it turns out to be crap. For me, only the wow factor is "good enough". To me, it's really obvious when people spend very little time on a project. Especially if they post a justifier for how crappy it came out (I was sick when I recorded it, I only had time to do one take, my(fill in the blank) broke.etc.) In my opinion, there is no excuse for a crappy posting. Wait until your better to record, re record when you have more time, etc. Don't post, just so you can say you posted a song. When I used to have band mates together, I had another guitar player. Some nights, during practice, he would say he wrote 20 songs, Which translated to 2 or 3 riffs(to me writing a songs is writing all parts for all instruments). For me to be impressed is when someone actually takes the time to put into the song, whether cover or original, and puts in the effort, to do their absolute best, before posting. When recording my CD, I lost count on how many takes I did for some songs. Not every day is a good recording day. To me, when you try to whip it out quickly just to have something to post, means you really didn't care enough about it to put your best effort. I know I am going to catch some crap for this post, but this is my take on things. We all have the right to our opinions, and these are mine.

I believe I said something like this a while back about not being able to fix a distorted or otherwise compromised track. That's also another reason I suggested recording multiple parts on separate tracks. If you have the need to fix a phrase or 2, you don't have to sing the entire song again, just to fix a small part. Not many people are good at "punching in" a replacement track. You can always raise gain or amplitude when mixing afterward. It's to bad you're having trouble with Cubase. It is capable of a lot.

As I have said before, I only comment about techniques and equipment and so forth. I do not comment on people's performance and singing, etc...

Mixing skills are improving. Very clean recording.

Just as a note, bro, the reason people are discussing the backup vocals is because in the original post, you mentioned your part was harmony, not backup. Anyway, just clarifying...