Snax singing Beyond The Realms Of Death by Judas Priest

[Snax]

This song really pushes my vocal abilities to the limit! Hope you dig it... http://soundcloud.com/mike-bromelow/snax-beyond-the-realms-of-1

[ronws]

In 1987, JP went on a north american tour, with a show in Dallas. In fact, if you have ever seen the video from that year, it was filmed at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. Anyway, my two favorite songs from the concert were "Out in the Cold" and this song. Even more so than the often recognized hits.

Absolutely astounding Mr. Halfo ..... er, I mean Mr. Bromelow (who'd a thunk of assuming the identity of a canadian fisherman?) Actually, I know your not him, for a few reasons. But man, what an eery sound-alike and I mean that as a compliment. I can't count the number of people that would give up a kidney or something to sound like that.

I still think you can release albums and sell, the same way you do with your fishing lures. In fact, it's the goign rage. Especially on your original stuff. I know we're supposed to be all tough love and blunt and brutal and assorted things like that, but, if you would just make a mistake once in a while so that I could have something to pick and shed my rep as a cheerleader...

[Snax]

lol, thanks Ron. You really are too kind my friend.

[gno]

Rock Solid. Fantastic performance Mike. Especially the high screams - everything is connected. Really good man!

[Keith]

Speechless.

[Daug Poland]

your awesomeness

[Jugulator]

This is one of your best covers I've ever heard.

[Snax]

Thanks so much you guys! You have no idea how inspiring your comments are to me. However, In my opinion I do get a bit thin sounding on some of the higher stuff where Rob Halford had a thicker sound. Something to work on. Same problem when trying to sing anything by Dio. Sigh.

[Scotty D]

Wow. That is fantastic.

[KillerKu]

Listening right now. Gonna type things as I listen.

Oh yeah kicked in! Groovin! I agree this is one of your best yet, Snax!

Your phrasing is really on too. I like the subtle timing alterations. You sound so immersed into this song.

Seriously, just plain good. Even the compression mix wasn't getting in the way too much for me this time though you know my feelings on compression.

No critique really. Enjoyed it! Keep recording stuff.

[Snax]

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment everyone. Killer Ku, I greatly appreciated your feedback on my use of compression and I have been paying much closer attention to not over doing it as I sometimes do. One of the biggest improvements to my mixes lately has been to set up a compressor on the aux returns on my reverbs and delays and then have those compressors "listen" to the vocals via an aux send using a sidechain on the compressor plugins. What this does is to lower the volume or "duck" as the technique is called the volume of the effects while I'm singing but as soon as my voice stops, you hear the reverbs and delays etc.

This technique known as using a ducked reverb or ducked delay etc is amazing for getting a very "present" vocal sound that still has the feeling of being in a real environment with reverb and echos. It makes a HUGE improvement over just slapping on some reverb or delay etc that remains on constantly as the singer is singing. Radio dj's use this technique all the time to automatically lower the volume of music when they do a voice over. Another little trick I use is to not only use a de-esser on my main vocals but I also use one on every reverb and delay to remove the sibilance but still sound bright and airy. Think of Stever Perry's vocal sound on many of the slower Journey songs. you can hear ducking reverb and de-essed reverbs in effect!

[KillerKu]

That's interesting, I'll have to look into those mixing tips.

On a side note, I showed my friend who is a first time singer your Jane clip, and she was really impressed. She doesn't like heavy metal very much and doesn't have a 'technical' kind of mind, right? But she heard you doing that Jane song and was like 'how do you do that? This is really good.'

I was like "you ain't going to be doing that for quite some time. You've only been singing for a month, plus I can't do that so you are going to sing beginner stuff for now!"

But no, I was just saying, I think you've got the pizazz too. I'm liking it, and even people without a technical background, I think they groove on you. So keep it up, and feel free to toss more of those feel good party songs too in between the Maiden and Priest style ones. Wonder how you'd pull of Boston?

[Snax]

I've always wanted to try a Boston song. I'll have to give one a go! Thanks again for the kind words. I have to say though that my rendition of Jane SUCKED ass! Seriously.

[Snax]

I should clarify on how to set up a ducked reverb. Send a bus from your vocal channels and set the output of that bus on every channel you wish to duck to unity gain. Let's call that bus 1. Now the next step is really important... bring the volume of that aux return from bus 1 all the way down. Now send another bus (bus 2) from every channel you want reverb on to another aux return channel. Set the levels accordingly but I usually start at unity gain and reduce as needed. Now here's the REALLY important part! On the return aux from your bus 2 sends insert a compressor plugin which has the ability to do sidechaining.

Click on the controls for that compressor sidechain and select the aux 1 return we set up before. This means that the compressor will now lower the volume of the reverb on your voice until your voice stops singing. Make sure to adjust the threshold on that sidechained compressor so that it actually does reduce the reverb volume enough to reduce the volume of the reverb until you stop singing. Be sure to have the release set at it's fastest as well as the attack. What this does then is make your voice sound like it's right there in your face yet still have as much or little lush reverb as you want! Now you can see a little bit of what goes into my mixing and why I unfortunately felt the need to ask for even a little compensation for doing remixes for the talented folks here. It's a LOT more than just turning up the levels till you can hear the singer over the music! lol

[KillerKu]

Hey, I had a lot of fun with that Jane song and my friend noticed no problems. You're at the level where you are likely a lot more critical than the average person. If you feel you can improve Jane and give it a go later, go ahead, I won't complain.

But yeah, Boston, maybe Piece of Mind, or who knows, something less known. Any of them would do, they almost always are these epic power ballads that are so grandiose you can barely believe someone could even physically make them. Just one of those things you have to be thankful for, that someone would sing that many harmonies, with power chords and guitar harmonies firmly rooted in the catchiest patterns possible. Somebody had to do it, and well, Boston was the right band for the job.

Edit:

I'll copy some of this mixing advice down for further reading in the future, Snax. I appreciate the information. Yes, mixing is an art in itself. My brother is a lot better than I am and could likely use these kinds of tips too.

[ronws]

Oh, man, if ya'll start doing Boston, I'm going to have to try it, too.

[ForgottenLegacyVox]

I'd be honest if I thought this sucked since Halford is God to me....but, I can't be. You did a fantastic job!

[Snax]

Thanks! Halford is a vocal God to me too, as are Dio and Bruce Dickinson.

[ForgottenLegacyVox]

Same here. Great influences to have.