Brandy - slightly aged :-)

[ronws]

Blame it on jonpall for enjoining me to revisit some of the baritone stuff. I will give all the explanations and technical details later. A) sometimes the explanation gets in the way. a fresh hearing without preconceptions might give interesting elucidations. Yes, I have done this song before but this is on the new mic which, trust me, makes a big difference.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8750209/Brandy4.mp3

[akarawd]

I don't know about the technical side of things, to my ears it sounds like a fine performance.

You've got such a warm and convincing voice Ron, this range suits you like a glove.

Keep it up buddy,

Thanos

[analog]

Never heard the old version, but this is easily my favorite recording you've posted. Cool sound with just acoustic and voice.

[akarawd]

Just one thing : the guitar tuning & maybe the playing in certain parts is a little off.

[ronws]

Thanks, Analog.

And thanks, Thanos, though I'm not sure know whether you still like it. You liked it at first and then had problems with it. But thanks for your support, anyway.

Well, here's all the technical stuff. There is none.

I did the exact opposite of Steven suggested. For a couple of reasons. First off, for some reason, Audacity is not letting the tracks synch. Well, it's easier to stay in synch with the guitar while singing than getting Audacity to do what it should. Secondly, I'm always mentioning how I'm a live singer. So, why not do it that way, if it is my strength? (so I thought. Evidently, it's not a strong play for me there, either.)

The guitar, I'm not sure how old it is. I have 3. The oldest in my collection as to when I got it is my Les Paul copy from Memphis that I got in 1982. It is the same guitar, make and model, as what Slash had for his first guitar (makes sense, he's only one year younger than I am.) That one sits in the case, now. I usually had problems with the truss rod, after a while. The one I had before that was an acoustic my mother gave to me but my brother once got mad and threw it at me and it broke. I had it taped back together before Eddie Van Halen made that a cool look.

Second is the Flying V copy by Hondo. I got around 1990 from a pawn shop and it was already used by then. But there was a luthier in the paw shop and he did a great job on every guitar that came in. It was the same place I bought the Roland effects unit and a Fender 85 amp that puts out 200 W rms.

Third is a cheapie little acoustic I bought at a flea market in Kleburg, Texas (out past Seagoville, for those who live in this area.) It cost an entire $40. But it's good for hammering out stuff without having to plug a bunch in. That's the one I used on this take. Lately, I think, the D string likes to go out of tune. I had just tuned this guitar for this take.

It's definitely not the original arrangement. For one thing, I am one guy, not a five piece band. And I'm not all that talented. I play guitar and, according to some, just barely, at that. My brother plays guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, clarinet, mixes and records well. Anyway, so the song is re-arranged to suit my voice and to be simple enough to be played while being sung.

This, basically, is my "campfire" edition. When we go camping with friends and we're sitting around the fire and I or another person whips out a guitar, this is one that I play and the effect I wanted is that this is what you would hear if you were sitting there.

But that doesn't make this an easy song to sing. It's really more of a spoken song in most places with some lyrics that are not easy to deal with. "There's a port ..." That's a short, staccato phrase and there's an inflection upward in the word, port.

Anyway, so I sang and played at the same time. No effects. No eq, no reverb, no echo, no compression, nada, nada, nada. Most everyone here uses those effects and it makes for outstanding, pro-quality recordings and I think it's great.

On the soft parts, I leaned into the mic, on the loud parts I leaned away (choruses and the bridge.)

Anyway, thanks for listening guys.

[akarawd]

I don't know about the technical side of things, to my ears it sounds like a fine performance.

You've got such a warm and convincing voice Ron, this range suits you like a glove.

Just one thing : the guitar tuning & maybe the playing in certain parts is a little off.

[ronws]

Did you accidently double post, Thanos?

[akarawd]

Yeah... my hands accidentally slipped on the keyboard