Born On The Bayou by Snax

[Snax]

Feel free to comment, give me advice, criticism etc... https://files.me.com/muskysnax/8grwx9.mp3

[gno]

Great job Mike. Your voice is really excellent on this song - great control of the grit. Cool scream at 3:33 on the E5! Nice recording and processing of the vocals too. That was fun to listen to.

[ronws]

Out of hibernation in the Great White North.

Phenomenal, of course. And you make it seem so easy, as if it comes from the heart.

I've had the fortune to hear CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revisited, which is what they call themselves thanks to a still standing lawsuit from John Fogerty) with their singer, John Tristao, who sounds eerily like Fogerty. I've seen them at local "oldies" concerts. And their other hit song "Run through the Jungle" they always dedicate to the Viet Nam vets, as that is what the subject of the song is about.

And this performance is on par with that. Plus, as always, your mix is poppin'. I don't just mean the vocals. I mean everything. It sounds as if you got in the studio with CCR and recorded "live."

Well done, needless to say.

[Snax]

Thanks so much for the kind words my friend! It's always a nice return to the forums here when I find the time to post.

[Snax]

Mixing the vocals with the backing tracks is something I really take pride in and I know how big a difference it makes in how the performance comes across. I also had the pleasure of attending a concert with Creedence Clearwater Revisited and the new singer does an incredible job covering the Fogerty vocals!

[Snax]

By the way guys, I need to update my profile pic...I cut all my hair off and now look more like Rob Halford during the British Steel days!

[ronws]

You cut your hair?! Traitor! Sell-out! Just kidding. My hair used to be longer than yours has been in avatar. I cut mine off a few years ago. I usually wore it in a pony-tail, anyway. Not much difference between that and short. And short is easier to take care off. And nothing wrong with short hair. Short hair has not affected the success of Metallica. In Lars' words, who wants to middle-aged and still trying to look like a teenager?

As it turns out, Richard Marx and I are the same age. And he has cut his hair, too. Fortunately, songwriting and singing are not dependent on hair length.

Though, if I could, I would grow mine out, again. I've always preferred long hair.

[Snax]

There, I just updated my avatar! With the hot summer we've been having I don't think I could have survived with all the hair I had. It was just time for a change, plain and simple.

[Snax]

Back on the topic of singing...I have what I can only refer to as a "passagio of grit!" lol I can sing with that heavy grit right up to a certain note and then it is almost impossible for my voice to go any higher. However I CAN sing much higher without that particular vocal effect. It frustrates me to no end and I hope to be able to train my voice to achieve the desired amount of grit but without quite as much pushing to get that sound.

[devaitis]

Cool! I liked it.

[Jugulator]

Wow! :cool: I almost go mad with your singing. Your tone is slightly similar to that of Sammy Hagar. And the only advice is to start selling your own art ASAP.

[gno]

Back on the topic of singing...I have what I can only refer to as a "passagio of grit!" lol I can sing with that heavy grit right up to a certain note and then it is almost impossible for my voice to go any higher. However I CAN sing much higher without that particular vocal effect. It frustrates me to no end and I hope to be able to train my voice to achieve the desired amount of grit but without quite as much pushing to get that sound.

Mike - Your grit technique sounds great as it is - and in this recording it seems you have reached a new level of control. I can't do it as high as you. Just curious - what is your highest grit note? The E5 is pretty dang high already.

(The new look is cool)

[Snax]

The high scream was a different grit actually Guitartrek. I call that one my Dio grit and as you heard I can go quite high with that vocal set up. It's also the same technique as Chris Cornell in his high screams. The other grit is hard to explain but it's the same one I use for a lot of the Rob Halford songs I've posted. The "Halford" grit is more full voice and the "Dio/Cornell" grit is more of a reinforced falsetto if you will. Not sure if that comes a cross as meaningful but it's the only way I can think to describe the difference. The Dio/Cornell technique is sort of the same idea as singing like AC/DC's Brian Johnson but with a slightly different set up and end result. I can only sing the Brian Johnson type of voice in the higher registers and have difficulty holding it together as I sing lower. Weird eh?.

[devaitis]

Weird eh?

Why? Standard for me.

[jonpall]

I always love your vocals, Snax and this was no exception. You just have a great sounding voice, complete control (or you make it sound like that) and I love that rasp. I know what you mean when you say that the way you do rasp on high vs. low notes changes. I feel the same thing. If you try to make it the same all the way to the top it can take too much effort. So I suggest that you simply gradually merge your low rasp to your high one. For the very high screams, the larynx will have gone up a bit, making it easier for the false folds to start to vibrate and cause the rasp, but on lower notes, the false folds don't have the help from the larynx so quite often, metal/rock singers use the true folds more there to grit things up. Still, these days I don't really like to put rasps in more than one category, but rather just call it "rasp" - even though I know that there are many ways to do it. I just like the rasp to come out as a result of my emotions when I sing. This is something that I've thought about a LOT. Check out my "high rasp" thread in the main forum for more info. Perhaps you could even comment there because you're one of the better raspy singers on this forum.

[Daug Poland]

Hell It's Fine. absolutely luv your screams!

[ronws]

Still, these days I don't really like to put rasps in more than one category, but rather just call it "rasp" - even though I know that there are many ways to do it. I just like the rasp to come out as a result of my emotions when I sing.

Totally rockin' point to be made.

Rockonwhichyabadself.

[Olem]

Welcome back, Mike! Nice comeback, i loved it. Your grit is awesome. I heard air when you sung the plosive in "Bayou" a couple of times, maybe you want to remove that in the mix, but otherwise the mix sounded very proffessional. Good to have you back.

[Snax]

Mike - Your grit technique sounds great as it is - and in this recording it seems you have reached a new level of control. I can't do it as high as you. Just curious - what is your highest grit note? The E5 is pretty dang high already.

(The new look is cool)

You wondered about my highest note with grit and I may have found an example... If you can let me know how high I actually go that would be much appreciated! https://files.me.com/muskysnax/ipihpd.mov

[ronws]

I am a bit bemused that someone thought you sounded like Sammy Hagar. I always thought you sounded quite a bit like Rob Halford. In fact, I accused you of being Mr. Halford, and masquerading as the "Mike" guy from Canada.

I'm still half-way convinced that I am right. :o

[Snax]

I kinda wondered about that comparison too! lol Actually, that would be quite a compliment if I believed it were true. :)

[ronws]

I kinda wondered about that comparison too! lol Actually, that would be quite a compliment if I believed it were true.

Maybe it was all in the mix of the tracks. You may have one of those malleable voices.

Damn you for making it seem so easy ! ;)

[Snax]

Believe me when I tell you that singing has NEVER been easy for me. Just a lot of dedication and years of struggling. I appreciate the positive comments but please never think that I didn't bust my ass to get my voice to sound like it now does. I sang live for about 14 years with huge debilitating tonsils and still managed to overcome the vocal disability. Nothing but a will to get better my friend.