Original song - You Can Be Free

[gno]

Here's a song I wrote and recorded last year and I re-recorded some of the vocals this year. I'm not entirely happy with the vocal performance and want to work at it again so feel free to give me suggestions. Thank you!

Geno

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10389337

[Daug Poland]

Great man! Really Cool! That stuff from 2:40 King Crimson's influenced? It has catchy melodies and very nice pulse Groove.

Now I'm listening to rest of your stuff. wowahweewah:D

Great!

regards!

[akarawd]

Can I trade my gibson custom for your voice Mr. Pitt ? 'Cause they're of the same caliber...

Seriously, let us know when your personal CD will be out, I'm buying. Not only is your vocal performance top notch but

the whole instrumentation sounds fresh and that's not a small feat in today's music.

Well done man, really well done

Thanos

[Jugulator]

Professional and very unusual. Great song :)

[jonpall]

Hell yeah!

'nuff said.

... well, I could also add ... I love the tone of your voice, both clean and raspy. You sing the words like you really mean them and the sound on the vocals and the entire song is just great. Your technique sounds kind of flawless. The song grooves, too. Did you play every instruments yourself? Did you perhaps use a drum program, like EZDrummer? And is it you playing the guitar solo? That guitar player is great, man. Cheers.

[jonpall]

...ok, the guitar player is not great, but terrificly, shreddingly awesome.

[Snejk]

Oh my... You are truly amazing, really gifted musician!!

[gno]

Doug - Thanks a lot! That instrumental break is coming from my prog rock / fusion roots. King Crimson was a part of that, along with Dream Theater, Vai, Shawn Lane, etc.

Thanos - Thanks! What kind of gibson custom do you have? I'm relatively new to the Les Paul but I love it - I'd like to get a les paul custom some day.

Jugulator - thanks a lot. Your stuff is great.

Jon - Thanks man - it means a lot coming from you. Well yes I created every instrumental part from scratch - for the drums I use a Korg PadKontrol which is like a drum pad I play with my fingers. I also do a lot of midi editing. I don't use pre-existing grooves - I prefer to invent my own grooves. For the drum sounds I use Superior Drummer 2 (EZDrummer's big brother from Toontrack). And yes that's me on guitar.

Snejk - Thank you!

[Daug Poland]

...Well yes I created every instrumental part from scratch - for the drums I use a Korg PadKontrol which is like a drum pad I play with my fingers. I also do a lot of midi editing. I don't use pre-existing grooves - I prefer to invent my own grooves. For the drum sounds I use Superior Drummer 2 (EZDrummer's big brother from Toontrack). And yes that's me on guitar.

That is F-King impressive!

I listen to it over and over and over and over....and over again!

I barely registered for the MV - I'm amazed at the level of some users. But You? ! From today you have a devoted fan in me:D

[ronws]

Sweet Jesus, Geno ... the song that KANSAS should have written. And never did. I am totally envious of the Kerry Livgren tone you got in there. That's a Les Paul Standard and it looked like humbucker pickups. My Memphis Les Paul has PAF's. I don't play it much, anymore. The neck warped and ruined the action. That is why I will usually, for some honest to goodness shredding, pick up the Hondo Flying V, which does have humbuckers.

I couldn't find anything wrong with the song, though I wasn't sitting here looking for stuff I could "criticize." I listen to it like I listen to anything. Is it a good song that moves me?

And this was. Comparisons to KANSAS aside, and I mean that as the highest compliment, if you don't release this on your own album, you should let Dream Theater get a mechanical license off of your copyright to record this. Not just to make money, which is nice. But because it is music that needs to be heard and they could, I think, do this song well enough.

All hail Geno ...

[gno]

Daug - thanks again! Glad you like it!

Ron - thanks a lot. I love Kerry's guitar tone. I know he likes letting the guitar amp do all the distortion as opposed to pedals producing the distortion. I do the same thing. You're right - it is a Les Paul Standard with humbuckers. How do the paf's differ? I've never played one.

[ronws]

PAF's, in my experience, have a more "mellow" tone and are great for jazz and country. But, for rock and heavy, I think one does best with single coils, like on a Fender Strat, or humbuckers, which one usually finds on Gibson Flying V's and Fender Explorers. But shoot, you can set up any guitar the way you want with experimentation. That is how Eddie Van Halen created "Frankenstein," literally from scratch and his modifications are a trademarked secret.

[ronws]

What's more, if you think your vocals were an "off" day, please don't post a good day. I don't think we could live up to that standard. Maybe you thought you were sub-par but you can't hear you like we can hear you. Which means you have to trust us, now and then, instead of yourself. Scary, isn't it?

[Olem]

Hello, Geno, that was just amazing. I´m a great fan of progressive music and this reminded me alot of a band called Spock´s Beard. I have listened to it many times and it´s so professional. I have a few suggestions of things that i would have improved:

By 0:47 in the phrase "how you really feel" there is something a little out of place, i think it´s the rhythm, the rhythm of the vocal doesn´t fit with the music, although it is progressive music and is suppose to have alot of rhythm changes it sounds a little strange here. The same with the phrase "That is real" right after although it´s not that apparent here.

The whining sound around 1:30 sounds a little weak to me.

But this is just some minor things that IMO could be improved.

PS. If you are a fan of progressive music and haven´t listened to Spock´s Beard, this is a must, they are absolutely great.

[erikbarnes]

This is great man! It's so unique and intriguing. I'd seriously buy a CD if you made one. The harmonies, the music, everything is creative and awesome!

Your voice is so refreshing to listen to, you're great.

[gno]

ron - Thanks for your comments! The thing about my vocals on this song is that very last "free" on the B4 (at 4:22). That was from last fall when I could hardly hit this note. If you listen you hear very little vibrato - and although it sounds ok, I was really straining to hit that note. There is another B4 on "free" at 2:25 - I re-recorded that phrase this year, and I felt a lot better - you can hear normal vibrato. I always wanted to re-recrod the last note.

Olem - Thanks for your comments. The rhythm at 0:47 sounds ok to me, but I am too close to the project so it's good to hear other people's reactions. The whining at 1:30 - yeah - this was from last fall too, when my technique wasn't as good. I'd like to re-record the entire song with my "current" technique. I appreciate your pointers.

erikbarnes - Thanks a lot for your positive comments.

[jonathangraham]

@guitartrek Great complex composition very Dream Theatre with a touch of Vai.....sounds very polished and ready to me but if you want to re-record those couple of notes that were a little strained then go for it but its splitting hairs IMO;)

[Stan]

you are the best singer on this forum, good work.

[gno]

Jonathan - thanks a lot for your positive comments!

Stan - Thank you very much. But I have to disagree - There are a lot of really great singers here who can do amazing things that I simply can't do.

[Chavie]

Your voice reminds me of Neal Morse, with much better technique.

The music itself is kind of a Spocks beard meets Dream theater, But a little more inspired then their recent work.

I like this a lot, and definitely could see myself buying an album of yours.

Your're one of my fav vocalists on this forum, and I'm looking forward to more of your work.

[Olem]

Jonathan - thanks a lot for your positive comments!

Stan - Thank you very much. But I have to disagree - There are a lot of really great singers here who can do amazing things that I simply can't do.

You think about the rasp thing, Geno? Maybe so, but you have IT, Geno. You have a tone and timbre that is absolutely perfect suited for melodic rock. Your voice is perfect for singing AOR music, it´s great also for symphonic rock like this and ballad Dream Theater songs. When you master the rasp thing totally you will sound great in symphonic metal acts like Symphony X and more aggressive Dream Theater songs if that is what appeals to you.

I would like to put it like this: I haven´t heard anyone sounded better than you in melodic rock songs like Journey or Kansas and there are alot of contributions on this forum. If your writing skills are near that skill and/or if you meet the right musicians you could be a big name in the melodic rock business.

[gno]

Chavie - Thanks a lot for your positive comments. I really like your stuff too. Thanks for turning me on to Neal Morse - never knew about him before. That guitarist is incredible.

Olem - Thank you very much. I appreciate all your comments. You are right about the AOR stuff (I actually had to look up the term!) - that's what I grew up with and I guess I fit in pretty much with that style. I've learned a ton from all the great people on this forum.