Homeward Bound - Simon & Garfunkel

[ronws]

Another collaboration between MDEW and myself. We couldn't decide which version to post, so we posted both. The first one is with MDEW singing lead and me backing-up.

The second one is me singing lead with MDEW finding a high harmony line that I had not thought of.

Homeward Bound - S&G

MDEW lead, ronws harmony

https://app.box.com/s/7p2qbtykyuza1681syow

Homeward Bound - S&G

ronws lead, MDEW harmony

https://app.box.com/s/2eol9mc2ac5l7hu27xwc

[MDEW]

Thanks Ronws for agreeing to sing this with me. I must admit that I played with this harmony for a good while.

I wanted to hear what the two of us sounded like together and think we blend well in our singing.

[Adolph Namlik]

I think the two of you sound really good together as well. Great Job !!! :cool:

[Bay_Harbor_Butcher]

That went really well. I liked it.

[slstone]

Mixing skills are improving. Very clean recording.

[ronws]

Thanks, so much, Scott. You could have said I sang like warmed-over doggy doo-doo but just having you notice an improvement in my recording and editing skills is big enough.

MDEW recorded the main guitar part and I could do no better and his had the right meter to it. I played the guitar solo in the middle.

And ya'll would be so proud of me. We hatched this idea some time ago and didn't just rush willy-nilly to post. Tried a few different recordings. As best we could manage our recording and editing process through emails, living several states apart.

[David]

i liked both versions - mixing and singing.. good job Ron and MDEW

[MDEW]

Thanks guys. We were not exactly using state of the art equipment. Thanks for not busting our chops for that. I separated my guitar and vocals by sending guitar on Left channel and vocals on right in a regular MP3 format. Ronws added his vocals to that.

I don't know how Ronws managed his part but when I recieved his Guitar and lead vocals I had to transfer the file to my recorder through the headphone jack of my computer and into a new track on my recorder. Then transferred the results of my added harmony back to the computer and into Audacity to convert it back to MP3 to resend it to Ronws. Each of these steps make odd changes to the sound. It is a wonder that it didn't just sound like mush by the time it got to your ears.

So the Kudos go to Ron for his mixing.

[Xamedhi]

Hey! I liked it pretty much !

The one I liked the most is the one where Ron sings lead. That high harmony you are singing MDEW sounds very nice. To me it gives a very different feel than the other version.

Ron has a more "melancholy" feel when he sings lead on this, and it sounds cool contrasted with the thinner, more piercing/metallic sound of MDEW.

Try to be more spot on with the phrasing next time, Ron. It sounds kind of blurry sometimes and in some parts you kind of.. enter or go to the next phrase kind of "displaced"(?).

And I know you don't have as much control over your lower range compared to your high range, but I also know you can do better in the lowest notes if you keep practicing, mate :D

[Bay_Harbor_Butcher]

i liked both versions - mixing and singing.. good job Ron and MDEW

Oh I thought you said you weren't coming back? :rolleyes:

[MDEW]

Hey! I liked it pretty much !

The one I liked the most is the one where Ron sings lead. That high harmony you are singing MDEW sounds very nice. To me it gives a very different feel than the other version.

Ron has a more "melancholy" feel when he sings lead on this, and it sounds cool contrasted with the thinner, more piercing/metallic sound of MDEW.

Try to be more spot on with the phrasing next time, Ron. It sounds kind of blurry sometimes and in some parts you kind of.. enter or go to the next phrase kind of "displaced"(?).

And I know you don't have as much control over your lower range compared to your high range, but I also know you can do better in the lowest notes if you keep practicing, mate

It is kind of ironic that I asked Ronws to join me on this because I wanted to hear his piercing high notes to my somewhat muddy lows.

Ronws has warm full low notes. No, it does not have that baritone sound but it gives him a soft full sound that is very inviting. It works well with this type of song.

[Xamedhi]

It works very well, MDEW

I really liked it.

What happens to me is that whenever I listen to someone's voice I make a visual image of it. I picture something like this ==== . A "stream" of voice of some sort, and depending on the different aspects of that voice I see for example, the "limits" of that voice band. The lines that define the ends.

Also I can "see" the metallic quality of the voice in that image, or the depth.

For example, Ron's voice, I see it similar to mine. It's kind of a medium sized band, blurry in the "lines that define the ends", it's more mellow, and is not very metallic. I see it as a kind of "cloud" with not much "tempest" going on. Not a lot of "noise" ( as in no signal TV noise, white noise ).

Your voice, in contrast, is a thinner band ( smaller voice ), but has a more metallic feel than Ron's. You can clearly hear those "grains" making noise. Your "ends" are more defined, it's a "sharper" voice.

[David]

I think you guys would do an outstanding job on a tune Hunger Strike by Temple of the Dog..

Would love to hear it, if you decide to give it a whirl.

[wabba_treads]

I enjoyed that guys! You two have some chemistry and good blending going on. You guys would sound awesome with "Mrs. Robinson" next :P

[Ed M]

One of my Favorites! Very nice job, guys!:cool: I must admit that by far, I enjoyed the version where Ron sang lead and MDEW did the harmony! It even seemed like a better mix to me and the harmony was really good! Ron I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the soft relaxing tone of your voice, I think you picked the perfect song for you! Now who did the guitar parts? I really enjoyed that too! All I know is after hearing this, I'd love to sing The Boxer with you guys, another one of my Favorites.:cool::cool:

[slstone]

Thanks, so much, Scott. You could have said I sang like warmed-over doggy doo-doo but just having you notice an improvement in my recording and editing skills is big enough.

MDEW recorded the main guitar part and I could do no better and his had the right meter to it. I played the guitar solo in the middle.

And ya'll would be so proud of me. We hatched this idea some time ago and didn't just rush willy-nilly to post. Tried a few different recordings. As best we could manage our recording and editing process through emails, living several states apart.

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...

[ronws]

Temple of the Dog, now there's a name I have not heard in a while. Hmmm .....

I used my Fame CM-1 Studio mic on a stand with a pop screen, all gifts to me by fellow member Akarwd (Thanos) from some years ago. What is better than I used to have is the m-audio m-track usb interface. Live monitor during recording, which reduces most of the latency. I can adjust balance between backing track and my live vocals so that I don't have to push the voice to be heard.

Using Audacity but with better wisdom about it. Namely, first thing, adjusting the mic input level in that DAW to about 60 - 65 percent. Aiming for a brief bump into yellow on the high notes. "burned" a track fiddling with that. As in, finally getting it through my thick head that in digital input, you want to aim no higher than - 3 dB. It is far easier and preferrable to raise volume on a quiet and clean track than to beat my head against a brick wall to fix clipping and distortion on a crappy input scheme.

Same mic for the guitar solo. I am particularly proud of the errant chair-squeak and my fingers squeaking down the frets.

I like the way we sounded together and I was honored that MDEW would want to collab with me. It's not always easy for singers to relinquish lead to each other. And a darn sight more difficult to actually match tempo and phrasing.

As for more S&G songs, the one that keeps running through my head is "The Boxer."

[ronws]

And Xam, I totally get what you mean about sound and where it is useful or needed. That is the key question in arranging, whether a cover or original material. Because even though I have one voice, that one voice sounds different at different parts of the range and in different contexts.

And the same with MDEW. We both can sing the lead, we both can sing a harmony part. So, for example, in choosing songs for an album, a choice would be, which voice sounds best where and how should we edit this to make it all sound "together?" Do we have the right key for the voices. I have sometimes lowered a key based on MDEW's suggestion and it made for a more popular recording because of how the lower key sounds in my voice.

So, yeah, technical execution of the song is one thing, even technical aspects of recording. But how it sounds and if it fits together, that is another.

[slstone]

Using Audacity but with better wisdom about it. Namely, first thing, adjusting the mic input level in that DAW to about 60 - 65 percent. Aiming for a brief bump into yellow on the high notes. "burned" a track fiddling with that. As in, finally getting it through my thick head that in digital input, you want to aim no higher than - 3 dB. It is far easier and preferrable to raise volume on a quiet and clean track than to beat my head against a brick wall to fix clipping and distortion on a crappy input scheme.

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.

[MDEW]

It would have been easier if I could have recorded on Audacity with seperate tracks and sent Ronws the Project file. We could have added tracks as needed and a few alternate leads/harmonies to choose from. He would have had an easier time of mixing also. One bad thing aboout that is Good enough is never good enough and one 3 minute song can end up taking months.

I do not have an audio interface or a microphone that will connect to the computer and still give a decent sound so I could not use the computer for the initial recording.

I guess it is time to invest some money into this little hobby of mine.

[Ed M]

You could try just spending a couple of bucks on an quarter-inch-to-eighth-inch adapter

that goes over a quarter inch plug that a lot of Professional mics have if your mic has that configuration. Worked Great for me! Or if you have an XLR Mic you could try reading this and get yourself a different kind of adapter. My PC used to have this horrible feedback sound to it when I recorded and when I spent 100 bucks on another sound card, that took care of the problem, and the bonus was, I got this cool black box that Professional mics can plug into as well as headphones and there are volume controls for both, and that's what I've been using and I'm pretty happy with it! :cool:

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7591286_microphone-computer-adapters.html

[ronws]

The condenser mic I have was a gift but I looked it up, from the Music Store (Germany.) 23 dollars and some change, not including shipping. m-audio interface, which I got a few months ago, about $100 at Best Buy. They also have the Scarlett 2in2, which is highly recommended and about $50 more. But I find the m-audio is good for what I am doing. I also spent about another 12 or 15 dollars to get an xlr-to-xlr cable to avoid any noisy line issues. You don't have to get one, you could get xlr-to-phono, which is also good. I had the extra cash to splurge.

As for using Audacity, that was more about me pulling my head out of the dark region where I sit and finally enjoying the light of simple understanding.

[slstone]

It would have been easier if I could have recorded on Audacity with seperate tracks and sent Ronws the Project file. We could have added tracks as needed and a few alternate leads/harmonies to choose from. He would have had an easier time of mixing also. One bad thing aboout that is Good enough is never good enough and one 3 minute song can end up taking months.

I do not have an audio interface or a microphone that will connect to the computer and still give a decent sound so I could not use the computer for the initial recording.

I guess it is time to invest some money into this little hobby of mine.

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.

[MDEW]

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 think it depends on Why you are recording or Why you are posting the song in the first place.

If you are recording for public sale then I agree whole heartedly. If you are posting to impress then yes putting alot of effort into it is expected.

If you are recording for fun, once you pass the point of fun and enter into work you are defeating the purpose.

If you are asking for critique on vocals or suggestions for a songs direction then there is no need to over work the song. Lay down enough tracks to get the basic Idea and feel of the song across.

I can understand taking 5 years to complete your own album. Especially when you are playing most, if not all, the parts yourself. Songs end up rewriting themselves after a while and take on a whole new sound or aspect that you may not have expected.

[David]

I listened to it again.. I really enjoyed your versions guys.. great job.