Over the Hills and Far Away (Featuring Ronws)

[KillerKu]

So I started this cover awhile back. Got the guitar track laid down, started singing and was taking it into a kind of wistful direction.

 

I had kind of an idea of where I wanted it to go but it felt like something was missing. Maybe my voice just doesn't sound as rad on D5s as Robert Plant, but I knew I wanted something different.

 

So I hit up Ronws and asked if he wanted to sing some lead on this thing. From that point I really started liking this track and ultimately we ended up trading off leads. I added backing vocals, bass, drums, dual harmonizing guitar solos, and a new bridge. Went to town on this one.

 

What do you guys think?

 

[ronws]

It was fun trading back and forth. I tried some bass and drums and fouled up completely, which is okay because I am not really a bass or drum player and I really liked what Killer did with that. He did all the mixing. All I did was make a non-distorted clean track. Which took a little bit longer.

 

I sang it 4 times in a row, the last time, finally getting my gain stage right. I was singing fairly loud and so I sang off axis about 30 degrees. So, to echo Felipe, it helps that I already know the song. You never know when you have to track more than once, so, have the song comfortable in your voice.

 

So, Killer did all the work. Any credit goes to him.

 

I recorded a slightly different version, myself, using my Zoom portable at my mother-in-law's house this past weekend and sometimes, a room makes a difference.   I may post that at sometime with the warning that is about as live as one can get.

[MDEW]

   Is that Killer singing the first verse? I can tell that Ron is singing the High part later in the song.

  I like what you did with the double lead on the guitar.

[KillerKu]

   Is that Killer singing the first verse? I can tell that Ron is singing the High part later in the song.

  I like what you did with the double lead on the guitar.

 

We traded off throughout a lot of the leads even in some high sections. If you're interested the lead structure goes like this:

 

Killer   Ronws

 

Hey Lady

 

Got the love I need

 

Or   Maybe

 

More than enough

Oh Darlin Darlin Darlin

 

Walk awhile with me

 

Oh you got so much

Aaahhh

Aaahhhh

Aahhhhhh

 

Many Have I loved

Many Times Been Bitten

Many Times I've gazed

along the open road

 

Many Times I've Lied

Many Times I've Listened

You see that... (mic hand off)

 

Many Times I've Wondered

How Much there is to know

 

Many Dreams come true

And Some have sliver Linings

you see that... (mic hand off)

 

I live for my dreams

And a Pocket full of Gold

 

Gold

Of gold

A pocket full of gold

Pocket full of gold

 

Mellow is the man

who knows what he's been missing

Guessing bout a thing,

Really ought to know

You know you should be knowing

 

I had backing vocals in many sections and used a few of Ronws vocals as backing in a few sections too.

[MDEW]

   That is what was getting me confused. I would hear Ron sing a word or two and then hear you finish or vice versa.

It is my own opinion but it seems that something in the vocal harmonies is causing a distraction. They are low enough in the mix that you really cannot hear them but I sense some kind of dissonance.

    Overall I like what you did with this.

[KillerKu]

   That is what was getting me confused. I would hear Ron sing a word or two and then hear you finish or vice versa.

It is my own opinion but it seems that something in the vocal harmonies is causing a distraction. They are low enough in the mix that you really cannot hear them but I sense some kind of dissonance.

    Overall I like what you did with this.

 

Interesting. I had one take of Ronws vocals to work with and I recall at least one harmony sounding iffy when I swapped our leads due to slight variation (think he was a tad sharp, and I was a tad flat) so you may be right.

 

I recalled Ronws mentioning he liked quieter vocal harmonies, so I tried to keep them somewhat subdued. It may not be pitch as much as mixing as well. There can be frequency battle between multiple voices occupying the same space with formants stepping upon each ohter. I tried to EQ the voices so they would not do this by giving them 'space', but I'm not an expert at this yet, which is part of why I'm working on projects like this that will challenge me.

[MDEW]

Interesting. I had one take of Ronws vocals to work with and I recall at least one harmony sounding iffy when I swapped our leads due to slight variation (think he was a tad sharp, and I was a tad flat) so you may be right.

 

I recalled Ronws mentioning he liked quieter vocal harmonies, so I tried to keep them somewhat subdued. It may not be pitch as much as mixing as well. There can be frequency battle between multiple voices occupying the same space with formants stepping upon each ohter. I tried to EQ the voices so they would not do this by giving them 'space', but I'm not an expert at this yet, which is part of why I'm working on projects like this that will challenge me.

    I think the formant battle is the key. You and Ronws utilise different vowel mod stratagies. Vowels are defined by formants. Singing harmony is a skill unto itself. Pretty much like another post you made about pitch and Barbershop quartets using math based harmonies. When two voices come together in harmony you can usually hear the third harmony from the mixing of the two.

[Bono]

sounds awesome!

[aravindmadis]

Sounds cool. Ron... What a unique voice yours is :)

[ronws]

Thanks bono and aravind. I really liked Killer's tone on the low stuff and how he could also sing quiet on the high end.

[Pekka]

I like that high voice.

[Steven Brown]

Ah, what a great band to cover.  Great job guys, I really enjoyed it.

Steve

[gno]

Cool rendition.  Both vocals nailed the spirit of the original.  I like the way the acoustic sounds.  Drums are nice and punchy.  That was enjoyable to listen to.

[KillerKu]

That's quite the collaboration there guys - nice work!

 

Glad you got a kick out of it, Bzean. I've been thinking we might collaborate some time too. You've got a super unique voice too.

 

 

    I think the formant battle is the key. You and Ronws utilise different vowel mod stratagies. Vowels are defined by formants. Singing harmony is a skill unto itself. Pretty much like another post you made about pitch and Barbershop quartets using math based harmonies. When two voices come together in harmony you can usually hear the third harmony from the mixing of the two.

 

I think it's like 80/20. I turned up the backing harmonies and found a flub here and there on my part. It's tough to sing harmonies, cause you can't sing them full volume, as you'll get too many overtones, but when you're quiet you can't hear yourself in the context of the music very well so there were a few scoops and wobbles, but not during the majority.

 

sounds awesome!

 

Glad you liked it, Bono!

 

 

Sounds cool. Ron... What a unique voice yours is

 

Yeah, I managed to mix him a little bit too. I read a bit of advice, on how it's cool to 'round out singers' timbre. So I tried to keep a lot of the unique vibe but cut a few harsher frequencies.

 

Thanks bono and aravind. I really liked Killer's tone on the low stuff and how he could also sing quiet on the high end.

 

I tried numerous way of singing, this was the only way I could sing it with emotion. I actually threw a Geoff Tate impression in there and used it as a harmony on the final version. It was the best compromise I could get. It sounded better and felt more authentic with some fragility.

 

I like that high voice.

 

Cool!

 

Ah, what a great band to cover.  Great job guys, I really enjoyed it.

Steve

 

Yeah, funny thing is we both know this song on guitar too. The original idea was to possibly have Ronws play some of the guitar too, but it probably would have gotten muddied up unnecessarily.

 

Cool rendition.  Both vocals nailed the spirit of the original.  I like the way the acoustic sounds.  Drums are nice and punchy.  That was enjoyable to listen to.

 

Glad you enjoyed it, Gno. It was a good time, and I learned a fair amount about mixing. Will need to try more projects like this to try to get my skills improved. I'd like them to be up to snuff that if I put out an album,, I can be relatively pleased with it and not regretting it or wanting to remake it all the time.