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Post by Ratqueen on Mar 5, 2022 9:59:57 GMT -5
I'm feeling emboldened and uploaded another one of my songs! This one takes quite a few twists and turns until the end, and features a guitar solo by my partner John, as well as vocals (performed by John), and background vocals in the second part (by me. My sister said she couldn't hear it -- maybe that's because it's very synchronized with John's singing, I don't know. She doesn't like metal though, so maybe she listened to it with her fingers in her ears). * I now highlighted the parts I sing along with John in purple.
Like the other one, it was originally written on a soundtracker a while back, but this one's guitars and bass were re-recorded with real instruments (played by John). The drums are still just me on the soundtracker. This was essentially a salvage operation. We lost the 24-track master when our basement flooded (years ago) and this temporary stereo mixdown was all we had left to work with. We fixed it up as best we could, but we would probably have redone the vocals in the first part if that had been possible without starting over. We hope someday we can find the time to record the whole thing again from scratch to get that perfect mix.
Evolution for a Resolution (Lyrics by John)
Now can we get to the heart of the matter You can expand your mind Then we see if we can work together We can redeem mankind Mankind! Try any maker Find a reason to be Signs Follow one or the other, or choose to stay behind
Race of rats. Right the wrongs of preying cats Stand. Defend. Look within, you will begin
Can you free your mind, can you see your mind, brother? Can you see your mind, can you free your mind, sister? Take a piece of mine and I think you'll find we will be just fine Give the greed a rest, put it to the test, people Take a look around at the world we live in This is all we have, nurture what you're given
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Post by Thor on Mar 6, 2022 13:06:39 GMT -5
Wow you and John are so talented! I'm impressed. That "heavy metal voice work" (proper name?) sounds hard to achieve with vocal chords (might even be painful to try to get that deep, yelling! I'm impressed as heck).
I could hear you in the second part! Really cool :)
Was this recording older? Do you ever plan on making more recent recordings again? I'm always impressed by music. We have an electric guitar in our bedroom that we haven't touched in years but now I wanna sing/play it again after hearing this haha (I don't do a heavy metal voice 😛)
(hah the length if 4:20 😂)
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Post by lobb on Mar 6, 2022 14:25:13 GMT -5
I'm sorry you lost the masters, that sucks! I'm not sure I could hear you... I THINK there were bits where I did. I'll have to listen again with my headphones, maybe that'll make it clearer! I'm not a huge fan of metal with male vocals but really great job on this. I'm still amazed you composed this. John's voice sounds really suitable for metal!
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Post by Ratqueen on Mar 6, 2022 16:47:26 GMT -5
Wow you and John are so talented! Thank youuu! John doesn't normally sing like that (he's more progressive hard rock style, I'm more metal), but he can pretty much sing any way he wants to. He used to be in a King Diamond cover band (I hate that type of vocals), and he can also do a Type-O Netagive style of voice (which I also dislike, haha), and anything in between. It was indeed a little rough on his vocal cords cause he hadn't sung like this for quite a while. He surprised himself though, I think, lol. This is an example of how he usually sings: johnboyd1.bandcamp.com/track/october-darkness(for those who dislike metal, go ahead, nothing to fear here! haha It's a rather mellow song, you might actually like it). Yes, it was older. We tried to redo one part of the vocals we didn't like, but that was super hard to edit a stereo mix (all instruments and voice already mixed together, impossible to EQ each of them separately). That's why the sound quality is a bit uneven. I was very bothered about it, cause I think we can't hear the guitar riff well enough in the first vocal parts, but that's all we could do with this recording. We would love to record it again from scratch -- John's brother is a drummer, so maybe he would even play real drums on it for us -- but that's so much work, and I'm such a perfectionist, I always think it's not good enough (which drives John crazy, lol). So you have tried before? I would LOVE to know how to play the guitar!! John wanted to teach me, and I had started a little bit on the bass, but even that seems so hard. I told John I didn't think I could make my hands do two different things at once, and then he mentioned that I touch-type like a machine gun, so yeah, haha So, about that, funny story: the song was originally 4 minutes and 21 seconds, and I edited out 1 second of silence at the end. Meanwhile, John came to me chuckling the other day, saying he was going to post the link on his FB at 4:20 PM... There was no reaction from me, cause I had no idea what he meant by that. That's when I told him that the song was actually 4 minutes and 20 seconds, which he didn't know yet, and he found that hilarious. He had to explain to me why
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Post by Ratqueen on Mar 6, 2022 17:04:12 GMT -5
I'm not sure I could hear you... I THINK there were bits where I did. I'll have to listen again with my headphones, maybe that'll make it clearer! I think a reason some may not hear it (besides the actual speakers/headphones) is because it's kind of unexpected, and we sing those lines exactly together, both voices at about the same volume, so it's not really "in your face", so to speak. I m going to highlight the lines I sing along with John in purple -- maybe you'll be able to hear it if you expect it Thank you!! I know we would have played with those vocals a bit more if we'd had the opportunity, especially the vocals in the first part of the song, cause they're not EQ'd properly (and neither are the guitars, bass, drums in that part -- drives me crazy). If you listen to a bit of that song by John that I linked above, in my reply to Thor, you won't believe that's the same person singing, haha.
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Post by lobb on Mar 8, 2022 14:14:40 GMT -5
Very cool! I'll give the song another listen later and see if I can hear your vocals now. Same with the other song. That's awesome that John can pull of different vocals styles
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Post by Thor on Mar 8, 2022 22:17:19 GMT -5
John doesn't normally sing like that (he's more progressive hard rock style, I'm more metal), but he can pretty much sing any way he wants to. He used to be in a King Diamond cover band (I hate that type of vocals), and he can also do a Type-O Netagive style of voice (which I also dislike, haha), and anything in between. It was indeed a little rough on his vocal cords cause he hadn't sung like this for quite a while. He surprised himself though, I think, lol. This is an example of how he usually sings: johnboyd1.bandcamp.com/track/october-darkness(for those who dislike metal, go ahead, nothing to fear here! haha It's a rather mellow song, you might actually like it). Wow! My partner and I listened to this song and we both loved it. Very talented!! I also showed him the song for this post and he was impressed too :) Yes, it was older. We tried to redo one part of the vocals we didn't like, but that was super hard to edit a stereo mix (all instruments and voice already mixed together, impossible to EQ each of them separately). That's why the sound quality is a bit uneven. I was very bothered about it, cause I think we can't hear the guitar riff well enough in the first vocal parts, but that's all we could do with this recording. We would love to record it again from scratch -- John's brother is a drummer, so maybe he would even play real drums on it for us -- but that's so much work, and I'm such a perfectionist, I always think it's not good enough (which drives John crazy, lol). You did good with what you had :) I'm glad it saw the light of day instead of waiting for you to be a perfectionist about it :P sometimes it's just better to show and then later you can do something even better :) You could always schedule one day to do that (if you have the time!) Sounds like a fun project :D So you have tried before? I would LOVE to know how to play the guitar!! John wanted to teach me, and I had started a little bit on the bass, but even that seems so hard. I told John I didn't think I could make my hands do two different things at once, and then he mentioned that I touch-type like a machine gun, so yeah, haha I have never played... but my partner does. You could try to learn :D So, about that, funny story: the song was originally 4 minutes and 21 seconds, and I edited out 1 second of silence at the end. Meanwhile, John came to me chuckling the other day, saying he was going to post the link on his FB at 4:20 PM... There was no reaction from me, cause I had no idea what he meant by that. That's when I told him that the song was actually 4 minutes and 20 seconds, which he didn't know yet, and he found that hilarious. He had to explain to me why Wahahaha I'm glad you were enlightened :P If you listen to a bit of that song by John that I linked above, in my reply to Thor, you won't believe that's the same person singing, haha. I'm impressed it's the same person!
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Post by Ratqueen on Mar 9, 2022 21:57:57 GMT -5
Wow! My partner and I listened to this song and we both loved it. Very talented!! I also showed him the song for this post and he was impressed too Thank you! John will be so pleased to hear that! And I'm glad Jesus liked my song too! Yeah, better that than nothing, or another 10 years from now. Quite an undertaking to redo from scratch though (especially since we no longer have a "proper" studio space), but maybe someday.
I might try bass again. John recently bought a 5-string bass that I find very enticing (I love very low, heavy bass sound -- I can't reproduce that well enough on the soundtracker. My music could really use that 5-string bass!!)
Anyway, lobb and Thor , thank you both for taking the time to listen and comment. I appreciate it very much!! <3 PS: Did you quote all this with one of your nifty little home-made utilities? Cause I need that, lol!
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Post by Thor on Mar 9, 2022 22:18:22 GMT -5
PS: Did you quote all this with one of your nifty little home-made utilities? Cause I need that, lol! Haha I just use the BBCode to help me but I had that tab open on my laptop for days as I was writing that reply hahahaha! Also <3 <3 <3
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