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This one is for the guys with heart...on this particular forum---Hope you like this Jim....my Rick 12 and a Gibson acoustic frame the vocals, all sung by me.....

An open letter from the deep south....

Very nice. I'm particularly impressed with your natural sounding false setto. It's a difficult sound to pull off without sounding cartoonish about it.
JimK

jimk wrote:Very nice. I'm particularly impressed with your natural sounding false setto. It's a difficult sound to pull off without sounding cartoonish about it.
JimK

Jim, thanks...I appreciate that....coming from a fellow musician that means alot to me....I have been kind of worried about that part....should have had my wife sing it, and maybe i'll re-do it at some point....

btw, fer what it's worth, new version of "Set You Free This Time" coming with harp part replaced by geetar....

harmonica is harder than it looks

vynesmusic wrote:

jimk wrote:Very nice. I'm particularly impressed with your natural sounding false setto. It's a difficult sound to pull off without sounding cartoonish about it.
JimK

Jim, thanks...I appreciate that....coming from a fellow musician that means alot to me....I have been kind of worried about that part....should have had my wife sing it, and maybe i'll re-do it at some point....

Your song doesn't need anything redone. It's very impressive as it is. My only suggestion would be to watch your phrasing when doing those harmonies. Try and synchronize them more and have all voices end each phrase at about the same time. But that's really nitpicking. It's a recording I would be thrilled to have made. I am jealous of the high end of your range. I had it years ago, but it's gone now. If I had your range, I'd be trying some Earth, Wind, and Fire or later Bee Gees. This all assumes that there is no electronic assistance in helping you reach those parts. If there is, please send me the details, so I can do it. Really great job. Tom

Tom, your recordings are the top of the bar...the best....I keep hoping you won't raise that bar any further....

Thanks for listening and commenting.....that is my voice, with a little help from Jim Beam voice gargle .....I actually take a little bottle of Mr. Beam to gigs, and it "doth restore my voice"......I neither recommend this nor am proud of it.....but I was playing clubs 6 nights a week in Chicago, and Mr. Beam was anesthesia for the vocal cords...relaxed them...naturally, I did not actually swallow the JB, strictly GARGLE....

I was inspired by Todd Rundgren, probably the most underrated and incredible musical genius on the planet....he tackles falsetto bg vocal tracks and nails 'em......everybody in the RFF would enjoy listening to Rundgren cds and studying his songwriting and arranging. He plays drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, sax, he has done his own violin quartet......

His first band was Nazz, and he used a Rick 12 on a great song called "Forget All about It".......thanks again for the kind words....

vynesmusic wrote:....Todd Rundgren, probably the most underrated and incredible musical genius on the planet....

+1000000000000

vynesmusic wrote:Tom, your recordings are the top of the bar...the best....I keep hoping you won't raise that bar any further....

Thanks for listening and commenting.....that is my voice, with a little help from Jim Beam voice gargle .....I actually take a little bottle of Mr. Beam to gigs, and it "doth restore my voice"......I neither recommend this nor am proud of it.....but I was playing clubs 6 nights a week in Chicago, and Mr. Beam was anesthesia for the vocal cords...relaxed them...naturally, I did not actually swallow the JB, strictly GARGLE....

I was inspired by Todd Rundgren, probably the most underrated and incredible musical genius on the planet....he tackles falsetto bg vocal tracks and nails 'em......everybody in the RFF would enjoy listening to Rundgren cds and studying his songwriting and arranging. He plays drums, guitar, bass, keyboards, sax, he has done his own violin quartet......

His first band was Nazz, and he used a Rick 12 on a great song called "Forget All about It".......thanks again for the kind words....

Hi Gee, Thanks for the compliment, but this is your song we're talking about. Once again, I really like your recording and sure wish I could still hit those high notes. That would open the door for a wider variety of song choices. Hmmm.... Jim Beam, huh?
As far as Todd goes, I've been a fan of his since the first Nazz album was released. One of my early bands did "Open My Eyes", back in the 60's. I have the Nazz version of "Hello, It's Me" on my Maybe Someday list of stuff to record. I wish I could do something from the Nearly Human CD. It's one of my favorites. Todd is the reason I bought my first Teac 3340 4 track and started layering songs. He did most of Something/Anything by himself and once I found that out, I wanted to try that, too. McCartney did the same thing. The thing I like most about doing the parts yourself is that there are no fights and everyone in the band shows up at the same time (and sober). The JB may change that, though. Very nice job on your song. Tom

beatbyrd wrote:...[Todd Rundgren] did most of Something/Anything by himself and once I found that out, I wanted to try that, too. McCartney did the same thing. The thing I like most about doing the parts yourself is that there are no fights and everyone in the band shows up at the same time (and sober).

That was my inspiration to tackle "This Old Coat" on the RRF CD vol. III by myself. Add to that that none of the musicians that I would have liked to have used were available at mutually convenient times.
JimK

beatbyrd wrote:Todd is the reason I bought my first Teac 3340 4 track and started layering songs. He did most of Something/Anything by himself and once I found that out, I wanted to try that, too. McCartney did the same thing. The thing I like most about doing the parts yourself is that there are no fights and everyone in the band shows up at the same time (and sober). The JB may change that, though. Very nice job on your song. Tom

Like I say, not trying be an ENABLER but that was funny....yeah...no fights, no egos besides my own shameless self-promotion ---bands are tough propositions....

I SHOULDA bought the Teac 3340, but I bought a Dokorder 7140.....nice recording, lousy sync-playback......those were the days, eh? "Something/Anything" is my main cd, along with Mary-Chapin Carpenter and Jimmy Webb cds.....but "Something/Anything" was a masterpiece...blew me away...check out "Couldn't I Just Tell You"....Sheeeesh room smasher......

Got a question for ya, Tom, ----don't hafta reveal recording secrets if ya don't want to, but on your recordings, how do you do the drums on your tracks?

Jim said, "Add to that that none of the musicians that I would have liked to have used were available at mutually convenient times."

Boy...do I get THAT.....the worse part though, was trying to get them to play what i heard in my head.......after all, I WROTE THE SONG....

If ya weren't famous, some cats did not respect you enuf to do the bass or drums the way you heard it......

Todd gave us a way out......for me, I taught myself drums....Todd said in an interview that he recorded the drums FIRST......you concentrate on the song, and visualize playing the drums in a band live.....you hafta know the song inside and out....and there are times when you feel like you get a good track, and you realize you left out a verse.....

After the drums, I record a guitar part, chords only....may be a drop-track later...then I get my old '64 Fender P-Bass out....then I record all the bg and harmony vocals, leaving enuf tracks for lead guitar and other guitars, and another track for lead vocal....

it keeps me off the street and outta jail......though my wife is tired of all the equipment piled in to Studio Z....not 'zactly a showpiece room....door's usually closed when peeps come over socially.....

vynesmusic wrote:I SHOULDA bought the Teac 3340, but I bought a Dokorder 7140.....nice recording, lousy sync-playback......those were the days, eh? "Something/Anything" is my main cd, along with Mary-Chapin Carpenter and Jimmy Webb cds.....but "Something/Anything" was a masterpiece...blew me away...check out "Couldn't I Just Tell You"....Sheeeesh room smasher......
Got a question for ya, Tom, ----don't hafta reveal recording secrets if ya don't want to, but on your recordings, how do you do the drums on your tracks?

The thing I don't like about Todd is his obsession with change. He would make an album that was pure genius and then follow it up with a very different, mediocre one, feeling that he was somehow selling out artistically if he didn't keep moving. I really have to pick and choose what songs/albums I like. This is the same obsession that crushed Brian Wilson. Apparently, it doesn't bother TR. When he is in the proper frame of mind, he can crank out intelligent, well-crafted, beautiful music that ranks with the best of them. Then, there are albums of his that I consider unlistenable. I guess that's the price you pay with a wizard/a true star.

Recording secrets are for megalomaniac superstars and I'm not a member of that club. My drums are a real source of annoyance for me and I'm looking for a way to improve them. So far, I don't use computers at all, but I'm thinking of doing drum tracks on a PC, maybe with BFD 2 (which I don't have). Then, I'll load them to my recorder. Currently, my drums are done one drum at a time, using a Roland Juno-G keyboard. First, a bass drum track, next snare, then toms, then hi-hat, then cymbals, tambourine, woodblock, etc. Each 'drum' gets its own track. This means a bunch of problems:
1. Drums take forever to do
2. I burn a lot of tracks on drums.
3. Rolls mean that I have to coordinate snare/toms/cymbals so that I leave the proper space for each one. Sometimes, in my drum tracks, it's obvious that the drums aren't real because a drummer would need more than 2 hands to play them. This happens when I haven't thought everything out completely (due to time constraints or impatience). You'll hear stuff like a steady ride cymbal playing in the middle of a roll; stuff like that.
4. Rolls are very hard to do using keys. Those springs will only bring the key back up so fast...
5. I can't do stuff like brushes on snare, buzz rolls, tricky hi-hat stuff, mallet cymbal rolls, etc.

Hope this helps. Tom

beatbyrd wrote:

vynesmusic wrote:The thing I don't like about Todd is his obsession with change. He would make an album that was pure genius and then follow it up with a very different, mediocre one, feeling that he was somehow selling out artistically if he didn't keep moving. I really have to pick and choose what songs/albums I like. This is the same obsession that crushed Brian Wilson. Apparently, it doesn't bother TR. When he is in the proper frame of mind, he can crank out intelligent, well-crafted, beautiful music that ranks with the best of them. Then, there are albums of his that I consider unlistenable. I guess that's the price you pay with a wizard/a true star.

Recording secrets are for megalomaniac superstars and I'm not a member of that club. My drums are a real source of annoyance for me and I'm looking for a way to improve them. So far, I don't use computers at all, but I'm thinking of doing drum tracks on a PC, maybe with BFD 2 (which I don't have). Then, I'll load them to my recorder. Currently, my drums are done one drum at a time, using a Roland Juno-G keyboard. First, a bass drum track, next snare, then toms, then hi-hat, then cymbals, tambourine, woodblock, etc. Each 'drum' gets its own track. This means a bunch of problems:
Tom

Actually, I quite agree about Todd......even on "Something/Anything??" that "viking" song left me a little cold....and "P*ss Aaron".....it was interesting that you mentioned Brian Wilson....he really went off the deep end many times....both of those guys make up for questionable tracks with tracks like "Caroline, No' or "Compassion"......or any of their other "goose-bump" tunes......but I never really got the point of "Smile".......

I have used a Zoom drum machine on a few tracks...playing it with my fingers......not fun.....from what you just described for your drum parts, the results are terrific considering the complications....it is so much easier for me to play a set.......the hard work is getting a good sound from the drums.

In the end, I have 4 sets of backing tracks with my lead guitar dropped, and my lead vocal and wife's vocal dropped. we can do a pretty effective imitation of a live band. I mix the drums and bass dry and punchy, and it apparently is danceable. (I wouldn't know)...I get to play my Rick on Beatles and Byrds, and the wife sounds like Linda Rondstadt, so it CAN be fun, when we do it which is maybe once a year.....I know it's basically Kareoke , but at least they are MY backing tracks.

vynesmusic wrote: Actually, I quite agree about Todd......even on "Something/Anything??" that "viking" song left me a little cold....and "P*ss Aaron".

it is so much easier for me to play a set.......the hard work is getting a good sound from the drums.

In the end, I have 4 sets of backing tracks with my lead guitar dropped, and my lead vocal and wife's vocal dropped. we can do a pretty effective imitation of a live band. I mix the drums and bass dry and punchy, and it apparently is danceable. (I wouldn't know)...I get to play my Rick on Beatles and Byrds, and the wife sounds like Linda Rondstadt, so it CAN be fun, when we do it which is maybe once a year.....I know it's basically Kareoke , but at least they are MY backing tracks.

Todd has lots of terrible songs, but enough brilliant ones to keep me interested.

The one good thing about the way I do my drums is the flexibility during mixing; in terms of isolation, panning, EQ, and levels on each 'drum'. Other than that one benefit, I dread doing the drum tracks. Some of the complex fills have come out better than expected, which is always a nice surprise those rare times that it occurs.

I did one 'live' gig where I sang to my background tracks (on a CD). I slapped some songs together very quickly (lots of flaws), and performed it for the people I work with. It's on my website ("Oldies Show" page). If I had a wife who was a musician, I'd probably be doing the same thing you are. Sounds like a lot of fun. Tom

beatbyrd wrote:I did one 'live' gig where I sang to my background tracks (on a CD). I slapped some songs together very quickly (lots of flaws), and performed it for the people I work with. It's on my website ("Oldies Show" page). If I had a wife who was a musician, I'd probably be doing the same thing you are. Sounds like a lot of fun. Tom

Strangely...it can be fun....if you can suspend disbelief for a few sets.....I've done a total of 3 gigs with bg tracks, and during each one, I had an "OH S*IT" moment where the kareoke spectre kicked me in the slats ......it is a very odd way to make music publically, but sometimes that's all we got.....and the general public just don' care..

It's the dang MITAs that'll getcha....Musicians In The Audience

..........oh, BTW....I actually saw Rundgren at the Arie Crown Theatre in Chicago, and he played an hour set using the bg tracks from "Something/Anything"....just him, a Fender Twin and his SG onstage.....very lame......that concert cost WAY too much for a kareoke presentation, even if the bg tracks were all Todd.....