The Wagtunes Corner

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Here is my review of "Queen for a Day". Perhaps I mentioned earlier that Tom Robinson (Radio BBC DJ and rock star; the first person to play me on the radio) has collaborated with Brian May (of Queen), Elton John (they co-wrote a hit song in England), and Peter Gabriel. Once again I liked the vocoder vocals. Overall, I liked the 'Darkness' song better, because of the melodies, though I do really like the Brian May lead guitar : how did you get that Brian May tone?

[wagtunes]

wagtunes,
Thank you for the reviews! Now your music: "Dark Side" I like the vocoder (I assume) vocals; reminds me of E.L.O. and Devo (a strange duo?) vocoder vocals. Lead guitar playing is good, though the tone sounds a bit muffled. Nice melodies & drum beats. A pleasant song, even if I don't want to give into the Dark side.

Thanks for the listen and the feedback Aaron. Always appreciated.

[wagtunes]

wagtunes,
Here is my review of "Queen for a Day". Perhaps I mentioned earlier that Tom Robinson (Radio BBC DJ and rock star; the first person to play me on the radio) has collaborated with Brian May (of Queen), Elton John (they co-wrote a hit song in England), and Peter Gabriel. Once again I liked the vocoder vocals. Overall, I liked the 'Darkness' song better, because of the melodies, though I do really like the Brian May lead guitar : how did you get that Brian May tone?

The Brian May tone was achieved with the new Brian May Collection in IK Multimedia's Amplitude 4. The sound is truly amazing and one of my best purchases of the year.

[funky lime]

I don't know Queen's work too much, but I can definitely hear the influence. My only complaint really, and I'm not sure if you've addressed this previously as I haven't read through the thread, is that it sounds like you are using a harmonizer plugin as opposed to actually multi-tracking the vocal harmonies. As a result, those bits and flourishes seem like a timid sort of afterthought, rather than a balls-out recreation of the iconic "real thing."

Nonetheless, I admire your prolificacy (is that a word?) and determination. Thanks for sharing with us.

[wagtunes]

I don't know Queen's work too much, but I can definitely hear the influence. My only complaint really, and I'm not sure if you've addressed this previously as I haven't read through the thread, is that it sounds like you are using a harmonizer plugin as opposed to actually multi-tracking the vocal harmonies. As a result, those bits and flourishes seem like a timid sort of afterthought, rather than a balls-out recreation of the iconic "real thing."

Nonetheless, I admire your prolificacy (is that a word?) and determination. Thanks for sharing with us.

As Queen used as many as 100 vocal tracks, yeah, that ain't gonna happen. So yes, I used Antares AVOX. I quickly realized going into this that I wasn't going to ever sound like Queen, at least not vocally. So I did the best I could under the circumstances. But it certainly wasn't an "afterthought."

[funky lime]

I don't know Queen's work too much, but I can definitely hear the influence. My only complaint really, and I'm not sure if you've addressed this previously as I haven't read through the thread, is that it sounds like you are using a harmonizer plugin as opposed to actually multi-tracking the vocal harmonies. As a result, those bits and flourishes seem like a timid sort of afterthought, rather than a balls-out recreation of the iconic "real thing."

Nonetheless, I admire your prolificacy (is that a word?) and determination. Thanks for sharing with us.

As Queen used as many as 100 vocal tracks, yeah, that ain't gonna happen. So yes, I used Antares AVOX. I quickly realized going into this that I wasn't going to ever sound like Queen, at least not vocally. So I did the best I could under the circumstances. But it certainly wasn't an "afterthought."

Perhaps I phrased it wrong. I just meant that the vocal harmony is a lot more "forward" in Queen's music, whereas yours seems to be more in the background.

Not sure why 100 tracks would be needed for a 3 or 4 part vocal harmony, even with double tracking everything for stereo width, unless they were using separate tracks for separate takes, doing a dozen or two takes for each part, and then comping that way. I would think in a DAW, one could get by with a fraction of that track count.

But what do I know, it's not my project. Sorry for commenting.

[wagtunes]

I don't know Queen's work too much, but I can definitely hear the influence. My only complaint really, and I'm not sure if you've addressed this previously as I haven't read through the thread, is that it sounds like you are using a harmonizer plugin as opposed to actually multi-tracking the vocal harmonies. As a result, those bits and flourishes seem like a timid sort of afterthought, rather than a balls-out recreation of the iconic "real thing."

Nonetheless, I admire your prolificacy (is that a word?) and determination. Thanks for sharing with us.

As Queen used as many as 100 vocal tracks, yeah, that ain't gonna happen. So yes, I used Antares AVOX. I quickly realized going into this that I wasn't going to ever sound like Queen, at least not vocally. So I did the best I could under the circumstances. But it certainly wasn't an "afterthought."

Perhaps I phrased it wrong. I just meant that the vocal harmony is a lot more "forward" in Queen's music, whereas yours seems to be more in the background.

Not sure why 100 tracks would be needed for a 3 or 4 part vocal harmony, even with double tracking everything for stereo width, unless they were using separate tracks for separate takes, doing a dozen or two takes for each part, and then comping that way. I would think in a DAW, one could get by with a fraction of that track count.

But what do I know, it's not my project. Sorry for commenting.

Your comments are more than welcome. Just explaining why I didn't do each vocal part separately. There is a video that explains why Queen's vocals sound as they do. It has to do with their vocal harmonization ability and the techniques they used to record which, in places, meant recording one note at a time to get things exactly right. That kind of attention to detail is way beyond my capability or patience level.

[Music Bird]

What are you planning on doing next?

[wagtunes]

What are you planning on doing next?

Nothing special. Just some plain old random tunes of various genres.

[Mushy Mushy]

What are you planning on doing next?

Gotta be King now (ie, Elvis).

[wagtunes]

What are you planning on doing next?

Gotta be King now (ie, Elvis).

The thing with Elvis, and I'm a big fan, is the only thing special about him is his voice. Since I can't sing like Elvis, there is no point in doing an Elvis CD as he's sung songs written by all kinds of writers.

[Mushy Mushy]

What are you planning on doing next?

Gotta be King now (ie, Elvis).

The thing with Elvis, and I'm a big fan, is the only thing special about him is his voice. Since I can't sing like Elvis, there is no point in doing an Elvis CD as he's sung songs written by all kinds of writers.

True.

What about some rock around that era though. I’m thinking Jerry Lee Lewis’ Great Balls of Fire etc.

[wagtunes]

What are you planning on doing next?

Gotta be King now (ie, Elvis).

The thing with Elvis, and I'm a big fan, is the only thing special about him is his voice. Since I can't sing like Elvis, there is no point in doing an Elvis CD as he's sung songs written by all kinds of writers.

True.

What about some rock around that era though. I’m thinking Jerry Lee Lewis’ Great Balls of Fire etc.

Yeah, the problem with that era for me is everything is 3 or 4 chords. Early Rock and Roll was really simple. And then of course the recording quality left a lot to be desired. To emulate that, which would be quite a challenge, would probably end up being more trouble than it's worth especially since, at the end of it all, everybody would just say "That recording sounds like crap."

Just not worth my time.

I was thinking of maybe a British Invasion CD but then I run into the same problem of poor recording quality compared to what we have today. All the comments I'd get about "Where's the bass?" would drive me nuts. You do realize that everything back then under 70 hz was cut. There was no bottom end.

But that's a whole other can of worms.

Eventually, something special will hit me and I'll tackle it. Of course I've already done so much.

80s
Prog Rock
Country
Trance
Police
Queen
Big Band
Broadway
Ambient
Symphonic Metal
K-Pop
Christian Comtemporary
Funk

I mean there's not a whole lot left to do that I haven't already done.

[Mushy Mushy]

Yep, you certainly have covered a lot of ground.

What about 60s psychedelic such as the Doors?

[wagtunes]

Yep, you certainly have covered a lot of ground.

What about 60s psychedelic such as the Doors?

Some people say I'm stuck in the 60s anyway.

Sure, Status Quo, 13th Floor Elevators, Lemon Pipers. Run into the same problem with the recording quality. Emulating that era is tough. We've come so far. But it is music that I always loved so I might one day do it just for the hell of it. Years ago I did a cover of "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" which was really bad. I'm sure I could do a better job today.