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Manning and I took a poke at a song that may in some small way boost the sale of American-made automobiles, and therefore benefit our friends south of the 49th parallel  Mercury Blues
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Wait a minute. Oren Fischer and Harmless fun? Yeh .. right.  Hey! I like this. Sounds really good. What's Mercury anyway? A fancy Ford. That's what. 
Russ Anyday above ground is a good day Computer is Hp Pavillion Vision 6 Ghz quad core AMD processor 8 Gig memory 1 TB hard drive 6 GB hard drive Windows 7 Premium Loose nut behind the keyboard 
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stealing cars, out cruising ..
dang kids these days.
Sounds like you guys had a blast with it. That is what it's all about. Nice job
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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I'm with you Russ, I don't know about that Oren character and harmless fun. I can't help but think he might have been a somewhat questional influence on Manning . . . . but from the sounds of the finish product no doubt it was a good influence! Nice job guys, and yes it was a fun listen. Later,
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yeh that was fun..lol.
just wanna say something important...
oren did a heck of a ton of work//dedication on this.
big kudos to oren. particularly as i cant afford
expensive voc processing gear like i once could...
just used some diy stuff.
in the choruses ..lol..
i hear this big massed choir of lads n lassies
singin "i'm gonna buy...etc.."
yeh i know...i got a crazy mind.
just lotsa fun.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.
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Heyyyyyy Oren !!!!! Great to see and hear ya bruddah. Ya'll got down on this good-ol-rocker. Loved the tones and chops bro, always great to listen to someone ripping up on the ol battle axes. Enjoyed this mucho. Sounds awesome through my new AudioGram. Geetars were sounding most excellent !!! Trax
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Oren is a dedicated lad.. he puts in the time to make things sounds great
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Thanks for your interest, Gents! Thing is, it's lacking something... presence, definition, punch... it deserves to sound "bigger". The bass is recorded with stereo chorus, then EQed and compressed in real time. The vocal and melody guitar are monaural. The rhythm guitar is recorded with stereo chorus. Reverb is applied in real time to rhythm guitar and vocals. Reverb and EQ are applied to the Melody guitar "going in" as part of a "Manning-special" guitar pre-set. Any recommendations for refining this puppy are gratefully accepted...
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>>>...Thing is, it's lacking something... presence, definition, punch... it deserves to sound "bigger"...>>
I agree. If it were me singing, I would add some strings and pads for a thicker sound. That wont work for this singer and combo.
Hmm...have your tried the B3 realtracks?
Also maybe lose some of the effects on the vocal. Bring it out front a bit.
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Apprentice
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just looking for clues..... This is the best I've heard manning sing! You did a great job on the vocals....both of you. I've listened several times and here's my take. As is it's just fine. What I hear is the rhythm guitar could use a little more definition and possibly crunch. I think I'd high pass it and sweep the mid to high mids and see if there's some definition and sparkle there to brighten it up a bit. The lead could use a little volume enveloping in the solo areas. The reverb is on the "I love reverb" side! Doesn't bother me but might be taking away from the definition a tad. As a heads up, (manning has probably seen this on the Reap site) Ken has released an amp sim that is killer for the style you just played. It's called Shred but don't let the name influence you. It's got pristine clean and crunch settings and great presets. Well worth investigating. It's even free! http://www.acmebargig.com/shred/If I'd had this sim I'd never have needed all my line6 setup.
DTuna
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I will give my two penneth worth.This track in my humble opinion cries out "raw".I would get rid of the reverb and give it the 70s punk type of sound it reminds me of those kind of songs.Cheers Frankie 
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Quote:
Thing is, it's lacking something... presence, definition, punch... it deserves to sound "bigger".
Needs a Pad.
Pads are things like organ, synth, strings, horns, something that has held notes and is not up in front.
Pad acts like sonic "glue" to fill those holes in the sound spectrum.
Sounds good other'n that.
Good job, guys.
(With Manning's Limey Talk in there, maybe you chould change the name to "Aston Martin Blues..." (grin)
--Mac
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Thanks for the advice, gentlemen. A "pad", less reverb, more definition on the rhythm guitar, vocal more up-front, a "punk" production.  OK, back to the salt mines...
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Enthusiast
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I'm a sucker for car songs, going all the way back to Terraplane Blues [OK, not really about a car, but...].
Very nice stuff, indeed! I do agree that a keyboard part, either piano or maybe B3, would flesh out the sound and add the missing fullness. Of course, we don't want to go the Phil Spector 'Wall of Sound' route or the Chet Atkins overdone Nashville backup, but I think a keyboard track would be the final part of a really terrific song.
I really liked it! Thanks for sharing. Very professionally done.
Fire, the wheel, and the I IV V -- foundations of civilization.
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I agree with tributeman, it needs to be raw, down and dirty.. Good song!
Chris
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So, the pad/keyboard thing is way beyond my skills (maybe we will enlist some assistance on that, down the road), but... raw, down, and dirty: can do! Here it is - hopefully the improved integration of instrument sounds will provide a "pad-like" effect...?  Mercury Blues PG Mix
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mac..
i actually did drive a mates aston once in the uk.
scared the heck outta me..lol.
will never be able to afford one of course.
my dad, believe it or not had a 59 blue impala with low mileage
when he bought it cheap used in uk.
it had the teardrop backlights if i remember...AND WINGS..lol.
my mum laments to this day not haveing it anymore.
would be worth a lot now.
actually it was absolutely mint like new. my dad babied it.
oren..
will listen in a few days mate once my isp renews my monthly
bandwidth.
just have fun with it without driving yourself bonkers cos
doing songs can be wearing on a person .
kudos to you mate for your stick with it attitude and your talent.
retired puter engr....powertracks on amd......NICE !
"what is the black art of audio engineering ?"
my silly songs...motagator.com/bmanning
see my tips in the tips section.
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Thanks for the fun song.
Don S.
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