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pwarren Offline OP
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I'm sure some of you, like me, are getting a little threadbare on top. So here's a little tune in memory of all the lush carpets that used to cover male craniums.

Please understand I did this for fun only. I'm, at best, a rank amateur with little talent as a bassist or vocalist so adjust your expectations accordingly. I only hope I can make a few of you laugh a bit.

Rogaine

For those of you who might be interested the song started as a midi I found on the internet. I substituted RealTracks for the drums and rhythm guitars.

The guitar solos were humanized and loosened using the BiaB melody utilities. Then I applied a sound font and some VSTs to get them sounding similar in tone to the second rhythm guitar, which I faded out during the solos to try and sound like it was the same guitarist.

The vocal track I recorded in BiaB before moving everything to RealBand. I applied some light compression and EQ to the vocals and then added some harmony voices to the chorus using TC Helicons Voiceworks plus (they were more distinct before the mixdown for reasons I can't fathom).

Finally I recorded a bass track which I left dry since it seemed to sit in the mix well as is.

After mixdown I added some light compression to even it out.

I would like any constructive suggestions you might have with regard to improving the overall mix and especially how I might make the vocals sound better. I think the pitch is generally Ok but my voice sounds quite 'blah' to me. I tried many different things using the Voiceworks Plus but never found any combination I liked.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it.


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Loved it!

No one likes his or her voice!

I would like to have vocals more out front. They were buried too much for my taste plus it was hard to understand what you were singing due to that fact. Just my thoughts.

Your bass sounded perfect IMHO. As a guitarist I didn’t like the lead guitar work, but that again may just be me.

As I said I loved the song and the concept!


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Quote:

Loved it!

No one likes his or her voice!

I would like to have vocals more out front. They were buried too much for my taste plus it was hard to understand what you were singing due to that fact. Just my thoughts.

Your bass sounded perfect IMHO. As a guitarist I didn’t like the lead guitar work, but that again may just be me.

As I said I loved the song and the concept!




What Mario said.

Thanks for posting,

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pwarren Offline OP
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Quote:

No one likes his or her voice!

I would like to have vocals more out front. They were buried too much for my taste plus it was hard to understand what you were singing due to that fact. Just my thoughts.




I found two problems with getting the vocals into the mix. The first was I didn't really like the way my voice sounded overall which, as you say, might be common. The second was I'm having trouble deciding which system I should believe is an accurate mix.

I record and mix using AKG studio headphones. They sound really good to me and the vocals and harmony sounded about right. I then tried the mix through TapCo powered studio monitors and it sounded like crap. So I tried to split the difference and remix. Then I tried some M-Audio monitors and that was more like the headphones. Finally I tried it through some Bose PC speakers. By this time I'm lost. I can't tell which system is right. It's frustrating!

Quote:

Your bass sounded perfect IMHO.




Thanks. I think I did better on the bass than usual precisely because I wasn't thinking too much about the bass: I was concentrating almost exclusively on the vox. Maybe that's the secret to being a better bassist. hahaha

Quote:

As a guitarist I didn’t like the lead guitar work, but that again may just be me.




Well I did the best I could with the midi track. There are some parts I really liked. Where the second solo (or outro if you prefer) comes in through the vox sounded pretty good to my ears. I did also like the overall tone. It matched the second guitar quite well.

Anyway, it was all in fun and a way for me to learn so I'm happy. Thanks for your feedback.


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pwarren Offline OP
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I guess it must be hard for a guitarist to listen to midi guitars. You have to be thinking how much better it would sound with a human doing the playing. I tend to feel the same about midi bass to some extent.

I might try a remix later using these comments. I'll try reducing the solo guitar a decibel or two and raise the vocals a hair. I'm still experimenting with the voiceworks plus too and if I get the right combination of modelling and FX I'll commit that too. There's lots to learn when it comes to mixing.


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Two comments:

1. The vocals need to come out more in front, as the words get lost. This is especially important in a parody song, as the brain tends to go to the original lyrics. Don't worry about your voice, it sounds great on this song, just bring it out more. This is the kind of song which is supposed to be gritty and rough sounding anyway.

2. At the 2:35-2:37 mark or so, your voice is sliding up from the "G" to the "G#", which all of a sudden gives the song a less bluesy feel. Bring that down and the song is great.

I love parodies and this one is great!

As you can tell by my avatar, I am one of the afflicted ones.


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pwarren Offline OP
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Quote:

1. The vocals need to come out more in front, as the words get lost. This is especially important in a parody song, as the brain tends to go to the original lyrics. Don't worry about your voice, it sounds great on this song, just bring it out more. This is the kind of song which is supposed to be gritty and rough sounding anyway.




Thanks for your helpful comments. I am trying a re-mix following this advice regarding the vocals. I'm going to biring the track out front more and see how it works. I'm also going to bury the midi guitar solo slightly even though I personally liked it (not being a guitarist I can't tell easily if it sounds fake).

Quote:

2. At the 2:35-2:37 mark or so, your voice is sliding up from the "G" to the "G#", which all of a sudden gives the song a less bluesy feel. Bring that down and the song is great.




That I didn't notice. I'll have a close listen and see if I can fix it with some pitch correction or re-record that section. I think I was straining a bit which, considering this is my first attempt at vocals, is probably understandable.

Quote:

I love parodies and this one is great!

As you can tell by my avatar, I am one of the afflicted ones.




Yeah parodies are fun, they always bring a smile to my face. My avatar is a little out of date now (maybe 3 years) and I've thinned out a lot since then hence the song idea. hahaha


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  • MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 for Mac Videos

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