if anyone needs vocs//lyrics or wants to collab...

[offthewall]

 
22.30 again ... another 2 hours sitting here 

Taken on board all comments on the mix.  Have added backup vocals and adjusted various other parts.
For this version .... I think it's a wrap.  ..... unless you tell me different, of course 

More to come 

 
James

[offthewall]

 
And ..... for Mario .... the 'unplugged' version.  

For this take I have changed everything.
Added reverb to drums, put bass thru FreeAmp, changed Freeamp and Greenmachine settings on both guitars and generally remixed to give a 'closer' vibe.  

Man, I been having the best fun that I've had in a long time.  

Thanks guys.

 
James

[manning]

chaps..
1. re fever..
twould have to be redone from scratch.
i was just poncing about with drumcore n the vocs
suck.
i can do way better vocs hopefully... lol.
the version of fever i like is the McCoys version//arrange..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCGcb-DYsbI&feature=related
wouldnt mind haveing a proper bash sometime.
talking of cream...always fancied doin..
born under a bad sign..
2. re pink champers v2.
i personally prefer the fuller version.
offthewall , just an idea to check mate.
the vocs seem off center perhaps here ??
on the part "whoa she kissed me"..
right at end..i envisioned a little lower in the mix mate.
so as not to overcome the backing ??
KUDOS TO YOUR WORK ETHIC MATE.
ABOVE ALL HAVE FUN !

god bless.
ed.

[MarioD]

James, great mixing on both versions.  Everything is crystal clear.  You are right, but I think that both versions are a wrap. 

Thanx for allowing us to have suggestions.  Unfortunately it turned out to be double the trouble for you but you did one fantastic job on both of these.

Now which one do I like best?  To be honest I can’t decide.  Both versions are outstanding.  Both are keepers!

[MarioD]

Manning, I had completely forgotten about the McCoys and their version of Fever.  Thanx for the link as it brought back many memories.

[manning]

8.30 am here..yep...fever is a grreat song mate.
mario..
i prefer always to do originals...
i love this pink champers song for example.

but another cover ive always wanted to do ..
one of the few ive wanted to do..is one of my
personal fav songs of all time...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iaR3WO71j4&feature=related
clever use of the Em chord etc.
notice how he does the main intro lik ..
sliding. i find one gets the intro lik sound better
up around the fifth fret etc.


i was mucking around with it for fun a year back.
http://stashbox.org/817507/sec.mp3
i was mucking with geetar plug ins..
so i was concentratin on testing plugs rather
than the vocs.
vocs suck n i can do way better.

i'm always up for any song fun..lol.
ps..another of my song favs is george bensons version
of on broadway. clever use of key changes round a 2 chord vamp.

[MarioD]

Johnny Rivers was one of my favorite singer/guitarist back in those days.  I’ve liked Secret Agent Man a lot.  Another favorite one is Poor Side of Town.  I have an instrumental version up in the forums.  I believe it’s under pgmusicians.

You did all right on your vox here.  Unfortunately midi guitar sounds suck IMHO, big shock right  Anyway attached in the intro via organic guitar

As long as you are not in any hurry, I have a ton of things to finish up plus it’s warming up here in Western NY state and I have a ton of yard work that must be done, I wouldn’t mind doing Secret Agent Man.  All I would need is the chord structure you’re using and a rough track of drums, vox and guitar/keys.

Your call

[folderol]

James, great mixing on both versions.  Everything is crystal clear.  You are right, but I think that both versions are a wrap. 

Thanx for allowing us to have suggestions.  Unfortunately it turned out to be double the trouble for you but you did one fantastic job on both of these.

Now which one do I like best?  To be honest I can’t decide.  Both versions are outstanding.  Both are keepers!

Yes it's problem isn't it.

I think '2' has a more live club feel to it, whereas 'no bubbles' is a bit more lounge.

Very nice work guys.

[offthewall]

 
OK, guys ....
I've had enormous amount of fun with this project.

Made a 'final' mix of each version and am posting them in the 'general' section where they may be listened to by others.  I also want to post them over at KVR as we are always trying to hook new members. I often think that our greatest asset, over here, is the 'collab' spirit. 

Many thanks, mates.

 
James

[manning]

glad you had fun mate.
thats what its all about.
it'll be interesting to see the feedback it gets.

mario...
re tons of stuff//secret agent man.
no rush mate.
we can have a bash at your leisure sometime if you wish.
but someone else should do the backing imho (drums//bass etc) cos
i dont have the studio gear i once had..
n if we do it , would be nice to do it right mate.
chord structure is a doddle.
you can look em up (the chords..) on google also.
do you have biab ?? are you the same person
as on pg forums ?? if so...you could prolly use the real traks.
where are you btw ??
i know offthewall is in uk, i'm a transplant brit i canada.
(wife canadian.)
god bless mate.

[MarioD]

Manning, when things calm down here we will do Secret Agent Man. I have the chords now so I will whip up a backing track for you to sing to.  It may be hard to keep it as the original but I’ll try. Of course when I’m ready to start I’ll ask for others to join in on the fun!

Yep I’m the same MarioD over on the Pg forums.  But I’m not a real big fan of RTs.  They can be very useful for original material but I find them pretty much useless for covers.

I’m in Hamlin NY, about 25 miles west of Rochester and 4 miles south of Lake Ontario.   You know the real snow belt region.

Where in Canada are you located?

[offthewall]

When you guys get this thing cooking I will gladly chime in with bass and jamstix (at least) 

Ed.  You in Toronto?  We have friends over there living in Pickering.

 
James

[manning]

offthewall 
yeh we live outside T/O in a peacefull rural area
far far away from the mad rush of the city.
(but if it gets too busy here ive always fancied the yukon ..
no rush hour..lol.)
re secret agent.
sure..be glad to have you do traks mate.
the toughest part of the song i feel is getting
the correct sound picture , and particularly the
important hook lick lead guitar sound.

mebe i'm biased cos i grew up in the 60's...
but i feel the caliber of songwriting in that era was absolutely amazeing.
so many great songs.  from  USA and UK musicians.
as well as brilliant audio engineers that made it all happen.
remember they had at best 3 trak studer B series recorders if i remember.
from what i hear some used two 3 trak recorders.
and bounced tween em i guess. 

i may sound weird..but i love all kinds of music.
on the one hand songs i once did in church, gershwin,
rogers n hammerstein, right thru eclectic stuff
like winchester cathedral (remember that ??) , right thru slade (lol.) ,
the who, pretenders and tons of other groups.
for me rock music ended around 1980..lmao.
only the occasional new song today i like.
eg big n rich. or ive forgotten the group...
lady singer..."i'm here for the party".

imho secret agent is a major lesson in hit songwriting.
to quote a pro AE i once met yonks back...
"ya hit the punter with a hook lik right off the bat to get attention,
then again in the middle whack the listener aurally, then
La piece de resistance...finally on the outtro".
a good furthe example of this being sultans of swing.
hook liks all over the place imho.

[manning]

just a note.
mario//offthewall.
re agent man.
i made the following notes based on the stashbox demo link.
in case you chaps want to do it for the fun and a challenge.
feel free to disagree with anything.
1. what i liked bout the ruff demo was the fast paceing n bpm.
hopefully we can keep that bpm. cos it bops along nice.
ideally make it danceable etc etc.
2. 2 minutes for it in length is just bout right i feel or say 2mins15secs.
3. heres the arrangement based on the stashbox link earlier in thread.
lick intro motif.(twice)
verse//chorus
lick again.(twice)
verse//chorus
lick again.(twice)
LEAD BREAK (in the ruff i tried to stay true to the feel.)
(its quite a long lead break)
chorus..followed by
lick again repeated to outtro fade with vocs over the top
as per stashbox ending.
this organisation//simplicity i humbly suggest will make it doable.
the real key is getting the right darn  geetar sound for the lik.
i came close on the ruff but no cigar.
its a very craftily engineered geetar sound imho.

offthewall..if you want, you could do your jamstix trak ,
plus bass (??) to get things rolling...
and post on stash , n i would be happy to add guide vocs n rhythm
guitar n the guide lead lick which will be wiped when mario does his traks.
so mario could do the rhythm n lead traks if thats ok ??

we will have to use stash of course cos we are only supposed
to post originals here i understand.
its just a fun song ive always wanted to do for giggles. 

[offthewall]

 
OK, Ed.

I'm busy for the next couple of weeks, but am certainly UP for this one, mate.

As for the 'stash' thing ... forget it and just post stuff here .... we are all friends 

For the song ... may I suggest.
Give us : BPM, chord sequence, key, and a click intro .... and we can take it from there.
My own way of working would be to make a 'ruff' track, in Reap, with a 1 or 2 bar click track intro, then upload that as a template.  I would also give a screenshot of the layout (personally find that the visual often helps).
Post it up as a new thread in this section.
If you want to kick that off, then I'm sure we can all join in as and when we are able.
We don't have a thing here about covers .... it's just that we prefer originals ... it gives us a 'mind-stretch'   

 
James