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Up Where We Belong - Lana & Diego
doc_ramadani
Posts: 3,263Administrator, 2.0 PRO, Facility Management
They are young, they are hot and they like challenges. Therefore I suggested @coffeecrank and @Diego to do a collaboration together. I chose a very tough one for them but they did a fantastic job. What do you think about our rising stars?
@Wigs @Sophia @DogMeat @cwcw @samw2019 @d1g2w3 @Rick_amateur @samw2019 @Goldtaff @Mysti @sagemacg @blondiewales @Raphael_Hussl @bentk @Gaston_Jauregui @HuduVudu @AaronChristie @AaralynShiri @Hollywood @Wildmanofthewoods Anyone else?
Doc
@Wigs @Sophia @DogMeat @cwcw @samw2019 @d1g2w3 @Rick_amateur @samw2019 @Goldtaff @Mysti @sagemacg @blondiewales @Raphael_Hussl @bentk @Gaston_Jauregui @HuduVudu @AaronChristie @AaralynShiri @Hollywood @Wildmanofthewoods Anyone else?
Doc
Comments
@Diego I really like your tone.
You both did a really good job, it was beautiful. You have a great control of your voices !
@Diego nice chest voice on this one. One of your better performances for me.
Amazing stuff to both of you and think it's safe to say were all improving as the weeks and months go on.
George
I told Diego that, if I hear any Freddie or Michael in his recording I will come to Honduras and kick him in his ***. That worked - except for some spots.
To be honest, Diego has some really nice and unique parts in there. Soon we should collect some money for him to get an audio interface and a large diaphragm condenser.
Doc
Super job, all of you! Plugged my pc into some powered speakers and cranked it up...sounds great!
personally it was a great pleasure for me to see these young voices blossoming. We elder guys can just lean back and enjoy their performances.
Doc
Audacity isn't terrible, for what it is...simple and free. I just switched over to Cakewalk, from Audacity, which is also free (it used to be a paid-for DAW called SONAR, but is now totally free under Bandlab ~~ also free) and am just learning about it and connecting my MIDI stuff through it. It's only drawback is that I think it is a Windows only program, but the FX, reverb, compression, limiting, etc, all seem to work amazingly well. It comes with a lot of plug-ins, and there are more available (mostly free, also), but I have a steep learning curve to figure out what's already there. Fun! It all takes time, and 'they' say Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately Time tends to kill off all of his students...so I better hurry up.
In all seriousness, it does sound really good. @doc_ramadani did a good job at replicating the reverbs pretty closely. This might be the best thing I've heard from everyone involved. It's hard to say with Diego because he does so many recordings, haha.
A few things stuck out to me, though. When you guys harmonize, your phrasing would work better if it were a bit tighter. This is something even pros have to deal with.
@coffeecrank your tone here is the best I've heard from you yet. However, there's something that's noticeable during the choruses. Your placement is relaxed and free, but it's almost TOO much so. Play with a placement that's a little more intense. You can hear this in Jennifer's take. Yours sounds more like how you'd sing it if you were just learning this song and wanted to learn the melody. To use a cliché: you have to MEAN the words. This kind of decision is more of a musicality/artistry change than a pure vocal technique one. Can you hear what I mean?
I noticed this because I've actually run into similar things recording with Diego, since I have a very neutral tone and he has a very pointed one with emotional delivery.
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@doc_ramadani I'm all for raising money for Diego. I could pitch in $20. The Focusrite studio bundle would be a great option for him as it comes with a decent mic, interface, and headphones. I think it's like $249.
I have an idea if Diego doesn't want to take handouts from people.
1.) We raise money and get him the gear.
2.) I help him produce a demo with his new gear.
3.) I use the demo to get him session vocal jobs on SoundBetter.
4.) After 1-2 session vocal jobs, he can pay people back if he chooses.
5.) We encourage Diego to make YouTube channel so we get his singing out there and increase his chances of getting discovered.
Personally, I've been using Reaper mostly lately, and like it better for my day-to-day work. It's just more straight-forward for simple recording, yet still lots of power when needed.
Audacity is very straight-forward and has much more accessible learning curve. That it can use VST (and other format) plug-ins and there are lots of good and good enough free ones out there, it's also a good solution.
Chris
Thanks Chris,
I may give Reaper a try. Still just trying this, that & the other thing because between music and ham radio...well, the technology is just geek heaven for a person like me!
Now if I quit playing with all the toys so much and focused more on singing...
~~Dan
even if have earned a few skills on recording and mixing I don't really like to do it. For me, it is like loosing time. But the thing is, that we have to deal with this recording things if we want to deliver our recordings in a way that the listener is used to.
To my personal taste a lot of modern productions are highly over-produced with all the vocal chops and Autotune FX stuff (an octave up, an octave down, talk box + vocoder). Since I am doing the course I am listening to the singers' techniques much more. To hear growing voices, like those of Lana and Diego, became a real pleasure for me. The same for Hampton's voice (Blondie) in Brandy.
Doc
But it is very time consuming. Thankfully, there are many ways to save time nowadays. Most people are happy with generic EQ, compression, and reverb. The CLA vocal plug-in from Waves can do that. There are lots of similar products too.
Edit: I actually own that particular plug in but hardly ever use it anymore. If you want it to be demonstrated on your vocal, I can send you a sample.
Here is a review of the bundle I was talking about that might be good for Diego. It also comes with a light version of Cubase, but obviously I want Diego to get SONAR. I think there should be no difference between DAWs other than workflow unless you're talking about the stock plug-ins, which are usually eventually replaced anyway.
The reviewer is a producer I respect called Warren Huart. He produced all the hits for The Fray and other big names.
He says you can make records with the Scarlett bundle.
I have the Scarlet solo really great bit of kit, ultra portable as well and It’s a brilliant starter kit very good sound quality. I didn’t buy the bundle already got a rode nt1a and headphones though.
Vocality
You two sound great together! Thanks for sharing this.
@blondiewales I have a Scarlett 2i2 and it works well. Would be happy to pitch in another $20 towards the kit for Diego. If the 3rd gen price is an issue, the 2nd gen is good too and about $60 less.
I have the 2i4 and have used the 2i2. The 2nd Gen chips are great. 3rd Gen sounds good too but I haven't used them. I'm not sure what Gen the studio bundle is.
@doc_ramadani @DogMeat @coffeecrank @Mysti @Vocality and @blondiewales !
The good news is we found a package that's cheaper than what I thought and has more stuff (like a mic stand). https://www.amazon.com/Focusrite-Scarlett-Recording-Universal-Microphone/dp/B01J9L7VES/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=scarlett+studio+bundle&qid=1571821421&sprefix=Scarlett+studio+&sr=8-4
The somewhat bad news is that not a lot of places will ship to Honduras.
However, I found a website, www.myus.com, that specializes in shipping from American stores to countries like Honduras.
So we're looking at $215 product cost + $73 shipping cost = $288 IF we get this product.
So we'll need to raise around $300 I'm guessing, maybe a bit because I'm assuming there are some unadvertised fees or taxes.
This sounds like a lot, but we can probably get it if everyone chips in a little bit. Diego has stated he plans to pay everyone back with money he can make from this equipment.
I'll make a GoFundMe soon (probably tomorrow) and if @doc_ramadani doesn't have any objections, I'll post it in a relevant section on the forum. Either way I'll probably start the fundraiser.
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PS: It's a good reminder, I think, for those of us living in first-world countries to be thankful for what we have and take for granted.
Sure, let's start the thing.
Doc