JPF Home Page Forums Lyric and MP3 Feedback MP3 Feedback Forum Rising Sun - REMIX! final!

EDIT FEB 12:
Hey there! Scott added a harp intro and Geoff worked me his vocal magic on this one............ We're happy with it as it stands now I think

http://soundcloud.com/lindaofficial/house-of-the-rising-sun

Let us know if you think the mix needs tweaking. Thanks!

There are spots I'd do over or a little different if I was cutting an album in a studio (do I hear Steven Tyler - "Dream on, dream on" why yes I do!) -- but for a demo I'm happy with it now I think.


Linda

========================================



Hiya,

Scott just delivered me the first mix of our version of "House of the Rising Sun" and we're pretty excited about it.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=10054061
non-auto-play: http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songInfo.cfm?bandID=587695&songID=10054061

Featuring Scott Campbell on guitars, percussion, harp, keys and who knows what else :), Dan Miner (coalminer) on lead guitar, and me on vocals. Production by Scott.

Personally - I'm still wanting a touch of that harp on the intro, and maybe a slightly different fade-out at the end, which Scott's happy to work on this weekend. Maybe redo the 1st/2nd verses, I dunno, I'm never quite entirely happy with how I sound, I hear every tiny flaw.

But we decided to post this now, and wrap up any details you guys come up with on the mix etc, on Saturday or so.

And yes: I am holding that last note 24 seconds. It was late and I was tired if I work at it maybe I can push it longer in the future, LOL.

BTW -this sounds kinda crummy on my laptop speakers alone - (which sound awful anyway) but pretty fair decent on my headphones. Hope your speakers are good to you :-)

Thank you for building confidence in me here that I CAN sing like this, and work out my "rock chick skilz" a bit.


Linda

Well excuse me, sister Joplin.
You really tore that one up and the music was just superb.
The perfect mix and the harp was a pleasant surprise.
I love the way you brought it home at the end... pure magic.

Nelson

Thank you SO much my dear Nelson.

You're a gem yourself. Very kind.

Linda

Hey Linda,

Oh great, Scott has tought you to drink scotch and smoke cigars, and hang out in dingy bars at 3 am !

And I'm liking it ......

Rock on !

cheers, niteshift

PS - hit up your church choir for the bv's, in about the 2nd verse, and you're there.

PPS - Scott, set the vocal compressor to limit, and it will smooth out the vocal, dB wise.

Linda,

You are having such a good time, and I love it!

I'm going to be a pain and push you because I know how you feel when you listen to yourself back, and believe me, I work on this stuff with myself ALL of the time, so don't be mad, just how I know what would improve things.

I can tell you get tired in some spots because the head focus and front face focus you need for high and low notes gets hard to do. Throwing those notes out through your mouth for those lows and then pushing them up through your head for that high is hard when you are tired. I think you can do it better and hit the highs right on, just my opinion.

I think the slides are needed an bluesy, but you have to choose if you can't get a clean high on whether the slide is worth it.

I also think there are a few places where you could have cleaner cut offs, but that is diaphragm work, but if you could get it cleaner, it would give you more breathing and focus time.

I think you know all of this, nit-picking icky singing stuff..this song is a workout, but you are doing great!!

Tammy

Sounds like you are all jammin in the same room after a late
one, it has a live feel which I like a lot, I think you
should try to keep that feel about it when you produce
further, clean it up too much and it will just be another
cover version, great vocal Linda and nice playing guys,

Tony.

I agree with Tony - appealingly ragged

Your vocal and Coalminer's guitar give this a really cool edge!

Hah - Niteshift noticed there was no compression.

I thought she did it at her end, Nite. So I just added some reverb. Was amazed when I found out she didn't - it sounded pretty even to me. Maybe was comparing it to my own poor vocal technique

I'll play around with that some......

Scott

Hi everybody,

I smiled all the way through this.
Certainly ONE of my all time favorite songs.

Linda, it's nice to see you get a bit gutsy, thats great.

Scott, good job as always.

Dan, you got a cool sound coming out of your guitar...thanks for the entertainment !

Calvin


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/0/calvinstewart

I don't know what we are judging here as it's not a new song. Are we looking at the production? Linda, your vocals are good. Dan's guitar licks are great and lift the whole thing but somehow disjointed and seem as if they've been slotted in. Maybe they need to be flowing more through the whole song.
On the whole, for a collab it's a good effort. A few tweaks here and there.
Vic

Hi Vic!

Yeah - production/performance, is it enjoyable? Would you put it on your iPod and listen again or... pass? That sort of thing.

GOOD EAR on Dan's licks - they *were* slotted in... but if we twist his arm a bit he might be willing to redo them to the new production. He recorded this to the old one I posted first, about a month ago, and it happened to fit the key & timing so Scott used it.

Anyway thanks!

I used to be terrified to sing in public. But always wanted to.

Linda

Thanks, Calvin!

This was SO much fun to work on (IE gutsy!) that I hope to pull more of this sound (and with improvement) out of myself.

Linda

Well I think you ALL did a very nice job!

Linda, if I could sing like you, I'd be very happy!

Dottie

Awwww thank you Dottie! You're sweet!




Linda

Hi Linda, Scott, & Dan

So nice to see your face back on the boards Linda!

Well you blew me out of the water, Linda your voice is so amazing, Wow, I thoroughly enjoyed listening, you all just keep Rock'n on hah!

Yep, that's Talent! I've got the biggest smile on my face, gosh I've missed you all.

Hugs & Lv Michele

LINDA, SCOTT AND DAN, I LOVE THIS....JUST GREAT AND LINDA I LOVE YOUR SINGING, BUT GIRL YA GOTTA BREATHE..AT THE END...LOVE THIS.....GLYN

Awww, thank you SO MUCH, Michele!
yes it's good to be back, and to see you too!!

Glyn, I breathed! before... and after! LOL

Kudos to Glyn for listening to this SIX TIMES IN A ROW. Until the hospital staff forced her to put on headphones - LOL

Now that's dedication

Thank you my dear friend. You boost my confidence!

Linda

We just moved and I have not unpacked my headphones yet, so this is based on listening on crummy speakers.....

The background music sounds good. I am glad the Animals/Hilton Valentine guitar riff runs throughout the arrangement. The harmonica riffs are very tasty. I like the lead guitar playing and tone. I was hearing a little more in the drum fill department but I know that can be hard to do depending how you are creating drum sounds.

Linda - you have a set of pipes for sure! I think Tammy has offered some good suggestions above. For my taste, sliding up to pitch is fine now and then, but you might want to reduce the number of times you slide up. And when you are really belting it out, pitch is king! Janice screamed and shouted and wore her voice out but she did it on pitch! You might want to back off on the rock chick thing a hair and sweeten it up a bit. Also add a little vibrato on the notes that are held.

Sounds like you are all having fun with this one!

I liked the background music and your presentation Linda. You sounded different than I thought you would, as I had heard you voice in other songs and it is definitely different here.

I only read Colin's post above, and didn't read what the other's thought, but that thing he said about sweetening your vocal mix is right on. I have heard you sing pitch perfect in other songs and sometimes if you push it too much you may flatten your pitch a little. I certainly do that sometimes myself, so you would not be the only one.

Pretty darn good for a first take. Was that a real harmonica or synthesized?

Doug

Hey Doug:

That's a real harmonica - a Hohner Blues Harp. I added a bunch of reverb to it because I like that effect.....

Hey Colin:

I agree there could be a bunch more drum fills....have to play them as finger drums on my keyboard. Probably would be best to get a real drummer....

Scott

Can it be improved? Of course, but as is it's as someone said, deliciously ragged. But it's one of those things where that extra 5% will take lots of time and effort. And Linda, that "money note" at the end will be its signature, so bring that out as best you can!

Now you three, I want to hear you do White Rabbit. If any classic deserves another go around it's this one. And after hearing this rock chick sing, and you two play, I know you three can do it justice.

Nice work guys! It was a wonderful collaboration and very enjoyable! Yes Linda, you CAN sing!!! Tammy offered some good suggestions too. I can't sing and when I do try I end up too quiet to be heard...probably a good thing! I'm envious. The music was good too. Hope to hear more from you 3 in the future!

Yes, we were all having fun, Colin!
Thank you for listening!

Good counsel. All taken to heart. This is only my 2nd try at this style at all, so, I am sure with practice I will figure out how and where to slide or NOT to slide and improve pitch-wise as well.

I am not going for "sound like Janis" either BTW... I'm getting that as side comments... but in honesty (I should not admit this) I've heard maybe 3-4 of her songs on radio - I don't own her stuff (yet) so... I'm not sitting around wondering how to sound "like" that. I am hoping to find my own "rock" voice, the way *my* voice comes out, what feels right to me for the genre, rather than copy anyone.

I have to chuckle just a bit at the vibrato comment, 'cuz when I FIRST came back here on the boards this year, Polly hopped in with a "whoa - whoa that's so much vibrato" that I've been working on my vibrato-DELETE key.

LOL

There is *some* vibrato toward the end of that last long note which you'd catch with headphones I'm sure.

Anyway thank you for a discerning ear!

Hi Doug, this has me curious - when you sent me the other guitar track when I posted a previous version of this song, had you not listened to it? because the vocal presentation/style is identical - this one is honed a touch more but, still needs work.

I was waiting for the "pitch" comments to come in............

I am recording this way: Headphones in one ear, off the other and go for it with fingers crossed. I have yet been unable to get my M-Audio FastTrack Pro and Windows 7 to cooperate to the point where I can plug phones into the M-Audio and get a real monitor in my ear.

I am seeking to listen to myself best as possible (sometimes with a finger in the non-headphoned ear) but am recording without a monitor.

I think that little tech advancement would help me a lot.
Still working on it.

Recording in a room with natural reverb gets me better results than at home where the sound is totally dead no matter where I go in this place. I can hear better with the sound echoing back to me.

ANY-way.... work-in-progress.

Thanks for listening, Doug, and just FYI, I am still going to record a "softer" more thoughtful version over your track. Have not had time yet. Looking forward to it!

(So yes folks, you may see this again... in an "unplugged" version....)

L

John V... thank you!!

We can keep pushing that final 5%!
So do you like the slides as they are or should I go with a re-cut to fix them....?

It's a ragged sort of song really.

What's your sugg for bringing out the "money note?" Should we have a big final "crashing down" ending rather than a fade out?

Hm... Scott... what do you think?

L

Jinx, thank you so so much for listening and it means a lot to me that you enjoyed it! I admire your songwriting skills.

Let me tell you - my voice WAS quiet all through my teens and 20's and partway further on. It took other people next to me to say "I like your voice" to give me any confidence at all, and even then, 80% of the time I didn't believe them and thought they must be hearing someone else.

One word on singing............ I personally feel everyone *should* sing even if it's off-pitch or whatever because it FEELS GOOD and it's good for the soul.

I hate it when on some TV competition they send someone home with a "please - don't sing" snide comment. That's just about the worst thing you can do to a person. It kills something inside.

So Jinx.... please sing -- at home by yourself -- make yourself happy enjoy the PROCESS and FEELING of just doing it.

"Sing... sing a song... don't worry if it's not good enough for anyone else to hear... just sing"

OK? That goes out to everybody.

L

Oh - and now - after attending a Christmas concert this year - the lady the row in front of us found me afterwards and said, "Who was it with that pretty voice behind me? Was that you?" and since there were no other ladies right around us I said "Yes," and thanked her, and smiled.

And not to keep tooting a horn but I had a great moment at the cookie table (same concert) when one of the male soloists who delivered a *gorgeous* rendition of "Mary Did You Know?" came up to *me* and said "Was that you on the high note in the first choral number?"
-Yes - I was the only 1st soprano
"Wow, yes, I picked you out, you have a lovely voice."

I was so floored... this guy likedy MY voice... and I got to compliment him back.
It was a neat moment.

This moment - due to UNDERCONFIDENCE - not any change in vocal cords I was born with - could not have happened 15 years ago.

Period.

I am really, really, REALLY grateful to people like this - just random moments which have added up - which have helped me come even this far.

And really - I may never "perform" for anyone BUT this JPF board for all I know, so I do appreciate your moral support and encouragement to me to keep going forward.

I am still, HONESTLY, surprised anyone wants to hear me sing.
Even if it's not perfect and I'm still working on how to do it.

Thank you all. I mean that with all my heart.


Linda

Ha, ha -- with this style the "vibrato-DELETE key" is definitely mandatory. Fun listen -- you got a bunch of technical suggestions above, so you know what you need to improve. Keep having fun.

Kevin

Thanks Linda! I am glad you enjoy my lyrics. I do sing when I'm alone. A few years ago I tried creating melodies for some of my songs and recording them at home with another musician. The sound was terrible and my family made terrible fun of me. In fact the line from the movie "Music and Lyrics" "...a bit louder 'cause this song is intended for humans" was often quoted by my children whenever my singing was brought up.
I still sing but only for my own enjoyment. I can sometimes sing okay and on key but only when I am barely audible. For some reason when I sing louder I ruin it. Oh well...I am making some great friends here and having a wonderful time with collaborations!

"Rising Sun Blues" is an old, old song. It can be sung as a male or female version. You did the female version justice Linda. It has been covered many times, the most noted is "The Animals".

I really like the Doc Watson version. This is kind of new, but a remake of his old version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zyv1eQzGzA

The instrumentation works, and you're doing it in the same key as the Animals did it...with enough twists in the instrumentation to make it your own.

You'll definitely want to recut the vocals, (given some of the wavering) ...maybe even try a key change to see if you can belt it out more????) and yeah, hold that money note for as long as you can, and end on it alone.

And you might want to check out these versions as well the one Ben suggested...especially the second one. You might find a real original slant

frijid pink version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t40INnb6DnY
(they start on Em, G, A, C, Em, G, B vs The Animals Am, C, D, F, Am, C, E)

tommy emmanuel version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIWSVTaytOw&feature=related
(watch how he plays it...quite complex actually)

I sure do like the last line in "Doc's" version.

"Gonna spend the rest of my wicked life, beneath the rising sun".

Thanks John! Can re-cut - need a good "energy" day! This was done actually on a low, end-of-the-day tired worn out session.

Appreciate your thoughts and I'll check those links shortly.

Just end ON the note - fade out the band first and end with the vocal by itself?

Or all of it end in a big crashing cymbals, power chord, light-the-gong-on-fire finish??

Scott any thoughts on that before I/we re-do? And where's coalminer?!

Ben, thank you for listening. Glad you enjoyed it.

Jinx, that's really really interesting!
Sounds like the solution for you is a WAY hot mic!! That'll pick you up!

Families shouldn't make fun, especially - but they do.
Mine was the cause of my insecurity growing up.

Then, when I had kids and sang to them when they were little they were like, "Mom - stop." Ouch, from a 2 & 3 year old!! What babies don't want to hear Mommy sing?!

Well I got over that. (I may have been 'interrupting' Disney or Sesame Street - haha)

Sort of! I still feel better if I'm singing either A) alone or B) in front of a LOT OF PEOPLE rather than my kids, hubby (who is appreciative!) or a small house of 5-10. YIKES on the nerves.

Linda

well done with the tracks linda!

hey linda, great track. I really love your vocal work. oh and the lead guitar is really great too

-Lee

Linda--

I know about struggling to get a song peaked and tweaked--You just have to keep
grinding away--This is coming along--Maybe let a little more soul blend with the guitar--GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR RENDITION of a CLASSIC.

THUMBS UP YOUALL--

Mackie

Great music and song - I enjoyed my listen and I can appreciate the vocal work because it's one that I cover also. Best wishes

jm

Linda, I faded it on the note in this version and I also faded it after the note. As you noted (yuk-yuk), fading it on the note makes it seem like the note goes forever - which it almost does anyway

Personally, it sounded better to me fading on the note - but it's easy enough to do it both ways and give you both versions.

Let me know when you are ready to do something more with it....

Scott

Jason, nice to meet you! Thanks for coming in and making this one of your first 4 posts! I'm honored. Hope you stick around and enjoy JPF for a while!

Linda

Lee, nice to meet you as well! Wow, two brand-new folks listening along. Glad you liked it!

Linda

Thank you JM, I'm so glad to hear it worked for you.
Linda

Scott,
yuk-yuk is right on the note

Let's listen to it with the music fading and the vocal not fading and see how that goes.

Also with fading off the track just before the note actually ends so you never *do* know exactly how long I held that thing, LOL.

Linda

Linda and Scott-
Sorry it took me this long to comment. I listened in the first five minutes it was up, I've just been buried in various projects, most home repairs unfortunately.

I really like the new version. At first the rhythm guitar sounded a little out of tune, but either it wasn't or my ears adjusted. Whichever doesn't matter because as soon as you started to sing I forgot all about the music! Your version is def vocal-driven. And it works nicely. I thought MAYBE the lead was a little far back, but like I said, it's a vocal imo.
Is there bass guitar in there?I'd make an adjustment or 2 to give the bass some pizzazz. I just like hearing all the instruments clearly...I know, it's a weird personal thing. Maybe an octave shift on the bass if nothing else. Just here and there.
I'm glad my guitar jam worked out for you. It was just a first take and well, I thought it was rough. But then again I'm nit-picky when it comes to my own stuff. And yes...I'd gladly do it again to save Scott some cut and paste time, if there's another go 'round.

I really like it overall. And it looks like the JP-effers (Ha!) really do too.

Sure, Dan, take another stab at it anytime you'd like!

Scott will have to answer to the bass etc. questions. ??
The lead could come up a bit - sure - Scott?

Esp. if you re-do it and it goes from "hot" to "killer" or somethin'

Linda

{{link posted has expired - deleting}}
see note below this one!

EDIT FEB 12:
Hey there! Scott added a harp intro and Geoff worked me his vocal magic on this one............ We're happy with it as it stands now I think

http://soundcloud.com/lindaofficial/house-of-the-rising-sun

Let us know if you think the mix needs tweaking. Thanks!

There are spots I'd do over or a little different if I was cutting an album in a studio (do I hear Steven Tyler - "Dream on, dream on" why yes I do!) -- but for a demo I'm happy with it now I think.


Linda

========================================



Hiya,

Scott just delivered me the first mix of our version of "House of the Rising Sun" and we're pretty excited about it.

Featuring Scott Campbell on guitars, percussion, harp, keys and who knows what else :), Dan Miner (coalminer) on lead guitar, and me on vocals. Production by Scott.

Personally - I'm still wanting a touch of that harp on the intro, and maybe a slightly different fade-out at the end, which Scott's happy to work on this weekend. Maybe redo the 1st/2nd verses, I dunno, I'm never quite entirely happy with how I sound, I hear every tiny flaw.

But we decided to post this now, and wrap up any details you guys come up with on the mix etc, on Saturday or so.

And yes: I am holding that last note 24 seconds. It was late and I was tired if I work at it maybe I can push it longer in the future, LOL.

BTW -this sounds kinda crummy on my laptop speakers alone - (which sound awful anyway) but pretty fair decent on my headphones. Hope your speakers are good to you :-)

Thank you for building confidence in me here that I CAN sing like this, and work out my "rock chick skilz" a bit.


Linda

The new version sounds good - a definite improvement. Way to go.

Wow, you got some chops there Linda, beautiful vocals, great work Scott, you folks done good here really good on a great old classic song ... wow

Thank you Dan & Colin!



Glad people are liking this style suiting me all right.
Because it's WAY fun.

Linda

Linda: Just got on this thread this evening. Liked the first version, like the second even more! Awesome performance!
Ott