KVR Audio

jethrobull · Post by **jethrobull** » Sun Sep 06, 2020 10:17 am

Daydream Believer with the Wags touch, awesome!

Great track, great cover. As usual mixing and arrangement is spot on. The drums cut through nicely with a good crack/snap on the snare/clap. Good job

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Sun Sep 06, 2020 10:22 am

jethrobull wrote: Sun Sep 06, 2020 10:17 am Daydream Believer with the Wags touch, awesome! Great track, great cover. As usual mixing and arrangement is spot on. The drums cut through nicely with a good crack/snap on the snare/clap. Good job

Thanks. I can't tell you how many times I had to listen to that record to get it that close. Glad I was able to do it some justice.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Sun Sep 06, 2020 5:05 pm

1st and title track from my upcoming CD "Celestial Navigation"

In this project, I am getting away from the pop/rock stuff. Goal is to let my mind wander and whatever happens, happens. First track is very loosely structured and even minimalist at times. Primarily an instrumental, there are some sparse vocals.

Overall theme of CD is space, astronomy, astrology and so on. Don't expect anything remotely resembling verse/chorus form. Outside of some percussion here and there, will be staying away from drums.

This project will not be many people's cup of tea so I'm not expecting many listens, if any at all. But this was something I needed to do after the last project which was literally reproducing pop hits of the past.

Project will consist of 8 songs, each between 7 and 8 minutes long.

Celestial Navigation

Celestial navigation
Spreads across the nation
Look up to the sky
The stars will guide your eye

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... navigation

pekbro · Post by **pekbro** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 12:07 am

RE: Celestial Navigation

I liked it, very extraterrestrial sounding and somewhat tribal, all you need are some dancing green women. You don't like the idea of using your modular stuff for spacey sound effects? I enjoy doing that a lot, imo they can really help sell the imagery you are trying to conjure. Vocal treatment sounded good and appropriate, personally I would go heavier on the effects to give the vocals some scale, just because I like that. I like your voice, I hope that you took that away from my previous post, if your voice sucks, there's not much point in training it.

Anyway, nice job, looking forward to the rest...

Bodhisan · Post by **Bodhisan** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 12:58 am

Been a couple of years since I’ve listened to your recordings - but I remember encouraging you to sing on your recordings. Man, I love your voice, Steve. It’s in a category all its own, like Arthur Russell. “Wild Horses” is tops.

aaron aardvark · Post by **aaron aardvark** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:33 am

wagtunes,
Thank you for the reviews! I'd love to know your feelings on today's radio show (leave me a personal message if you prefer). At least you did better than I did in the numerical ratings, from what I recall! Goodbye Girl: the title sure sounds familiar. Maybe because of the movie? I had to google that title. I was very surprised Squeeze did this song. Listened to the Squeeze version on youtube: I'm not sure I've heard this before! Per usual lately, the piano sounds great, to me the highlight of this new recording. Once again, you're brave, because I think Squeeze had/has a great singer. The strings sound excellent too. The guitars help too. While I'm typing, Wild World started playing (I listened to it all): I think your vocals turned out significantly better on this recording: I like the original also. The audio quality is better on Goodbye Girl though. Both sound good. Will review Precious soon.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:37 am

pekbro wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 12:07 am RE: Celestial Navigation

I liked it, very extraterrestrial sounding and somewhat tribal, all you need are some dancing green women. You don't like the idea of using your modular stuff for spacey sound effects? I enjoy doing that a lot, imo they can really help sell the imagery you are trying to conjure. Vocal treatment sounded good and appropriate, personally I would go heavier on the effects to give the vocals some scale, just because I like that. I like your voice, I hope that you took that away from my previous post, if your voice sucks, there's not much point in training it.

Anyway, nice job, looking forward to the rest...

Thanks for the listen and the feedback. I'm kind of feeling my way through this CD as it's a bit different from what I normally do. So you think I should go heavier on the FX? Okay, I'll try that on the next track.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:38 am

Bodhisan wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 12:58 am Been a couple of years since I’ve listened to your recordings - but I remember encouraging you to sing on your recordings. Man, I love your voice, Steve. It’s in a category all its own, like Arthur Russell. “Wild Horses” is tops.

Thanks for the listen and the feedback. I don't know who Arthur Russell is but I'll look him up. Trust me, you have no idea how much technical trickery I need to conjure to get my voice to sound like it does. I am not a natural by any stretch. But I'll take the compliment. Thanks.

aaron aardvark · Post by **aaron aardvark** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:56 am

wagtunes,
Now listening to "Precious & Few": I had to look up who did this originally, even though I recognize the song. Everything sounds quite good instrumentally: the strings were my favorite part of the recording. The brass section (if that's the right word) sounds quite good also. I think the Vocaloid (I assume) background vocals work better on the electronic songs to be honest. Give any thought to using the (per usual I forget the title) software with the 3 Black Women (sampled) for the background vocals? Maybe you didn't own the software yet. I meant to ask you this earlier regarding the '3 Black Women' software: how is that to work with? I'm intrigued by that software. Or perhaps you thought the soul (?) style vocals wouldn't work that well? I understand why the original was a hit song, though it's a bit mellow for my taste. Nevertheless, you did a good version of the song.

. By the way, what compressor/limiters do you use?

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 2:10 am

aaron aardvark wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:33 am wagtunes,
Thank you for the reviews! I'd love to know your feelings on today's radio show (leave me a personal message if you prefer). At least you did better than I did in the numerical ratings, from what I recall! Goodbye Girl: the title sure sounds familiar. Maybe because of the movie? I had to google that title. I was very surprised Squeeze did this song. Listened to the Squeeze version on youtube: I'm not sure I've heard this before! Per usual lately, the piano sounds great, to me the highlight of this new recording. Once again, you're brave, because I think Squeeze had/has a great singer. The strings sound excellent too. The guitars help too. While I'm typing, Wild World started playing (I listened to it all): I think your vocals turned out significantly better on this recording: I like the original also. The audio quality is better on Goodbye Girl though. Both sound good. Will review Precious soon.

Hey Aaron. Goodbye Girl was originally done by David Gates for the movie The Goodbye Girl. That was the version I was trying to emulate. I never heard the Squeeze version so I doubt that mine sounds anything like it.

As for the radio show, I didn't listen to it so I can't give you any feedback on it. I'm going to catch the recorded replay on Tuesday after it's posted.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 2:16 am

aaron aardvark wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:56 am wagtunes,
Now listening to "Precious & Few": I had to look up who did this originally, even though I recognize the song. Everything sounds quite good instrumentally: the strings were my favorite part of the recording. The brass section (if that's the right word) sounds quite good also. I think the Vocaloid (I assume) background vocals work better on the electronic songs to be honest. Give any thought to using the (per usual I forget the title) software with the 3 Black Women (sampled) for the background vocals? Maybe you didn't own the software yet. I meant to ask you this earlier regarding the '3 Black Women' software: how is that to work with? I'm intrigued by that software. Or perhaps you thought the soul (?) style vocals wouldn't work that well? I understand why the original was a hit song, though it's a bit mellow for my taste. Nevertheless, you did a good version of the song. . By the way, what compressor/limiters do you use?

Hey Aaron. Yeah, I knew the background vocals were going to be a problem with this song. The Hollywood Singers are too difficult to work with on songs with a lot of words which this song has. Vocaloid is much easier. In addition to that, the Hollywood diction isn't good for vocals where the words need to be understood. Vocaloid is actually better as hard as that is to believe. Plus, I don't think the soul sound would have worked as well as the Vocaloid for this song.

Neither was going to be an optimal choice so I did the best I could, which is a shame because the rest of the song is pretty spot on. I worked really hard on it getting it to sound as close to the original as possible.

And yeah, I get that this song could be a little syrupy for most. I always loved it so what can I tell you.

Thanks for the listen and the feedback.

aaron aardvark · Post by **aaron aardvark** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 2:52 am

wagtunes,
Thank you for the review! Dude! The radio show was ready for replay minutes after the "live" version played! I couldn't get the radio player to work right: I woke up at 3:55 am to hear it 'live'. So I heard the replay. From what I recall, Becky Fury gave a 2 out of 10 score for ~8 out the 10 songs; so I don't know what was going on there. Now your Wild Horses: if these aren't real guitars, they sound pretty darn good! Especially the lead electric guitar! Did you use Modo Bass here (sounds good)? Drums are good. Nice cover version.

wagtunes · Post by **wagtunes** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 3:03 am

aaron aardvark wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 2:52 am wagtunes,
Thank you for the review! Dude! The radio show was ready for replay minutes after the "live" version played! I couldn't get the radio player to work right: I woke up at 3:55 am to hear it 'live'. So I heard the replay. From what I recall, Becky Fury gave a 2 out of 10 score for ~8 out the 10 songs; so I don't know what was going on there. Now your Wild Horses: if these aren't real guitars, they sound pretty darn good! Especially the lead electric guitar! Did you use Modo Bass here (sounds good)? Drums are good. Nice cover version.

Hey Aaron. Thanks for the info on the radio show. Forgot to answer your one question. I use mostly Fabfilter compressor and limiter. Sometimes I'll use others but they are my workhorses for 99% of my tracks.

The guitars on Wild Horses are Music Labs. I think they're about the best out there if you play them right. That's the key. This song I just happened to get the right feel. Basically, stay away from the stock strumming. It sounds very mechanical.

Bodhisan · Post by **Bodhisan** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 2:52 pm

aaron aardvark wrote: Mon Sep 07, 2020 1:33 am Goodbye Girl: the title sure sounds familiar. Maybe because of the movie? I had to google that title. I was very surprised Squeeze did this song.

Just FYI - I know this is Wag's thread, but Squeeze's song is a totally different song. And their original slower-paced, quirky synth-poppy version is superior to their live, much-faster rock version - maybe because I heard the latter years later and I was content with the original, and at the time, the original album version was quite unique and refreshing.

Okay, back to the origins of the thread...

Music Bird · Post by **Music Bird** » Mon Sep 07, 2020 7:54 pm

I like the new track a bit. Gives me Vangelis vibes but only a little.
Would you like to review my newest songs? Got rid of the other one I did and put stuff in FL Studio instead.

KVR Audio

The Wagtunes Corner (Featuring My Best Yet)

What CD Would You Like To Hear Me Do?