The Wagtunes Corner (Featuring My Best Yet)

[vurt]

For me that's 100x better than anything using Vocaloid. The vocal is fine. There's a couple of parts where you sound a bit hesitant in the changing between the notes, but nothing major.

definitely!
the moments of hesitation, theyd be ironed out easily by a little more exercise, ie sing more of your own damn songs! forcing robots to do your bidding, come the singularity youll be sorry!
but seriously, if you use your voice more i don't think you should bury it so much, i know its not really my area of expertise, but vocals are the lead instrument, bring them up a little and let everything else do the supporting

i can hear why people reference lennon, not that you sound exactly like him, but theres that softness to both voices...

[vurt]

wow you two are so old ill have to check on you regularly over winter

That is one of the funniest comments I have ever seen on KVR

You can take a bow for that one vurt...

Hilarious...

But I think that I'm about the same vintage as those guys

ill add you to my rounds.

[donkey tugger]

For me that's 100x better than anything using Vocaloid. The vocal is fine. There's a couple of parts where you sound a bit hesitant in the changing between the notes, but nothing major.

definitely!
the moments of hesitation, theyd be ironed out easily by a little more exercise, ie sing more of your own damn songs!

Aye, and usually when you know the song a bit better (so you're more sure of it) you can do another take. Or if you like the take (sometimes the early ones are the best, warts and all), pitch correction has reached such a level that it's fairly simple (if a bit time consuming) to manually edit transitions etc so that everything is ok, without the horrific autotune effect. It's like I've done it before...

[wagtunes]

For me that's 100x better than anything using Vocaloid. The vocal is fine. There's a couple of parts where you sound a bit hesitant in the changing between the notes, but nothing major.

definitely!
the moments of hesitation, theyd be ironed out easily by a little more exercise, ie sing more of your own damn songs! forcing robots to do your bidding, come the singularity youll be sorry!
but seriously, if you use your voice more i don't think you should bury it so much, i know its not really my area of expertise, but vocals are the lead instrument, bring them up a little and let everything else do the supporting

i can hear why people reference lennon, not that you sound exactly like him, but theres that softness to both voices...

You make it sound like I've never sung in my life. I've been singing since I was 5. I sing in the church choir. I've recorded thousands of songs with me singing.

I hate my voice.

No amount of my singing is going to make me any better than I am. Some people are simply not gifted singers and no amount of singing is going to make them any better than what they are. I am a perfect example of that.

This is as good as it gets for me.

And the tough to sing uptempo songs (like the one I'm working on now) forget it. These are the ones where the warts really come through.

Some people simply don't sing well.

Think about it. Do you REALLY want to listen to Burt Bacharach sing?

I sure don't. But boy can he write.

[vurt]

id rather hear burt than his japanese sex bot


whatever works for you wags
just know that we know its not as bad as you think.
maybe not the voice you want, but its a voice.

i will not belabour the point, but you posted the track and i gave my opinion, that is all. i will not reference it again

[jancivil]

Some people are simply not gifted singers and no amount of singing is going to make them any better than what they are. I am a perfect example of that.

I as well. I'm a frustrated singer. I seek vocal type of expression via other means.

Weirdly it turned out I had an apt voice for country, I had that crack in my voice for Hank Williams in that key (D) and I could bring the received 'twang' from my environs during childhood. I don't have that accent but I can do it. My sister has a strong accent. And it's neither the accent of our mother nor father, weirdly enough.


the reason I don't tend to comment here is I physically have an issue with Vocaloid, it gets on my nerves, I'm sensitive to it.

[andrelafosse]

Steve, I think your songwriting is usually really solid, and this tune is no exception.

Generally, I have to listen "through" your productions (Vocaloid, minimal arrangements, etc.) to get to the tunes underneath. But with this newest one, the live vocals really serve the song and make it much more engaging and approachable.

Also: for the "show tune/musical theater/'70s soft-rock" territory that your stuff tends to occupy, pristine virtuoso voices are NOT a prerequisite, by any means.

With all that said: you do what you gotta do.

[wagtunes]

3rd track from my upcoming CD "Ten Years Later"

Another one with me on lead vocals. This one, for me, I actually sung decently. Pulled out my Jeff Lynne for this one. Kind of went for the "pop" ELO sound on this one.

Day Of Judgment

Am I to blame for the pain in your life
Am I to blame for your strain and your strife
Why do you look at me for all your ills
Maybe you should look to the time that kills

And when the day of judgment comes your way
When you stand face to face with God what will you say
Don't look at me to bail you out that day
The day of judgment comes for you what may

When did you walk to the dark not the light
Did you not learn what is wrong what is right
How could you think that it would not go wrong
How could you think that it would not take long

Repeat Chorus

Right around the bend
Your life's gonna end
Nothing's gonna save you now my friend

Repeat Chorus

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... kup-vocals

[donkey tugger]

3rd track from my upcoming CD "Ten Years Later"

Another one with me on lead vocals. This one, for me, I actually sung decently. Pulled out my Jeff Lynne for this one. Kind of went for the "pop" ELO sound on this one.

Day Of Judgment

Am I to blame for the pain in your life
Am I to blame for your strain and your strife
Why do you look at me for all your ills
Maybe you should look to the time that kills

And when the day of judgment comes your way
When you stand face to face with God what will you say
Don't look at me to bail you out that day
The day of judgment comes for you what may

When did you walk to the dark not the light
Did you not learn what is wrong what is right
How could you think that it would not go wrong
How could you think that it would not take long

Repeat Chorus

Right around the bend
Your life's gonna end
Nothing's gonna save you now my friend

Repeat Chorus

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... kup-vocals

Getting a bit of Bowie on that - sounding almost like a Londoner at times!

Not keen on the vocal treatment mind - is it some kind of room reverb with no predelay - sounds like the reverb is coming in straight off with no chance for the vocal to cut through before it gets smothered. Usually around 50ms will give it a chance. For your voice I'd always be gong for a plate style reverb rather than hall or room. If you haven't already I'd also cut all the reverb below about 500hz, all it does below that is add to mush on the vocal in a busy mix/song.

[wagtunes]

3rd track from my upcoming CD "Ten Years Later"

Another one with me on lead vocals. This one, for me, I actually sung decently. Pulled out my Jeff Lynne for this one. Kind of went for the "pop" ELO sound on this one.

Day Of Judgment

Am I to blame for the pain in your life
Am I to blame for your strain and your strife
Why do you look at me for all your ills
Maybe you should look to the time that kills

And when the day of judgment comes your way
When you stand face to face with God what will you say
Don't look at me to bail you out that day
The day of judgment comes for you what may

When did you walk to the dark not the light
Did you not learn what is wrong what is right
How could you think that it would not go wrong
How could you think that it would not take long

Repeat Chorus

Right around the bend
Your life's gonna end
Nothing's gonna save you now my friend

Repeat Chorus

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... kup-vocals

Getting a bit of Bowie on that - sounding almost like a Londoner at times!

Not keen on the vocal treatment mind - is it some kind of room reverb with no predelay - sounds like the reverb is coming in straight off with no chance for the vocal to cut through before it gets smothered. Usually around 50ms will give it a chance. For your voice I'd always be gong for a plate style reverb rather than hall or room. If you haven't already I'd also cut all the reverb below about 500hz, all it does below that is add to mush on the vocal in a busy mix/song.

Two things.

1. Yes, it is a plate reverb. It is Valhalla Plate.

2. I have no idea how to EQ a reverb. However, there is a setting on the reverb itself to adjust the hi and low. I cranked the hi up and lowered the low all the way to the bottom. The low end you hear is probably from the Schepes Omni setting that I used.

FWIW, the vocals themselves are heavily processed.

Plugins used.

Fabfilter Q2
Schepes Omni Channel
Microshift
MUnison
Valhalla Plate
Fabfilter Pro L

Personally, I like the way the vocal sounds. As much as I don't like my voice, I like it even less when it doesn't have the full bottom.

I mean I guess I could take the Pro Q2 and just kill the bottom completely (I do that with all the Vocaloid vocals) but not sure it's worth the effort at this point for what will probably just be a marginal improvement, if any at all.

[wagtunes]

3rd track from my upcoming CD "Ten Years Later"

Another one with me on lead vocals. This one, for me, I actually sung decently. Pulled out my Jeff Lynne for this one. Kind of went for the "pop" ELO sound on this one.

Day Of Judgment

Am I to blame for the pain in your life
Am I to blame for your strain and your strife
Why do you look at me for all your ills
Maybe you should look to the time that kills

And when the day of judgment comes your way
When you stand face to face with God what will you say
Don't look at me to bail you out that day
The day of judgment comes for you what may

When did you walk to the dark not the light
Did you not learn what is wrong what is right
How could you think that it would not go wrong
How could you think that it would not take long

Repeat Chorus

Right around the bend
Your life's gonna end
Nothing's gonna save you now my friend

Repeat Chorus

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... kup-vocals

Getting a bit of Bowie on that - sounding almost like a Londoner at times!

Not keen on the vocal treatment mind - is it some kind of room reverb with no predelay - sounds like the reverb is coming in straight off with no chance for the vocal to cut through before it gets smothered. Usually around 50ms will give it a chance. For your voice I'd always be gong for a plate style reverb rather than hall or room. If you haven't already I'd also cut all the reverb below about 500hz, all it does below that is add to mush on the vocal in a busy mix/song.

Okay, had some time to kill, took your advice, and made the requested changes. Give it another listen and see what you think.

[wagtunes]

Another one from "Glitch"

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... ets/glitch

[jancivil]

I mean "sensitive" in the sense of an allergy essentially.

I think most people don't like their voice on tape. I would record me doing a couple of things but I'd need the right mic and a Shure SM57 ain't it. Probably not worth investing a lot more money than that into the enterprise.

When I did listen, I found your songs are professional-quality craftsmanship, it's too bad you feel you cannot pursue...

[Frantz]

I listened to "Day of Judgment." Catchy and well crafted. I think your vocals on leads with vocaloid backing is a good combination.

[wagtunes]

I listened to "Day of Judgment." Catchy and well crafted. I think your vocals on leads with vocaloid backing is a good combination.

Thanks Frantz. Yeah, kind of like what ELO did with their vocoder vocals behind Jeff Lynne.