Hale-Bopp

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This is sex in outerspace the way I had always imagined it to be...delicious. simply delicious.

It is indeed possible to record an acoustic drum kit with that sound. There's nothing unusual about it. Like what's been mentioned, different equipment and recording techniques at the time probably gave it the kind of character that it currently has. If anything, the drums were probably just heavily compressed. Interesting documentary anyways (minus the video).

Oftentimes, I go about coming up with lyrics by singing complete gibberish out loud along with the music I'm working on, in order to come up with the inflections and general feel for how I want the song to flow. Once I have that down, then I start writing lyrics that fit those inflections the best and make the most sense. Like Legion303 mentioned, all my lyrics have to flow naturally and never, ever feel forced. I always want my lyrics to feel natural to just about anyone who sings along with them.

I'm liking my current setup, but there's always something more that I'd like to add to it... http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/3707/halesstudiopic16cm.jpg http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/4042/halesstudiopic29wl.jpg

As I mentioned over there, I'm digging it.

Ubernym made an excellent post and I'd like to add just a little tidbit to it. When singing from your diaphragm, as one should, it's a muscle like any other that develops over time until you reach the point where singing from your gut becomes mostly effortless. So don't expect to be able to do it and get it down right away (if you haven't already been singing like that), but to practice singing that way every day, or as often as possible in order to strengthen the diaphragm muscle. It's well worth the extra effort if you enjoy singing and if you think you might be recording your voice often. Exercising your muscles keeps up your strength, obviously, so it's good to practice as often as you can and in an environment where you can completely let loose and without restrictions. Of course, it isn't always easy if you're like me and live with other people who need their quiet space, or if you're shy about people hearing you sing. I tend to practice in my car on the way to and from work most days. Also, regarding the nasally thing, I've realized with some of my own recordings that my voice sounded a tad nasally. It's not because I'm nasally in real life, because I'm not, I'm told. Rather, it's the positioning of the mic when I'm recording my voice that causes it to sound that way. I learned that it's best to try and not aim the microphone at your nose when recording your voice, but to place it at a slight angle. It's good to mess around with different positions until you get one with the most clarity or whatever sound you're going for. I tend to aim my mic slightly downward while I sing off to the side of the mic, rather than directly into it and from about 4 inches away, using a pop filter as well. That way I still get the clarity I need, minus all the messy stuff.

DAW (PC) - Windows XP SP2 - Pentium 4, 2.8 GHz, 1.25 GB of RAM Software - Sonar 7 Producer Edition (for all my mixing/multitracking) - Gigastudio - Har-Bal 2.3 Samples - EastWest Symphonic Orchestra Platinum + XP - EastWest Symphonic Choirs - Quantum Leap Storm Drum - Quantum Leap Hardcore Bass + XP - Garritan Orchestral Strings - Garritan Personal Orchestra - Amplitube 2 - EZ Drummer - Nashville EZ expansion drum kit - Custom drum kits - Misc. samples Hardware - Echo AudioFire8 soundcard/pre-amp/patchbay - ART studio V3 tube pre-amp - dbx professional 1066 compressor/limiter/gate (dual channel) - Shure KSM44 condenser mic & stand (my preciousssssss) - Shure SM58 mic - 2 Samson R11 mics - Edirol PC-70 MIDI Keyboard Controller - Line 6 POD 2.0 - Sony MDR-V600 headphones - Sony MDR-7506 headphones - Other misc. equipment Instruments - Roland TD-8 V-Drums kit (connected to the PC via MIDI/Audio inputs for an endless array of drum kit sounds) - Gibson Les Paul Studio electric 6-string - Fender Jazz electric bass 4-string - Kazoo

E, B, C#m, A, E, B, A, B, E And the chorus is (roughly) C#m, A, B Yeah, that's pretty much it for the bulk of the song. The chorus has two extra chords, so it goes like: C#m, D#, E, A, B

Man, I really gotta start paying more attention to all the amazing remixes that get posted on OCR... Beautiful voice. Great song. Excellent production. Tight performance all around. I have a hard time critiquing anything this exceptional, so I'll just leave it at that.

I may be a bit late, but I'll offer my vocals if anyone needs them.

Wow, excellent dynamics. Clean, clear & pristine vocals performed with finesse and effortless control. I'm impressed, personally. The piano is perfect for the song. What else can I say...beautiful stuff.

You mean like people actually finishing their songs?

That's not a woman. That's a man, baby!

This rocks! I guess I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I think Darangen's work is by far the best example, IMO, of what video game rock remixes should sound like. I dunno, maybe I'm just biased towards the style he brings, but his musical sensibility always hits home with me. The arrangement is clever and the lyrics are concise through and through. It's what makes rock music work for me. Darangen has incredibly solid musicianship and all around style up the arse! Very cool stuff and I'm always wanting more. Keep it up, bro. \m/

While I can't say I'm entirely familiar with the time you live in, I definitely think that lyrics, in any given song, are often left to everyone's personal interpretation. If it would make you feel any better though, I could explain to you what they mean to me.

Thanks everyone for listening and reviewing! It's much appreciated. I knew going into this that this wasn't going to be a song for everybody. Some people loathe straight up pop like this with a passion, while others simply enjoy it. To each his own. I have to say I was quite amused by the prospect of submitting this song and catching people's reaction to it. It's been interesting for me so far to see who's digging it and who doesn't. I'm glad that a good portion of you got something positive out of it though. Many people have pointed out the drum kit as a flaw in the mix. I tend to agree somewhat. Unfortunately, my old Pentium II couldn't handle loading the drum kit soundfont that I wanted to use, so I went with the drumkit that was available on my soundcard's synth. Also, I have a mere 256 MB of RAM and my computer seemed to refuse the new RAM I attempted to install, perhaps due to the fact that my computer is so old. I basically tried to mix them the best I could with what I had to work with. Zyko made a comment about the production of the vocals which I also need to take to heart for future mixes. I've kinda always had a hard time producing vocals in such a way that they don't sound too flat and are just sitting in the mix. Maybe that's just a matter of doing some more tweaking by working on more effects processing during the mixing phase or what have you? I'm not too sure exactly, but I'll work it out. Also, I know some people thought this would have sounded better if I had sung in a higher register by transposing the song. I sort of agree to this, but only somewhat. On one hand, I think it sounds perfectly fine myself. It's easy to sing along to, which I wanted and everything sounds in key. Had I sung any higher, I would have also risked not being able to sing the higher octaves in the background that you hear. So with that, I'm glad that I decided to perform this song in the key it's in. Who knows, maybe I could have pulled off singing those octaves a few keys higher, but that might have also meant having to sacrifice my manhood in the process if you catch my drift. I'm definitely happy overall with how it turned out. It's my personal best as far as production and performance goes. Hopefully I will only get better at it with time. Thanks again everyone!

Awesome work as always, Darangen. This song and all of your music continues to speak to me and stay with me even long after I've listened to it. I could rant forever but I'll just keep it short and simple for now. This kicks so much ass. \m/

I don't know what styles you're comfortable with or your experience with guitars, but I could hear it as a progressive rock/metal remix (especially with the double-kick drum madness going on in the middle). That's sort of the trend among some of the musicians already involved in the project so it would fit right in, in that respect.

I want to take this opportunity to encourage everyone involved in the project to head on over to the official WIP forum. It would be nice to be able to share detailed analysis of each track under its own thread for those interested in greater feedback within the group while keeping their songs spoil-free (away from the public's ear) until final release. Since Kyle is away for now, I assume everyone involved should contact Lea for permission to enter the WIP portion of the forums.

Hey guys. I'm just posting to offer my services as a vocalist. I'm mostly interested in rock remixes, but can handle other projects as well. I can change my voice to suit a number of different styles, and my range isn't too bad either. If I like what you're doing, and you like what I'm doing, cool. I consider myself available to audition. Basically, I'm not asking anyone to commit themselves to using my vocals when you show me your work until you decide if I'm absolutely right for your project. I usually create an initial scratch track so you can get an idea of what I would sound like on top of your music. FYI, I can offer clean, dry audio files of my voice when requested so that you can do all the mixing yourself, or leave the vocal processing up to me. Your choice. I record using a very nice mic (Shure KSM44) running through a pre-amp and dbx compressor/limiter/gate, then into Sonar 5.2 PE for tracking. Take a listen to a few examples of my vocal work and see what you think for yourself... 1. Star Ocean - "Summertime" 2. "Delicious" (original) 3. Tales of Phantasia - "Beyond Absentminded" I'll try and add more samples as soon as I have anything new to offer.