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For Corvus (ron2)

ron2

Posted : 4/13/2008 9:11:59 AM

I was trying to do this last night and ran out of time.

And now, Corvus is probably asleep or nearly there. It is 9:00 am CST here in Texas and approaching midnight in Australia.

Anyway, sometime back, we were having some discussion and she shared a video and we could hear her lovely yet subtle aussie accent. I was powerless to stop myself and just had to whip out the guitar and perform "Land Down Under" by Men at Work. I have been trying different variations of that song for a couple of decades. Anyway, so, I recorded it and some others on my 20 year old 4 track recording machine, which still works but I couldn't find a way to get it converted to digital on the computer. Tried getting a computer mic and that didn't work. So, I just used my digital camera, which also takes movies.

I find it inspiring that Carla shares her music with us, as does a few others.

I have 3 guitars, a pitiful collection compared to Ed's (Xerxes). In this one, I just picked up the cheapie acoustic that I bought for $40 at a flea market in Kleburg, Tx. No production values and I just set the camera there on the computer desk, so all you get to see is the guitar and my flannel shirt. Sorry. And the mic in the camera is a little condenser mic. So, it flattens out the response curve when responding to volume. It's going to be tempting to turn it up at the beginning. After the first refrain, turn it down because I have a volume change that accompanies the octave change. That's not the camera, that's me with a sonic blast from a couple of feet away. I've sat on this video for a while because the sound is such poor quality but I listened to it last night and found it wasn't too bad. And what the heck, if you guys were visiting, I would just pick up the guitar and do it, anyway. I've done it at clubs where friends were playing and I would do stuff before their set.

So, Corvus, this is for you. And for Vinia, from the other land down under. And for Carla, and Ed.

[URL=http://s216.photobucket.com/albums/cc122/ronws_photos/?action=view¤t=downunder.flv][IMG]http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc122/ronws_photos/th_downunder.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

FourIsCompany

Posted : 4/13/2008 9:34:05 AM

Very good, ron! I love your playing! I found myself singing the harmonies! LOL

It would be better with better sound. Embarrassed

ron2

Posted : 4/13/2008 10:00:26 AM

FourIsCompany
Very good, ron! I love your playing! I found myself singing the harmonies

That would be way cool. Could your techno friend be able to mix the two? Probably not with the crap quality of my recording.

I have been playing guitar since October of 1974 and have sung that long, too, though I gave it serious attention starting about 20 years ago, when I got that recording machine.

Maybe, one day, we will meet and do a duet. Big Smile

FourIsCompany

Posted : 4/13/2008 10:22:22 AM

ron2
Could your techno friend be able to mix the two? Probably not with the crap quality of my recording.

I could do it, but the quality is too bad. Use Audacity and make an mp3 audio file and I might be able to. Smile

ron2

Posted : 4/13/2008 2:37:12 PM

FourIsCompany
Use Audacity and make an mp3 audio file and I might be able to

Why didn't I think of that?

I must be having a blonde weekend.

calliecritturs

Posted : 4/13/2008 3:01:45 PM

Hey -- I enjoyed it just as it was!!! *smile*

ron2

Posted : 4/13/2008 3:19:44 PM

Thanks. I just noticed that the little mic in the camera has me sounding like Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins.

FourIsCompany

Posted : 4/13/2008 3:25:02 PM

ron2
Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins

Hey, that's not bad! Smile

Chuffy

Posted : 4/13/2008 4:28:41 PM

ron2
Thanks. I just noticed that the little mic in the camera has me sounding like Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins.

(Dryly) Oh dear, how awful for you.

Thanks for sharing Smile

ron2

Posted : 4/13/2008 4:45:28 PM

Chuffy
Dryly) Oh dear, how awful for you.

Thanks for the hug. I like some Smashing Pumpkins stuff. On cover tunes, not so much. I saw a youtube video of him doing "Long Way to the Top" but he was singing about half an octave below the original.

My 4-track (uses a standard audio cassette) does much better, though I still overload the mic. I think I might try jacking the mic through my Roland GS-6 to see if that evens out the response, at least for the 4-track. The challenge remains to either find a way to record directly into Audacity or find a way to mate the 4-track to the computer. Or find one of those novelty recording places where you can go in a booth and record your own stuff, hopefully on CD.

Or see if I can find a software suite that does what I want, including a line level input from an analog device.

Vinia

Posted : 4/13/2008 8:30:11 PM

That was cool, Ron. Thank you for sharing! It was a fantastic rendition :)

Maybe you could try something with a more kiwi flavour next? e.g."Business time"? I would love to hear a Billy Corgan-esque version Big Smile

ron2

Posted : 4/14/2008 5:45:57 AM

Vinia
e.g."Business time"? I

Those guys are great. I've heard some of their other stuff. In that one, he's trying to go for almost a Barry White feel crossed with a bit of Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top, which works great for the song. And Corgan's voice timbre would change the effect of the song, for sure.

.

corvus

Posted : 4/14/2008 3:53:38 PM

Awww, that was lovely. You have a good voice. It reminded me of a version of that song I have on cd done by Fiddler's Feast.

The guitar was great!

ron2

Posted : 4/14/2008 7:01:48 PM

corvus

Awww, that was lovely. You have a good voice. It reminded me of a version of that song I have on cd done by Fiddler's Feast.

The guitar was great!

Well, thank you. I've been playing guitar since October of 1974. This version that I play of that song is the one that I like best, so far. As for singing, I've been working on that since about 1988. The trick to doing a song well is don't try to sound like the original artist. I can do a tremolo like Colin Hayes but I don't sound like him. I have a range like Freddie Mercury but I don't sound like him.

But, in spite of the crappy mic, I had fun and wanted you to have fun with it, too.