A bit later than normal but here is my final dry run recording, before last weekend’s JGC Open Mic. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I have cut and shut the comments I posted on YouTube below. Must be getting lazy in my old age !
A melange of the Simon and Garfunkel 1964 classic
A mix of Disturbed’s 2015 rearrangement and epic vocals of David Draiman
And a sprinkling of the Madman’s Music Studios, Where Rebel Rock Rules.
And unlike the actual Open Mic this has the TCH PlayAcoustic Vox FX switched on - as some dummy forgot to kick it into life when they started the set. DOH !!
Additional info for those who maybe interested.
Chose the SG as a tongue in check nod to Simon & Garfunkel.
Vox FX as stated above, with some doubling at work.
GTR into POD Go.
AMP : Cali IV Rhythm 2 - Mesa Boogie Mark IV Channel II
CAB : CT_LoneV1_IR01- Based on a Mesa Boogie 2x12 TA loaded with Celestion Blackshadow speakers, Beyerdynamic M160 + Royer R121 for microphoning, API channel preamp.
FX
Reverb 1 : Cave = Line 6 Original
Reverb 2 : Glizt - Line 6 Original
Distortion 1 : Dhyana Drive - Based on Hermida Zendrive
Distortion 2 : Obsidian 7000 = Based on Darkglass Electronics Microtubes B7K Ultra
First verse an Intro Clean/No FX, then FX added sequentially in order listed above for each subsequent verse. Distortion 2 disabled for final line and outro.
And all of the above plumbed into the Xenyx X1204USB AI (zero eq or compresion tweaks)
L & R Gtr inputs panned 100% left and right.
Nothing more to add but less screw ups in this one, which was recorded a couple of hours before kick off !!
As always a pleasure to listen, Toby. Unfortunately couldn’t be in the audience for the last OM, so I missed your performance. Never heard this song on electric, really a cool variety. All the tecnical information sounds like some rocket science to me .
Enjoyed this a lot during the OM so really grateful you shared a dry run with us so I could listen to it again although with some extra spice in your vox with some additional fx kicked in. Like how smoothly you transition between guitar tones, really best one yet from you!
Very lovely Toby. The dry run is of course benefiting of not having to be squeezed through Zoom, and all the better for it. Love the song and love the interpretation.
Toby, this is great. I absolutely love your mix of Disturbed Simon and Mad Garfunkel! Thanks for all the technicial information as well, though you got me for a moment and I thought you bought Mesa Boogie Mark IV recently, but then I realised it’s the preset on your POD I assume?
Thanks for sharing, but I miss the extended edition with Madman’s diary rambling entry. I know, I know - it’s OMXIV footnote, not an actual diary entry. Till the next one!
Came back for a second listen to enjoy the benefits of the better sound quality of the dry run, Toby.
Really enjoyed that, the tone, the rhythm and your vocal. I think it is pretty tricky to play that pumping down strum rhythm and get the phrasing 100% smooth and flowing. Perhaps the cover has slight delays before a word or two, but in one or two places maybe the line could flow better with a slightly different rhythmic feel to the guitar? That’s a minor, not a significant distractor.
I liked the way you were subtly building up the level of drive and distortion in the tone per verse. And then a couple of more significant moves into that territory on the ‘Fools said I…’ and ‘And the people …’ verses. To my ears it sounded like the guitar lost some volume when you kicked in the additional pedals? If possible perhaps you kick kick up the guitar volume then which would naturally drive the vocal up to that big crescendo followed by the quieter end to the song?
All in all, well produced and performed … love it!
@ReneAsologuitar Thank you Rene, you got the better view of the study come music room come studio. The engine room around the PC is getting a bit cluttered these days
Thank you for the feedback, especially on the vox, as it took a while to find the right key for my range and the S&G is around my breaking point at the higher end,
@Helen0609 The beauty of the OMs are the recordings, so they can never be missed. But not quite the same as being there, maybe the next one ? Don’t worry about all the tech speak, its just for the gear heads This sounds equally good on acoustic. Thanks for listening.
@Nancy15 Thank you Nancy, especially on the OM. The vocals were still a long way off the Disturbed versions ramp up but I was happy with the outcome. And this take has the right words, just about
@NicoleKKB Thanks for the comments and your support of the OMs. And you could always go the simple route with electric. A cable and amp would work just as well
Smoothly ? Made laugh as I lost count how many time in the rehearsal stage, I stamp down on the next FX and either missed it or switch off/on the wrong one. One day I’ll get the pedal POD dance to be seamless and change FX without looking As to the vox, yes the selected PlayAcoustic FX made a lot of difference. Maybe I need to cut out the pre play waffling or have another post-it reminding me to switch the darn FX on !
@TRJ Thanks Tjteerd, if only Zoom didn’t monkey around with the audio, I’d be much happier. To me this recording sounds fuller on all counts, so something is going on. But at the end of the day I’ll settle on Zoom for the OMs given the overall experience for everyone on the night and the follow up recording. A little loss quality is a small price to pay.
Back later for some more replies but thanks for the feedback folks
@glpguitar Luka my man, glad you liked it. With all the possible Amp and Cab combination on the POD Go, had they’d been bought individually I’d need a bigger home, let alone be bankrupt! So yes it was one of the Line 6 amp sims and the cabinet was in a down load from Choptones. The Boogie is becoming a goto when I want a bit of presence. Sorry for not presenting the old style video diary for this one. I am still in two minds but there has been a lot going on here this week, so I quickly cobbled a post together last night. Maybe the next one !
@sairfingers Well Gordon I was itching to do the song and the SG just jumped out at me when I was looking at the “stable” it kind of added some extra irreverence ! Glad you liked it. Not quite on par with Disturbed’s piano style but I hope it captured the sentiment of their version with a Madman spin,
@Eddie_09 Thanks for those comments Eddie, I appreciate you taking a listen.
@JasmineJ Jax you are too kind ! And a big thank you too glad you liked it
@MadModMcd Thank you Ian !! And yes I do have a few bits and pieces hanging around the “studio” but I guess I have incurable GAS. But hey I was once reminded by your countryman @sairfingers that there are no pockets in a shroud !! Having a supportive and understanding wife also helps but I think I get away with murder sometimes
Now then David, very observant of you. Yes Mr Draiman’s vocal delivery is a little drawn out and more nuanced than the flowing original of S&G and also that extra grit and fire. The original when not played fingerstyle, normally recommended for the intro and verse 1 only, is a pretty boring DUDUDUDU. Disturbed is more pulsing but orchestral. So plumbed for the middle ground and stayed closed to pumping 8s with accents and the Townsendesque floury here and there. The latter was a little out of whack now and then. But you live and learn.
You are also right about the guitar. You can see by my opening comments that I was slowly adding to the signal chain and adding more distortion, I changed everything on the Saturday morning and had to rebalance all the FX using the Loudness meter. When I drop the whole song into Youlean LM you can see it flips over the -14 LUFS medium for the “Fools” verse and keeps climbing (but not clipping due a -4 db Limit in OBS), Trouble was the guitar was a fairly flat projection around the -18 LUFS. Earlier in the week the guitar level mirrored the rising vocal levels. Having changed all the virtual pedals, what I was hearing in the headphones mirrored that but not in the recording but also I think in the last few takes of the day, I was competing with the guitar and singing a little louder. During the week I’d been sitting down using the Shure headphones but having decided to play standing up switched to the Sennheiser’s as they have a 3m cable. Both sound different !! And to cap it all I used the IEMs for the show and a 3rd variation of audio. So yes you were spot on in your analysis but glad you liked it.
Bottom line is, I have not been doing enough recording to get back to a consistent mix quality. So memo to self is in order.
As usual sir, thank you for the support and encouragement !
And just to be crystal clear, the fine detailed feedback is because I know you are into the details and driven to improve in that way, Toby. Otherwise I’d keep my 2cs worth and just offer applause.
• MMS Black New For 22 
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guitar sounds amazing nice build up of the vocals too. OM performance was great - a fantastic close to the show 
. So enjoyable 
. It was really the perfect song to close the OM.
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