Ok guys, you asked for it! Here's my recording of "Cattle Call", sung & played 'live' on the Yamaha Tyros and recorded straight to my new Korg D1200mkII digital recorder, No post editing or fixes.

To hear the song,
click here: http://scottyee.com
and then go to the 'Song Demos' page.

Yee-Haw from Scott Yee

Hee Haa Scott you da man!!!!!!!

Nice job my Asian Cowboy West Coast friend!!

thanx for sharing..
I hope to listen to many more tunes in the future using the TYROS!

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 01-12-2004).]

Good job Scott. Like I said, this one is way out of my voice range.

Gary

Well I just had to hear you do this one, &
by golly you
did a very good job Scott.
Thanks for sharing.
Denny

Well my hat's off to ya partner!
Great job!
DonM

Dnj, you do have a great sense of humor


Nice job my Asian Cowboy West Coast friend!!

John C.

Great job, Scott!

Sorry Scott 30 minutes to download and it said it the file was corrupted. Maybe DonM sabotaged it.
Eddie

[This message has been edited by btweengigs (edited 01-12-2004).]

Scott,
your MP3 sounds great; there is a definite improvement in sound quality compared with your previous MP3s; it definitely does justice to your voice and the Tyros too.
I hope that you will soon post more songs.

The sound was crisp and the vocals came through very good in the Mix. Kudos Scott. That Korg recorder seems to be a boon to your overall sound. I suppose you recorded it in 24bit/96kHz first then reduced it to 16bit/44.1kHz. Since the Korg is able to record in 24bit/96kHz I would think that would be your 'default' recording method. But however you recorded it, it turned out very good. Thanks for sharing it with us.

PS: Yodeling is harder than you think guys (and gals). Just try it sometime. You've got to really practice to get the hang of it. Not a piece of cake for me anyway. Yipee EYE KI AYE, get along little doggies #@$%^&*#(_@)@.
See, not as easy as ya' think, huh.

Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 01-12-2004).]

Scottt
Good job...from what Mike said I expected some real yodeling and there really wasn't per se. The only thing I thought is the tempo could have been a little faster.

Excellent recording quality with the Korg and nice mix, though the instruments were a bit hard to hear.
Terry

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jam on,
Terry http://imjazzed.homestead.com/Index.html

10 Thumbs up Everything sounds great !

I listen to this while riding in my old pick up truck on a dirt road,with the moon shining above, stars bright in the sky ,cricket's chirping and my Ipod .

A lot of folks out there in the rest of America have this vision of New York. The big city, the lights, everything that goes with it, good and bad, but always on a grand scale.

Well, I gotta tell ya, there's that "other" New York too. I know 'cause I'm in it. Scott's version of "Cattle Call" could easily be the theme song for my town. In fact, dare I say, y'all might hear it blasting on yer speakers when yer driving thru here, of course to be followed by a spirited version of "Dueling Banjo's "

Yep, just like that, no matter what radio station or cd ya might be listenin' to.. it'll surely switch to the Cattle call song as ya drive through here and if y'all don't blink ya might see our one blinkin' light, ( when it's workin' ), our post office that isn't much bigger than yer average kitchen ( I have to have a PO box 'cause they don't deliver mail here ), our gas station that no longer has any workin' pumps/.. ( but they are open twice a week to service vehicles ), and out local restaurant that opens two, maybe sometimes even three nights a week. Of course in all that, there's a pizza joint that opens a few days a week, a fishin' / bait store that opnes if they feel like it, and five bars within' walkin distance that seem to stay open no matter what, even when there's no cars in the parkin' lots.

Yep.. it's home and I LOVE it. You wouldn;t think it's only a little over 100 miles from NY city. Could just as well be on another planet.. lol

Nice job Scott... I like it.

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 01-13-2004).]

First of all, many thanks to Donny,Gary, Denny,DonM, JohnC, Alex, Eddie, Andrea, Mike, Terry, DanO, and AJ for listening to this west coast asian hillbilly (hills of San Francisco that is) attempt to yodel.


Definitely Asian (chinese-american) and living way out West (any further and I'd be in the ocean),but not a 'real' cowboy cuz:

My legs ain’t bowed, and my cheeks ain’t tan
I’m a cowboy who never saw a cow
Never roped a steer ’cause I don’t know how
And I sure ain’t fixin’ to startin now
Oh, yippee-i-o-ki-ay, yippee-i-o-ki-ay



Now that I got a more conveniently simple way to record (thanks to the Korg D1200mkII) I promise to add more songs performed on the Tyros to my website very soon.



Hey Don, does this mean I pass the audition to come sit in with you and your country music buddies? Let me know when Eddy Arnold or George Jones are in town.



Yep, never been to the Swiss Alps or had any real yodeling experience. I merely recorded this song as a 'tongue in cheek' response to Don Mason's & the other's song request challenge, and as a excuse to finally perform a quick first song tryout on the new digital recorder.

In live performance, I always add the tyros vocalizer's 'std duet' harmony in the chorus 'falsetto' section, mostly to help cover up whatever yodeling ability I lack. I had initially attempted to record the vocals using the tyros' built in vocalizer, but quickly discovered that, even though the vocalizer sounds acceptable (imo) in a live performance situation, when recording, all the vocalizers flaws and shortcoming are revealed. I had spent a frustrating unsuccessful amount of time trying to tweak the vocalizer's input/out signals to keep the signal from distorting (too much signal) or harmonies cutting out (too little signal), so just scraped this idea altogether and went with recording it naked, revealing vocal flaws and all. I'm now seriously considering purchasing a TC-Helicon Voiceworks Vocal Processor to dedicate for recording purposes.

Now that I own a dedicated standalone digital multitrack recorder (thanks to the recommendations from others who also use standalone recorders here), I can now appreciate the convenience of recording on it vs on the PC via Cakewalk Sonar (which I also own). For whatever reason, the simplicity & convenience of physical access to knobs & sliders feels more condusive to making music than mousing around on a computer screen. I think the Korg D1200mkII is an excellent addition to my modest music studio. Btw, I only recorded Cattle Call in 16 bit mode because my only intention was for posting the song in MP3 format on the internet. It's amazing how much more musical detail is preserved when heard in the original 16 bit mode on the recorder, compared to what you guys hear in the compressed audio format (48kps) that I have it posted at on my website. When a recording is made in 24 bit mode, the difference I hear between it & 16 bit is a 'smoother' less rigid quality to acoustic vocal & acoustic instrument phrasing. For serious CD purposes, I definitely will be recording in 24 bit mode.



'Ipod'? Wow, cool, which model did you get? I had to make a hard decision between getting an Ipod or the Korg DAW recorder. I still have the Ipod at the top of my wishlist though. I bet you have a hard time keeping yours away from your kids.

Thanks again to everyone for listening to my music. Y'all come back now y'hear? - Scott

Wayta go, cowboy... I like it!

Ok Scott I'll be checking in frequently to listen.....Now that its a bit slow this month I'm gonna record a few NEW tunes for my website as well...more to come........



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www.donnypesce.com

Hi Scott,

I agree with the others and specially with Andrea, it's for me the best MP3 that I heard from you.. Congratulations ..Your voice sounds great ..and the mix is well-done.
Cheers,
JJ

Glenn & Daddy JJ. Glad you enjoyed the music. Thanks for the kind words of support. I still hope to improve my recording skills as I begin to learn the recording ropes.

Donny, looking forward to hearing your new tunes. btw, thanks for sharing the midi rendition of "I left my Heart in SF", speaking of, here are some of the songs I plan to do in my upcoming Stage Show Performance for the 2004 SF Chinese New Years Parade Festival in February:

1) Grant Ave (from Flower Drum Song) big band swing rendition
2) Crazy Love (classic Van Morrison ballad)
3) You Can't Hurry Love (Phil Collins style)
4) Sway (ala Latin Jazz style)
5) On a Slow Boat To China (in an updated contemporary style)
6) Move It On Over (Hank Williams): got to include a 'Country' Blues tune
7) San Francisco Medley: San Francisco Wear flowers in your hair; I Left My Heart in SF, and San Francisco (Open your Golden Gate) - Mandatory of course !
8) Monkees TV Theme Song (to welcome in the year of the monkey)

Everyone here on Synthzone is invited to come see me perform (on the Yamaha Tyros) in San Francisco Chinatown, on Sunday, Feb 8th, at 1:30pm. I'll be performing on stage (outdoors) in Portsmouth Square for the 'Community Fair', located at Grant Ave & Washington Streets. Both the street festival and stage entertainment are FREE to the public and sponsored by the City of San Francisco & Southwest Airlines. There will be a variety of other featured entertaimers performing throughout this weekend festival as well. This event is among the biggest annual SF events. Don't miss it: http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/events/chinesenewyearparade.html

Scott

YO SCOTT,
I just downloaded and played your new release through the KN7000 and it does sound fine. It is a keeper.
Thanks for sharing.
Bebop

Nice work Scott really liked it, to be honest never heard the original song but I like it so much I am going to put it with my Fav MP3 nice work.

Tony.

Wow, the ability to play Mp3's on the KN7000 is definitely a feature I miss on the Tyros. Thanks for listening.




Hi Ziggy Stardust , that's the nicest compliment one can receive. I must admit that I really miss having the Digitech Vocalist Workstation, which I sold to you when recording this song. I realize now that, for studio recording purposes, I need to purchase a dedicated vocal processor like the TC Helicon "VoiceWorks".

Scott

Hello Scott

Tks for sharing a nice song .
Tyros seems perfect and your fingers too !!!!
Congrats
Brasilian regards
Chico

WHAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Scott!!!!

Love it! How do you get that high and still stay in tune my friend???

The new DAW seems excellent, really good quality recording, crystal clear to my ears. Of course as always your performance cannot be faulted. As mentioned above I also had never heard this song before...... have been trying to sing it myself now but was accused by piglet of frightening the dog and sounding like a banshee When he heard your version he said..... "see that is why he can afford a Tyros and you can't!"

Your great talent has always been evident but the new gear sure does show it off well.
Brilliant song and brilliant performance
Best to you
Tony

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www.tonywmusic.co.uk

Great work Scott! I'm really glad you are into the D1200; they are great units. Now that you have a real understanding about why I MUCH prefer to record using my D1600 rather than Sonar you can see why I won't be updating to Sonar 3; I just don't need it and won't use it enough to justify that.

BTW, I don't even try to sync the D1600 and my keyboards. I use BIAB to give me a count in (I record on tracks 15 & 16 the 1,2, 1,2,3,4 that BIAB gives when it starts a song and then just use that the way a band would. I record the backing tracks, then the lead and then the vocal(s) and have no trouble getting everything together. After I have the backing tracks (arranger styles) and lead recorded, I erase tracks 15 & 16 to use for vocals, if needed.

Tom

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Bigger is not always better

Tomat,


Can you share some BIAB tunes with us....Im curious as to what they sound like using that product?

Hi DNJ,

I don't use BIAB to record tunes, as such. I do use it to sometimes just drive my Pa80 and listen to it's styles + songs using the GM sounds. At this point, all I use it for is to record the count down that it does when it starts to play a style + song so that I have a starting point for recording my styles from the Pa80 and the leads either from the Pa80 or my Trinity V3.

You can get a trial download from www.pgmusic.com and then play a song using any style and you will see what I'm talking about; it gives a snare whack on a beat of 1..,2.., 1,2,3,4 just like a band leader will call out in a live band when starting a song. This allows me to "sync" up recording "by ear". Also, since I'm not trying to print out any scores, I don't even bother with what the tempo is set to on the recorder and just record in real time. The D1600 simply faithfully records whatever I put in it and as long as I'm not trying to print out music, measures and beats are irrelevant. In fact, if you are ever in a situation where some recording equipment is measure limited (say 999 measures max) and you want to "lengthen" the time you have to record, just set the machine tempo as low as the machine will go, say 40 bpm and record in real time and the measures will stretch out and you will get twice as long a time to record the same number of measures as you will at 80 bpm. My paying gig is as principal organist at the local Catholic Church and I have to do that sometimes. We have a state of the art Rodgers 2 manual organ with midi and sequencer but the sequencer is measure limited at 999 measures, so if I need an hours worth of meditation music the only way I can get it is to "fool" the idiot machine into giving me more time by setting it to 40 bpm and then playing in real time, which is usually between 80 and 90 bpm. That is the only way I can get one hour of continuous music on a floppy so that if I'm sick or absent for some reason, they can just put the floppy in the midi box and have the organ play the hour of meditation music. So far, I have not needed to have anyone use that feature! (And, hopefully, I never will!!!!!)

Tom

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Bigger is not always better

Tomcat,

Thanx, for the info on BIAB....
I tried it years ago but was turned off by having to insert the chords into the tunes versus just playing real time when I record. But I can see the significance in a program like BIAB for certain users to create music.



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www.donnypesce.com

Hi Chico, glad you enjoyed it. I also plan to record & post a Latin number soon.



Glad you liked the song Tony. I find it easy to 'get high' , but staying in tune is another thing. Actually I'm pretty aware that my falsetto voice could use a lot of work, as honestly, I never worked on this type of singing before.



Thanks Tom. I really owe you a big dose of gratitude for both steering me in the direction of Korg DAW recorders (both terrific sounding & user friendly & at a great price) as well as re-ferring me to the excellent KorgStudios forum and the wonderfully friendly folks there.




Ahh, I think I understand your workable method of recording to the Digital Recorder the BIAB count in measures, but I'd prefer to keep the keyboard's midi sequencer's backing tracks in the midi domain all the way until the very end of the project, which allows me to mix/edit the separate midi tracks & midi data throughout the production process, because once the midi sequence is recorded to audio, it can't be tweaked or remixed, unless you re-record the entire midi sequence to the recorder all over again.

Thanks again for everyone's interest & support.

Scott

Hi Scott,

I don't use midi at all, ever. I have my two keyboards (a Pa80 and a Trinity V3) connected to two inputs, each, on the D1600 and then I have the mic on another input so that I'm using a total of 5 wired up inputs on the D1600. I then set up the Pa80 for the style I want to use and make any instrument subsitutions and/or volume changes, etc. so that the style is the way I want it. Then I record the count in and then play, in real time, the chords, comping through the song using two tracks on the D1600. Then I come back and lay down the lead line, usually on two tracks also. If the lead I'm using is on the Trinity, then I play it and the style at the same time and record on four tracks at once. I do it this way simply to get adjustability between the "band" and the "lead". Then last, I come back and record the vocals, using about eight tracks individually so that I can 1) have enough to be sure of getting a good one, or 2) have enough that I can cut and paste to get a good one (don't like doing that very much because it is labor intensive and I'd rather have it all in one go) or 3) have a good male chorus sound if I use them all at the same time. I have an album of gospel songs I did for friends and family where I discovered, accidentally, about the choir effect from using all eight tracks for the vocal. It just happened to turn out that I sang them close enough to the same way on all eight tracks that I could mix them together and get a really full sound.

By working this way I have minimum hassle. I just turn on the D1600, the keyboards and the mic and then arm whatever tracks I'm going to use and get on with it. However, I do practice the song so that I can play it without making many, if any, mistakes and don't have to do a lot of re-recording so I don't actually need a sequenced midi track. Rather than record the drums to one midi track, the bass to another, etc. so I can adjust volume and so on, I do all that in the setup of the style before I start recording so I don't need to spread the tracks out across a sequencer. I also record with NO effects other than what is naturally on the keyboard sounds; I save the compression etc. for the editing/mastering phase which I do on my laptop using Sound Forge 7, sometimes Wavelab 4, sometimes T-rackS 24 and then burn to CD from the laptop. Those programs are MUCH better for editing/mastering than Sonar will ever be.

Anyway, that's just the way I personally choose to go about doing this. It is, after all, my hobby. I'm retired (& 69) and my paying gig is as principal organist and music minister at the local catholic church where I have a current state of the art two manual Rodgers organ with midi to play.

Tom

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Bigger is not always better

Hi Tom. Thanks for your terrific detailed description of your recording method. I would really 'love' to hear your music recorded on the D1600. I would especially love to hear your music performed on your church's Rogers Organ.

btw: Notice you live on the coast of Oregon in Lincoln City. Beautiful scenic area.

Scott

Hi Scott,

I suppose one of these days I should get around to setting up another web site. I had one for a while but it cost too much (more than I was willing to pay again) so I let it go last august. Right now I don't have any place to post any of my music. Terry referred me to his host but I haven't gotten around to making a site yet but I'll have another look at what it would take to set up on Homestead.com and maybe do it so people would be able to hear what I do.

Thanks for your interest.

Tom

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Bigger is not always better

Howdee Partner's

Scott, that was one good job I'll have to admit. It's funny how music will kind of paint a picture in your mind. I started "seeing" Gene Autry in black and white in my minds eye on a TV screen!!

The sound reproduction is about the best I have heard for an MP3 by a long shot. Sounds like you've definately got the state of the art recorder to go along with your Tyros and excellent singing chops.

Yes, Scott, please give us some more tunes.

Scott