Over the years there have been a lot of folks that told me I sound a lot like Roger Whitaker, especially when I perform The Last Farewell . I never thought I sounded anyything like him, but I'll let you make the call. Used one of the style files from one of my early gig disks for this one.

Also re-recorded Devil Went Down To Georgia using an old midi file. This one just takes a bit of timing and practice to get it down--nothing special, no one can dance to it, but I still get lots of requests to sing it.

When rendered as MP3s, they were done at 96 kbs to save space. They sound much better as WAV files.

All constructive comments, positive and negative, are welcome,

Gary

You're doing something right, Gary, the sound is fine!

Yep, you do sound a lot of like Roger Whitaker. I wonder how much he's made off of cable t.v. sales.

The Last Farewell, that's a pretty song. I think the tempo needs to be slightly faster. Not much.

Same thing for Devil Comes Down To Georgia. Although, I doubt you want to re-record that one. I'll bet that song is very hard to sing! I never thought I'd hear that song on a keyboard!

The following has nothing to do with probably anything more than keyboard limitations. I don't know the proper musical terms but you know when the fiddle is making its run... the notes are too scacato sounding... if there were more of a smooth transition between notes, kind of a slurring action, it would be more realistic. Not that it's bad, I'm just making an observation. Good job on a difficult song!

I was impressed that you left 'son of a bitch' in there instead of 'son of a gun!' Who else deserves that moniker but the devil?


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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

I must say you really sound a lot like Roger Whitaker! It sounds real good actually. I would prefer a different kind of reverb, but it sounds pretty balanced overall.

Devil Went Down to Georgia, well, that to sounded very well also, the acompaniement was a little "busy" for my taste. But again that is only my opinion. What keyboard do you use? Also both tunes might sound better with a little more tempo, not much but like 5-8 bpms more.

But this is good work!

Doc-Z

Gary,

Having grown up in the 80's I'm not real familiar with this sort of music, although I've heard the 2nd one plenty of times! Regardless, I always appreciate someone who can sing on key with brilliant timing such as yourself. Great job!

Carrie

Thanks everyone for your critique--I consider your comments very instrumental in helping me improve what I do.

The keyboard I use is the PSR-3000, the mic used for this one was the Samson Q-7 and the mic was fired directly through the keyboard using the same settings I posted a few weeks ago.

The software used to record the songs was Acid Pro 4.0 combined with Sound Forge 6.0. Nothing special about the hookup or computer. DNJ did point out that there was a bit of over-modulation with the Devil accompaniament, which I hope to correct later tonight.

Thanks again,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Gary-
great stuff, as usual!!!

I thought the "devil" sounded a little over processed in the mix = just my uneducated ears . .
I salute you for pulling that one off!

Jill

Howdy Gary,
Excellent job! I especially like "Devil Went Down to Georgia."

There is (IMHO) a definite familiarity to your voice and Roger Whitaker. Man, you are what our choir director calls a true bass.

Keep up the good work!

Charlie

Thanks Jill and Charlie,

I've had a half-dozen private emails asking about the mic, a Samson Q7 , which is an outstanding mic, and it's dirt cheap. Music123 has it for $89, but I have seen it as low as $69, which is an incredible price.

One the greatest features beyond the excellent frequency response and vocal qualities it provides is the mic's grip surface. It's coated with a non-slip substance that looks great and wears like iron.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Plus very feedback resistant. I recently picked one up on Gary's recommendation... great mic.

Glenn

Nice vocal performance on "Devil Went Down to Georgia", especially for a guy your age. Sorry, I just couldn't resist teasing you considering how much you keep warning us that "Getting old ain't for sissies", . I agree that your singing voice sounds strikingly familar to Mr Whitaker's. My only minor (nitpicky) critcism (hey, you asked after-all) is that a few words sound a little garbled, making them a little difficult to make out. A little more emphasis on diction, & vocal support & placement should easily solve that. You say that you utilized your own 'custom style' (from your Gig disk) for this song. Did you pre-sequence the accompaniment or play the keyboard (including nice trumpet intro & ending & string accomp) live in auto accomp mode while singing? Gar, I believe this is your best stuff to date. Thanks for sharing. - Scott

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 08-22-2005).]

Kickapoojoyjuice



Eddie

... As a first class red wine, every day better

Regards from your brasilian amigo.

Chico

Thanks Scott,

I was pretty tired when I recorded them, plus Eddie and Chico may have a point--I shoulda' had a tall glass of Kickapoo Joy Juice first.

As for the Last Farewell, I recorded the accompaniament directly to the computer on the first track. Then played back the track while I recorded the second track. This is, IMO, the best way to make a CD and have all the flexibility of editing using the program's features.

Cheers,

Gary

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Travlin' Easy

Gary ... Just got to listen last night ... Nice job ! (as usual) ... Just one minor thing, ... the background on Last Farewell is very simple, but the intro and ending use horns and stuff that aren't heard otherwise ... This is something I find with some of the styles I use, especially when I mute some of the instruments in the style ... It just seems out of place relative to the rest of the tune ...
t.

Tony,

If you listen to the orriginal song by Roger Whitaker, those horns are in the intro and ending, but not in the body of the song. However, he did have some accompanying strings in the song's body, which I didn't add in the final edit.

Thanks for the listen,

Gary