Hi everyone.
I feel after all the sillyness these last few days on SZ it's about time we all got back to making music.
After my first song Hero (also known as boring arranger ballad style if your names Fran) I'd post something different.





This is more uptempo Fran, maybe a bit too modern for you being from the 80's but something different by my all time favourite group. It is MY own version of it so don't expect a Bryan May note for note rendition which would be impossible on a keyboard.
As usual all done in one take, no SMF, no MP3, no faking, no overdubs, just hit record and play and post it as it should be.
http://rapidshare.de/files/31366170/Craig_-_Break_Free.mp3.html

Craig . . .

Bravo! Terrific auto accomp style & fantastic live keyboard guitar emulation played with emotion, passion & fire.



Freddie Mercury LIVES ! . . . thru your music!

Scott

You are the champion, my friend

Craig,

This is excellent, man.

You are a fine player with lots of feeling in your music, and you can certainly do a terrific guitar emulation.

The synths were killers as well.

A superb recording.

Ian the Impressed

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Remember to leave good news alone.

Love that song.

I'm glad you posted it. Thanks for that.
The 80's Rock style is great for that song.

Great job.

Eric

Alrighty, my honest opinion.. While I'm a big fan of this song and ohters by this artist...., to be honest this version didn't do it for me. Sorry, but that's my honest opinion. There's some timing issues with the guitar in several places. I also didn't care for the drums (felt they were a bit weak, and the backing guitar sounds very--how should I say--obviously done on an arranger keyboard but hey--thanks for posting it.

Squeak

I have no problems with Artists using backing files providing these simple rules are followed.
1. The Artist has recorded the backing.
2. The Artist plays everything that is physically possible for him to play, with the backing being used to add authenticity to the performance.
3. The Artist tells the audience that he is using a recorded backing.

Like the song and performance, but the electric guitar sounds very artificial. (However bear in mind that I regularly listen to live electric guitar, and so deficiencies do stand out)
Enjoy whatever you play

Bill

The first guitar, I didn't care for but the second one sounded pretty real!

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Thanks for all your comments.
Obviously the T2 can't and never will sound like a live guitar (especially one played by Bryan May). The first guitar sound has no distortion effects on it so more feeling can be heard in the song using this, the one for the solo and ending has been edited with slightly more reverb and distortion and I have to be spot on timing wise when swapping to this guitar so the effects don't still sound from the other creating a thud sound.
The drums sound far better and more upfront on the 45mb WAV version of this, doing a MP3 does lose quality. The style is an 80's one off the IDC site available to purchase.
Not sure what you mean by timing issues Squeak but I played it live in one take (Think you said you were a guitarist a while back so you'd play these parts far different to me and a guitarist should be able to get nearer to the original than a keyboard player). If I wanted it to be perfect I could overdub it until the cows come home but then you'd lose the live feel to it with any imperfections included.
Well thanks once again.
I think I'll re-record it later but this time using sampled sounds on the T2 as well as internal, a custom style I've been working on (again using sampled bass and guitars) and then I'll play live over the top. This would show you all what you can do with sampled sounds as I think Donny wanted to hear a while ago.
My memory has been returned to Kingston at the moment (T2 memory that is before any comments lol) as I think it was faulty so until I get a replacement I can't load anything back into the T2 so stay tuned

I would think that style would also work quite nicely for U2's With or Without You.

Wouldn't that be cool if you found a nice sample of Brian May's Red Special to import?



-mike

Craig,
Second part guitar with effects is pretty good in my opinion, especially regarding it was played live. Drums could be a little "toned-up" (more prominent).

First part I think it was a little dull, but perhaps so because Freddie had so much power in his voice and a simple guitar although well played is not a substitute.
Thanks for sharing with us.
Theodore

Maybe I am really getting deaf. The drums... I could barely hear them.

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Craig,
first of all, congratulations for your song!

Speaking of the first guitar, I can understand what the others were trying to say. Emulating the voice of Freddie Mercury is not an easy task indeed! I think that the sound you choose is maybe too clean and lacks a bit of sustain; to compensate for this you had to play more notes, to "fill the void", so to speak. This did not happen with the second guitar, where the distortion leads (of course) to a more prolonged sustain and a more realistic effect.
Have you thought to substitute the clean guitar with a synth lead? There are plenty to choose from in the "Synth" bank; try one of the first three, for example...

Hi there.
I already posted With or without you as my last song which did actually use that same style but edited slightly hehe. The drums to be honest on that style are not terribly loud so I do see peoples points about them. Even swappig to a different kit makes no difference, it's just the way the style has been done, but the WAV which I sent to Scott Yee is definitely more prominent in the mix.
On the original Queen version of the song, the drums are not terribly loud or powerful either.
I was going to play Freddies part with a synth instead (similar to the one used for the intro) but I like my guitars lmao I agree with Dreamer that the first guitar sound is clean, it's an edit I made with 2 elements using different guitar voices.
Stay tuned as i will post a far different version of this very soon.
Cheers guys for the feedback

Having the opportunity to listen to the original 45mb uncompressed WAV file, I conur that the compressed MP3 significantly reduced what is actually heard in the original WAV. Listening to the original WAV file on my iPod thru a pair of Sennheiser HD600 headphones, I'm able to fully appreciate the CONSTRAST between the more intimate acoustic expression heard in the 1st guitar, and the gut wrenching passion heard by the distorted guitar later.



No problem with the drum mix when listening to the original WAV on my system . I even A/B compared it with similar songs heard from a Queen album, and their drum volume levels sounded pretty simlar to my ears.

Though Craig's rendition, as he stated at the onset, is a bit different than the Queen original (it's an instrumental afterall), I really like it (a lot), as it not only showcases the sound of Tyros2 in a rock music format, but Craig's terrific arranger keyboard chops as well. Bravo!

Scott

Gut wrenching passion cheers Scott

I put passion into everything m8 including my women. I know how to press all the right buttons lol mmmm Talk about 'Magic Moments'

brilliant as always craig the giutar is brilliant & im sure your sounds will be back to normal m8 when you get your dimms & as scott has said freddy lives

Craig: Fun to listen to. I enjoyed listening to your up-beat piece.

I liked the guitar work. Would have liked more happening in the background. However, if your goal was to play real-time you have some limitations as to what can be done. Maybe some multi-pad fills or some complimenting organ chords in the left-hand voice may have been helpful.

Thanks for sharing your work

Thanks Robert.
The left hand had an evolving synth sound, sort of like an anaolog sweep but as I've said before for some reason converting down to MP3 takes quite a few sounds out of the mix, drums for example.... At least it's better than having to download 45mb of WAV I suppose