stillnotbanned, Frank, Dan, Scotty - thanks for listening and commenting.

morenoise - Thanks a lot - yeah, on songs like this I feel like a longer guitar solo would ruin it.

James - that's funny.   Journey concerts are always great.  I love that old arena rock stuff.  Foreigner would be cool to see.  I wish things turned out differently with Steve Perry and Journey, but the show must go on.  Their drummer is a fantastic singer.  Last time I saw them the drummer sang a couple songs and he sounded just like perry.

That's a great lineup!  I would have liked to have seen Aerosmith alone back then.  I wasn't too familiar with Nazareth, but Nugent and Lynyrd Skynrd were huge back then.

Geno, I always say I'm not fond of covers but if I could do it like you I might think differently.  I think that having listened to Steve Perry do this a thousand times, MONSTER vocalist that he is, makes me appreciate your version that much more.  A powerful cover with great instrumentation and a MONSTER vocal.  I thought the ending was perfect and this all goes to support the fact that you are one of my favorite artists up here.

Great! Great vocals, guitar and production. Very pro sounding.

Wow, this is great!  You get points for just having the guts to attempt it, but then to come away with this performance is incredible.  Love the sound of your guitar through the solo.  Great job!

Tim - Thanks.  Yeah - I was unsure about this whole project as Steve Perry's voice singing this song is imprinted on just about everyone's memory.  And Journey's singers as of late have pretty much reproduced much of Steve Perry's tone.   Sometimes when I listen to my version I want to crawl under a rock because it's hard for me to accept my voice singing this song. 

Tony - thanks for commenting.  Glad you like the beginning.

Love the cover................great job.

But, the drums didn't do it for me.  
Would love to hear this with a "real" drummer.

Tim 

Man you can sing!  Beautiful voice.  Excellent track with nice playing and production.

Janet - Thanks again!

Tim - thank you

Bret - Thanks for your comments.  I've got a phase shifter going in the beginning, and right at 1:07 where the singing starts again take out the phase shifter.   This is probably what you're talking about.

Vicente - thank you!

Paulo - I DID tweak it!  Good ears and memory!  I took the guitars down slightly, wet them down with a touch more reverb and brought up the synth.  Just some tiny changes - but it makes a difference.

Hi Geno,

Man, what a voice!

Great guitar playing and production.

Wow, this sounds fantastic...great job!

Danny - Thanks for listening and your advice (as always).  I've tried to apply the concepts you've taught me and I feel my mix is much better (thank you).  This is Superior Drummer 2.0 and I've set it up pretty much like in your video.   I do tap in a lot of the drums with my PadKontrol in real time (as opposed to strictly programming).  That said I took a look at the velocities, and some of the kit pieces do vary slightly, others are robotically the same.  You mentioned using the X1 bass as a "sketch" pad.  This is what I do with the bass and drums.  I get it to where is sounds pretty good and then I get real lazy and just concentrate on vocals and guitars.

About the Bass - yes I should probably get one.  Beleive it or not, I was recruited as a bass player when I was 15 in a "real" band (with college kids making "real money" ha ha) even though I was a guitarist.  I ended up playing bass in that band for years.  Unfortunately I sold my bass.  I've been thinking about buying one - I think I'd get a Fender P-Bass.  I already have a POD with all the Bass amps.

I need to have you do another song analysis with my new setup. 

geeare1 - Thanks for your comments!

equality - Thanks for listening and commenting!

guitartrek


Danny - Thanks for listening and your advice (as always).  I've tried to apply the concepts you've taught me and I feel my mix is much better (thank you).  This is Superior Drummer 2.0 and I've set it up pretty much like in your video.   I do tap in a lot of the drums with my PadKontrol in real time (as opposed to strictly programming).  That said I took a look at the velocities, and some of the kit pieces do vary slightly, others are robotically the same.  You mentioned using the X1 bass as a "sketch" pad.  This is what I do with the bass and drums.  I get it to where is sounds pretty good and then I get real lazy and just concentrate on vocals and guitars.

About the Bass - yes I should probably get one.  Beleive it or not, I was recruited as a bass player when I was 15 in a "real" band (with college kids making "real money" ha ha) even though I was a guitarist.  I ended up playing bass in that band for years.  Unfortunately I sold my bass.  I've been thinking about buying one - I think I'd get a Fender P-Bass.  I already have a POD with all the Bass amps.

I need to have you do another song analysis with my new setup. 

geeare1 - Thanks for your comments!

equality - Thanks for listening and commenting!

Wow, that was Superior?! I loved the sounds....we just gotta figure out what's happening with those velocities. One thing I could suggest that may help you quite a bit. Have you ever seen those midi grooves created by real drummers on V Drum kits? They sell these things...and I believe Toontracks may have them on their site. But anyway, if you bought a small pack of them and analyzed what the drummer was doing on fills etc and made a note of how certain velocities were achieved, I think it would really help you out bro.
 
For example, when I play on my V kit, certain things velocity wise may have to be edited depending on how hard I was playing. I usually have a good threshold set up on the V kit, but you know...sometimes you're super excited and play a bit harder than you want to. On those parts, I have to manually edit some of the sections. I know that for a snare roll I may be alternating from velocity 90 up to 127....or for hats, I may be using 110-127. Ghost kicks with doubles or triples could be 75-127...but I learned that stuff from analyzing my own playing. I knew when something sounded right in a drum fill. If you get one that sounds great, you just cop the velocity assignments and you can somewhat apply them to other similar sounding fills etc. Those midi packs have some insane drumming going on to the point of when you import them into EZD or Superior, or BFD2, they just sound incredibly real no matter what fill he's playing. If you analyze those and take notes, you can apply them to your own creations and you'll stop the robotics from coming into your world as much. :)
 
On the bass....yeah G, don't even procrastinate bro. You're such a great guitarist, I can only imagine how insane your bass parts would be. I think the P-bass would be perfect...but definitely consider a 5 string because with today's music, I think it's a necessity. I haven't used any of my 4 strings in years....and I have a Kubicki Factor 4 string that is out of this world that just sits in the case. Something about the 5 string just does it for me...so definitely consider that as they do make a nice difference. Best of luck bro, and again...nice job on the tune. :)
 
-Danny

guitartrek


Thanks Danny - I remember when I first got EZD - I did just what you are saying by analyzing some of the beats.  I need to take a look at those again. 

Thanks for the advice on the 5-string - I was wondering if I should get one of those.  I do a lot of drop tuning for heavy power guitar stuff.  Is this the reason for a 5-string bass?  To acheive the lower notes without having to drop tune the bass?

I haven't played bass in practically decades - except for a couple months ago I was in Vegas and jammed with a drummer friend of mine.  He had a 5-string bass - it was a cross between a P-bass and a Jazz bass - I had a lot of fun playing bass again.  His bass was really cool.  Not sure exactly which model it was, but it was a Fender.

Yeah take a look at some of those beats...they will really help you out, that's for sure. I used to have a .txt file of velocity combinations that worked on certain things. If I find the thing, I'll post it up for you. I kinda just do everything from memory now because most times when I use my V Drums or someone else uses them, I don't have much velocity editing to do. When I get a client that wants stuff resampled that was programed, then I have to do lots of this stuff. But I remember it thankfully, so I don't have to use my cheat sheet anymore. But if I find that thing, I'll be more than happy to share it with you.
 
As for the 5 string, yeah definitely get one. Here's my opinion on what the reason is. First off, it's a personal preference really. Some guys like more strings as they have less limitations. I jam with this bassist that is one of the sickest bass "guitarists" I've ever heard. Picture Billy Shehan on roids. This dude can play any lick I can play just about on his 4 string. He sweeps, taps, does legato, concerto's, and has a bass album created with nothing but bass. Anything percussive is him beating on his bass...he's just nuts! But there were a few things he couldn't do that I was playing...so one day, we hang out and he has a 5 string...man, that extra string made him do stuff I couldn't do. LOL!!
 
Secondly, yeah it really does help for dropped tunings and here's why. When you drop an E down to a D, C or B, it's going to be flabby due to it having less tension. You can get it to work, but you'll notice a HUGE difference with a string that was made to be at that pitch. You don't get that flabby, flappy sound. It's tight just like your E would be tuned to standard pitch. It also sounds better because the string was made to be at low B. And it's even cooler if you tune it up to C or D because it doesn't get flabby.
 
I personally like mine because I always tune like a goofball anyway. Everything you've ever heard me play on guitar is tuned in a slide-type tuning down to low C. It's really the only way I know how to play. I can play in standard tuning a little bit, but I stay away from it. So when I grab a bass and do one of my songs, it's nice to have the Eb, D, C# and low C right there without having to tune the bass. Most times for me, I tune the low B on the bass to a low C unless I really need the low B sound. So it's cool because you can make that 5th string pretty much anything you want it to be. So yeah, if you find yourself doing a lot of dropped tuning or heck, you just want that extra string to be whatever you want, definitely go the 5-string route. I promise you one thing though...you probably won't want to go back to a 4 string unless of course you want play to your bass as nuts as you play your guitar. LOL!!
 
The 5 string basses have a bit fatter necks on them...and it takes a bit of getting used to if you are going to really play it. You know, more "lead oriented" bass. You're better off with a thinner neck 4 string for stuff like that. I got lil gurly hands though, so I had to get a 5 string that had a pretty friendly neck that isn't too bad. The Factor I have is pretty nice. It has one of those hip shot deals on it so you can just flick it and it will drop down a whole step. But I still like the 5 string way more for what I do. :) Good luck in whatever you decide brother.
 
-Danny

Danny - Thanks for the great advice on the bass.  I will definitely buy a 5 string.  I'm frequently using bass notes below the low E.  Slide-type tuning?  Jeez how do you do that?  I only started messing around with drop tuning a few years ago when I got my first les paul.  Prior to that I always had a floyd-rose locking nut on my Ibenez Jems and never changed tuning.  With the LP I can change tunings really fast - But I'm not very comfortable playing the dropped low E string (D) in a lead solo. 

Bob - thanks a lot!  Neal Schon has always been one of my favorite guitarists. 

You really did a great job here Geno.   First of all, I wanted to gather my opinion without reading any of the other comments yet so forgive me if I say anything that's already been said.   I was really impressed by your impersonation of Steve Perry!   Not everyone can hit those high notes graced with the proper formants.   Also you completely nailed the solo with the right tone and phrasing.   Very impressive.   I always like out of the box thinking and I appreciate what you were trying to accomplish with the lo-fi intro.   The problem I had with that is that it lasted too long.   Unless you already tell your listener what to expect (and if they are patient enough to wait it through) most people I feel would turn it off before it goes into hi-fi because the lo-fi is so unappealing but will work if it's short.   If I hadn't known, I would have turned it off before thinking the whole recording sounded like that.   How about introducing the hi-fi with the beginning of your solo at :53?   Also I heard digital distortion at that point and peaks around :58.   All in all, a very good job.