Online Session Musicians - any good ?

[dante]

Not saying there's anything wrong with my vocal, or his. But ultimately I like a vocal that actually raises the track above what it would be otherwise. What I mean is, I can hear in my head what it might sound like with say Enrique Englasias singing it. Where the vocal becomes the highlight, and the arrangement merely the vehicle for it.

By 'jury being out' -yes-that's subjective on my part, because having originally asked the question, I am saying I would like more evidence before drawing a conclusion.

At the same time acutely aware that this evidence, twice over, would be the equivalent of the cost of say a VOID2 or other such goodie )

Don't worry, if I ever get any of that to spare (ozlotto anyone?), you and/or others of the SC cause would be amongst the first beneficiaries. I reckon you could do some great XITE promos for the cost of an Enrique vocal

[garyb]

sure i could...

i thought your vocal was the highlight, especially since it's for your lady. i do like his choruses the way you've worked them the second time, though.

[dante]

Thanks

[bassdude]

Just had a listen to this. Its really good. Your vocal definitely sits better. Nasal vocal is just technique which you'll get better at. What about a couple of singing lessons just to pick up technique like using your diaphragm etc. Also make sure you are singing level with the mic and not up into it as that will just strain your vocal chord. Its very good though!

[braincell]

you dont have to use a service as such , you can do it with any singer you can find if they are reasonably competent with a daw . I did a whole album (instrumental)using a file share service like Box.net . It didn't cost anything at all . If you dont like what the singer does ..discuss and redo until such time as you've got it or you decide you're never going to get it . The only problem is sync but if you include a count and then zoom to the max to line it up it seems to work fine . I prefer the idea of an online band to online session players though , it's like bacon and eggs ...the chicken has an interest but the pig is commited

This is timely. I'm working with a cellist I found through a local conservatory. I emailed a professor and he put me in touch with this guy. The college has a studio with an SSL and Cubase. Results were outstanding. I was only in the studio for an hour so it's not enough material for a complete album. I had to dumb down the score because he didn't want to have to practice it a lot to play it. That worked out well for sampling. He did some outstanding improvising too even though he never improvised before. The results sound like a cellist, not like a sample bank. Making the samples took a lot of time but worth the effort. I just got Komplete 8 and am using Battery. It's simple once you get used to it.

[siriusbliss]

The main problem is timing, so Im going to work more on that on the new vocal. And it wasnt just a case of lining up his entire vocal file with the track, but aligning parts of it differently.

I think because when I sung it I was concious of having accents of words coincide with the beat, being a dance track.

With a ballad or even a rock track I think its OK for a vocalist to stray expressively a bit from the beat, but on electropop I tend to think of a vocal being strict on the beat.

If I were to hire him again, it would be on a rock track, as this seems to be his forte judging from the samples on his website.

Theres no doubt with more work I can improve whats there but Im guessing with him on a Rock track I would have to do a lot less post production as it would fit more naturally.

So the lesson here is to be genre concious especailly in an online session scenario.

Yeah his phrasing is off, but that's easily remedied by hacking up the vocal track and shifting clips around.
But I agree that your own personal version seems to fit together better contextually.

G

[dante]

Just had a listen to this. Its really good. Your vocal definitely sits better. Nasal vocal is just technique which you'll get better at. What about a couple of singing lessons just to pick up technique like using your diaphragm etc. Also make sure you are singing level with the mic and not up into it as that will just strain your vocal chord. Its very good though!

Yes it years since I had a couple of lessons, and my technique has definitely slackened off. Vocals are just another thing on the list of things I could do when retired, like learnt to play fast guitar leads without cut and paste, using Scope SDK and a Caribean Cruise on the Oasis of the Seas

Oasis of the Seas

Oasis-of-the-Seas-Reviews-8.jpg (29.78 KiB) Viewed 2141 times

Playing here wouldn't be a bad gig.

A rare combination of open air and luxury, but no walls for acoustic feedback though

[dante]

Check this out then :

https://soundcloud.com/hitfoundry/heaven

Same singer, but more genre suited !

[dblacker]

Dante, I'm not sure how those other services work, but I started a resource for online session musicians called AirGigs.com. It's an open marketplace where you can browse through different gigs, check out reviews, contact potential singers / musicians to get a vibe before you work with anyone. It's still growing but I thought it might be of interest.

[dante]

Yes I'm definitely interested. I was thinking it would be good to get some good vocalists on my Rock Opera. That's a harder challenge than just covering single songs, because you know you have to find a voice that suits each part, and the main character sings in 4 or 5 different songs so has to suit all his songs.

It becomes a bit more like movie casting at that level I suppose.

Anyway doing a full Rock Opera I need more than the one voice that I already have the services of when needed. Not only that, some of the rates are cheaper per song on airgigs so a significant saving on an entire Rock Opera (although I could sing the part of the bad guy (protagonist) in a Russian accent lol).

So your resource will definitely be useful, and if I get further into this might be worth covering in ScopeRise as well.

[dblacker]

Cool. If you need any assistance with AirGigs don't hesitate to reach out. And drop me a line when your Rock Opera is done, I'd love to check that out!!!

[dante]

Well, here's the overture (no vocals though) but all produced on Scope.

https://soundcloud.com/hitfoundry/movin ... s-overture

And likewise if any airgig producers are looking for the best DSP production system in the world, send them here :

http://sonic-core.net/joomla.soniccore/ ... hp?lang=us

[dblacker]

Hey Dante, that's some really creative stuff! Shoot me a DM and let's exchange emails...I'd like to learn more about the gear and your project. Perhaps, we could tie it into an AirGigs blog post.

[dante]

sure, email is scoperise@hitfoundry.com its public coz its the scoperise email, and scoperise is here :

http://www.hitfoundry.com

and here's all the archives since it started

http://www.hitfoundry.com/archives/

As you can see all the gear gets covered, as well as all the talent that drives it.

[dante]

Here's the resulting mixdown (80s song remix) using a vocalist I hired from dblacker's Airgigs ( http://www.airgigs.com ) :

https://soundcloud.com/hitfoundry/life

So the song was written in 1985, the guitar was recorded in the late 90's, the vocals a few days ago, then mix & mastered in Scope yesterday.