Hey forum! Let's cover Metropolis. Who's in???

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QM1T2CUE

As I said before, no solo for me. I just suck too much.
 
Yes, that is me sighing (how do you spell that?) at the end of the video. I was pretty tired.

^good stuff man

anyoooonnneee else?

also monk hows ya singing going?

crazyfatkid


^good stuff man

anyoooonnneee else?

also monk hows ya singing going?

Going to push the vocals down a whole octave and take it from there and see how that sounds since most of the song is in the upper range and believe me, that's a bitch to keep up. I hoping to record either today or tomorrow. I have a wav file created of the song pushed down a full octave so I can hear it and try to match it. Sounds weird but it gives me exactly what I need to start with.

I'll do my vocals and iPhone solo (^_^) sometime this week.  I've been extremely busy preparing for my band's first show later this month, but I'm hoping to have a little free time tomorrow or Wednesday, so I should be able to lay down some stuff then!

BTW guys, I dunno when we're gonna pick leftovers, but I can surely play 0:40 - 1:41. I promise it'll sound better than the others.

Come on guys, less words and more recordings!

Recorded today. I think I might have something. Will listen tomorrow and compile it. Hopefully it turned out. Even if some of it turned out and the rest sucks, no loss there.

I haven't read through the whole thread, but I'm sure the drums are already taken care of.
Best of luck on this, I can't wait to hear it!

I'm down for any future recording projects you guys wanna do.

Hey, hadn't noticed this!
I'd be more than happy to sing any section of the song! Not to be a bighead, but I can reach *nearly* any of James' sections.

Just let me know!

BTW, I don't have the best audio recording equipment, but I'll see if I can borrow some.

*sigh* I don't think anything I do will be pleasing to my ear. There are parts where I'm spot on, and there are part where I cringe. There was one part I simply just removed due to ear damage it was that bad. You will notice it on part II where I simply stop after the first section. "I'm asleep yet I'm so afraid" is definitely one of the hardest parts of the song to hit just right. I can't do it. I sound flat and obnoxious every single time. It's awful. Ouch. So I included three parts that I am "OK" with.

they are not "blow me out of the ballpark" stuff, but not overly embarrasing. I still can't seem to sing without it sounding like a tin can. (yeah, open the mouth. Hard to keep up when you are pushing past your vocal range) I did not record the last part. Given this is a group project I will leave it with what I have. I may try to re-record some parts later next week, but I don't think I'm ever going to get as good as I want this to be. My voice is simply not trained to sing like this. It's better served in a choir setting where I simply match other vocalists. As a soloist I have a lot of work to do. Note I have never done anything solo before so I honestly have no idea "how" to adjust my style to fit the song. I kinda wish I knew what I was doing.

So... here it is. It's in .wav. It's also raw. No effects except for a noise reduction algorithm to remove background noise. Hopefully I did ok. I have a feeling there are other vocalists here who can just blow this out of the water. Believe me when I say this, don't feel as if you have to include anything I submitted if someone else comes along and just nails the parts I did better. As I said, I'm only "ok" with this, but I don't think I'm going to be able to get better without a coach to help me improve.

Metropolis Vocals

Monk, could you fang us across that tuned down version you have? I think an octave down may be the way to go for me too.

EDIT: Also...what parts is your name down for?

Monk is naughty and not putting his name down for specific sections.

he should do that, and then practice those parts specifically :)

btw Monk its sounding pretty damn decent, its all in tune and nice intonation, except are you shifting keys every now and then randomly? :|

crazyfatkid

except are you shifting keys every now and then randomly? :|

Yes, it sounds kinda weird

crazyfatkid


Monk is naughty and not putting his name down for specific sections.

he should do that, and then practice those parts specifically :)

btw Monk its sounding pretty damn decent, its all in tune and nice intonation, except are you shifting keys every now and then randomly? :|

Well... I didn't know which parts I could accomplish vocally and I needed to hear them specifically. Also it seems all the vocal parts are already spoken for. So let's say this, write me down specifically for the first section of vocals from "The smile of dawn" to "this mind". It's a section I can easily tackle. the 2nd section is hard. Damn hard due to two parts that are consistantly problem areas for me and they are both the parts where James let's it all out. I could also do section 3 from "somewhere like a scene from a memory" to " The third arrives". Again, easy enough for me with enough practice. The last part? Forget it. Consistantly too much in the high range and it's just too breathy. I've never been satisfied with my attempts at those parts. My thumbs up comes only with sections 1 and 3 I mentioned so I don't mind laying something down for either part and practicing them until I get it right.

Also I need a small piece of advice from professional vocalists. Where are my problem areas and what can I do to fix it? Remember I sing mainly in a choir setting where the vocals are usually consistant around A2 to A4. Singing higher than A4 for me is constant frustration.

Me singing out of key in random places is again me showing my colors at not knowing what I am doing exactly and my weakness in soloing. I have to have an ear plug and play the music and basically sing along side James or else I'm all over the place. So... give me two weeks and I will have part 1 done and sealed. I will practice that part until I get it right and will have something I hope can be worth mixing. I hope. :D

Your vocals on the low sections were really good Monk. The high vocals sound pretty strained at times, but the lows are

Oh yes.. strained as hell. We are talking a full octave past my vocal range and I cannot sing a head voice that strong either.

I was thinking about a few things when it comes to this contest

1) I'm having fun with this and I think when this is over we should have another one. It doesn't have to be Dream Theater. It can be Rush, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, etc. Maybe do one every two months. Give people two months to turn something in.

2) I would also split the song into sections that a bit more like a true section rather than two or three measures of the song. For example, with the vocals for Metropolis there are 4 distinct sections. I'm thinking people doing the vocals could studying one of those sections and submit it. If more than one person submits for the same section then have a contest to see which is better. If we continue to do this like mentioned with idea 1, people will have plenty of chances to get their vocals in, especially if a song is picked that is more within someone's vocal/instrumental capabilities.

I wouldn't let this idea stop with Metropolis. Let's keep it going as long as we can.

*bump* monk, can i get that tuned down version of Metropolis? Pretty please?

Mmm, CrazyFat, what about the other players?

Monk


Oh yes.. strained as hell. We are talking a full octave past my vocal range and I cannot sing a head voice that strong either.

I was thinking about a few things when it comes to this contest

1) I'm having fun with this and I think when this is over we should have another one. It doesn't have to be Dream Theater. It can be Rush, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, etc. Maybe do one every two months. Give people two months to turn something in.
I wouldn't let this idea stop with Metropolis. Let's keep it going as long as we can.

Agreed. I would have to take a crash course in Rush, Opeth, Porcupine Tree, King Diamond, etc. though.

Definitely, would be awesome to do some PT or Opeth covers

But let's finish this one first, we're still waiting on a lot of people, and there's still a lot of unclaimed parts

Just curious CFK, do you have a percentage on how much is done? :)

Nicolacci


Definitely, would be awesome to do some PT or Opeth covers

But let's finish this one first, we're still waiting on a lot of people, and there's still a lot of unclaimed parts

no, I want it now.
I want it now, right now, right now. right now. right now.right now. right now. right now.
I want it now, right now, right now. right now. right now.right now. right now. right now.



Oh, for those who are interested in the toned down version, just send me a PM. I'm wary of posting copyright material to the forum even if the quality has been greatly diminished by this transition.

percentage done id say probably at most 5% 


people who expressed interest never came back to get parts :|

and i know i need/should send PMs out to those people but i cant bring myself to do it :P

in the future (once we get there) i dig monks idea of having it alot smaller, like maybe 10 or 15 people at the most on each cover. also would be alot easier to get everyone to DO THEIR PARTS :)

so parts with no name next to it on the blogspot are still available?

can i just record me playing the whole song and someone choose :) hahahha

correcto

i'm confused about the solo section... didn't read the whole thread, but does everyone who submits something have to do a solo? this isn't in the original right? just an addition?

you dont have to do a solo if you dont want, but generally everyone likes to solo ;)

all the solos will be strung together to form a long trade off section in the middle, basically the same arrangement dt used throughout the 2009 tour, where just before the unison at 5:53 on the CD version, they break down into an improv part then build back up to the unison

Hi! Here´s my part:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VNPLH26F

This is my second post in this forum, I´m an average guitar player so I chose to do the intro (there´s no way I can f*ck up just a couple of notes!)  Don´t judge the solo by the sound quality of the video, as I had to turn down the volume of my PC´s speaker to avoid any trouble with my neighbours (I assume that the audio of the video will be replaced by the audio track, right?).

BTW, there are some "ghost notes" in certain parts of the intro which I couldn´t remove, I guess that´s because of my shitty guitar pickups. Perhaps they can be removed in "post-production", but I don´t think it´s something that would be noticed in the final mix.

Thanks!

Yo, completely average bass player here. Happy to play any simple parts, can record ONLY AUDIO in Ableton Live and come out with a wav. If there's small parts that must be done, PM me and shiz.

I do have a 6 string, but I'm 99% sure he didn't use one anyway. Still, if you desperately wanted a quick bass solo I can give you some pentatonic simplicity quite quickly. Like, maybe a drum break in the jam that needs a bit more. And if it's alright, I'll probably apply my own bass sound (quite a bit of treble) to it, if I can get it right.

Damn!!! why can't I have a decent recording equipment?? all I have is a shitty digital camera!! 
I really want to take a part in this thing!!

:(

Staker


Yo, completely average bass player here. Happy to play any simple parts, can record ONLY AUDIO in Ableton Live and come out with a wav. If there's small parts that must be done, PM me and shiz.

I do have a 6 string, but I'm 99% sure he didn't use one anyway. Still, if you desperately wanted a quick bass solo I can give you some pentatonic simplicity quite quickly. Like, maybe a drum break in the jam that needs a bit more. And if it's alright, I'll probably apply my own bass sound (quite a bit of treble) to it, if I can get it right.

We need video as well, just record with your webcam or something

wait I have to sing in front of my camera?

fields10


Damn!!! why can't I have a decent recording equipment?? all I have is a shitty digital camera!! 
I really want to take a part in this thing!!

:(

I don't have any decent recording equipment... just a stupid audio cable connected from the keyboard to the pc and Adobe Audition recording line in : DD

I will be unable to provide vocals. I apologize.

Monk


wait I have to sing in front of my camera?

Since we're doing a video it would really be better, but you can lipsync to your recording, it doesn't matter, just have fun on the video... If for some reason you don't want to record yourself you could try using a puppet or something

i want to do the 4:21 - 4:33 and the 6:01 - 6:08 keys
just one question, the patch used in that first part start a few secs earlier, is that intentional?

i recorded the 2 measures in 5/16 preceding the 13/8 as well, since it would be odd if that was a totally different patch, now busy with the second part, then my solo...

^yeah adding a lead-in is good.

Staker- sure you dont have a webcam or a digital camera that takes video lying around somewhere?

So crazyfatkid, if the zip that I sent meets the standards, can I take the 2:39 - 3:10 guitar part (the clean sounding chords)?

Sorry, but I can´t handle the fast technical solos at 4:47 and 6:01. I wish I could, since there are the only parts that remain to be taken by somebody.