For Brad Delp (of Boston)

[Mikem]

A Man I'll Never Be (Acoustic).mp3

[I guess the attachment function still isn't working. I'll host the file for a little while to give people a chance to hear it.]

Ever since his tragic death, I wanted to try recording "A Man I'll Never Be" as sort of a tribute to Brad Delp. It's my favorite Boston song. I imagine that song hit home for him, as it does for me.

My sister's birthday is today, so I recorded an acoustic version for her as a present, since it's her favorite Boston song, too.

It's far from perfect, and I'm well aware of its shortcomings, but if you like it at all, I'm always happy to hear that someone else enjoyed it. I don't have the range of Brad Delp (few do), and he made this song sound so effortless. I did the best I could with it. And I couldn't match the great original arrangement, so I tried something a little different.

Anyway, I hope someone else likes it, and I hope it serves as a reminder of what an amazing talent he was.

-Mike

[bitman]

Most, Most , MOST Excellent!!

I'm now going to have to dump out your brain and find out how you cloned
the Boston sound so well.



Hey I'd be happy to do the solo.
And I will!

Ooooh and some drums too I shall do!

:Ron

[Mikem]

Originally Posted by bitman

Most, Most , MOST Excellent!!

I'm now going to have to dump out your brain and find out how you cloned
the Boston sound so well.

Thanks!

You mean the backing vocals?

[BeerHunter]

Very well done! Thanks for sharing. Great job on the vocals on a difficult song to sing. Backing vox were stellar.

[Mikem]

Thanks!

I just listened to it for the first time on my iPod, and I think the high harmony could be a little louder during the chorus. I'll probably make that little tweak at some point.

[DavidKmusic]

Nice job Mike. I enjoyed it.

I bet you felt like your vocal chords were going to blow tracking that one, eh?

Being from Boston, I had the pleasure of seeing Brad perform in very small clubs around the city over the past couple years with the tribute band Beatlejuice. Don't know if anyone on here is familiar but Brad and a bunch of studio cats from around here put together a Beatle band and played clubs (just the music, not the look) and it was absolutely mind blowing. I still love the BOSTON stuff and hearing Brad perfectly emulate every Beatle vocal tone just affirmed what I already thought...he was a singing savant. Words can't describe what that man could do with his voice. I've never heard anything like it. If you closed your eyes John Lennon was in the room, then Paul (and each of his tones) and on and on...

I had the pleasure of talking with him not long before his death. Who would have known? A tragic end to a great singer's story.


dk

[Mikem]

Thanks for listening, David.

And I'm a big Beatles fan, so I think I would have really loved his Beatles stuff, too.

[bitman]

Originally Posted by Mikem

Thanks!

You mean the backing vocals?

Yeah, for starters.
Boston's BVs always had an interesting phase/eq thing going on, and you nailed it.
The acoustic sounds "right" also.

[Sounds Great]

Hi Mike. Very nice job! I am a big Boston fan and that is one of my favorite Boston songs. Keep up the good work.

[Spanishric]

Hi!

I think you did a fantastic job with this one, perfect vocals (could indeed be a little louder in the chorus) and the production sounds wonderfull too!

Wow, I realy love how your vocal sound when you reach those high notes! Fantastic!!

Take care!

Ricardo

[danocaster]

dude !!

Great vocals

[Mikem]

You guys are very kind. Thanks so much!!

[bitman]

Maybe someday we can meet halfway, Like in Green River or Mack or somewhere and jam some Boston n' stuff.

Hmmm I wonder if they have 110vac in Mack.



:Ron

[Mikem]

Originally Posted by bitman

Maybe someday we can meet halfway, Like in Green River or Mack or somewhere and jam some Boston n' stuff.

Hmmm I wonder if they have 110vac in Mack.



:Ron

Any and all inquiries about jamming with me will be forwarded to my representation.

[Mikem]

I uploaded a new mix--no huge changes, other than bringing up the high harmony a bit in the BV. I brought down the piano a hair in a couple spots, and made the horn end properly with the strings at the very end.

Anyone mind my ending? I never really liked the Boston ending. That organ seemed excessively loud. I would have preferred a tasteful guitar solo, probably.

And no one has inquired about the gear, so I'll offer up the following, if anyone is curious.

Vocal and guitar: TLM49 -> Pacifica -> RME FF800 -> Cubase 4

I also blended the direct from the guitar, which went through my UA Solo/610.

The guitar is a Taylor 12 string, doubled 4 times (two left, two right)

And if you like the mix, I'm using a ton of UAD-1 plug-in's, including the two new ones.

If you don't like the mix, I'm using Waves.

[musictech]

Great singing! Great job overall!

One of my favorite songs also.

[stagefright13]

Fantastic tribute! I hope you don't mind if I add it to my music collection?
I think alot of people, myself included were shocked at his passing. That was a great job and I enjoyed it very much. Thanks for posting it!!

[Bo Jorgen]

Man, you have great chops! Top notch vocals.

I'd love to hear the acoustic version, though. This one was clearly something done with a sequencer. Not that it is anything wrong with that. The love shines through.

[Mikem]

Originally Posted by Bo Jorgen

Man, you have great chops! Top notch vocals.

I'd love to hear the acoustic version, though. This one was clearly something done with a sequencer. Not that it is anything wrong with that. The love shines through.

Yeah, my options were not repeat the last verse, or do something different with it. I opted to try a little orchestration. I hope it's not too distracting.

I'm uploading what's probably the final mix now. I made a couple minor tweaks, and upped the bit rate a little.

Thanks again to all who listened, and especially to all who took the time to post a comment.

[tenchijin2]

Wow. That's better than anything I've done, for sure! I wish I could get that kind of depth and clarity on my vocals.

The orchestration didn't distract me at all. In fact, I noted to myself how it sort of sneaked in there without being too obvious.

The piano might be a touch murky, but that's about all I can say.

Thanks,

Aric
For sample of my work visit
Jungle Noise Studio

[ABGen]

Wow. You have a great voice.

I didn't even realize that Brad had passed on. This is a great tribute.

Please do tell your gearsluttiness equip setup and signal chain to produce vocals like that! And yes - how did you emulate that boston vocal harmony sound - are the harmonies processed? Are you using melodyne?

The piano is the only thing a little lacking - it sounds a bit dull compared to the rest.

Thanks - you rock.

-Andrew

[Audio Hombre]

excellent job. what piano patch did you use?

[Markus]

You've done a really good job at capturing that Boston sound and don't worry about the ending... it's great, as are those backing vocals - will you give some tips on how you achieved those

you sure gave a nice birthday present to your sister

[Mikem]

Originally Posted by Audio Hombre

excellent job. what piano patch did you use?

It's a Bosendorfer in giga format I converted to HALion a long time ago, and I'm running it through HALion 3.

I was having weird memory issues with Ivory, so I bailed on it and went for something less memory intensive.

[Mikem]

Originally Posted by ABGen

Please do tell your gearsluttiness equip setup and signal chain to produce vocals like that! And yes - how did you emulate that boston vocal harmony sound - are the harmonies processed? Are you using melodyne?

Originally Posted by Markus

...those backing vocals - will you give some tips on how you achieved those

Thanks for the nice words, guys.

Y'know, I didn't do anything too crazy. I tracked each harmony four times, I think. I panned them around a little. I used a little melodyne in spots where needed, just to clean up a few things.

I sent all of those into a stereo group, which had the following inserts and sends.

The inserts were: UAD-1 LA3A -> UAD-1 Neve 1073 (high boost, cut some high mids).

For sends, I had the UAD-1 Dimension D (which may be the mystery factor!), and then a little CSR Reverb Room, and then a little UAD-1 Plate 140.

The lead vocals used similar inserts and effects, but on a separate group.

My hardware chain is listed above, but again, it's:

Neumann TLM49 -> Pacifica pre amp -> RME Fireface 800 -> Cubase 4

Thanks again to all who listened, and keep the comments coming, because they've been really nice!

[drakewire]

Wow... You have a voice of the ages.... Classic voice.... Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!

The mix is excellent too...
I always hated that acoustic sound though, but I wont hold that against you!
GREAT WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bit mangler]

Amazing work!

Just goes to show that when there is talent

there is no ITB vs OTB
Cubase vs PT
or Mac vs PC

and everybody is happy

[Mikem]

Originally Posted by drakewire

Wow... You have a voice of the ages.... Classic voice.... Fantastic!!!!!!!!!!

That's very, very kind of you--thanks! To be honest, praise from peers means so much more than from random non-musicians/non-engineers.

Thanks again.

[Mikem]

Originally Posted by bit mangler

Amazing work!

Just goes to show that when there is talent

there is no ITB vs OTB
Cubase vs PT
or Mac vs PC

and everybody is happy

Thanks! And that reminds me--Cubase/ITB/PC's ruuuuule!!

[Mikem]

BTW, my sister really liked it.