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Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 9 2008, 09:04 PM

Hi there Smoke on the water singers !

Kris
Muris
Luciana
Maria
David
Jerry

We have 6 original signups plus Nemanja - 6 would have worked great, 7 is a little more awkward

So this is how I would like to do it - I want to split each verse between 2 people. The first person sings the first 4 lines, the second person sings the last 4 lines. Then, they harmonize for the chorus. I'll pick the pairs, but let you decide in this thread who goes first, and who sings the harmony in the chorus and who sings the tune. For the harmonized chorus, whoever sings the lead can send me that part along with the verse part they are doind.

The person doing the harmony in the chorus will need to wait until that is done to sing the harmony on top - I'll collect the first recordings and make new backings with the main vocal in for the harmony singers if that will help, or if you like you can work it out between you - let me know what you prefer!

I am using this link for lyrics:

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/d/deep+purple/smoke+on+the+water_20038742.html

So, my picks are:

Verse 1 : Kris/Muris

Verse 2 : Luciana/Maria (I think it will sound amazing to have the ladies singing together!)

Verse 3 : David/Jerry

Nemanja - can you perhaps think of something to do towards the end of the song? Maybe a really crazy version of the 1st verse that we can slip in in parts around the guitar solos perhaps? I'm thinking this will be more like a vocal solo than singing of the song - or let me know if you have a better idea

So, figure out between yourselves the ordering within the verses and let me have your clips - I prefer wav files and I now have an FTP site setup, PM me for details when you have something ready. Also, no effects on the vocal please, not even compression if at all possible!

The backing track I put in the original thread will work fine for the vocals - no need to record them in the correct place, just all record over the first verse.

In addition, I am looking for any additional vocal ideas we can get in here like other harmonies, backing vocal ideas, screams (not growls!) and anything else that you think will contribute Luciana, maybe you could improvise something as a backing to one of the solos like you do in some of your lessons?

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 11 2008, 10:26 AM

Awesome Andrew, it's laid out very clear!

Muris - do you have any preferences for which part of verse and chorus 1 you want to sing? (by the way - trading vocal lines with you is going to be waay beyond cool!! )

Posted by: Nemanja Filipovic Aug 11 2008, 10:42 AM

No,it is my fault I sign up to late,does not matter Andrew,I'll sing in the next collab
Hope you do well.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 13 2008, 11:02 PM

Here's the idea!

We all came out to Montreux ---------------- you or me
On the Lake Geneva shoreline ---------------- next one
To make records with a mobile ----------------- etc
We didn't have much time
Frank Zappa and the Mothers
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun
Burned the place to the ground

Smoke on the water, --------------- you or me
a fire in the sky, ------------- together
smoke on the water -------------- you or me


So it's like sharing lines in between,
all you(or Andrew) have/has to do is to pick who's gonna start verse and chorus,
then it's just pure exchange.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 13 2008, 11:35 PM

Great - I'll let you guys work out the details

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 14 2008, 05:11 PM

Very clever Muris - this is going to be really cool!

I'd be happy to start the singing - but if you feel strongly for doing it, that's fine with me as well!

One thing - should we make sure both of us get one "Smooooke on the water" - or should the same person do both? (Singing together on "a fire in the sky" is a cool idea by the way!)

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 14 2008, 07:51 PM

The plan is to harmonise that part, but yes it would be cool to swap the lead around on that and have you both sing "a fire in the sky"

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 15 2008, 01:37 AM

Who ever starts he's gonna do all high parts in verse, yeah,
perhaps we could double length?

We all came out to Montreux ---------------- You
On the Lake Geneva shoreline
To make records with a mobile ----------------- Me
We didn't have much time
Frank Zappa and the Mothers---------------You
Were at the best place around
But some stupid with a flare gun-------------Me
Burned the place to the ground


And for chorus,both of us should have one "Smooooke on the water"
but we could also record some harmonizing vocals as Andrew said,
per example if you do first "smoke on the water" I could sing upper 3rd
and you could do the same for me in second part.
A Fire In The Sky would sound nice as doubled.

Smoke on the water, --------------- You (I do upper third or whatever)
a fire in the sky, ------------- together
smoke on the water -------------- Me (You do harmonizing)

Sounds ok?

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 15 2008, 08:45 AM

Excellent Muris - let's go for this! I hope to get some recording done this weekend.

Also - I am extremely unexperienced at harmonizing with vocals but I will give it my best shot!

Posted by: Maria Aug 15 2008, 08:56 AM

This sounds great Andrew!

Luciana, do you have any ideas or preferences? If it is ok with you I would love to go for the first part of the verse. A suggestion for the chorus would be for us both to sing the lead to give it extra power , and it would be awesome if you would like to add some harmonies as well to the chorus.

Suggestion:

Maria (lead and harmonies)
They burned down the gambling house
It died with an awful sound
Funky claude was running in and out
Pulling kids out the ground

Luciana (lead and harmonies)
When it all was over
We had to find another place
But swiss time was running out
It seemed that we would lose the race

Maria and Luciana (lead) + Luciana for harmonies
Smoke on the water, fire in the sky
Smoke on the water

What do you think?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 15 2008, 04:00 PM

Awesome,gonna be fun!!

Andrew,would you like dry takes
or fully processed like compression,reverb etc?

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 15 2008, 04:11 PM

Dry please! (Better for mixing)

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 15 2008, 04:13 PM

You've got it!

Maybe just tiny amount of compression during recording,
to avoid peaks etc?

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 15 2008, 04:51 PM

Sure if you need to Just keep the ratio as low as possible and that should be fine!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 15 2008, 09:30 PM

Ok

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 16 2008, 09:32 PM

Here we go!
 kris_smoke_vocals.mp3 ( 2.98MB ) : 316


I added some extra things - feel free to use what you wish Andrew! The "A fire at GMC" line would be kind of cool to keep somewhere in the song though..! But I will let someone else have the final word.

Oh and harmonizing didn't go very well as expected...so I just added octaves let me know if you think that works...

edit - Maria just informed that I was in fact singing a harmony of the chours!! I will record a take of the actual lead of the chorus this week.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 16 2008, 09:47 PM

Wow what a great take Kris!! "A fire at GMC" line is a so cool and highlight of the take , hope it stays in the final mix

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 16 2008, 09:48 PM

Thanks Bogdan! Let's see what the others say!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 16 2008, 09:54 PM

That was VERY aggressive voice Kris,well done!!!

"Fire at GMC" sounds awesome tho,
I'll add the same part at the end of chorus before Andrew says anything!

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 16 2008, 09:56 PM

Thanks Muris - it's going to be so great to have a recording with both of us trading lines!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 16 2008, 09:59 PM

Absolutely!

I'll get my parts done during next week,
must go to friend's studio with real silent room,
otherwise we'll be hearing cars etc from the street
PLUS neighbors might add something like "now I'm put some fire on your a**"

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 16 2008, 10:14 PM

Now that can't be a good thing... unless you catch on tape of course what a cool intro

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 16 2008, 10:15 PM

Yeah but it would be in bosnian which doesn't help a lot.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 16 2008, 10:24 PM

Bosnian is cool

Now on the other hand we really don't want you to get thrown out of your appartment... I'll get a Swedish version instead!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 16 2008, 10:27 PM

Sounds cool,spare me of pain

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 16 2008, 10:27 PM

I'll spare you of fire in the a**

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 18 2008, 12:54 AM

Sounding pretty cool Kris I think this is going to be miraculous! Can;t wait to hear it with Muris in as well.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 19 2008, 08:12 PM

Andrew,do you need video for this as well?
I think I read something about it.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 19 2008, 09:56 PM

I will eventually but I was going to handle that later when we have all the song mixed and done ...

Posted by: Juan M. Valero Aug 19 2008, 10:45 PM

hey !!! I miss this post !!! 6 singers, wow, I want to heard this song !!!!!

I wish I have better vocal skills

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 19 2008, 11:09 PM

Ah ok then,I thought you need videos from studios
when we are recoding takes etc.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 20 2008, 01:13 AM

No we will have miming afterwards - which will let us pay a little more attention to the video itself

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 20 2008, 10:48 AM

Agree,will look better for sure.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 23 2008, 01:05 PM

I'm gonna record my take tonight,just a small update.

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 24 2008, 12:57 AM

Here's my take Andrew.

I did full verse tho,
it was a lot easier to do it in a row,
you can easily mute the parts when Kris is singing.

Full track is mp3 with a bit of hall on vocals,
there are all 3 vocals(lead and 2 backings) in rar.,totally dry.

 Muris_Smoke_Vocals.mp3 ( 2.32MB ) : 239


 Muris_Smoke_AllVocals.rar ( 4.09MB ) : 126

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 24 2008, 11:12 AM

Fantastic singing Muris, I love it - wow!! I am going to listen again!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 24 2008, 11:29 AM

Great job as well Kris,thanks a lot,it's gonna be awesome collab for sure!!

Posted by: Gerardo Siere Aug 24 2008, 12:04 PM

Good work both Muris and Kris. By the way, it is amazing how Muris can rock with any part. I'll be waiting with my guitar-keyboards at hand.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 24 2008, 01:13 PM

Amazing take on vocals Muris !!! This collab will be so much fun!!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 24 2008, 01:18 PM

Ahh, AWESOME Muris - I am constantly amazed at your versatility!!!

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 24 2008, 09:23 PM

OK the lead for the chorus isn't really working for me - so since Muris has done such cool takes I was wondering if we could do chorus 1 like this:

Smoke on the water, --------------- Muris lead, Kris harmony
a fire in the sky, ------------- Kris
smoke on the water -------------- Muris lead, Kris harmony
A fire at GMC --------------------- Kris

If you think that will work I will upload the files I have already recorded!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 24 2008, 09:30 PM

Works great for me

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 24 2008, 09:42 PM

Works great for me as well.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 24 2008, 09:50 PM

Great - let's go for it then!

Also - I am wondering if the other singers are aware of what's happening in this thread? We don't want them to get too "far behind"..?

Oh and Andrew - will you post a preview of your mixing? This is exciting stuff and I am not sure I can handle waiting too long!!

 kris_vocals.rar ( 8.38MB ) : 148

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 24 2008, 09:51 PM

Yep,give us the preview Andrew.

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 24 2008, 09:52 PM

You heard him!!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 24 2008, 09:54 PM

He heard you too

Posted by: Luciana Segovia Aug 25 2008, 03:30 AM

Maria: I think it would be perfect!




Of course! , No problem!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 25 2008, 12:53 PM

Ok, I'll post what I have later today - so far I have 2 guitar solos and 2 sets of vocals, so I'll make a shortened version!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 25 2008, 01:54 PM

Here ya go! A very rough mix, just to get all the parts in - the final version will of course be much much better!

Posted by: Marcus Lavendell Aug 25 2008, 02:42 PM

Wow! Sounds great Andrew!!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Aug 25 2008, 02:48 PM

Thanks!

I just uploaded a new version to my previous post - I had forgottedn I had some of Kris' backing vocals still to mix in

So, I think both of the mystery guitarists on this version have pretty distinct styles - can anyone guess who they are???

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Aug 25 2008, 02:56 PM

Cool! Can't wait to hear the final version!

Posted by: David Wallimann Aug 25 2008, 03:29 PM

Sounds killer!!!!!!

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Aug 25 2008, 03:55 PM

This is great stuff ! Sounds really cool so far Can't wait for final mix

Posted by: Nemanja Filipovic Aug 26 2008, 09:52 AM

Sounds great guys.

Posted by: Maria Sep 1 2008, 08:28 PM

Ok here is my take!
 Maria_with_backing.mp3 ( 1.1MB ) : 260


 maria_verse2.rar ( 8.03MB ) : 119

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 2 2008, 12:10 PM

Great! Thanks Maria

Posted by: Luciana Segovia Sep 2 2008, 08:11 PM

Maria !!!
Sounds so Cool!!!!

I have to do my part!!!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 2 2008, 08:30 PM

Can't wait Luciana We are getting some awesome vocals together now!

Posted by: Trond Vold Sep 2 2008, 08:31 PM

Wow! I had no clue you could sing like that That was really good

Posted by: Henry Dietzel Sep 2 2008, 08:55 PM

Very impressive Maria. I was unaware both you
and Muris had such great voices. I can't wait to
hear the final version, this is such a great idea

Posted by: Maria Sep 2 2008, 09:18 PM

Thanks!

I love singing and I am really excited about being a part of this collab with so many skilled musicisans!

Posted by: Jerry Arcidiacono Sep 3 2008, 09:31 AM

Wow! Sounds great

Posted by: David Wallimann Sep 5 2008, 07:09 PM

This is my very embarassing take..
Jerry, maybe you could sing the same verse and Andrew will edit both of our takes into one?


 Verse.mp3 ( 1.59MB ) : 184

Posted by: Jerry Arcidiacono Sep 5 2008, 11:50 PM

Ok, this was the original idea
I hope to record my take this weekend.
By the way, I think you've done a cool take, David.

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 6 2008, 02:37 AM

Nice David - very different type of delivery, and very well sung!

Posted by: David Wallimann Sep 6 2008, 02:09 PM

I can't sing any higher than that hence the different melody...

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 6 2008, 07:35 PM

It works great David - its kind of begging to be a sort of quieter break out kind of verse before we go big with all the solos - I'll think about that some more ...

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 6 2008, 08:04 PM

Another idea - we could modulate, it would add some interest - what key can you sing this in, and does it work for Jerry?

Posted by: David Wallimann Sep 6 2008, 09:34 PM

Modulating would be a brilliant idea!

I tried it in Eb and it sounded much much better. I think that key would fit the song well too!
The chorus can stay in C...

I also tried the verse in D and it works great for my voice...
Same thing here, I think it works with the verse in D and the chorus stays in C.

What do you think?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 6 2008, 11:11 PM

Great singing David!!

Posted by: David Wallimann Sep 7 2008, 12:38 AM

Thanks man!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 7 2008, 02:20 AM

I'm all for trying Eb if you can sing that best, but I would suggest keeping the chorus in the relative Ionian, which would be Ab I think, then we can modulalate back to Gminor for the guitar solos, or put in some kind of a bridge solo to make the switch. I'll figure out a modulation from Gmin to Ebminor - we can probably just throw it in but I'll have a play around, or take any suggestions from anyone

Also, would Eb suit you Jerry??

Posted by: David Wallimann Sep 7 2008, 02:27 AM

Sounds great, thanks Andrew! :-)

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Sep 7 2008, 09:16 AM

Yes - you have got a very soft and nice voice David!

Posted by: Jerry Arcidiacono Sep 7 2008, 12:15 PM

Yes!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 7 2008, 02:22 PM

Ok, I'll get a suitable backing track for you very soon!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 7 2008, 02:57 PM

Ok, here is a particularly evil sounding Eb backing track for Dave & Jerry - I just pitch shifted everything down 4 semitones so it might sound a little wierd, but should be fine for recording against

And just for fun here's the track pitch shifted with the original vocals!

Kris, Muris, Maria, it sounds like you've all been drinking Evil Juice!!!

Posted by: Jerry Arcidiacono Sep 7 2008, 06:50 PM

A-ehm...
This is my take... sorry guys, I could not resist to scream something at the end...


 SOTW_Jerry.mp3 ( 1.6MB ) : 145

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 7 2008, 09:40 PM

Awesome Jerry

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Sep 7 2008, 10:26 PM

Cool take Jerry!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 7 2008, 10:28 PM

Cool,cool!!!!

Posted by: David Wallimann Sep 7 2008, 10:34 PM

Very nice Jerry! :-)
I'll record mine later tonight...

Posted by: Jerry Arcidiacono Sep 7 2008, 10:57 PM

Thank you guys, it was a real fun!!

Posted by: David Wallimann Sep 8 2008, 12:04 AM

This key is definitally better! Thanks so much for changing!

Here is my take...

 Verse.mp3 ( 1.91MB ) : 141


Andrew, I uploaded these vox dry and wet on the FTP in my folder.

Posted by: Jerry Arcidiacono Sep 8 2008, 12:14 AM

Yeah!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 8 2008, 01:53 AM

Ahh, now we're cooking - excellent vocals both of you!


I'll upload a new mix in the next few days!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 8 2008, 03:19 AM

Ok, I couldn't wait to mix the new vocals in so I stayed up late and worked on it a little - Now we have all vocals except Lucianas

Jerry, David - your voices play really well together - you sound very similar which makes it a joy to mix this verse!

I am really liking the Eb modulation - it makes the 3rd verse kind of dark, and then when the solos come in back in Gminor it seems to add new energy to the whole piece

I also expanded my keyboard solo a little to make the A dorian modulation make a little more sense ...

Posted by: David Wallimann Sep 8 2008, 03:22 AM

Haha! Sounds great, it's really shaping up!!!

Posted by: Kristofer Dahl Sep 16 2008, 08:21 PM

Here are the extra takes of "a fire at gmc"!

 kris_fire_takes.rar ( 4.01MB ) : 92

Yes this is really promising - can't wait until the final mix!

Posted by: Luciana Segovia Sep 18 2008, 06:03 AM

At last....I finished my part...

I`ll post it in a few hours

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 18 2008, 01:00 PM

Thanks Kris and Luciana

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Sep 18 2008, 02:20 PM

wou!!! You all did an awesome job! I didn't know that we have so many great singers here at GMC!
This collaboration will be amazing.

Posted by: Luciana Segovia Sep 18 2008, 07:53 PM

Hi! This is my take! I also recorded backing vocals and some improvisations. I'm attaching the mix in mp3 and a .rar file with every voice channel in .wav format.

Let me know if everything is ok and if you like it...

 Luciana_with_backing.mp3 ( 1.4MB ) : 171


 lu_without_backings.rar ( 7.04MB ) : 90

Posted by: Jerry Arcidiacono Sep 18 2008, 08:21 PM

Great take Luciana
I like the harmonies a lot!

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 19 2008, 12:03 AM

Wow! One part gave me goose bumps

Thanks Luciana, that was awesome!

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Sep 19 2008, 12:47 AM

Great take Luciana!

Posted by: Nemanja Filipovic Sep 19 2008, 11:47 AM

Great take Luciana,your voice fits perfect to any kind of music:)

Posted by: Muris Varajic Sep 19 2008, 12:13 PM

Superb singing Luciana,love it!!

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Sep 21 2008, 10:38 AM

awesome singing guys

Posted by: Andrew Cockburn Sep 21 2008, 04:40 PM

Ok, here's another preview- this time with added Luciana

Lu, your improv vocal is awesome - I put it over the top of my organ solo, they work great together!

The mix is still rough, the final version will be much better than this, I promise!

Still waiting for a few solos before we can start on the rhythm work.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Sep 23 2008, 12:45 AM

This is starting to get its shape definitly Will be so much fun, can't wait to see video parts