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Ross S

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    Self-Shock

    in Songs

    Posted

    On 8/9/2025 at 6:15 PM, treesha said:

    I like the percussive elements and their timing. Then the explosion, nice. Really good expressive stuff going on. Has some angst in there. The mix sounds good. Interesting and good work !

    TYSM Treesha, appreciate the listen and feedback!

    I Could Never Leave You Now (Remixed 1998 Cakewalk Pro Audio 7 Recording)

    in Songs

    Posted · Edited by Ross Smithe

    19 hours ago, Bajan Blue said:

    Hi Ross

    Good track and sounds excellent now - great mix.

    I've just started a project to sort out tracks from our first recordings from about 25 years ago - many were done in Guitar Tracks, if you remember that!

    It's incredible what VSTi's I used then and just how many I no longer have on my system!! must have been the same for you!!!

    Really enjoyed this

    Cool

    Nigel

     

    TYSM Nigel, appreciate it! Definitely amazing how many tools we have to work with! And it just keeps coming, lol! 

    I Could Never Leave You Now (Remixed 1998 Cakewalk Pro Audio 7 Recording)

    in Songs

    Posted

    10 hours ago, treesha said:

    Nice duet. Fun to dig out and old song and play with the tools we have now! Sweet song. The mix sounds good to me. The sort of heavenly part is nice. Love the guitar lead part. Good move to put it up towards the end. Well written composition carried out very well.

    Hey Treesha, TSYM for the the listen and comments. Yes indeed, it is fun to use new tools on older stuff to update a bit! It's amazing how far things have come, never could have imagined back in the day! 😁

    • Like 1

    I Could Never Leave You Now (Remixed 1998 Cakewalk Pro Audio 7 Recording)

    in Songs

    Posted · Edited by Ross Smithe

    This is an original "power ballad-ish" song I wrote WAY back around 1990! I recorded it at a friend's studio in Las Vegas around 1998. I remember he had just started using Cakewalk Pro Audio 7 in his studio alongside several ADAT machines (Windows 98 baby!), and I remember how much I was blown away and loved working with it! Anyway, I recently pulled the tune out of the archives and into CbB to remix using some modern tools, to give it a more presence, polish, and punch! I'm on keys and lead vocs, other buddies from way back on guitar, bass, and drums. Duet partner was popular local Christian artist Annie Meadows.

    • Like 2

    Pink Floyd The Wall Side 3, Part 1 (Hey You, Is There Anybody Out There?)

    in Songs

    Posted · Edited by Ross Smithe

    3 hours ago, timboalogo said:

    Thanks for the excellent deets Ross,

    The Kronos sounds are unbelievably excellent! and that harmochord is very cool.

    More Floyd please.

    Timbo

    You’re welcome! I will be posting the rest of the tracks from The Wall side 3 in the near future. They're all finished, I just broke them up into 3 parts . 

    If you're interested, here's a previous post from last year for a cover of Breathe: 

     

    • Like 1

    Pink Floyd The Wall Side 3, Part 1 (Hey You, Is There Anybody Out There?)

    in Songs

    Posted · Edited by Ross Smithe

    On 7/17/2025 at 5:35 PM, timboalogo said:

    Brilliantly done,Ross. I particularly like the sound you got on your acoustic! Can you give up any secrets on recording and production?

    Only kidding here, but I'm glad you went off key in the same spots that Roger did. It would have sounded wrong if you'd pitch corrected it. Makes me wonder how they pitch corrected back in the day.

    Tim

    Hi @timboalogo, thanks so much for the listen and the kind word! Instrumentally, everything on this project was done "in the box". I used a combination of software and hardware synths (Korg Kronos and Yamaha MOXF). Guitars and bass were mostly off of the Kronos (12 string is from an outstanding sample set called Jensen Guitars, nylon string is from a Kronos combination called Celtic Heart). Drums and lead guitars are from the Yamaha  MOXF (lead tracks were run through TH3 for some extra bite). Electric piano and Harmochord (sounds like a kind of cross between harmonica and accordion) are from Keyscape. Hammond organ also off Kronos (a killer patch emulating Tom Scholz's Boston Foreplay settings). Background pads and voices are mix and match, mostly Kontakt Analog Dreams (there is a preset called "Floyd", lol), Omnisphere, and Spitfire LABS. There are other odds and ends as well, but these were the big hitters. Vocals are recorded with a WA-47 Jr into a Focusrite Scarlett 4i4. My female singing partner recorded her back up part over my tracks on BandLab. I then downloaded her track and brought it into Cakewalk to mix and master (not sure what mic she sang into, I used the Antares Mic Mod VST to help make it  sound good with my lead track). One other secret gem that I use regularly… I apply a free Sonox Inflator alternative called JS Inflator on my master bus before the limiter. Can do wonders to expand and energize your final mix.

    Pink Floyd The Wall Side 3, Part 1 (Hey You, Is There Anybody Out There?)

    in Songs

    Posted

    On 7/15/2025 at 4:52 PM, steve@baselines.com said:

    Very cool!  I can hear a lot of work went into this - I'm assuming the bass was a synth as well?  If so, what did you use?  It sound pretty close to a fretless.

    Steve

     

    Hey Steve, thanks for the listen and kind word! Yes, bass, and really everything on this, was done on synth. I use a mix and match combination of software and hardware, whatever sounds good for the song. Bass in this case is a patch off of my Korg Kronos called Dark Fretless.

    Pink Floyd The Wall Side 3, Part 1 (Hey You, Is There Anybody Out There?)

    in Songs

    Posted · Edited by Ross Smithe

    Hey all, wanted to present to you my latest (and largest!) cover project, an extended remake/rework/remix/reproduction of one of my all time favorite album "sides",  Pink Floyd The Wall, Side 3 (Tracks 14-19). This is Part 1 of 3, Hey You and Is there Anybody Out There?

    A multitude of digital means and methods were used to recreate these iconic tunes (which were originally done in analog, of course!). All vocals are 100% redone. Here's how everything else came together:

    Hey You- Full reproduction, using some predone MIDI sequences, as well as my own playing and programming. I put flesh on the bones using a variety of synths and samplers. Joined on vocals by my Floydian friend and singing partner Tone Hjelt from Oslo, Norway.

    Is There Anybody Out There?- Pretty much same as above! Used some predone MIDI sequences, some my own playing/programming, and put a touch of the original instrumental track under the opening drone swell to enhance the sound.

    Background TV sounds and assorted voices taken from original tracks, of course!

    Everything I recorded was done via synthesizers, samples, and sequencing. All done in CbB. I know I'm definitely swimming in deep waters here, but this was a very fun and incredibly challenging project! Didn't attempt to reinvent the wheel, just tried to polish up the rims a bit, and create an immersive listening experience for these timeless and iconic tunes! I will plan on posting Part 2 (Nobody Home, Vera, Bring The Boys Back Home) and Part 3 (Comfortably Numb) in the near future.

    • Like 6

    Mixing New Song

    in Songs

    Posted

    Really cool track, well played. Overall, well balanced, I guess what you're getting at is the guitar is hot and in your face, and the keyboards not so much. I imagine your guitar is mono, and your keyboards are stereo. If that's the case, maybe try splitting your keyboard into two mono tracks, and hardpan them right and left. That would keep some spaciousness, but would probably push them upfront a little bit more and add some edge. You could try saturating the keyboard signal a little bit too.

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