tonestones's 100 Most Recent Comments

Sleep by ScottCarmichael 1 year ago
Scott, this is really beautiful. Both the performances and the production are outstanding. Please don't ever stop doing what you are doing.
the clap (Steve Howe) by ScottCarmichael 1 year ago
Sounds great, Scott. I've always loved this song. You played it perfectly.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by tonestones 1 year ago
I've kind of dropped the ball on my series. I did "Somewhere over the rainbow", "If I only had a brain" and "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead". I start off to see the wizard, but never got far enough along to share it. I'll try to revive it soon.
Silver Lining (DI) by becwil 1 year ago
Beautiful composition. Those strings are fantastic.
In Your Eyes {Acoustic Cover} by RAVENS 1 year ago
Great job. I always did love this song. You gave a very soulful performance.
Where Do the Children Play [Cat Stevens Cover] by tonestones 2 years ago
Bec,

I agree with you. The tools we work with today instantly give us what we need to do professional sounding production. Ultimately they are just tools. Mastery of them is only the technical side of art. Necessary, but incomplete on its own. Music is, like most things in life, a continuing set of compromises between creativity, talent and craftsmanship. Our craft is recording and creating with the tools at our disposal. Creativity guides us with a vision of our ultimate destination and talent is that difficult part of yourself that you pour into your creation, through voice, acoustic instruments and/or keyboards.

In this particular case I think I did pretty good with craftsmanship and talent components, but the bulk of the creative part of this came from the Cat Himself.
Where Do the Children Play [Cat Stevens Cover] by tonestones 2 years ago
Thanks so much. Cat Stevens is a great song writer. I love his lyrics. His voice is so unique. He has a great range and such a unique tonal quality to it. It is both gruff and delicately smooth, all at the same time. He is a unique talent.
Misty Mountain Hop REDUX (Led Zeppelin) by Tony2008 2 years ago
Always loved this song. Great cover.
Fire (Jimi Hendrix Experience Cover) by Tony2008 2 years ago
Great cover. The drums sound massive. Love the tone.
Montana (Frank Zappa Cover) by Tony2008 2 years ago
Really fun take on this old classic. I love zappa also. I was first exposed to him in early high school and quickly fell in love with Zappa and Capt. Beefheart.
Like A Virgin (cover!) by Naaji 2 years ago
This is great. This is much better than the original. Really fun..

Sounds a little bit like nine inch nails backing you up.
On The Steppes by dirigent 2 years ago
Beautifully done. Excellent composition. It moves beautifully. The mix sounds really good. Sounds like a live performance.
Frankenstein [Cover +] by tonestones 2 years ago
Thanks, Mungo. Not a bad idea. I'll try it.
Scatterbrain (Jeff Beck with Jan Hammer Group cover) by dodo 2 years ago
Always loved this song. Great job.
Here to Hear by Humaniversally 2 years ago
Beautiful. Creamy. Goes great with a cup of coffee. Great performances all around.
Things Change by nlsn 2 years ago
Great tune.
Song for Bill by alanatomic 2 years ago
I really like this. All the performances are good. I like the mix, everything really came together.
The Vampire's Lament by carlajpatterson 2 years ago
This is wonderful. I love what you did to your voice. Very cool.
Fly Booty by Naaji 2 years ago
Saw the movie. Had to download the soundtrack. Nice production. Really fun tune.
You Think You've Got It ALl by Naaji 2 years ago
Very cool. Great energy. Sexy performance. Love the voice. You make me want to punk out!
SUGAR SUGAR by MickD 2 years ago
Very nice. Great production.
Strawberry Fields Forever, Beatles by Rodrish 2 years ago
One of my all time favorite songs. Beatles covers are fun to do, aren't they?
The Benefit Riddle (Something Missing) by 8MonthMalfunction 2 years ago
Instant classic. Excellent tune. Love the trumpets.
A Measure of Succuess by tonestones 2 years ago
Maestro, the guitar is a PRS custom 24 played through a Marshall JMP-1 tube preamp into my sound board. During the solo break I duped the guitar to a second track, raised it an octave and ran it through a long tail modulated delay/reverb filter. effect.

I agree about the mix being overdriven. This is the first mix I did with this song, with a adlimit run on the final mix that really crushes it. I've remixed it since then. I'll have to upload the alternate. It is quite a bit less dense.

Everbody Hurts (c) by MakenaMonk 2 years ago
Very good performance. Love the vocals.
Billie Jean (Chris Cornell Style) by normanlevene 2 years ago
I love what you've done with this. I agree with you about the drums. They really stand out. I can't believe the attention to detail you have. Technically the is fantastic, but it is such a touching, creative spin on this tune. This is so full of heart.
ICARUS WINGS by normanlevene 2 years ago
Wow. You are full of surprises. This is another superb production job. The vocals are excellent.
Summer In The City - Lovin Spoonful cover (Turn down volume B4 playing) by normanlevene 2 years ago
What he (Geo) said... This is tremendous.

This is a really interesting, different take on a classic. I love really creative takes on these old tunes.
This Love (Maroon 5 Cover) by normanlevene 2 years ago
Beautiful arrangement. Great vocal performance. Very impressive. I really like this.
Man of Constant Sorrow [traditional] by tonestones 2 years ago
One of my favorite bands is Nickel Creek, a "New Bluegrass" band that mixes modern influences with bluegrass. I grew up in Kentucky and played guitar with a bluegrass banjo player when I was young. I have great respect for a good banjo.

I played these banjo parts on my midi keyboard. I tried to play them like I thought a banjo player would.
Bolero by bigdaddycee 2 years ago
Love this. Particularly the percussion. Great job!
Black Lace by bigdaddycee 2 years ago
Great feel. Fantastic production. Very smooth.
Feelin Alright [Cover] by tonestones 2 years ago
Thanks everyone.. I remember this song so well. It was in the top 10 of jam tunes when I was a young bass player. I must have played this a thousand times. This is such a flexible tune you can do it any number of ways and they naturally just fit.

Scott, please forward my email address to Tom. I haven't heard from him for way too long.
Find Him by ScottCarmichael 2 years ago
Great stuff! Your son is a fine player. The production sounds fantastic. I love the mix, the tight arrangement. Excellent. Great vocals, love the harmonies.

My only complaint is that you need to find more time to spend in the studio. We need more output!
Right place, wrong time [Cover] by tonestones 2 years ago
Scott,

Always great to hear your thoughts. You probably remember this from college, but it is rare that I don't have some kind of stringed instrument near by. I've had melodies, counter-melodies rambling around in my brain since I was very small. My challenge is much more to suppress than to let it out. Everything I do starts out way too busy. Even my covers. It is sometimes difficult for me to add space in a song. A professor of mine told me something that most song writers discover over time: the notes you don't play are every bit as important as the notes you do.
Magic Man (Heart Cover) by farfor44 2 years ago
Great cover of a great song. Nice production.
How You Remind Me (cover) by Henno 2 years ago
Very nice cover. Very nice live sound. The vocals are very nice. They aren't consistent in the mix though. Sometimes they are burried by guitar (as a guitarist I can sympathize) or they are a little too prominent. I really like the vocal performance though. A little mixing hint you might try: group the vocal tracks to one stereo bus and route it through a separate chain with adlimit->multi-band compressor. I didn't notice which tools you use, but logic comes bundled with these plugins.

Some of the vocals reminded me of one of my favorite bands of all time: Gentle Giant.
Feelin' Alright (Traffic Cover) by Baboon 2 years ago
Really fun!
This really captures the spirit of the original. It was such a great party tune. Great job putting this together.
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue by pharmakeus 2 years ago
Love your voice on this. Great tune.
Stairway to Heaven by tonestones 2 years ago
Leopold, this started out as an original, but I couldn't find the inspiration for the lyrics. I consider myself much more of an instrumentalist than a singer/lyricist. I had recently dug up the old Zappa live cover of Stairway which is very funny. I thought I'd use the lyrics as a placeholder, but it kind of grew into something I wanted to keep. Not sure why.

Thanks.
Let it go (David Wilcox) by ScottCarmichael 2 years ago
This is really beautiful. The guitar, as usual, sounds fantastic. I love the tone you get. You clearly have more patience with getting those mics set up just right than I do smiley

The vocals really work well. The harmonies are very soulful.
Revolution (Beatles Cover) by tonestones 2 years ago
I have a few close friends who absolutely hate the idea of meddling with a Beatles tune. I've done covers of a dozen or so of them. Most of them don't stray too far from the original, but I really enjoy layering my own interpretation onto the lyrics. I'm glad you liked it.
Long Distance Runaround (Yes Cover) by tonestones 2 years ago
Thanks, Scott. "School Days". I forgot all about that tune. I'll have to do a cover of that one sometime.

Bruford is an interesting percussionist. I've always had great respect for him, starting with Yes, King Crimson and his other projects. He takes on really complex stuff with such effortless simplicity. Economy of motion!

I really didn't like the vocals being down an octave, but I didn't have a choice. You seem to be able to stretch to hit the high notes (like on StarTrooper), but I just can't do it without snapping something I really don't want to lose. I don't know how Jon Anderson does it.. Such an incredible voice.
Steal This Song! by 8MonthMalfunction 2 years ago
This is great!
Morgan Sings "Winnie The Pooh" by 8MonthMalfunction 2 years ago
Very cute. However, you should check out child labor laws if you want to take him pro smiley
starship trooper (cover Yes) by ScottCarmichael 2 years ago
5

Outstanding cover. The technical difficulty here is off the charts. You pulled off everything beautifully, especially the Steve Howe licks. Your acoustic work has always blown me away, but this whole package is amazing. This is incredibly detailed. This must have taken a very long time to put together. I am soooo impressed. This has always been one of my favorite Yes tunes.
Frankenstein [Cover +] by tonestones 2 years ago
Bodhisattva. Steely Dan. I had forgotten about that one. Great tune. I'll put it on my to do list. Thanks.
Mood Indigo by dirigent 2 years ago
Beautiful. Great arrangement. I love good a capella.
And I Love Her (Beatles cover) by tonestones 2 years ago
Thanks, crissew. I do more covers than originals, especially when I'm trying out new techniques. I haven't uploaded any of my originals here yet, but I will soon. I'd love to take credit for the voice here, but it isn't mine. It is my friend Doug. I did the guitars/bass, but Doug did the vocals. He does have a great voice. We did a really good version of "Something" also. I'll upload that next.

Funny that several of you mentioned the Dave Clark 5. I liked them quite a bit back in the early 60's. I was very young, but I remember them well.
Revolution (Beatles Cover) by tonestones 2 years ago
RosaLinda, thanks.

John, I know what you mean about the horns. I've never been that comfortable with them. They really cut through way too much in the mix and make it sound a little disco... Not what I was going for.
Crash into the Sun [Cover] by tonestones 2 years ago
Dylan, I love your cover of Turquoise House". Wonderful stuff! Jim White is not well known, but is getting noticed. Very clever songwriter. I love his style. I was in a hard-edged mood when I did this.
Turquoise House (duet) by Dyl 2 years ago
This is great! I love Jim White. Everything I've heard of his I've liked. Love this version. Great vocals, mandolin. Really well done..
And I Love Her (Beatles cover) by tonestones 2 years ago
Forgot to mention a few things:

- I played an acoustic (mic'd) guitar, 2 tracks of electric (one backing, one lead). The bass was an electric acoustic plugged direct into the board.

- Keith played claves, guiro, congas, trap set.

- Doug did 4 parts on the vocals.
Stairway to Heaven by tonestones 2 years ago
Thanks for the great comments. This was a big production for me. I spent about a month on this and experimented with some new (to me) production techniques. I had great fun writing it and playing the parts. I tried to ignore the original LZ recording and do the music based on the poetry of the lyrics.

Thanks for listening. I love having an audience and I don't play live anymore.
Sitting Pretty by pharmakeus 2 years ago
Great tune, great lyrics, great performance.
Cosmic Phone Call to Carla by carlajpatterson 2 years ago
Very clever. I like the concept and both vocals (you and the alien) were really fun.
If I only had a brain by tonestones 2 years ago
Thanks for the great comments here. You've given me the inspiration to finish this one. Good suggestion about the bass. When I played music for a living I was a jazz basist. Now I play more guitar than bass, but the bass line is always one of the more critical parts of my songs. I often start a new piece of music just with bass and percussion and build on that.
Enola-Gay 01 by UvsU 2 years ago
Wow. This one really leaves a lasting impression. I love it. I've travelled to Japan many times over the years and I've walked through towns and seen the monuments to the war. As an American I always felt guilty about unleashing the atomic bomb on Japan. I wasn't born yet when it happened, but my father fought in the war (Navy). You really have to ask yourself how necessary it was. This song is really haunting. Very thought provoking.
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by tonestones 2 years ago
Thanks for the kind words. I've done three tunes from wizard of oz. It was my favorite movie when I was growing up. I'll post the other one soon (if I only had a brain). Crissew, Don Williams has an incredible voice, real character and quality. I am flattered you put me anywhere near him. Thanks!
Dreams by carolineguenther 2 years ago
Beautiful voice. I love the lyrics.
Sarah by crissew 2 years ago
Very touching song. Great performance. Many of us have lost someone close at some point in our lives. You are very fortunate to have music as a way to deal with grief and to memorialize her. Beautifully done.
Three Cups of Tea (HTB) by becwil 2 years ago
This is inspirational. Beautiful instrumentation. I really like the flow of it. I can hear waves swelling more than tea brewing, but I suddenly yearn for a cup of something...
Closer {NIN Cover} by RAVENS 2 years ago
Very nice. The vocals are amazing. Really soulful.
Festival by MusicLeft 2 years ago
Very well done. Great chord changes and harmonies. The bass lines are really great. I love the flow of it.
Cosmic phone Call by MusicLeft 2 years ago
I love this! I haven't heard Tom's track, but it will be my next stop. Very inspirational.
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