Please Listen to: Lyin' Eyes (Eagles) performed LIVE on Tyros2 !

Synthzone Friends!

Here's my latest Tyros2 keyboard & vocal rendition of the classic 70's Eagles (rock-country) tune: "Lyin' Eyes".

It's in Windows Media (.wma) format and playable via Windows Media Player.

To listen: Scott Yee Entertainment
Go to: "Song Demos" page.
"Lyin' Eyes" is located in the 'Rock & Blues' Section.
Select 'DSL/Cable' or '56K' version.

I performed & sang this completely "live" in auto accomp arranger mode (no midi backing tracks), and recorded directly to the Tryos2's onboard digital audio sequencer.

Scott

[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 02-14-2006).]

I assume you want feedback. I hope! Cuz I hear something odd.

The Tyros sounds very good, Scott. But I hear something very strange at 1:35, when the vocal harmony first starts. It sounds like a flub you forgot to erase or some kind of glitch because to these ears, the vocal harmony is clearly off key for a note or two. Like, way off. It has to be a mistake.

That's one of my fave Eagles songs.

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Bill: picky, picky aren't we?!.

Ok, I went back and re-listened and can hear the (harmony) distortion (two notes) you're referring to, but don't feel it takes away from the overall song. In addition, I'm not sure how easily possible (if at all) the flub could be removed as everything (vocals, keyboard, & vocal harmony parts) were recorded 'all at once' on one stereo track.

As I stated initially, I recorded this completely 'live' (no post editing whatsover) so a glitch can only be expected. I admit the Tyros2's built in vocal harmonizer is far from perfect, but still quite acceptable (at least to me) for live performance. I own & a dedicated TC-Helicon "Voice Works" vocal harmony unit, but for this song, wanted to showcase what I do, solely with the Tyros2 alone.

Ok Bill: Except for the vocal harmonizer glitch you pointed out, curious what you (and others) thought of my rendition of the song otherwise. - Scott

Scott ... I liked the style on this tune ... what is it called ... (as you know I am not a 'yammie') ...
I thought the vocal was a little 'pitchy' in a couple of spots ...

The thing about recording is that the people listening can go back and listen over and over, and any 'flub' just gets repeated every time ... in a live situation unless it is in a concert setting I would think most 'flubs', unless they are glaring, go unnoticed by the public ...

While the overall affect of the tune is good, I am not sure you are totally comfortable with this type of song ...
t.

Scott, overall it sounds really good. Some of the phrasing is a little off, but I bet the Eagles don't sing it the same way every time either! Your version is probably closer than mine.
I like the guitar sounds of the T2. Still don't care much for the drum sounds. Your voice, as usual, is clear and clean.
DonM

Hi Scott. This country/easy rock stuff is really up my alley. I thought the style choice and overall presentation was pretty good. There are so many verses in the song; i wish I'd have heard a little more right hand action between the lines doing some fill-in counterpoint lines. There needed to be something giving the song a little sonic interest since it is so long, to keep the style from sounding repetative. I hear the really light piano stuff you are doing, and it sounds good, but for some of those verses I'd have gotten a little more aggressive with it; brought it out, changed the nice smooth style to something a little more melodic and not so chordal.
Also, i have to agree that the vocal harmonizer did you no justice whatever on this song. The choruses I thought it did a rather horrible job to be honest, on the long words like "hide", and "now". It was shaking all over the place and doing wrong notes. Seeing as how I do not yet own a serious arranger, my brother has a PSR225, so I don't know how these harmonizers work exactly, but it seemed like it was having a hard time figuring out what note you were singing, or figuring out what note it wanted to sing with you.

Overall it was good though; everything you do is good, this one I think though could be much better. Maybe it's just because you are in my style now and I pick it apart a bit more.

Scott, I thought overall it was very good. I also noticed some different phrasings but I've heard that song a zillion times, so, my brain is expecting the way the Eagles sing it. But overall, very good.

The glitch I mentioned... let me say that I listened through headphones. I don't know if you can hear it without headphones. But...

I've never heard anything like it. If this is a harmonizer error, this is very surprising to me. It is obviously totally offbase. That note is an "Ouch!" You said you recorded it live, so it HAS to be the harmonizer. I find this interesting. That it could be so wrong. Worthy of discussion. It obviously picked up the "wrong" chord to base it on or something. I don't know exactly how a harmonizer works.

Suffice to say, you made fun of my being picky and I assume you don't really think that... a pro like you would surely cringe with this. Anyway, that vocal error would be totally unacceptable to ME. And I'm very surprised a keyboard of that quality would do that.

I just went back and listened again. Yep, that is an "Ouch!" I listened to the chords preceding this. It's on the word "hide" in "You can't HIDE your lying eyes" in the chorus at 1:35.

I'm curious as to how this harmonizer note could be so wrong. Or maybe I'm crazy. I think you wrote that you hear it, too?

I'd try another vocal harmony and see if it sings it right.

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Scott:

The Yammie Vocal Harmonizers are really difficult to work with. I use them all the time to attempt to blend my miserable voice into the song a little better. Usually, at the most inopportune time, I'll get a little "warble" that requires me to either re-cut the entire song or just throw up my hands in disgust. The "Country Girls" back-up appears to be the hardest to control and "Karaoke Mode" seems to be the back-up option that "warbles" the least.

Don Mason advised me a long time ago to reduce the usage of backup on the Yammie and I have tried to cut back as much as the "flavor" of each of my songs would allow.
If only I had access to George Strait!

All my best,

Dave Rice

Bill, sometimes the kb harmonizers, particularly the Yamahas, pick up extraneous sounds, such as from the speakers, and try to "harmonize" those too. It usually results in something such as what happened here. Unfortunately when you play live it does happen sometimes. It's generally on a loud note when you back off the mic a little, allowing other sounds in. I've found the problem much diminished since I got the Bose PAS.
DonM

Funny, I've never heard this problem and I've owned the psr740 and psr2000. I eat the mic when I sing, so, maybe that helps?

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Scotty:
After a half hour of downloading on my lousy dialup I gave up and only got to listen to about half of your song.

Nice voice and a nice rendition of the eagles popular tune. Not quite Eagles but still nice. On that harmonizer thing (no big deal) you might check the settings on the vocalizer for auto/chord maybe a left thumb changing the harmony??? I've found using multi on fingering and in the chord mode on the harmonizer you can make the vocals dance around the lead and give a more realistic backing, or can mess things up if you don't have a ear tuned to what those voices are doing.
Also listening to your singing was pleased to hear your voice automatically trying to close up some gaps by sustaining words out, to me this shows your talent. Think the song should be speeded up taking it more to a country rock speed and less of a ballad, to get closer to the Eagles and make the words fit in the time frame.
Not criticising here scotty, Just saying how I would go about it. Its fine the way it is, and Most audiences would love it.
Thanks for sharing it with us......Pose

Hi Scott
Thanks for the posting of "Lyin Eyes" which I listened to just once so as to get an original personal opinion without stripping it down!
For me, it's not one of your best .
Your diction in the vocal is clear and audible , as always. Even better now with your latest mic.
As a 'one-off' recording(which you intended it to be) it's OK but I don't think you should keep it on your webpage because it doesn't do you justice.I know from having listened to most of your songs that you are an accomplished musician/vocalist who entertains us with your talent.
It also doesn't do justice to Tyros2 because you don't USE it !
I have a suggestion.
Don Mason did me a special CD a while ago which was recorded during a live gig and it was so natural that I listen to it time and time again. It has genuine live gig entertainment feeling together with the 'reverb' you get from a live show.He used a Creative Nomad Jukebox plugged in to the keyboard and then burned to CD with a result that was so natural.
I believe that you should record also in this way for some of your songs and I am sure I would hear the 'real ' Scott!
Please let me hear more of your songs in real 'realtime' because I am convinced that you are an even better professional than some of your recordings tell us.
Hope these suggestions are taken in the way intended, i.e. as constuctive ideas I would like you to take on board.
Whatever you do ,please continue to let us hear your vocals.
cheers
Eddie


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Eddie from Rotherham
Skype:eddiefromrotherham
www.yamahakeyboards.info

Ok Eddie, after giving it thought, I've now removed it from my website. For those still interested in hearing it, it's still available for free downloaded via Rapid Share.de: HERE

Scott


[This message has been edited by Scottyee (edited 02-14-2006).]

Scott, I liked it. First of all, you've done a good job of showcasing the T2 for this style and I liked what I heard from the T2. As far as your singing, I've come to expect that you will interject your own trademark style rather than try to emulate the origional recording, and to that extent, it works well.

As far as the song sounding "long", if I were to do it, I'd up the key a half tone at least once ~ 2/3 into the song. Don't think the Eagles did, but they're the Eagles. Overall, well done.

Glenn

Scott, would you believe, somebody requested "Lyin' Eyes" tonight. I somehow had misnamed it on the laptop so I couldn't pull up the lyrics and chords. Had to do it totally from memory, but it didn't come out too bad. I remember the words o.k., but I struggled some with the chord changes and riffs. It got better as the song went on.
Wanna hear it?
DonM

Hey Scottyee,
I liked it.. Had a nice honest take I found refreshing... Well done...

Anyway here's the link. I hope Scott doesn't mind my "contribution".
As you can tell by listening, it's live, mistakes and all. Recorded directly from the headphone outputs from the Ketron SD1 to Creative Labs Jukebox 3. I recorded it in WAV format, then converted to MP3 at 196. It is REAllY big because I recorded the entire song, nearly 8 minutes. So you had better be a glutton for punishment if you download the MP3 version. I also encoded a version with WMA at 96 bpm, so it will not be nearly as long. http://207.150.221.97/donmason/Temp%20Songs/
DonM

Douno scott... i might be new here, but your SONG OWNS it really looks you got a full band, all nice tunes, great sound.. owns


btw, no one playing electronic? dance? something new? hehe... im the only young person here? ok if old, whereis phil collins, genesis, pet shop boys, george michael

Well maybe I'm dumb or summat but I can't get to grips with Rapidshare at all...never have I seen such badly designed web stuff - at no stage was it clear what to do next for me.
So Scott me old mate I never got to listen to Lyin Eyes and it's one of my favorites too and I just know you'd have made a great job of it...ah well some things are just beyond my wit, shucks...
Rog

Roger ... go to the bottom of the 'RapidShare" page and click 'Free'... then scroll to the bottom of the page that comes up and enter the letters shown (in color) into the box provided and click on 'Download from....'
t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 02-13-2006).]

Hi, Scott. Good effort to showcase the T2!Thanks!

The Eagles multi-harmony is so tight and recognizable (it's what really earmarks tunes as Eagles songs) that I've found most people expect renditions to sound EXACTLY like the recording, and that's difficult to do with ANY harmonizer.

As you know, I'm not a fan of ANYTHING but motorcycles with the Yamaha name on it, but I REALLY appreciate your consideration, effort and talent.

Thanks, friend!


Russ (old school) Lay

Retal, as an "older" person I don't do some of the newer songs very well. That's not to say I don't appreciate them. Most of the new stuff I do is country, with a few exceptions. O.K., I do a LOT of the new Rod Stewart songs (of course they are old standards). Anyway that's the audience I play for. They wouldn't recognize Pet Shop Boys unless they were buying a parakeet.
Anyway, I'm sure some of the guys have similar interests and repertoires. Maybe they will respond.
It's always nice to have new blood here!
DonM

ahhhh pet shop boys ! my all time favorite electronic band !
they're the reason why i got into keyboards in the first place ! retal, you're not alone anymore

Claude

Don, I think you should distort your vocals a little, play piano instead of that fancy guitar work, and maybe play a Yamaha[for the drums]...then you can sound like the rest of us..


Nobody can touch this guy when it comes to country...not even the 3 amigos..

Don great guitar work...you make that SD1 "sing"...As always..your the best...

I don't think anyone else wants to follow you....maybe UD..

Im still trying to understand why Scott would embarass himeself with that song + put it on his website as a demo to get work...or maybe he did it on purpose to trick us? I know he can do much better.

Don KILLER Job, if Im being honest!!

Tyros or Ketron ....you decide?

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 02-13-2006).]

Roger, you have mail!

Donny....
I embarass myself on a regular basis trying new things. Scott asked for feedback knowing full-well he would get a variety of opinions and advice.

I, on the other hand am too chicken to ask for feedback. I rely on watching audience reaction. If it works, I keep it. If not, I either start working to improve on it or take it out of my playlist.
Eddie

t.

Scott,

This is just my take on the song so you may ignore my comments if you wish. I don't think the song suits your singing style. You are "crooning" the song as if it were a ballad. It needs to be sung a little dirty and not sweetly.

We once had an opera singer sing with our band. When we did "Mack the Knife" it sounded as if he were singing opera. It definitely was not the correct style for "Mack the Knife". He had a marvelous voice but the song was incorrect for his style.

I know you can do better on this tune, just "get down" a little on it. If you can do "Cattle Call" justice you can do this one also.

John Lennon used to scream himself horse before he did "Twist and Shout". I'm not sure it is worth doing that however.

The Ty2 sounds great, especially the guitars.

Tom

[This message has been edited by Tom Cavanaugh (edited 02-13-2006).]

[This message has been edited by Tom Cavanaugh (edited 02-13-2006).]

[This message has been edited by Tom Cavanaugh (edited 02-13-2006).]

It's a marketing trick, for sure... or just trying to awaken us arranger synthzoners...

-- José.

Tom ... I think you hit it on the head that it doesn't fit Scott's style ... I guess that's what I was thinking when I said he didn't seem comfortable with it ...

There have been many singers who have great voices who are 'out of place' with certain types of songs --- Robert Goulet for one, and many of us recall Pat Boone trying to sing "A Wop-bop-a-loo-lop a lop-bam-boom" ...

Scott ... I also agree with Tom's comments about the guitars ... can you tell us more about what YOU actually played as opposed to the Ty2 style?
t.

Mr. Dnj, I don't comment too much on this forum because I'm pretty new here and don't have the experience many of you do. But, boy oh boy you sure do sling mud at that Scott Yee fella.

Yep, Pacesetter, I thought it was a low blow, too. But you'll notice that Donny's fingers get ahead of his brain. Notice how on almost EVERY SINGLE post he makes, it is edited. If you don't believe me, go back and look at his posts. No telling what he says originally. I don't give a damn who he THINKS he is, that's a bunch of crap. Scott did NOT embarrass himself. It was a good song, not great but better 'n I could do.

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Pacesetter ... yes you are new here, and if you were not you would know that Donny has often praised Scott for his work ... you would also know that if Donny sounded a little 'Simon-esque' it's only because (as he said in his post) he KNOWS Scott can do better ... and HAS !!!
(not that I have to speak up for Dnj )
t.

Its called being honest or just to be nice , not too offend etc etc ...something many here try not to do judging by their comments of songs instead ofh being honest which in reality will HELP the person who posted it ......maybe your too new here to see what I mean ....try searching a few songs offereings from years back and see if Im right.It not only happens here but on every other arranger kb forum out there ....why I dont know?.......but I do know I listen and comment and thats my opinion only...if it stinks I'll say it...if its good I'll give kudos but it will be honest. If someone gets their feelings hurt then dont post the song in the first place......
Slinging Mud? Me?

Eddie at least your honest

"Mr. Dnj, I don't comment too much on this forum because I'm pretty new here and don't have the experience many of you do. But, boy oh boy you sure do sling mud at that Scott Yee fella"

I agree, but he does it in such a constructive way!!

Pardon me sir. I bet when you hit the rest room it comes out as vanilla ice cream

Low Blow? or Honest critisizm?
I aint gonna BS anyone or give some fantasy reply .....ya got the goods I'll give it up for ya ....you aint got it your gonna hear my opinion pro or con ......editing and all, but for anyone that knows me that in person will always get the UNEDITED answer straight up face to face....thats what a discussion forum is all about .....
unless the rules changed? T2/sd1, pax,3k, G70 tc etc dont mean squat to me .....what does matter is WHAT DOES IT SOUND LIKE?

Have a nice day Mr Bill.

Correction Fran..."Honest Way"

Sorry to say Scott but it's not up to your usual quality play or vocal wise. The sounds and style used were nice but the guitar solo and little twiddly bits were missing. To my ears DonM's version was better in the vocal department but I thought the Tyros 2's sounds were more realistic than DonM's guitar sound (think someone mentioned SD1 but my guitar doesnt sound like that on the SD1).
Well done to both of you for sharing your music though, I always like to listen to postings on here

Tony.....lets face it Scott is a very good pro musician......although I didnt like THIS version of "lyin eyes" of which I wish he would of refined it a bit after getting opinions thru private emails, rerecording, making changes etc etc before he posted it here so Vibrantly with Eagle Poster fanfare etc etc ....Yamaha vocalizers can be very unforgiving in so many ways for so many reasons as many of us know....what was concering me was that as a professional who uses a website to conduct business thru its content eg: demo songs I would want the very best posted so that a paying client could make a decision based on what they were listening to and create new bookings.
Whats the big deal rercord the tune or maybe do it multitrack.......all I know I have heard better from Mr Yee.

Low blow. In the south, which you are apparently not from, we don't talk to someone like that. Scott's a good guy, a generous guy. And all you have to say is you don't like it. But that's the difference between someone with some diplomacy and someone without.

Have nice day, Mr. Donny.

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Being from the North of which I am proud of ...its called someone who looks you in the eye and tells it like it is straight up no BS !

Donny, you don't get it, do you. First you belittled him saying that he embarrassed himself. Then you said in a more recent post...

"before he posted it here so Vibrantly with Eagle Poster fanfare etc etc."

Again, belittling him for taking the time to put up a friggin poster! Geez. You REALLY don't get it!

My gosh, he just posted a song, that's all. Putting it on his website, that's just convenient. A heckuva lot more convenient than Rapidshare. As webmaster of his own site, he can rapidly take that down. Doesn't mean he would keep it there long-term.

So, you're proud of being a Yankee. That's good. Nothing wrong with pride and nothing wrong with a Yankee. And I truly mean that. That was a serious error on my part even bringing that foolishness up. I just meant that hospitality (and we typically are proud of southern hospitality) does have merit. But "telling it straight?" What's wrong with "Scott, I don't like it."

I don't mean to fight with you. I just see injustice here. If you and I were at a bar, we'd probably have a grand time drinking a cool one. Then again, we might end up fighting like mongrels, wallowing around in a big blue/grey wad on the floor.

Whatever, peace.

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Bill
Yamaha PSR2000

Ok Bill.....Maybe my way of relating to oters is a bit brash but thats just me & I HONESTLY mean no harm or ill feelings to anyone.... I will extend an olive branch to you and the other members & from this post forward will think before I post ok?

BTW.. I love Southern Cooking & one of these days whan I get down your way to see Don M I'll take ya up on that Drink offer too my treat Gumba!!

Lets make Music!

Nuthin to get upset about here. Let's not re-start the un-Civil War. I live in the South (Florida) and was raised in the South (South Philly). I can't take sides without getting a brain hemmorage.
Eddie

Hyya fellas - NORTH? SOUTH? NORTH? SOUTH?

NORTH? SOUTH? What's it all about?

SOoooo.... "SNAP OUT OF IT"!!!! HE HE HEE

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Rejected Idol

welcome to the SZ seeing this is your first post, and a possible rejected american idol judging by your moniker? I also see that your a lounge singer? Please tell us about yourself, what you play & perform...maybe post a few songs for us? do you have a website too?

While you guys are bickering over the little stuff, poor Boo is out in the cold with his broken tilting mechanism... which has something to do with this thread, right?

Common give Bo some slack its
Mardi Gras Time

Glenn ... Boo started a different thread fot the mic stand problem ....
t.

R I ... yes, WELCOME !!! and like Donny says, tell us about yourself ... not that we really care, we're just nosey as to who is hanging around !!! ... just kidding ... "Lounge Singer" ?!? ... can you do "Born Free" ??? ...
t.

Don ... nice job ...
t.

Sorry guys!
I hit the "Reply Icon" on this thread instead of the "New Post Icon" for the Mic stand question.

I tried to deleat it, but it seems you cannot deleat erroneous post you might have made. This is an excellent example of why one should be able to deleat a post himself.

I emailed Nigel to deleat it, but I assume he hasn't gotton to it yet.

I hope he deleats this one also.

Hi Craig,
Which guitar sound from the SD1 would you use on this song? I agree with you that the sound is not the best. I don't even remember which one I used, but it was either Strata or Solidbody. I love the guitar sounds on the T2. I'm told that the EXP upgrade for the SD1 brings the Ketron guitars to the T2 level.
I talked to Scottyee on the phone today and he was able to listen to the EXP upgrade at NAMM. He was very impressed with the upgrade.
Nitpicking my own song, I find that the delay on the vocal is too strong. I was actually experimenting a little, and instead of the usual 8 setting, I increased the delay on the vocal to 12. It's a little much.
Thanks,
DonM

Don, after you put up that version of yours, granted unperfect, but it illustrates the correct stylistic for that song IMO. It just had to be a bit "dirty" and it probably hard for someone who just not used to that "dirty" style or does not have the tonal quality/type.

Scott, after listining to the new version, it still did not fix it. Might be a good idea to give it up and try something else (other songs).

Han: Not sure what you're specifically referring to here , but 'dirty or not', at least "I'm Content" with the way it sounds now. - Scott

What I mean by "dirty" is opposite of clean, sweet style of ballad songs. Some twangs and a bit of hoarseness here and there would probably enhanced the songs a lot.

Maybe comments of Tony Mads and Tom Cavanaugh previously are in line with mine when referring to "dirty". These people and others(including me) are your friends, Scott - so, I am sure the comments are genuine/honest and very likely valid for most of "general populations" (g). Since, you're a professional and out there to please your audiences, you probably should care about it.

Ok, I think I get your point better now, realizing that this song (lyrics) was perhaps originally written to take on a raw element of cynicism from the POV of the singer, than one of sad resignation, of which I had interpreted with my rendition. - Scott

Tom,
I couldn't get Scott's version on any of the links but I did hear Don's version and I'll bet a million dollars he's playing more then three chords on this tune, I don't care what you say about country music.

brick ... ABSOLUTELY ... there are 4 chords through most of the tune and an ADDITIONAL 2 chords thrown in during the bridge ...
t.

And sometimes I throw in a couple more, sometimes even on purpose!
DonM

I think Don's version is more in tune with what the original was, and scott has a very clean... "version"... Probabley not suited for his voice if comparing with the original... However, the thing that stuck out for me was how much better the Tryros 2 sounded.. I thought my old psr2000 sounded better than the SD1... Really not impressed with the SD1 keyboard at all..
Over 2 total diffrent version and both would appeal to diffrent groups...
Thanks for sharing...

Craig, I totally disagree with you about the instrumentation of Scott and Don's tunes..To me the Sd1 version sounds much more real..The bass and drums are far superior on the SD1 version..and the guitars work much better in that tune on the SD1[maybe Don's playing has something to do with the guitars]..

Now for credits due..I just listened to Scott's new version....Scott you really did a great job on this one...different yes, but I think those that take pride in their own performances , want to do it their way...I know UD has always done this , and Donny does too, for the most part...Again, I was happy to see you redo the tune...way to go..

Heehee, I never imagined my "Lyin' Eyes" song rendition would have stirred so much interest & debate. Because I don't have songwriting aspirations, I instead, view myself as a song 'stylist', looking to interpret familiar songs differently than the original.

I realize that the original Eagles delivery took a more cynical attitude of the girl with 'lyin' eyes'. I on on the other hand, opted to deliver a more wistful (sad) view of her situation. To me, a song's lyrics (and how it's delivered) is equally important (and sometimes more so) than even the melody line. How you phrase a song can COMPLETELY CHANGE the meaning of a song, and this is where lyric interpretation can be so powerful.

Thanks again to EVERYONE who responded to this thread. It's obvious that people here aren't afraid to share their strong opinions. I read 'everyones' replies carefully and applied what seemed 'valid' to me, to come up with my second 'Lyin Eyes' rendition. I only hope that candidly honest (yet supportively constructive) replies are given to others that post their music here too, as well as any future song postings I make. What makes this forum unique is the diversity of musical styles & tastes among the membership.

Scott

Scott was this song done with your new T2
"PRE IN YOUR FACE EQ"? if so could you redo it with the new Eq settings as a comparison so we may hear the difference.....I for one am very interested in the result.

Thank you