Matt Hogg

Just a bit of fun. No vocals. No guitar solo. Nothing on this is an original instrument - pure VST, pure MIDI.

I don't know if anyone's done a cover of Throwback? Anyway, here's one to fill the void. Full of cheesy 80/90's horns.Strictly (inc) speaking, this one comes under the pile of guilty pleasures. I'm not a fan of the horn sound, either with the original or this one - a bit too eager to try and find a 'Collins' sound, if you ask me. But the bridge is probably the best part of the tune.Please note, I can't mix for toffee and the only effects I use here are some stereo widening and reverb. Also, not done very well. However, it is what it is.

Instrumentally a cover. Vocally a rip from the original. It's strange how adding a vocal can considerably change a mix, volume-wise and sometimes other fundamentals. Parts that were high in the mix on the non-vocal version has been lowered and other parts are mixed higher.

This is unfinished - needs more than the placeholder drums - there no toms, either! Anyway, Guide Vocal is there and I'm happy enough with that. Most of the mix for Duchess is pretty much there.

Entirely VST - no real guitars were harmed in making this. Guitar tracks created by my own software, hopefully a certain level of realism is achieved, although I can spot where it's not perfect. The guitar tabs were from a YouTube video (I will post the link when I find it). Now with added Mellotron choir (slight). Now with added percussion (shaker/tambourine).

I have written an application to emulate a guitar using MIDI. There are other bits of software that can do this, but this cost me nothing. This is just an example of an early-stage demo of both the software and a track. All of this is a standard VST. No special guitar VST.

As an experiment to see if the music stands up to the original with the vocals, this is my version albeit with vocals ripped from the original song (Spectralayers 9). I've had to re-time the vocals a little bit. I think the second half is more successful than the first half and it's obvious I don't have professional mixing or mastering but for something I've had to figure the music out for myself I'm quite pleased with it. As this contains original vocals copyright must be respected a bit more than a usual cover. I haven't sought permission for the vocals and I make no claim to any part of this version of the track apart from the instrumentation and arrangement of the backing track. There is always the instrumental version available elsewhere on my playlists.

Maybe time to give the album Calling All Stations some love? No? Provide your own vocals. Instruments used: DX7 (VST) Padshop Halion Groove Agent Bass Guitar Ovation Guitar Yamaha Piano as controller Wavestation (VST) Cubase 12 Pro 'Congo' sample taken from the original track, but played around with - everything else either live or quantized!

Requires mixing properly. One of Tony's simpler tracks it still has the ability to surprise with a few twists and turns. The Fugitive album is, for me, one of the lesser albums but there are some good tracks (and some inspiring music) like Charm. Done as a bit of fun and most of the instrumentation is an approximation. I like to use slightly different sounds to the original to bring (at least part of) it past the 80s. VST instruments used (Halion, Padshop) and the guitar is a mixture of Stratocaster and Ovation acoustic. I haven't played a guitar in a couple of years (it shows) and now my fingers hurt. I've used some stereo widening and converted most of the mono tracks to stereo in the process. The whole thing has taken 3 weeks (an hour or two at a time every couple of days). Still not as good as the real thing, which I suggest you buy.

A slightly different version of Tony Banks' In The Dark from the album A Curious Feeling. The whole thing is from memory and not from a MIDI, or analysis of the original track so I'm not confident the chords are correct. However, they seem to fit ok and don't sound horrific so that's good enough for me.

Featuring: Waves Audio CP70/80 VST (now replaced with the Yamaha) Prologue 2 - Synth Bass Halion - Synth Bass Padshop - Strings, Pads Symphonic Orchestra - Oboe No quantizing at all on this :) Originally performed on a Yamaha piano the MIDI was recorded and replayed using the Waves Audio CP70/80 VST via Cubase. The Clarinet was recorded via the iMac keyboard (!) and the same with the bass. The backing strings and pads were recorded via the piano with the swell modulation added in post (no mod/pitch wheels on the piano). Obviously this is not exactly like the original recording and has been worked out by ear (loosely). But I think it sounds pretty good for a first attempt. Quite pleased with the result. 11-April-2021 - Re-recorded the synth basses

Very VERY rough version. The instruments used are not final and merely act as a guide.

I wanted to give this a go - writing is a bit of a blank at the moment. Varying degrees of success and failure on this, but as a first try I'm happy with it. Certain things are missing and the whole thing is unfinished. There's no guitar solo either - cuz I'm a rubbish guitarist. All VST apart from guitars and bass. The drums are VST, albeit played live with an e-drumkit. There are some Simmons samples in this!! Gotta love the 80s! Revisions: 2022-07-13 - Synth Bass redone 2023-02-14 - Added DX7 (Dexed), re-eq of snare and some guitar

An idea that may evolve into something bigger. I don't know. For when you feel you've been emotionally kicked in the gut.

One of my favourites...I wish my playing were better but I'm no pianist. Think of this as more adaption than replication; an exact copy is just a duplicate! I am aware of the parts that are different. 18-May-17 - Sorted out the first chord (F/C#) 16-June-17 - Added synth bass 10-July-17 - Synth bass too loud - reduced level 11-July-17 - Adjusted chorus on piano to lower in the mix 14-July-17 - Other synths added - still not quite complete but complete enough 15-Sept-17 - Additional organ and synth bass enhancement 5-Oct-17 - Synth-bass enhancement (slower attack) Slight mix adjustment since using the new control surface.

Another Tony Banks cover from the Soundtracks album. Done from memory rather than reference, it's not an exact replica (what's the point in that). Done for a bit of fun. It still needs more work on the mixing and effects. Probably one of my last Banks covers (A few more in me, but I've done enough, I think, to warrant legal action!) All VST. Considering I'm going from memory rather than using someone else's MIDI file, it sounds okay to my ears. 28-Dec-16 - Changes the drum voice and increased the solo lower octave level.

This is currently something I'm working on. It's unfinished but a rough mix is there and you probably get the idea of it. Requires more guitar, singing and plenty of overdubs, of which I have still to figure out. It's a little bit unusual with 4/4, 6/4 and 7/4 time signatures involved. All the instrumentation is VST based apart from the guitar lead and power chords hidden in the background. The drums are a live performance (although via MIDI) and have not been programmed! 10 Sept '16 - Live bass guitar added (may require EQ) (c) 2016 Matt Hogg

All of this is VST work apart from a very low=in-the-mix vocal towards the end. The 'Dance' section starts at around 1:44 and is a repeat phrase of about 4-5 chords with added instrumentation on each repeated phrase...not quite Tubular Bells but the main point in it was to bring in gradual layers. The title is how I imagine the tune to play out; a meeting of pirates. The atmosphere all moody, tense and sinister, until a dance begins starting with one pirate and with each repeating phrase more pirates join in the jollity until they are interrupted and the jovial mood stops abruptly and the main theme repeats and the pirates return to form. A bit silly, but the melody was written with the theme of pirates in mind and it manages to sound almost...piratey! (c) 2016 Matt Hogg

Very rough cover of Genesis' Domino pt 1 (In the Glow of the Night). No singing...I promise. Sequenced parts - drum machine. All other instruments played live.

Deserves to be played loud. It's got quite a low listen count and I think it's a shame as I think it's got a good groove. (c) 2016 Matt Hogg