I don't consider myself a musician like all the fine guitarists here on the forum. I seem to be more of a home studio IT geek.

I kept the song fairly simple composition-wise and left out Joanne's bridge section for the guitar solo.

Since this is my first song, I'm welcome to any nitpick on how I put it together or how I could improve the next time around. I could have added more variety with the different instruments coming in and out.

The Paradox of You - Steve Slechta

VIDEO COMING IN A FEW DAYS WITH RECORDING AND DAW SHOTS

BIAB --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Key=C, Tempo 120, Length (m:s)=3:24
2 bar intro, 96 bar chorus, from bar 3 to bar 98. Repeat x1 chorus
Style is _CRUNCHY.STY (Crunchy Heavy 8ths Rock)

RealTracks in style: 1008:Bass, Electric, ElecRock Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 650:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopRockBritHeavy Ev 120 (B:power)
RealTracks in style: 697:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ElecRockDirty Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 2688:Guitar, Electric, Soloist RockBrentSimple Ev 120 - MY MAN BRENT MASON!!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEYS - Xpand!2 - The Classic B Organ
BASS GUITAR - Added SansAmp PSA-1 to the RealTracks Bass to add a little high freq fuzz
GUITAR "The Paradox of You" Chorus Riff - Fender Mexi Strat to Positive Grid BIAS AMP - British Lead 800 AMP
DRUMS - Superior Drummer 3 - Metal/Heavy Rock Punch Kit
ENDING RECORD SPINDOWN - Izotope Vinyl
Ozone 8 Mastered

VOCAL LESSON LEARNED - Did not practice singing much before recording and did not feel out my range. Some of the low notes in the verses were hard to hit, G2 and A2. I kind of sound like Mongo from Shrek as a result, lots of moaning and robotic. I had already committed my audio tracks to Pro Tools so I couldn't just up the key in BIAB. Found later that C3 to C4 is more in my comfort range. There's a few timing issues on vocals as well. My next song should be much better in this area.

Joanne Cooper - Lyrics
INTRO - 8 bars

VERSE 1 - 16 bars
(C)Listening to (F)the pouring rain
(C)I know the (G)sun will come
(C)Light from dark (Em)dry from wet
(F)When winter-(C)time is done

(C)I see my-(F)self as the earth
(C)And you the (G)vast blue sky
(C)Sometimes I (Em)keep you grounded
(F)And you just (C)let me fly


CHORUS - 16 bars
(C)I love it when (Dm)we talk
(F)I love the si-(G)lence too
(C)Love the yin and (F)yang of life
(G)The paradox (C)of you

(C)I love it when (Dm)we talk
(F)I love the si-(G)lence too
(C)Love the yin and (F)yang of life
(G)The paradox (C)of you


VERSE 2 - 16 bars
(C)You are my (F)harmony
(C)The balance (G)that I find
(C)Through the windows (Em)of my days
(F)In corners (C)of my mind

(C)Sometimes you (F)are the roots
(C)Growing (G)in the night
(C)Sometimes I (Em)am the leaves
(F)Bathing (C)in your light


CHORUS - 16 bars
(C)I love it when (Dm)we talk
(F)I love the si-(G)lence too
(C)Love the yin and (F)yang of life
(G)The paradox (C)of you

(C)I love it when (Dm)we talk
(F)I love the si-(G)lence too
(C)Love the yin and (F)yang of life
(G)The paradox (C)of you


SOLO - 8 bars - NO BRIDGE


CHORUS - 16 bars
(C)I love it when (Dm)we talk
(F)I love the si-(G)lence too
(C)Love the yin and (F)yang of life
(G)The paradox (C)of you

(C)I love it when (Dm)we talk
(F)I love the si-(G)lence too
(C)Love the yin and (F)yang of life
(G)The paradox (C)of you


Now I can finally listen to all the versions of this song and review!

Steve,

Congratulations on your first post!!! That's a huge accomplishment.

Right from that "I'm gonna make you sit up and pay attention" intro, I knew that I was in for treat and you delivered! I love the groove and I love what you've done with Joanne's lyrics. The effort that you've put into this was well worth it! Kudos to you.



This is a terrific first post in the forum.

All the best,
Noel

Hey Steve,

Welcome to the forum! I think this was a great venture out into the ocean to swim around with the rest of us. Glad you decided to dive in!

I think this was a lot of fun! Given your range (you are a baritone) you will feel really comfortable in Bb I bet. Give that a whirl some time for grins. That and Eb and are F are great baritone keys.

All in all I was just tickled pink to see you join in the fun and say Hurrah!! Well done man!

Thanks sir! It was definitely fun playing with those Brent Mason solos. Wish I had those chops!


Thanks for the tips on keys! I hope to have a more natural voice on the next go 'round when I'm not trying to reach so low.

Now does your "making of" video include drone footage?

You have your first song out of the way. Now keep working at it.

Bravo Steve.

Thoroughly enjoyed your song.
Lively backing and the ending caught me by surprise.
More please.

Cheers.

Nice to hear a song from you! Pretty good first time post IMHO.

Cool idea for the ending. Looking forward to hearing more from you!

Hi Steve
Well done on your very first song. I am privileged to have been part of it. May there be many many more now!

Hi Steve,

Great to hear your first post! Sounding pretty danged good to me! An ear-catcher from the start. Looking forward to more form you - terrific first post! I really enjoyed my listen!

Alan

Steve,

You did a terrific job on this.

The backing tracks are well mixed. Nice balance between guitar/bass/drums.

It reminded me of early Green Day. A very appropriate vehicle for the lyric. The genre makes the too-low-to-sing-vocal "work".

Cool ending.

(For a track like this - heavy instruments - you can run the instrument mix through a good pitch shifter and bring it up a note or two in order to do a vocal when it's just a bit too low to sing to. Just a thought if you run into this in the future).

Enjoyed that!

fj

Welcome to the forum Steve. Excellent first post Steve. Great start. This wa a very cool version. Loved the guitar. Super vocal . Well done

First post of your song and everyone agree's is a 10! Had you waited for one more posting it could have gone to 11.

Seriously Steve, great job! I think you're like me in that you have SO much going on, that it can make it hard to really work on a full song. Getting it to the point of posting, it's probably not going to happen. To date, I've managed to pull it off twice. So, I get it.

I really like you version for many reasons. When you originally posted you were thinking of doing a rock version, I was excited. That we both ended the song with a tape/record stop effect is pretty crazy.

I'm with FJ that the range of the song actually does fit with the genre. Had it been higher, it may have actually been too "pretty." That added grunge in your vocal tone may have worked to your advantage!

Anyway, I'm rambling. I'm just excited you participated, that this was your first song on here, and you did such a great job. Be proud of all of these! Well done!

On a side note, you are a drummer? Or...am I remembering that wrong? If you are, you did a GREAT job with the drums. If you're not, you did an AMAZING job with the drums.

I'll put some drone footage in just for you! Glad it's out of the way. I won't mention any other works in progress until I finish them.


Thanks for listening sir.


Thanks for the listen. I figure I can only better from here.


Thanks Joanne... and for the lyrics too! Not sure about 'many' more. But I'll start on another soon.


Thanks Al. Appreciate the encouragement!


I listened to Green Day a lot on their first couple of albums. Thanks for the tips as well! Always love advice I can learn from others.


Thanks for the feedback! Means a lot with someone with your talent.

Love me some Spinal Tap!


Completely understood on that one. If I could only retire! At least 10 years before I can do that.


I still had a hard time on those verse notes though. If the verse was in the range of the chorus and the chorus a little higher, I think I would have pulled it off just a little better.


I play a mean bass/snare combo on my keyboard but that's the extent. I'm mostly of a piano/keys background. Superior Drummer 3 is just so easy to use and has it's own built in mixer for each drum piece. It also has a nice drag and drop for placing in the drum parts for verse/chorus/fills, etc. I will be using the tool more productively on future tracks!

For the first time out of the gate Steve you did very well! Sounds like you have a really good grasp of panning concepts/mixing, doubling vocals etc! It sounded like the vocals could come up a bit in places but that's a minor thing. I have no doubt you will be producing some interesting stuff soon! Keep on rockin' Thanks, Torrey

Steve,
Congratulations on completing your first song here!
I enjoyed your almost-grunge interpretation of the lyrics and the mix sounds good.
Now you`re out of the gate, we expect more!

Robert

Steve

Nice energy and I like how it builds. Clever ending.
Well done.

Peter

Hello, Steve

Great to hear your first post! Welcome to the forum.
As others said, this is definitely a great start.
Your sound making of guitar/bass/drums is really wonderful.

As David said, I also think you are a baritone.
So, I think that your vocal glows more if you sing this in F major key instead of C major.
Looking forward to more form you.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

This song reminds me of Weezer, such a nice song with a good pop melody and strong guitar wall. This version was really worth the wait, I hope to hear the next one soon

Janne

Steve, So there you are! Good job on the mix and production. A good rock version of JoAnne's fine lyric. Killer ending! Already on the lookout for your next one, Tom

Nice entry into the forum song posting thing!

We enjoyed the grunge feel to the vocals -- fascinating how many places this lyric has been taken.

The mix sounds good on our monitors. Nice build and super cool outro.

Thanks for posting the info on how you produced it. Few do this but we always enjoying the tech backstory.

More!

J&B

Thanks for the compliments Torrey! I kept the vocals low on the verse parts since my voice had a hard time hitting those low notes sounding like a moan. I didn't want to boost that!


Thanks Robert! I will do what I can to get something out in the future.


Good call, with each passing of the chorus phrase I stacked more instruments and vocal layers until the last chorus at the end.


Thanks Shigeki! I thought maybe a key of F or G would have been better than the C Major I chose. I will make sure to use a higher key on the next song I do!


Janne, you are very good in that description! I actually modelled the Tonal Balance in Ozone 8 Mastering to the Weezer song, "Say It Isn't So". Good call!


Thanks for the compliment Tommy! I won't be cranking out songs near as often as most folks but will do what I can.


Thanks Bud! That's the IT Geek in me!

A great start on your first song. I thought it was very smooth and moved along well. The vocals seemed fine to me. Love hearing everyone's take on this song, very interesting. And now that you've done your first one???? We'll be waiting.

Despite saying that you don't feel like you're much of a musician compared to some of the others in this forum, I definitely think you held your own and gave us something truly unique. Also, that picture attachment made me laugh out loud!

Thanks ma'am! Glad you liked it. I may have another one in a few months....


Thanks Ember, much appreciated! Mongo was just the first thing that came to mind on those low notes since he did a line or two on the songs at the end of that movie. At least I know where my bottom is now!

Put the video up last night.

I have references in it for my friends Joanne, MarioD (Painting), and of course Eddie (Drones!)

Really well done, sslechta! The backing tracks here are great. The arrangement is superb, and super professional sounding. Someone else mentioned it too - but it really shows a proper grasp of mixing methodology. It makes it sound really clean and professional. And of course, all around it's just a catchy tune.

Great job, and thanks so much for sharing