Hi, all:

Here’s my second attempt at using BIAB. Mostly, this started as an experiment for me in playing with and recording vocals and harmonies. I’ve really only tried recording harmonies on one song before. This one seemed ripe for some vocal layers, and so here's where I've gone with it.

In terms of real tracks, here’s what I used. Apologies if my labeling is not exact—still kind of new to this and I began working on this before I posted my first song. I’ll try to do a better job going forward.

—Real 431 Guitar, Strumming Bluegrass (Rhythm Guitar)
—Real 518 Bass, Electric, Pop HalfNotes
—RealDrums PraiseWorshipSlow16ths
—Real 686 Organ, B3, Background Pop Ev 120

The rest, including the not so great lead guitar and riffs throughout is me--hopefully it's enough to be additive and give a feel for what I'd like this one to sound like.

There are two things I need to figure out and learn in the immediate future:

(1) I find once I import from BIAB into my workstation (GarageBand, for now), then add vocals and my own guitar work, that I can’t add any more tracks from BIAB and sync the tempo of the new track with the existing tracks. For example, I would have like to have played around with my Bass choice, but anything I tried to add was way out of whack. Not sure what I’m doing there, but I’d love to be able to experiment adding more depth to sound after I add on my own tracks.

(2) I’m sure there must be a way to change the volume levels on different parts of a single track—e.g., where you want a back up guitar track to sound louder in some spots than others. Need to figure that out as well, as it would especially help when doing a song like this one.

So any advice on the above, and generally on the song, that can help further my education will be, as always, incredibly appreciated.

Hope you like the tune.

The best to you all,

Deej

Sweet Lorelei

There’s that rise,
just past the mill,
meet me at midnight—
seems like years since
I held you in my arms.
We could kiss under the moonlight,
beneath a thousand million stars.

Don’t leave me forsaken,
(just like you’ve done before).
Can’t you hear my heart aching
(it makes me want you more).
Don’t you know I’ll be right here waiting.

My sweet Lorelei
(don’t you want to go).
Sweet Lorelei
(he won’t ever know).
Between you and I,
if we could run away,
I just know that you would say, “Okay”.

All this time
seems like we’re wasting
all of our good years.
Lord, how the days of fancy fly.
Go grab your things
and let’s get out of here.
We won’t even say goodbye.

Don’t worry me minding
(if you can get away).
We’ll write it off to bad timing
(and plan another day).
Just say the word and
you know I’m all in.

My sweet Lorelei
(don’t you want to go).
Sweet Lorelei
(he won’t ever know).
Between you and I,
if we could run away,
I’m sure that you would say, “Okay”.

Don’t leave me forsaken,
(just like you’ve before).
Don’t leave my heart aching
(and bleeding on the floor).
Don’t you know that
I’m still here waiting.

My sweet Lorelei
(don’t you want to go).
Sweet Lorelei
(he won’t ever know).
Between you and I,
if we could run away,
I wonder if you’d say, “Okay”.

(c)2018 DJ Lekich

Hi DeeJ

Had to listen to this one because I love the name "Lorelei". I think it comes from watching too much Gilmore Girls.

The song certainly did not disappoint. Reminds me a little of Joshua Kadison.

Good job!

I really enjoyed this one, DJ I have no shame - this title also made me instantly think of Gilmore Girls. I love how sincere and calming this is. The passion here is very apparent, and I love the vocal delivery too.

Very well done - you should be proud! Thanks for sharing

Excellent tune well developed!!

Love this!! A little Dylan, a little Jagger, a great song! Don't know the Gilmore Girls. GREAT job with this!! Take care. Greg

Catchy and sung with feeling. Its a well written song and your production is impressive for early in your BiaB journey.
Background vocals work well.
You`d probably get more detailed answers to your tech. questions by posting them in the Recording forum.
Look forward to hearing more of your songs.

Robert

What happens when you try to import the tracks? Are they mis-aligned, or is the duration off?

I believe that the .wav files that are output are ACIDized, so perhaps there's something happening there. Did you set the project's master tempo in GarageBand before importing the tracks in from BiaB? That might cause GarageBand to stretch them to a different duration - although why that that didn't happen to your initial set of tracks is a bit of a mystery. If you describe the issue (perhaps on the Recording, Mixing, Performance and Production forum) in a bit more detail, I'm sure someone will recognize the problem.


Yes, you can change volume and other parameters dynamically in GarageBand. Have a look at track automation curves.


There are dueling guitar solos at 2:20. I'd suggest keeping it down to one at a time, so there's nothing competing for attention. That, and stopping the song at 3:30 - you've basically got a one minute fade on the song!


Yep, I enjoyed it all right. Thanks for posting!

Love the seasoned vocals. Good write and well worth the listen.Nicely done.Rob

Joanne and Deryk,

Thanks much for stopping in and giving this a listen. I actually have never watched a single episode of the Gilmore Girls (should I?). Initially, this was “Sweet Caroline” at the very first, which for obvious reasons had to change. When I was just a boy I took a cruise down the Rhine in Germany and still remember hearing then about the Legend of Lorelei. And so I went with it here.

Glad you both enjoyed the tune.

All the best,

Deej

cliftond, Greg and Robertkc,

Appreciate the listen and the kind words, and I'm glad you enjoyed the song.

And, Robert, thanks for the referral to the Recording Forum—I’ll check that out.

Kindest regards,

Deej

David,

Thanks for taking the time to provide all that feedback—it’s very helpful. I’m not sure what I did on tempo—I think I probably changed the tempo in GarageBand such that I couldn’t go back and add more BIAB tracks in. I’ll have to be more careful going forward. I’ll look for the track automation curves; thanks for the linked reference—that was very thoughtful of you.

Good point on the dueling guitars. I had hoped they would compliment each other, but if I keep them here’s where I need to dial one down so the other is far more prominent, or just lost one. I’ll play with both approaches and see which works best.

As for length, I was waiting to see if someone would comment on that. In part, it’s intentional for two reasons. One, I want the contrasting vocals to play a bit; and two, I wanted to convey the sense that he’s “still waiting” musically. But, I agree it’s too much. I’m inclined to fade out around the 4:00 mark and cut at least 20-30 seconds off the current version.

Again, great input. Very much appreciated.

All the best,

Deej

Rob,

Thanks for the kind words. Appreciate your stopping in and giving this one a listen.

Kind regards,

Deej

We used GB for a year with BiaB before switching to Logic Pro. Whatever tempo you set in BiaB to generate the tracks should be what they retain when drug or imported into GB. I would not try to modify the tempo in GB unless you really know your way around it. It's easy in GB and LPX to accidentally nudge a track or worse to accidentally stretch or shorten it when attempting to do something else. To change the volume you use "automation lanes" where you can raise or lower the gain on a track anywhere you desire and shape the gain to come in gently and leave the same way.

Here's a screen shot of one of our projects showing extensive use of the volume automation lane: https://www.janiceandbud.com/uploads/4/4/3/1/44312/al_orig.jpg

Regarding the tune Robert well captured our feelings:

"Catchy and sung with feeling. Its a well written song and your production is impressive for early in your BiaB journey.
Background vocals work well. You`d probably get more detailed answers to your tech. questions by posting them in the Recording forum.
Look forward to hearing more of your songs."

Best to you on the BiaB/DAW journey. You will reap rewards from the initial frustrations, etc.

Enjoyed it!

J&B

Wow!!

Another hit.

I love your songwriting man, and your vocals are awesome.

I am not sure about the second vocal track. I think the main one is enough to carry it.

But this is a great song.

Your vocals should take you far. You are blessed with some good pipes.

Loved this tune. Super vocal and lyric. Well done

Thanks, Janice & Bud:

I've already begun thinking about upgrading to Logic Pro. My hesitation is that I'm just now getting into GB, so would I be upgrading to early? To my issue, I read that Logic Pro has an auto-sync feature that puts all tracks on the same tempo--not sure if that's true.

Regardless, thanks for the link to the volume automation. Knowing this would have helped a lot on this song production wise.

It's all baby steps and patience. Thanks for yours.

All the best,

Deej

David,

Appreciate the listen and the support. This really was an experiment for me in laying down some different vocals, so your feedback is really helpful. And you're right that the vocals are excessive under the lead. I'm a little worn down playing with the mix on this one, but when I revisit it (and I will) I'm going to strip out the harmonies from the lead vocal in the first two or three verses, and try to let it build more.

Learning how to control the volumes on a single track will help me a lot; and I've already gotten some great advice from others above on that point.

Again, stoked you liked this one. Thanks for the kind comments.

All the best,

Deej

Scott,

Thanks for stopping in and giving this one I spin. Glad the vocal and lyric worked for you.

All the best,

Deej