Once again, I have been overwhelmed with work and other issues for the past couple of months and unable to get around here. I hope to be able to check in more frequently. I miss my PG family!

I am working on arranging and recording some hymns for my church. Most of our music tends to be on the contemporary side, and I want to make sure we don't lose the foundation of some of the tried and tested songs of worship. I just finished one of my favorites - What A Friend We Have In Jesus. The piano, bass and a couple of acoustic guitars are RealTracks. All of the orchestration, organ, and drums, I played using various softsynth sounds from Native Instruments. I hope you enjoy this one!

What A Friend We Have In Jesus - SoundCloud

What A Friend We Have In Jesus - Video

Here are the RealTracks used...
RealTracks in song: 1036:Bass, Electric, NorthernRockBallad Ev 065
RealTracks in song: 1038:Guitar, High-Strung Acoustic, Rhythm NorthernRockBallad Ev 065
RealTracks in song: 1765:Guitar, High-Strung Acoustic, Fingerpicking Pop16ths Ev16 085
RealTracks in song: 1542:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm PopBelieve Ev16 065
RealTracks in song: 1513:Guitar, Electric, Soloist CountryBrent Ev 065


What A Friend We Have In Jesus
Written by Joseph M. Scriven
Copyright Public Domain

What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer
Oh, what peace we often forfeit
Oh, what needless pain we bear
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations
Is there trouble anywhere
We should never be discouraged
Take it to the Lord in prayer
Can we find a friend so faithful
Who, will all our sorrows share
Jesus knows our every weakness
Take it to the Lord in prayer

Beautifully done Steve! R U using some kind of vinyl plugin? If so, I'm on the fence about that - just personal taste. This is such a moving version it really is gorgeous. Being blessed by it here for sure.

I always look forward to your songs, and this is no exception.

A very soulful rendition! Nice harmonies, arrangement and build.

I enjoyed it a lot - it's good to bring back the classics!

Beautifully done, Steve.

As usual - everything is done at a professional level.

Extraordinary vocals. Good arrangement. Excellent mix.

fj

My mother's favorite...RIP

Not much to say other than this is a great rendition of a classic hymn.

And it's delivered with a great arrangement and vocal.

Your church has a real treasurer with you!

J&B

Hi Steve,
The song started off brilliant and got increasingly better,loved the vocal and the native instruments synths great job.
I love the story behind the song too
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_a_Friend_We_Have_in_Jesus
Thanks for the listen Hugh

The vocals were really lovely with this song, and it was interesting for it to almost sound like it was being played on a vinyl. Thank you for sharing.

Really nice work here Very calming to listen to, and I liked the fuzz in the background. Definitely reminds me of listening to records on vinyl.

Great work and thanks for sharing!

Steve,



With absolute sincerity I can say that this is the best arrangement of this wonderful hymn that I've ever heard. I love your choice of chords and the way you have modernised your presentation both instrumentally and harmonically while avoiding the temptation to overly 'dress-up' the melody. The net effect is that everything fits together with a spectacular simplicity when, in reality, there's nothing simple about what you've done at all.

Your vocals and background vocals are outstanding and are a perfect fit. The ring of honesty and sincerity in your singing resonated so very much with me this morning as I'm sitting here listening to my fifth time (at least) through.

I really am in awe of your abilities to arrange, to perform and to orchestrate.

May some time to relax come your way soon. It will be good to have you visit the forum again.

All the best,
Noel

Hi, Steve !:))


I especially love
your vocals and harmonies,
so wonderfully beautiful !

Take Care !

Cheers
Dani

Hello, Steve

Beautiful!
I entirely agree with floyd.
As usual - everything is done at a professional level.
Extraordinary vocals. Good arrangement. Excellent mix.
By the way, I learned this song at elementary school music class when I was a child.
I listened to it for the first time since then, but I thought it was a really good song once again.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Steve,

This is really beautiful. The mix is outstanding and your vocal has never been better.

Loved it!

Bob

Really really lovely Steve. Vinyl clicks is a grat touch. Working for hospital rdio, I play loads of vinyl and far prefer the warmth of vinyl LPs to that of cds.
Lovely arrangement as well

Stephen,

This is absolutely wonderful—what a beautiful vocal you have on this song. Great arrangement. Regarding the vinyl sound, I like it on the intro, but would dial it back a bit earlier as you did later in the song. But this is brilliant and beautiful. Awesome work!

All the best,

Deej

Hey Steve,

I really loved this version!

Great arrangement and production. Awesome vocals. Very inspiring.

Absolutely wonderful, Steve. Superb vocal and arrangement on such a beautiful hymn.

Hi Steve,

This beauty defined in music's finest terms. It's my wife's favorite hymn and she was in tears as she listened. It was played at her father's funeral and she cherished him. Just so you know, they were warm tears of appreciation. Simply lovely!

Alan & Di

This as always from you, was nice and well done on the singing and production.

Steve,

What a beautiful interpretation of this classical hymn.
Your beautiful voice shines once again!

Thanks, Josie! Yes the vinyl plugin is only on the intro, through the first verse. Just wanted to give it an "old" feel in the beginning. Thanks so much for your comments!



Thank you, David. I always appreciate hearing from you. Glad you enjoyed this one.



Thanks, Floyd! I really appreciate your kind words. As you know, I am a big fan of your work!



Janice and Bud, thanks so much for listening and commenting. I really appreciate your comments. I am enjoying working on some old hymns right now. Brings back some really nice memories. Thanks, again!

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Steve

Really enjoyed that.

hi steve awesome work wonderful peace great worship music here plus 10 thanks for sharing eric