I've been absent of late primarily due to a combo of bronchitis and flu which has knocked me rather harder than expected.
During my couple of weeks lying low an occasional collaborator contacted me and asked to sing on a song I'd written.
Naturally i agreed as it had languished for a year or more almost finished but weighed down by my sorry guide vocal.
Trudy Fielding emailed her part and it took only a little remixing to get it to sit in the backing. She did a lovely job of double tracking the chorus and I added a little ADT to that 2nd take to make the most of it. James Dodd recorded the solo almost a year ago and did so to match the very reverby,delayed, pingpong nature of the backing. He used his custom Crimson guitar (they're on Youtube - Crimson Guitars check out their beautiful hand made guitars - custom and line items).
BIAB drums came through really well in this track which has more than a touch of psychedelia and lush swirl.
BIAB drum - British of some sort with a cut'n'paste to the ending.
Fender Squire Mustang guitar through
Mel9 pedal (high & low chorus fx), Yamaha FX500 (Soft Focus), Pignose 7-100 amp, 57 & e609 mics. Vantage Bass through a BDI21 DI.
Recorded and mixed in Reaper. SHARING AIR
The recording is finished but I'd be happy to read any suggestions I might apply to future work as the more ears and minds the better as far as I am concerned.
Sharing Air
Not so long ago I had a lover
It seemed that nothing could go wrong
Not so long ago there was no other
I had someone with whom I belong
Dreams morph into nightmares
From REM to eyes wired open
So little time we’d known each other
Such a simple love you had to smother

Not so long ago I had a life where
Sharing air was something new
Wasn’t long before that breath was stolen
Suffocating déjà vu

Not so long ago I had a lover
It seemed that this love could be strong
Too soon we merged with one another
Swept in the torrent for too long
If I stay inside and hide
Or swallow my pride
Pretend it wasn’t you &
It was I that lied

Not so long ago I had a life where
Precious moments weren’t so few
Wasn’t long before those times were stolen
Suffocating déjà vu

Not so long ago I had a lover
It seemed a love to be life long
Not so long ago there was no other
Living words for a song
Now I talk of nothing but it
Now don’t care to hear about it
So little time we’d known each other
Such a simple love you had to smother

Not so long ago I had a life where
Sharing truth could start anew
Wasn’t long before that truth was stolen
Suffocating déjà vu

Solo

Not so long ago I had a life where
Sharing air was something new
Wasn’t long before that breath was stolen
Suffocating déjà vu

I may recover


music & lyrics copyright ray cochrane

Cool! The minor chords are spiff, and the contrast between the linear melody and the melodic skips in the chorus is very effective.

Sorry to hear about your illnesses - glad you're doing better!

Thank you very much David. Being quite remedial with melody I just picked notes from the chord for the chorus. Yeah, the verse is very linear but as picked power chords there's wasn't much option without augmentation and I'm not clever enough for that.
Illness: it's spring Downunder and bronchitis seems to be my default setting for season changes these day. I'll get by - but thanks for your encouraging words.

Loved this tune Ray. Very cool chord progressions. Super vocal. Guitar was excellent. Very cool sound.. Excellent mix loved the panning. Sounded very cool on the head phones

A cool sound, ray. A mid-70's kind of Psych Rock sound - really well done - classic sounding. The riffs are nice - drive the song well. Trudy's vocal carries it well. I thought the drums could be somewhat louder (or have more "punch") - a personal taste thing.

Cool stuff.

Hi Ray,

Pretty cool song! the vocal is spot on - perfect voice for the song. The background vocals stood out for me - added so much to the chorus. really nice in all respects. I really liked playing the right and left vocals backing on the instrumental break. I really enjoyed this. Agree with Floyd the drums could be a bit louder, but that didn't interfere with me liking this a lot. Nice work!

Alan

Thanks Scott.
Having a solid drum foundation with BIAB rather than a drum machine has made a world of difference to me. I had to restrain myself for panning for effect even more.

I was inclined to push the drums harder myself floyd jane, but I resisted as it made it sound too modern for the planned result. The melody meets bass line part of the verse is a bit pedestrian but I'm not much on melody.
Thanks for your suggestion and kind words.

Thanks Alan,
The song had sat with just my guide vocal for almost a year before Trudy heard it and offered to sing. Glad you liked it.

Hi rayc, Glad to hear that you are feeling better! I admired the overall vibe on this. The Solo is fantastic and that guitar tone is quite present! The arrangement is wonderful to the ears and the mix sounds well polished too. Keep it up!

It's very cool when things like this happen...when in the end it seems like it was all planned from the get go.

After the engaging write and fine vocal/ instrumental performances what really stood out for us is the arrangement and how effective the mix showcases it.

It's a real sonic journey and one that seems to offer something new after each listen.

Kudos y'all!

J&B

Sweet, groovy vibe. and I really like your unique rolling melody in this song.


much enjoyed!

Excellent productions. This is more than psychedelic: It's exotic --snake charmers, belly dancers, and opium dens.

Thanks Joe,
I'm almost well enough to work! Sad eh?
The solo is fabulous - James Dodd, a Welshman, did it for me. He has a new Hughes & Keltner amp that has great tone that amplifies the wondrous workings of his fingers.
I'm glad you like the mix - I really only did two iterations before sending it for mastering. It's amazing how well a great M.E. can add magic wuffle dust to things.

Very cool indeed thanks J&B. It looked, after a couple of singers demurred, that I'd have to "sing" this and I knew it had more in it that a fab singer could connect to. I'm glad you like the arrangement. The Mel9 really is fun. I wisg BIAB would bring out some mellotron RealTracks.

I'm glad it has a vibe Gruverider and am thankful that you like it.
The melody is, pretty much, tied to the root in the verses and sounded dire with my voice but Trudy lifted it.

Thanks Ezekiel! It's probably a result of being a teen for most of the 70s.

Nice song

cool solo

enjoyed the listen

Kenny

Great work rayc!! The vocalist certainly pulled this one off nicely! There's just a cool vibe all the way through and the melodic content stays with you for quite a while after listening! Thanks, Torrey

This is fantastic. It took me back to the late 60's or early 70's. This is top shelf all the way in my book. Great vocal (you did an excellent job in how you incorporated it into your backing tracks), super chord progression and mix. Personally I like the drums right where they are now but like all kinds of things music wise it is just a personal choice.

You all should be very proud of this.

Ray,

A very cool song, arrangement and performances from your talented collaborators.
I liked the mix too - sounds great on `phones.

Robert

Thanks Kenny.
The Welshman did a great job on this he also played on Leave the Bed Untried for me. He's good.

Thanks Torrey,
The reason Trudy decided to sing it was due to the refrain, even from my poor guide vocal, stickin in her ear.
Seems I was lucky this time.

Thanks Mario,
As I was born in the late 50s this is stuck in my impressionable music era I suppose. The vocal probably shoul've been trickier to sit because of the drenching the guitars and gtrFX have in reverb but I think it rides on top and a little in well enough. I agree re the drums - further forward would've been 80s and onward sound wise.

Robert,
Thank you.
The mix was done on monitors but I render it to a file several times so I could listen on a DAP with headphones because I 1st discovered headphones in about 72 or 73 and that was a reference point for the stereo image.

Hello, rayc

Very cool song!
Super vocal!
It reminds me of Jefferson Airplane's "Somebody To Love" a little bit.
The unison of lead vocal and bass is very powerful.
The modulation and the melody of Chorus are really nice.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Shigeki Adachi, (hey I'm nervous about your name - do you follow the tradition of surname followed by given or the modern, more western, convention?)
Thanks for listening, for the reference to a wonderful song and for your concise analysis.
I've had the chorus progression in my head since 1977! I used it for a bridge in a song in the mid 80s but decided it was nice enough to use properly and more openly. Using sus7 & sus2 was fun when I was learning to play way back then and relatively easy with some minor chords so I just had fun.
Again, thanks.

This is massively cool and the vocalist did a great job. I really enjoyed it Ray!

Thanks David,
Yeah, Trudy was much more focused - she didn't spend weeks and lots of energy worrying - just recorded herself singing and it works well for her.
It was super easy to fit into the mix as well. I like things to work smoothly sometimes.
I appreciate your feedback.