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Dragonflies

Your head on my shoulder, the sheets on the floor
Remember the days before the storm?
What felt like forever would soon slip away
A love that walked right out the door

And in the end, though we said we'd still be friends
it just wouldn't work the way

   I still see dragonflies in summer skies
   Close your eyes, close your eyes

A little bit older then we were before
I wonder if you might miss those days
The long lazy mornings, our tangled silk nights
How did we ever lose our way?

And in the end, though we said we'd still be friends
it just wouldn't work the way

   I still see dragonflies in summer skies
   Close your eyes, close your eyes

I'll keep on dreaming, though I'll never get one more day with you

   I still see dragonflies in summer skies
   Close your eyes, close your eyes
   I still see dragonflies in summer skies
   Close your eyes, close your eyes

The Technical Stuff
~683:Bass, Electric, PopHalfNotesPush Ev 120
1533:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm PopPowerPushArp Ev 120
2935:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm FolkPulse8thsFintan Ev 110
2719:Guitar, Nylon, Fingerpicking CountryBrent Ev 120
1681:Guitar, 12-String Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 120
3707:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm 90sAcRockArpPick Ev 120
2452:String Quartet, Rhythm PopSwingHall Sw 110
RealDrums in style:NashvilleEven8^2-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, HiHat

Master Buss: Hornet ThirtyOneMk2, Lurssen Mastering Console (Pop)
Lead Vocal: SynthesizerV (Oscar), GregWells VoiceCentric (Natural Vocal), Pana, Abbey Roads Plate (Warm Voice)
Backing Vocal: SynthesizerV (Feng Yi), GregWells VoiceCentric (Backing Vocal), Pana, Abbey Roads Plate (Warm Voice)
Drum: RealTracks, EZMix2 (Room 2)
Bass: RealTracks
Piano: RealTracks, TrackSpacer (vocal), ReaEQ (No Mud), Pana (Piano)
Guitar1: RealTracks, TrackSpacer (vocal), ReaEQ (No Mud), Pana, Abbey Roads Plate (Acoustic Guitar 1)
Guitar2: RealTracks, TrackSpacer (vocal), ReaEQ (No Mud), Pana, Abbey Roads Plate (Acoustic Guitar 1)
Guitar3: RealTracks, TrackSpacer (vocal), ReaEQ (No Mud), Pana, Abbey Roads Plate (Acoustic Guitar 1)
String Quartet: RealTracks, Pana, Abbey Road Plate (Strings 1)

Edit 1: I fixed the glitch with the piano, and some phonemes in the harmony.
Edit 1: Manually balanced the vocal, extended the ending so it's not so abrupt.

Blah Blah Blah
As usual, any comments are appreciated.

I've still got a cold and COVID, so I haven't been feeling much like making music. But I had started feeling better, so figured I should take advantage of the three-day weekend and force myself to do something.

I was thinking about "Looks Like Rain" that Greg Johnson had recently posted, and figured I'd do something sort of James Taylor-ish. The _ASPEN demo had a bit of a Jackson Browne feel, so I went with that but changed the key and chords.

I set the song form and imported it into SynthesizerV to work out the melody. I don't think it sounded much like James Taylor or Jackson Browne, but I went with it anyway. I had recently purchased the Oscar voice, so I used him on the lead vocal.

Fortunately, I didn't have to change the key of the song to fit Oscar's voice. That's actually one of the nice things about using BiaB - if I've got to change the key of the song, it's super-easy... as long as I do it before moving everything into the DAW.

The next day I sat down and forced myself to write something, and got the first couple of lines. I tried to come up with some sort of imagery, but... nope. I'm not even sure there's much of a rhyme scheme, but I used alliteration to make up for that.

At least I snuck a bit of imagery into the chorus.

Once the first verse was written, the second verse was a straightforward. That only left the bridge, which I avoided working on by working out the counter-line instead. That's still the most fun part for me, puzzling out an interesting secondary line. Fortunately, synthetic voices are patient in that regard, and more rewarding than MIDI notes.

Once I finished up with that, I worked out some notes for the bridge, put in the first words that came to mind, and called it done.

I probably should have finessed the vocal a bit, but I liked the way it was sung, so I left it "As Is". I may go back later and play with it a bit.

I'd rendered out a whole bunch of instruments in BiaB - fiddle, mandolin, lead guitar - with the intent of putting them in somewhere, but none of them fit. Fortunately, the string quartet fit under the bridge, and then I worked from there to bring various instruments in and out to give some flow to the arrangement.

The drums felt a bit sluggish, so I nudged them forward a bit. I did the same with the guitars so they would hit the beat a bit better.

I had intended to perhaps work out a guitar intro for the song - and I still might - because the piano intro is a bit glitchy. But I figured it was "good enough", and left it in for now. For now, it's all BiaB.

I'd recently picked up Pana, which is a panning VST from Klevgrand. I threw it on most of the tracks to see if I liked it better than the Panagement VST, which I usually use to place instruments into a more "real" space. I was going to buy the Valhalla VintageVerb and play with that, but I was in a hurry so I used the Abbey Road plate instead. Hopefully everything isn't soaked in reverb.

My ears are still congested, so I'm not sure how good the mix is. And I'll normally go through the vocal and hand-edit it and normalize it. But once I start working on that, it can take hours. I'll probably go back and clean it up more in the future, so feel free to make suggestions.

I can empathize about the C19 drain on creativity.
This is a lovely production with a sweet melody.
ReaEQ Mudfree is a very useful preset.
The bass may be a bit boomy in parts - I'm using a different DAC so can't be 100% certain.

David, this is a super pop song. Great hook that will stay in my head all day. The vocals are amazing and so real with the independent harmony instead of a third above or below. The mix is stellar. I loved the lyrics and pretty much everything else. I am very impressed and this is surely among your best, Tom

David,

What a great pop song. These vocals are astounding. You have a way of bringing out a very nuanced performance from them.

Blown away...

Bob

Lovely pop song. Good job with the voices. The lyrics take it over the top, for me. Bravo.

Hi dcuny,
Nice melody. Your vocal synthesizer is perfect. The female voice is well arranged in relation to your melody. Pleasant arrangement.

Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

David, this is an outstanding pop song.
Great hook!
Super use of the synth voices - they sound so real!
Great mix.
One of your best.

Hi, Ray.
I think I'm finally coming round, although I suspect this cough and congestion is going to stick around for a couple weeks. Fortunately, the other symptoms are relatively mild.

Thanks!

Yeah, as a rule I should throw it on just about everything, but sometimes I forget.

I'll have my bass player son have a listen. I trust his ears on all things bass.

Thanks for listening and commenting!

Hi, Tom.

Thanks!

There's still a lot of things the synth vocals can't do, but for the stuff they can, they just keep getting better.

Thanks also for mentioning the lyrics! I'm still trying to figure out what "works", so I'm glad they did here.

Hi, Bob.

Thanks!

"Pop" is something that I find elusive, so it's good to hear I'm making progress in that direction.

You're too kind!

Thanks for listening and commenting!

Hi, James.

Thanks! Once I've got the melody line in, working out a harmony is the fun part. No doubt I overdo it.

I'm glad the lyrics work! Thanks for listening.

Hi, Derochette.

Pleasant is what I was aiming for, so I'm glad it worked for you.

Thanks for the kind words.

Hi, Mario.

Thanks!

Well... thanks again!

David, joyous tune for sure! Never would have guessed you are under the weather from how peppy your song is. Hope you are 100% soon just the same.

Funny, but I don't hear a pop song, but I DO hear a show tune. I can see the staging and choreography in my mind. The way the vocals weave in and out of each other is very cool, and the vocalists sound very into it. A very vivid production for me, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Thanks for your detailed description. I shake my head after reading because you always make the end results sound effortless despite the obvious labor involved.

David
Your songs are always so well done.
Laurent

Nicely done, David!

Love the vocals, especially when you bring in the female. Harmonies are outstanding!

Good pop song, nice hook. One of your best I think.

Sounds like something out of a Disney movie, but in a good way.
I love those harmonies and the arrangement in general.
Nice work.

Oh: the photo on SoundCloud is a Damselfly, NOT a Dragonfly

Hi David,
That's a very good song!
I never thought that a virtual voice could sound as well like a real voice.
Kudos to you.

Hi, Ron.

Thanks! Yes, I'm getting better, thanks for the positive thoughts.

That's the "problem" with interweaving the second vocal - it becomes part of the song, instead of a background accompaniment. I was tempted to turn it into a duet by having the singers trade off a couple of the lines, but decided to leave it "As Is". Maybe I'll do that anyway later, just to see how it works.

So you're right about that, even thought that wasn't the original intent.

Well, it is labor, but it's enjoyable to have the song come together as it's being worked on. It's sort of like magic - just the same way that BiaB will come up with a solo. Sure, it requires some work, but it's a lot easier than singing it myself.

This was a relatively quick song for me - I got it "done" in two days, which is fast for me. Of course, I spent all last evening tweaking the final mix, but that doesn't count!

Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

Hi, Laurent.
Thanks!

Hi, Dave.

Heh. My "go to" move when using a male vocal is to add a female vocalist. The male vocalists aren't bad, they just aren't as good as the females.

Thanks for mentioning the harmony. That's always the most fun part for me - after the hard work of figuring out the vocals, it's easy to add the harmony parts. Sometimes I have a bit too much fun and overdue it. Oh, well.

As long as it's not one my my worst, I'm happy!

I appreciate you stopping to comment!

The timing differences in the vocals as they harmonize is Impressive and adds to the realism.
Terrific melody. The chorus is especially nice.
Some nice furniture.
The Backing is cohesive. Pleasant Pop.
Good mix.

fj

Hi, B.D.

Thanks!

I suspect the "Disney" effect is partly because of the vocal style (they've very theatrical, which I like), as well as the duet sound. But I'll take that as a win any day!

Ha!

I picked it more for the "summer" background than the damselfly. And the nice arrangement of the picture.

Thanks for all your insights!

Hi, Christian.

Thanks!

I'm just happy to have a tool that makes it possible to write a song, even when I don't have any voice left... or it's too noisy in the house to record. It's been raining all weekend, and I've got a house filled with sick people. That doesn't make for ideal recording conditions!

Plus, it makes it easy to fix lyrics, and they don't complain when I decide that I want some notes longer or shorter.

Thanks again for commenting!

Hi, floyd jane.

Heh. I started "fixing" some of the staggered bits last night, and came to my senses.

But I did go back and make sure most of the ending /s/ landed in the same place. I've can still my choir director complaining that we sounded like a bunch of hissing snakes at the end of phrases.

Thanks!

I was worried it would be a bit threadbare. Glad that's not the case.

Can't ask for more than that from a pop song!

Thanks for your kind words - I appreciate the positive comments.

A very bright and crisp pop tune, that's very easy on the ears, and soothing to the nervous system.

I like the vocals, and everything seems to fit together pretty well.

If you were striving for crisp and bright and pretty you definitely achieved all of those goals!

Thumbs up from me!

P.S. If they come up with a showcase award category for the person who can write the longest song description explaining the position of every dial setting on every piece of equipment that was used in the recording process that person should definitely be you and it will be a crying shame if it's not and I will probably protest and go on a rampage. I have your back man.

HI David,

Man, this is just so terrific! You and a couple of other forum members amaze me with your use of the synth voices. I've come to expect that from all your tunes and you always come through so nicely.

What caught my attention almost as much as the vocals is the prosody between the lyric and the melody. This is such a soft, gentle tune - and the lyric supports that in spades. The image of dragonflies is airy and whispy, and you capture that so vividly.

The arrangement is relatively simple (though not simple to create as good as you have), and that keeps the emphasis on the grace of the song. In other words, a fabulous mix with the balances spot on.

As soon as you're feeling better, take a bow.

Alan

Hi, David.
I'll take that as a win!


Thanks! I appreciate the positive feedback.

Well, I see that we both managed to make it to the User Showcase awards, and I can only assume that I got there through heavy lobbying by you on my behalf. Hopefully that in bribe money I sent you greased the right palms at PG Music! Thanks for having my back, man!

Hi, Alan.
Thanks!

I'm glad the lyrics work.

It probably helps that the lyrics are written last, after the melody has already been worked out. I'll play the melody back with the singer performing "La" on each syllable, and try to figure out they're trying to say.

Thanks for that!

It feels like cheating not to add a lot of additional elements to the song, but sometimes it just works out that the arrangement doesn't seem to need much more. So I'll hold off adding an english horn part until the next song.

I appreciate the kind words!

Very nice pop song, lyrically beautiful: dragonflies and summer skies, lazy mornings and tangled silk nights, can romanticism get any better?
I very much enjoy the dueting, good work with the voices. Maybe Oscar doesn't sound that convincing (on lower notes), but I guess my ear is getting too sensitive for Synth V voices differences
The backing sounds bit thin and distant, but nothing wrong with that if it is intended for this type of a song.
The chord progression is very pleasant, there is something familiar in the chorus, I have to dig through my favorite music The chorus is very catchy, the pre-chorus works excellently and the bridge is pure magic, you are scooping from the spring of pop music perfection

Janne

David

This is a sweet clean sounding track
Masterful use of the synth vocals, can't imagine trying to learn that!
It sure is a creative killer to have to deal with illness while having musical ideas laying around just waiting on you to get better
Great job here!

Thanks, TB

I love this song. It's cozy and comforting. Excellent work with the synths and the harmony line. So realistic. Nice build in the bridge.

Excellent listen, your passion showed up on this one for sure. Nicely done.

Hi, Janne.
Thanks for the positive words!

I know the feeling! I could have transposed the song, but I liked the timbre in that register.

Getting voices to sit into the mix is still an issue for me. I'll keep your comments in mind!

Thanks again! When I come up with something that sounds good, I'm sure that it's derivative of something I've heard. I just hope I didn't accidentally copy something too closely.

That's the nature of pop - to sound familiar, but not too familiar!

Hi, Torrey.
The good news is that you don't need to - you've got an awesome voice, even when you're recovering from an illness.

Thanks, I appreciate that.

Hi, Scott.

Thanks!

My old choir director had commented that I had been avoiding bridges in my songs, so I've been working on getting them in. And after listening to Dan's songs, I'm reminded that I need to start adding modulations, too.

Hi, Donny.

Thanks!

What a great 70’s laid back vibe with a fine lead vocal and standout harmonies.

The somewhat upbeat vibe is nicely juxtaposed with the sad lyric.
An effective way of presentation that we have learned over the years.

The mix is excellent and the open airy soundstage is right in our wheelhouse.
Sounds like a live performance.

Well done!

J&B