October 27, 2025 User Showcase Song: Was She the One

This one is about a love story interrupted by advancing age and failing memory. Know this is not a happy song, and the topic is horrifically relatable to many. So fully understand if you skip it. The topic is relatable to us as well. I do find a poignant beauty in the lyrics as the narrator sorts through the confusion, the clouds of misremembrances and occasional moments of clarity...

THANKS in advance if you care to listen and comment.

R.W. Davis: Lyrics
Me: Music, arrangement, vocals, harmonies, BGVs, mix, master
AI: Not used. Don't get me wrong, AI MIGHT make this "better" for many listeners. But then it wouldn't be ours any more, would it?
BiaB: Every single instrument you hear. All of them. Just like they came from Victoria, BC. One style. Simple stuff. Really.

Style is _JUNIOR.STY (Junior Steady Indie Folk-Rock)
RealTracks in style: 1522:Bass, Electric, PopPower8s Ev 120
RealTracks in style: 4818:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm SteadyPushMuted ev 110
RealTracks in style: 4519:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking IndieFolkAlt158 Ev 100
RealDrums in style:Americana16GroovinBrushFred^1-a,b:Brushes,Toms

♫ Was She the One

Posted at 03:56 PM

October 23, 2025 User Showcase Song: REASON TO LIVE

Hey Everybody,

I'm trying a new experiment in my new songwriting journey to help me return to my roots and be more authentic and less technology driven.

To this end, I've created a little Two-Track setup in Real Band. I am writing and recording songs at the same time by playing the guitar while I am inventing the chord progression on the spot and channeling the vocals at the same time after putting myself inside the body of different characters, all singing honestly about their struggles in life.

It's literally a one take effort. As I said, the vocals and the guitar parts are being created and recorded at the same time and I'm keeping the first take for both of them for the most part and not doing any second takes or overdubs on either.

Then I'm going back and adding in the other instruments including any band in a box parts. I'm not going to fiddle and fool and do retakes because I don't want to spoil the authenticity. While there may be imperfections, with more of a live performance feel than a shellacked production vibe, I am willing to sacrifice that in exchange for emotional honesty at the mic.

I'm just going to see where this takes me and not allow myself to do too much editing. Then I will let it all sit for while and see what I have.

I like what's going down so far and I hope you enjoy it.

♫ REASON TO LIVE

by David Snyder

All music and lyrics copyright 2025 by David Snyder

David Snyder: Guitar and vocals, additional instrumentation, mixing, mastering, production

RealTracks in style: 4517:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm IndieFolkGentleSyncDADGAD ev16 065
RealDrums in style:CajonSlow16ths: a: Cajon b: Cajon Shaker
Pop Promise Held Piano
Natalie Flowing Cello

Post Production Mastering with Ocean Way Studio Nashville
(Waves)

Posted at 03:28 PM

October 01, 2025 User Showcase Song: This Tree

This is a song that I wrote back in 2022 but, for some reason that I can't recall now, I never got around to finishing it. When I was doing a back up of my songs recently, I stumbled across it and was inspired. So with the help of Kevin 2 (in Synth V), I set about trying to create some kind of respectable arrangement. This is where tinkering with BIAB, Synth V and Reaper took me.

♫ This Tree
(lyrics on Soundcloud)

Comments on any aspect of the song or its production are welcome.

I hope you enjoy it.
--Noel

The Band
Bass RT 533: Bass, Electric, 12-8 Crystal Sw 065
Guitar RT 526: Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Hank Sw 065
Guitar RT 529: Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Hank Sw 065
Piano RT 2167: Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Country12-8John Sw 065
RealDrums: Nashville128^01-SideStick,Ride

MIDI Strings: Miroslav Philharmonik 2
MIDI Vocals: Synthesizer V Studio 2 Pro with the vocaloid Kevin 2

The Production
Drums, Reaper Plugins: (1) **JS: 3 Band Splitter in conjunction with (2) JS: 8xStereo to 1xStereo Mixer, (3) JS: Waveshaping Distortion
Bass, VST Plugins: (1) Renaissance Bass (RBass), (2) GSatPlus
Piano, VST Plugin: (1) **GSatPlus
Guitars, VST Plugins: (1) **ReaEQ, (2) GSatPlus, (3) Renaissance Axx (Stereo), (4) CLA Unplugged (Stereo)
Reverb Busses: (1) ReaVerbate, (2) M30 (TC Electronic)
Vocals: (1) ReaEQ, (2) ReaComp, (3) Nectar 4
Master Output: (1) Ozone 11, (2) ReaLimit

Visual & Audio Aids Used with Mixing and Production: (1) JS: Saike Spectral Analyzer (beta), (2) Nx Virtual Mix Room (headphones mixing plugin) with (i)CLA, (ii)Germano and (iii)Ocean Way studio simulations (I didn't use head tracking).

**JS plugins are native to Reaper
**Plugins that begin with Rea... (e.g. ReaEQ, ReaComp, etc.) are native to Reaper.
**GSatPlus / GSat+ is a free saturation plugin from TBProAudio

Posted at 11:25 AM