Here is my latest. It's called Lonely Man. All of the instruments are BIAB RealTracks & RealDrums. All the vocals are me. I hope you enjoy it!

Lonely Man

Here are the lyrics...

Lonely Man
Copyright Stephen W. Young

On the southern end of a dusty town
An old man lives but you hardly know he's there
He seldom gets around
Some folks say he's half insane
But others say, to him, it's just a game
The mystery abounds

Oh. What a lonely man

They say he had a wife or two
But a woman's touch has not been seen for years
He doesn't seem to care
But in the quiet of the night
He sits alone, too proud to show his tears
There's nobody there

Oh. What a lonely man

On the southern end of a dusty town
An old man lives but you hardly know he's there
He seldom gets around

Oh. What a lonely man
Oh. What a lonely man

---
And here is the RT/RD info...

RealTracks in song: ~592:Bass, Acoustic Bluegrass Doc Ev 100
RealTracks in song: 378:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming DoubleTime Ev 088
RealTracks in song: 607:Guitar, Nylon, Chet Train Ev 130
RealTracks in song: ~~591:Banjo, Bluegrass Doc Ev 100 (Soloist)
RealTracks in song: ~685:Harmonica, Background Pop Ev 120
RealTracks in song: ~363:Pedal Steel, Background Ev 085
RealDrums in Song: BodhranCelticHornpipe^5-BrshSimp

Have a great day!

Steve

That's a mainstream quality tune, Steve. You picked just the right RT's to make this one work. First class arrangement. Lyrics are catchy, vocals sound awesome!

Top notch!!

Cheers,
Mike

I really enjoyed your song Steve and what a great use of BIAB.

Very creative.

Mike

That is a great old school country song kind of like in the genre of Kenny Rogers. One point to mention It sounds like something goes away in the background harmonies at one point just before a chord change.

Other than that, winner winner chicken dinner!

This is excellent. As Mike said - a quality tune. And such a good sound too.

Please please tell me how you get your BIAB tracks to sound so crisp and punchy. Lovely clean vocal too and well sung.

It's just plain good!!

Martin

Hey Cuz how come my radio don't play this song ? You got the voice man !

Mike,

So glad you like it! Thanks so much for taking the time to listen and comment!

Steve

Mike (Mr Ed),

(Just noticed there are 2 Mikes here!)

Thank you so much for your kind words. I do appreciate your time!

Steve

Robh,

Thanks so much! I will give a closer listen to see if I can hear what you are talking about. And feel free to send me some of that chicken dinner!

Steve

love the harmonies behind "oh what a lonely man"
great tune, well done.

Martin,

Thanks very much for your generous comments! As to your question about the sound, I do all my arrangements in Band in a Box. Then export each instrument as a wav file. Then I import all the files into Logic on my Mac, where I record all the vocals (and any other instrumentation), and do all the mixing.

When I am generating the wav files in BIAB, I pan everything center, remove all reverb, (usually) set all the tone settings to 0, and set the volume on every instrument to 111 (because I'm too lazy to type 110!). Then I do any eq, and effects, etc., all in Logic.

I'm sure everyone here has his/her own method of accomplishing what I just described. But you asked...

Thanks again!

Steve

Cousin Tommy! (If we're not careful people will start thinking we really are related!)

I really appreciate your kind words here. (Perhaps you have a little familial bias for my singing.)

Have a great day!

Steve

Hey Gibson,

I just noticed your comment. I really appreciate your kind words! Glad you like it.

Have a great day!

Steve

Steve.... Great job! You have used the tools to maximum potential and created a great piece. Your vocals sound great and this is the most interesting "oh" I've ever heard Great harmony! I think you're getting the picture.... I like it ;o)

I'm listening again!

Kind regards,

Dave.

Too cool Steve. Did you say you did all the vocals? Sure sounds like different people coming in and out of there.

Did the lyrics come first, fitted to the style, or did you start with the style?

Were the vocal harmonies created by the BIAB harmony features, or by you?

This is such an aesthetically pleasing sound. You have a really good talent.

Kent

ps Is this Lonely Man someone you are acquainted with? Whereabouts is this dusty little town?

Hey Cuz had to stop by fer anutter listen ! You know most of my relatives claim I ain't kin to them either ! Don't make me call cousin Jerry Springer , I got's him on speedial baby !

Dave,

Thanks so much for your very kind words! Oh...I'm glad you like it!
I do appreciate you taking the time to listen.

Kent,

Again, thanks very much! Yes, I did do all the vocals. I'm pretty cheap labor, so I do all my own vocals. I use eq to "thin out" the background vocals, so as not to conflict with the lead. I pan the background vocals to space them out in the mix, along with a few other little things too wordy to explain here. Mainly, I listen when I mix to get the best "blend" I can get. Just takes some time and patience.

I write from every angle possible, I think. Sometimes the lyrics come first. Sometimes the melody. Sometimes just a rhythm pattern leads to a song, etc. In this song, the rhythm pattern came first, and I built the lyrics around it.

This Lonely Man is fictitious. I was just thinking about some of the lonely people I have known. Decided to write this, to remind myself that people are hurting all around me.

I live in Texas. We are in a drought. Every town is dusty right now!

Thanks again,

Steve

Hi Steve,

Another sensational effort. I compliment you on your amazing ability to be so creatively consistent. The refrain for this song is one of the best refrains I've heard; simple and incredibly effective.

You've got my standing ovation again!

All the best,
Noel

Very nice work as Always, thanks for sharing!



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Noel,

Thanks for your very kind words! I am so glad you like this one. I am a fan of your writing, and I appreciate your time!

Robert,

Thanks so much! I honestly don't know how you find the time to listen to this, as much as you are writing these days! You might finish the 50/90 challenge in 50 at this rate!

Thanks again!

Steve

Very catchy! I think you did a great job with it! It has that authenticate old country sound. I liked that pause in the music at the end too.

The only vocal part that seemed to distract me was in the harmony for the chorus (example at 2:40). It does need to go up, but I think you might be able to find a better harmony.

Charles,

Thanks so much for your comments. I really appreciate you taking the time to listen and comment. I don't normally do old country, so this one is just a minor stretch for me. Glad you liked it!

I'm not sure I hear the distraction in the harmony on the chorus, but I am going to listen again, closely, to see if I catch what you are talking about. I'm sure that there is always a better way to do a song. As far as the "music theory" of the chord progressions, the notes are right. But everyone has their own tastes and preferences. That is one of the wonderful things about music.

Once again, I really appreciate your input.

Hope you have a very blessed day!

Steve

Hi Steve,

You're right - I did ask.

And thank you for the detailed reply. Was very interesting indeed. Have spent the past week trying to replicate your sound, but at the end of the day.......seems like I'm a songwriter not a producer.

Take care

Martin

Steve,

It's great to hear a song that's so well produced... this is how to use BIAB... not just bring in all the instruments and let them play throughout the song... you did a masterful job with the production... The vocals are excellent! You're a super singer...

Great song... wonderfully thought out and produced...

Randy