New Song: not sure what genre this one is

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Hi all,

If you've got a few minutes to spare and you're interested in having a listen to my latest song, it's at ...

... click here to hear the song.

Please be aware that the link is a direct connection to audio streaming so it may take a few seconds to get going.

All comments, positive or not and on any aspect of the song whatsoever, are welcome. By way of background, this song started out as a bit of an exercise in changing keys and writing a "list" song.

As with all my songs, this one started in BIAB, moved into Realband for manipulating the tracks and was finalized in Reaper. (All instruments are Realtracks.)

Regards,
Noel

P.S. If you have any idea what genre I can use to describe this, I'd appreciate you thought

BIAB INFORMATION
Style: _BOOGBRT.STY (Country Boogie Brent Mason)
539:Bass, Electric, Pop Sw 120
961:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm CountryBoogieOpen Sw 140
953:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm CountryBoogieCleanA-B Sw 110
1279:Guitar, Electric, Soloist CountryBoogieBrent Sw 140
966:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm CountryBoogieGrittyMuted Sw 140
RealDrums: NashvilleShuffle^06-Stick,Snare

What a great song Noel! I love the chord and key changes - really catchy.
Your engineering skills are top drawer: this track is punchy, crisp, and perfectly EQ'd and mixed, well to my ears anyway. Did you use any mastering tools in Reaper? Just curious.
Sorry, no suggestions on making this track any better!
Genre: Hmm, dunno. How about Old UK Music Hall meets West End Musical with a pinch of Country?

An excellent piece of work.

John

Noel,
Loved the tune and arrangement. Clean and crisp. Good work. I especially liked the change in the bridge. Thinking out of the box. Sounds like a country crossover style with a bit of folk flavor.
Marty

Noel,

I continue to be impressed by your writing, and your productions just keep getting better and better!

Genre? To me, this is sort of an Australian Randy Newman sound.

Keep up the excellent work!

Steve

Noel,

Excellent song! A very cool and elegant pop tune. Love your voice and delivery on this as well. Great, great job all around...

Bob

Steve Young is right. It IS an Aussie Randy Newman sound.
Totally enjoyable

Alyn

Hey Noel,

Loving this. I agree with Steve and Alyn - it does have a RN flavor. I would classify it as alternative country or folk rock. The production is superb.

Hi John,

Thank you for listening! I appreciate your comments. You gave me a pretty big smile when I read that you liked my engineering skills. LOL. I cheated; I used Ozone 4. It makes mastering so much easier. I can't believe how much I used to struggle with trying to get it to sound right. Now with Ozone all I do is select a preset and tweak it a bit. Then, presto! It's done. It's a great plugin.

Hmm... UK Music Hall meets West End in Nashville - there's got to be room somewhere for genre as diverse as that!

Once again, thank you for listening.
Noel

Hey Marty,

Thanks for dropping by and taking time to hear the song. It seems that you and Josie agree on Alt-country. I hadn't thought of that as a genre possibility. You've got me thinking!

I'm glad the arrangement worked for you. The song moves up 3 semitones on it's way through and the bridge kind of wanders through a couple of additional modulations but doesn't really settle on any one of them. I'm not sure that it was really "thinking outside the box" so much as "glass of red wine" arranging.

I'm looking forward to hearing where you go next with your songs.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Steve,

As mentioned above, I think my productions owe it all to Ozone rather than me. I suspect that that's why they're getting better

I'm just listening to Randy Newman's "You've Got A Friend In Me" on Youtube as I type. I've got to say that I can really empathise with this song. It's exactly the kind of song that I'd love to be able to write. I'd better keep practising (we use "practise" as a verb in Australia and "practice" as a noun).

When I get my productions to sound close to yours, I'll be very happy!

Regards,
Noel

Hi Bob,

Thanks for taking time out to listen and to comment. I appreciate it. I wish that I could be as productive as you and Josie are. My song output is only a tenth of what you two manage. I don't know how you do it.

I can't wait to see what you come up with next

All the best,
Noel

Hi Alyn,

Thank you

I appreciate your dropping in and having a listen. I'm definitely not as talented as Randy Newman but, as I mentioned above, I can really empathise with his music.

Hope today shines for you!
Noel

Hi Josie,

Great to hear from you! I'm glad that song worked for you. I always find it a bit of a challenge to get something that "works". The more I listen and fiddle with the dials and sliders, the more it all starts sounding the same. Ozone 4 has certainly helped with the mastering. I really like the sound of the alt-country genre. I'm going to be doing a bit of investigating of that!

All the best with your next song. I can't wait to hear where you head with it!
Noel

Hi Noel,

I really wish I could add something to the praise already heaped on this track by all the above, but I can't.

It's all well deserved. Such a good song in so many ways and your sound turns me a deep green every time I hear it - I envy it so much.

Think I may need to invest in a copy of Ozone4, though I'm certain your talent in using it is a large part of the process.

Keep em comimg fella - and goood luck with it.

All the best

Martin

Quote:

What a great song Noel! I love the chord and key changes - really catchy.
Your engineering skills are top drawer: this track is punchy, crisp, and perfectly EQ'd and mixed, well to my ears anyway. An excellent piece of work.

John

I couldn’t agree more. Outstanding work here Noel.

“Red wine arranging?” Over in my place it’s called “Budweiser arranging”

Two thumbs up and keep up the outstanding work.

Very well done. Nice vocal. To me it sounds as if it could be pop or country. Your voice lends to the pop sound. I could here it as a country tune as well.

My Songs

This really is a well written and well produced song. I like that groove this selection of instruments has got going. I'll have to try that STY file out. Great work.

I like it Noel ! Nice chord progression ! That's all I ever wanted to do too ,only with someone else. Good job !

Hi Martin,

Thank you for stopping by

And thank you for such positive comments! Trust me, there's nothing you need envy about my "sound". I totally support letting electronics trying to make it as good for me as I possibly can. Ozone is excellent. I also used iZotope's Nectar on my vocals (I think I'm getting a bit better as a singer but I still need all the help I can get!). I played around with the demo versions and thought them good enough to invest in. They're not cheap, but I've found that true of most things that do the job exceptionally well.

I must say, you've been writing and posting some pretty impressive material

All the best,
Noel

Hey Mario,

Ahh... Budweiser! Yep, that'll do the job too. It's been a while since I've had some of that. I might try it for my next song and see how it flavors my next arrangement

Thanks for having a listen and taking time to post. I appreciate it.

All the best in NY,
Noel

P.S. Do you have any time coming up in which you might be able to slip another co-write?

Hi Robert,

Thank you for dropping in and listening. I'm grateful for your thoughts.

I've got to say that I really salute your efforts in the 50/90 challenge. I honestly do not know how you have managed to keep up with the challenge. I find it amazing that you've managed to write so many songs and, moreover, so many songs that are way above what I'd call "first draft" standard.

You've impressed me heaps!

Regards,
Noel

Hi Kevin,

Thank you for having a listen and for jotting your thoughts down in a post. You've given me a pretty big smile

I've discovered that pretty much every style that has Brent Mason in it is excellent to work with. You won't be sorry. One has to hand it to Peter Gannon and staff, they've really created an amazing piece of software with the Band In A Box suite. I honestly cannot imagine songwriting without it.

Best wishes,
Noel

Hey Tommyc,

Thanks for the positive words! I haven't listened to your "modal" sax work yet. Hopefully I'll get on to that one a little later today!

All the best with your own writing!
Noel

Quote:

Hey Mario,

P.S. Do you have any time coming up in which you might be able to slip another co-write?

Yes of course, just give me a week or two to finish some of my remodeling work.

Hi Mario,

Excellent! I'll start getting some kind of draft together

Happy remodelling,
Noel

hi Noel,

Reminds me of the type of Mc Cartney written Beatles song that would have been given to Ringo to sing.

Adore the chord sequence in the “if you were a season…” section.

Not sure I would do much if anything at all with this version – maybe shorten the various ending sections. I think it could end quite happily at around 2:45.

Other than that, I would echo John's comments above.

Marc

Hi marc,

Good to hear from you. You're right. The song could've have finished earlier. I may well have extended it too far. When I come back to it in a couple of weeks, I'll keep you comments in mind and see how my ears hear it then.

I'm flattered that you use "Beatles" as a reference to the song. That got me smiling!

All the best,
Noel

Really enjoyed this one--sounds like country, fused with jazz swing and a little Broadway-vibe thrown in. Kudos! Call it Australiana.

Hi anieyo,

Thank you

Hopefully the song will appeal to people across all those genres!

All the best,
Noel

Dear all,

Once again, thank you for listening to this song of mine and for taking time to comment. I'm very grateful for the feedback. Please note that the link for this song is no longer active.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Noel,

Tried to listen but got a message pop up that Firefox can't find the link. Is it on my end somehow or is there a problem with the link?

Thanks