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WHEELS OF THE BEAST. Hi folks. This is a song I wrote to honor my grandfather who worked the British railways through WWII. He had some ghastly stories of men who lost limbs to the rails and his friend who was crushed between the wagons. The stories haunted me until I wrote them out in this song. Songs are indeed therapy  . Backing female vocals from my lovely wife Jenny. I hope you enjoy this biab production. The key changes were a nightmare to figure out. I had to start with a silent bar of 4/4 to make it work, it turns out that biab does not like it if you start in 3/4 then change to 4/4. so a silent bar of 4/4 at the start was the only work around I could do. Regards Brian. https://www.reverbnation.com/brianhendersonward/song/34620015-wheels-of-the-beast-bhwardThe 3/4 sections are _POPWLZS.STY Pop Rock Walltz w/12 string strummed. The 4/4 sections are _POPH)085.STY Slow Guitar Ballad. Bass: 3562 Electric Nashville. Guitar 1: 1677 Guitar Acoustic, Fingerpicking Country Brent Ev 120 Drums: Real Drums Nashville even 8 Guitar 2: 825: Guitar acoustic struming Country Waltz Guitar 3: 544 Guitar Electric Rhythm Dreamy Ev 165 Guitar 4:825: again Guitar 5: 1524: Guitar Electric rhythm Pop Power Push Clean Guitar 6: 3198 Guitar Acoustic Soloist Accordion: 1757 Ev 085 Piano 2045: Piano acoustic Solo accomp country popJohn Ev 085 Mandolyn 1766: Mandolin Rhythm Pop Sync Ev 085
Last edited by Jackdogdude; 08/17/24 03:44 AM.
Songwriting punctuates our lives. It is alchemy, turning pain into gold.
Songs choose their composers when they enter the world.
I try to remain open and ready.
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So cool. Super song, great vocals and lovely harmonies. Love the train whistle vocals. Whoo-whoo! I'll be singing that all day. Nice BiaB backing, arrangement and mix, too. You navigated those changes nicely as well. Super job!
DC Ron
BiaB Audiophile
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Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
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So cool. Super song, great vocals and lovely harmonies. Love the train whistle vocals. Whoo-whoo! I'll be singing that all day. Nice BiaB backing, arrangement and mix, too. You navigated those changes nicely as well. Super job! Thanks Ron. I wanted the song to feel like a journey stopping at several stations while telling a story, I think it achieves that, Thanks for listening and commenting. Regards Brian.
Songwriting punctuates our lives. It is alchemy, turning pain into gold.
Songs choose their composers when they enter the world.
I try to remain open and ready.
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Hi Brian
Very nice song
Great singing
Very well arranged
You really made excellent use of BiaB
Great work
Andi ;-)
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Hi Brian
Very nice song
Great singing
Very well arranged
You really made excellent use of BiaB
Great work
Andi ;-) Thanks Andi For me it feels like I am paying tribute to my grandad, not only for me but for my family and generations to come. Songwriting is about punctuating history. It's up to us to write it, Thanks for listening. warm regards Brian.
Last edited by Jackdogdude; 08/17/24 04:35 AM.
Songwriting punctuates our lives. It is alchemy, turning pain into gold.
Songs choose their composers when they enter the world.
I try to remain open and ready.
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Brian, you said "I wanted the song to feel like a journey stopping at several stations while telling a story", well you managed that with perfection.
Those tempo changes were spot on.
Your song hit home as my uncle worked on the rails here in the USA during WWII.
Your vocal was super and was the lyrics.
Outstanding song.
PS - loved that last chord!
My wife had her driving test today.
She got 8 out of 10.
The other 2 jumped out of the way!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Hi, Brian. From the start, your own voice and take on music comes though, which is refreshing. Well told tale, well sung and produced. Congratulations on getting BiaB to work. I'm usually too lazy - I'll just cut and paste things together in my DAW, rather than fight it out. Really nicely done.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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High Brian,
My first time to hear your music. Loved it!
Welcome to the forum. I've been here for many years and the advice and suggestions I've received have improved my songwriting and production significantly.
A captivating song that tells a great story. Your voice is terrific, and the arrangement is superb. Loved the time signature changes - difficult in BIAB, but you pulled it off effectively.
Nice to "meet" you!
Alan
BIAB 2024 Ultra Plus-all StylePaks*Win11*32GB DDR5*Rhyzen 9745x*AT 2035 Mic*Peavey Nashville 112 Amp*Ibanez ART120* Acoustic/Electric/Washburn D200S Acoustic*Stromberg Monterey Jazz Guitar Loops: https://aldavidmusic.wixsite.com/bestmusicloops
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Hey there Brian, welcome to the forum. I really liked your song. There's a lot of railroad family members in my family as well. It's something that seems to run in the blood. I thought about pursuing as well, but wound up on a different path - though I still have an affection for trains. Cool song and it sounds as though it took an awful amount of work to put it all together, but you sure did a good job. Looking to forward to hearing your next one.
Brad
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Brian, you said "I wanted the song to feel like a journey stopping at several stations while telling a story", well you managed that with perfection.
Those tempo changes were spot on.
Your song hit home as my uncle worked on the rails here in the USA during WWII.
Your vocal was super and was the lyrics.
Outstanding song.
PS - loved that last chord! Thanks MarioD. It was my most challenging biab arrangement to date. It took a lot of trial and error to get it sounding right. Thanks for listening and I'm glad you could relate to the story. That is the best reaction for any songwriter. Regards Brian.
Songwriting punctuates our lives. It is alchemy, turning pain into gold.
Songs choose their composers when they enter the world.
I try to remain open and ready.
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Hi, Brian. From the start, your own voice and take on music comes though, which is refreshing. Well told tale, well sung and produced. Congratulations on getting BiaB to work. I'm usually too lazy - I'll just cut and paste things together in my DAW, rather than fight it out. Really nicely done. Hi dcuny. Thanks for your encouraging comment. I think it took me well into my 40's until I was comfortable singing with my own voice without trying to imitate my heros. I still do all my vocal recording on an external digital recorder, in this case it was a Zoom R8. I have a lot to learn about DAWs. regards Brian
Songwriting punctuates our lives. It is alchemy, turning pain into gold.
Songs choose their composers when they enter the world.
I try to remain open and ready.
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Joined: Aug 2024
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High Brian,
My first time to hear your music. Loved it!
Welcome to the forum. I've been here for many years and the advice and suggestions I've received have improved my songwriting and production significantly.
A captivating song that tells a great story. Your voice is terrific, and the arrangement is superb. Loved the time signature changes - difficult in BIAB, but you pulled it off effectively.
Nice to "meet" you!
Alan Hi Alan. It's nice to meet you too. This arrangement was certainly a labor of love, it took several days of experimenting before I was happy with the results. I'm looking forward to listening to more of your work Alan. Regards Brian
Songwriting punctuates our lives. It is alchemy, turning pain into gold.
Songs choose their composers when they enter the world.
I try to remain open and ready.
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Hey there Brian, welcome to the forum. I really liked your song. There's a lot of railroad family members in my family as well. It's something that seems to run in the blood. I thought about pursuing as well, but wound up on a different path - though I still have an affection for trains. Cool song and it sounds as though it took an awful amount of work to put it all together, but you sure did a good job. Looking to forward to hearing your next one.
Brad Hi Brad. I know what you mean about the rails being in the blood. I have written another song that talks about the rail road that spans Australia as a "ladder from dawn to sunset". Perhaps I will get around to recording it via biab. Thanks for your positive comment Regards Brian
Songwriting punctuates our lives. It is alchemy, turning pain into gold.
Songs choose their composers when they enter the world.
I try to remain open and ready.
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Brian,
That's a great song. Excellent vocal as well. Love the mix and overall superb production.
Great stuff!
Bob
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Brian,
That's a great song. Excellent vocal as well. Love the mix and overall superb production.
Great stuff!
Bob Thanks Bob. I really appreciate your feedback. I enjoyed listening to your latest offering earlier. There are so many great songwriters here. It is inspiring to be part of this community. Regards Brian
Songwriting punctuates our lives. It is alchemy, turning pain into gold.
Songs choose their composers when they enter the world.
I try to remain open and ready.
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Brian,
A strong write. Sung with conviction.
Nice use of BIAB. Well mixed.
Good job on the changes - they are pretty much seamless...
Worth including the lyrics to read along...
Good stuff.
fj
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Thanks for your comment Floyd.
I'll be sure to include my lyrics in future uploads.
I'm very slow at typing but I will put the effort in.
Regards
Brian.
Songwriting punctuates our lives. It is alchemy, turning pain into gold.
Songs choose their composers when they enter the world.
I try to remain open and ready.
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I like it. Cool stuff and not your plain vanilla chords either. The time signature changes worked rather well.
Years ago, in one of the bands I was in we did the Kenny Rogers song Lucille. Verses in 4/4 & the chorus in 3/4. The dancers sure didn't like the signature changes.
Nice tribute to your Grandfather
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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I enjoyed your train ride Brian. That must have been a lot of work but the results are terrific.
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I like it. Cool stuff and not your plain vanilla chords either. The time signature changes worked rather well.
Years ago, in one of the bands I was in we did the Kenny Rogers song Lucille. Verses in 4/4 & the chorus in 3/4. The dancers sure didn't like the signature changes.
Nice tribute to your Grandfather Hi Guitarhacker. That Gdim7 sure throws a little spanner in the mix lol. Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment. Regards Brian
Songwriting punctuates our lives. It is alchemy, turning pain into gold.
Songs choose their composers when they enter the world.
I try to remain open and ready.
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