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This was written 20 years ago on a particular Fraser family Christmas. I created this version in 1995 or 96 in Band-in-a-Box and Power Tracks and just recently did some brushing up. It’s all midi except for the singers – years before RTs. The kids’ choir is four of my children and they recorded their parts in 1997. Red Bows, Mistletoe I’d like to give you the style sheet name but I can’t find it because I tinkered with and changed the name totally. The midi voices are XG. I suppose if there was a simple finger-picking RT with no pulls, I might mix it in place of the midi guitar. But I think everything works. So Merry Christmas all and if you have any comments . . . feel free. Peace - Ian
Last edited by Ian Fraser; 12/23/10 06:01 AM.
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Hello Ian,
I loved the Christmas family feel! I bet that brought back memories. Good job Ian. I really love Christmas music.
Marty
Music is what feelings sound like.
Band In A Box (current) Sonar Producer X2, Windows 7, 16 Gigs Ram, Quad Core, AMD Processor, Alesis MK2 Monitors, Roland Quad Capture Audio Interface,
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Ian,
What a wonderful memory you created for you and your children. I'm getting all misty.
Enjoyed it.
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Merry Christmas, Marty and Josie and thanks for sharing your thoughts. Truth be told Josie, I sing that song about once a year and I don't think I've made it through without choking up at some point. It was one of the easiest songs I ever wrote. For those visitors who follow in this thread, if you'd like to put on your RT Producer's hat, it would be nice to have your thoughts as to how it might be refreshed with RTs. Thanks - Ian 
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Thanks for sharing your Christmas song. I always enjoy listening to the musical creations of others, but the Christmas season seems to make it extra special event.
Jim
†=☮&♥
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Ian, really nice - great job.
Bob
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Very nice work. Great lyrics nice Christmas feel.
My TunesPsalm 57:7 My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
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Quote:
For those visitors who follow in this thread, if you'd like to put on your RT Producer's hat, it would be nice to have your thoughts as to how it might be refreshed with RTs.
First, nice song!
PopLondon and PopLiverpool are obvious both candidates for the piano part. You might consider starting out with the Rhythm SmoothCool Sw Electric Piano, and the SmoothJazzBallad Electric Piano Soloist might add a nice '70s vibe somewhere later in the song.
You might also use guitars in place of keyboards in the verse. 12-String Acoustic, Strumming Ev 085 gives a very full sound that doesn't need much support. Fingerpicking Ev 085 Acoustic Guitar also gives a transparent sound that would work nicely.
In terms of building an arrangement, that's up to you. You could start with a light sound (fingerpicked guitar) and then change to "heavier" keyboards. Or another nice change would be to use the fingerpicked guitar for the center section to bring everything down a notch before kicking into the chorus again.
I like the general arrangement that you've got: quiet on the verses, and with more weight on the chorus by adding bass and drums. I think it would be even more effective with less instruments than it's currently got. You might consider one of the new Organs on the chorus, but I don't know that it's a good match, or (more importantly) that it's needed.
On the verses, NashvilleBrushesCountryPopEv16 is a very light drum, and you can transition to NashvilleBrushesBalladPushEv16 if you want a bit more push. If you're looking for something really light, you might experiment with the BodhranCelticReel - you might be surprised how well it can work!
Good luck! 
-- 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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Hi Ian,
What a wonderful song! It was a real pleasure to listen to. The lyrics imagery is superb. You've created a marvelous piece of music with this song.
Best wishes,
Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Hard to believe we're already four days down the line from Christmas.
I'd like to thank those of you who visited and listened to my Christmas song - Jim, Bob, Robert - appreciate your kind words.
It was great hearing all of the other Christmas compositions.
I still enjoy working with the flexibility of midi.
New Year hear we come.
Best
Ian
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Hi David. It was great that you took the time to respond to my request for production ideas. I'm anxious to give these RT suggestions a listen. While I like the impact of the French Horn and the Notre Dame cathedral, a simpler sound has crossed my mind. Since I wrote the song on acoustic guitar, I favour a simple fingerpicking rhythm as the base. Unfortunately RTs that are simple without hammer-ons have not been recorded yet. I suppose that recording my own guitar would be an option but my severe hearing loss does create a few roadblocks . . . not to mention the disappearance of my callouses due to lack of playing . . . too much time using the computer for music and not the guitar. I've already copied your suggestions to word - thanks. Best for the New Year - Ian
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Quote:
While I like the impact of the French Horn and the Notre Dame cathedral...
Who doesn't? Stuff like GPO4 are wonderful! Personally, I'm a sucker for double reeds.
But it's really easy to go overboard with that kind of stuff. I find that on the stuff I've tried to orchestrate, it sounds much better when I come back and start paring all those parts down until only the bare minimum is left. The remaining parts really have an impact, instead of cluttering up the mix and wearing out the listener's ear. (I'm speaking of my own transgressions, not yours.  )
Quote:
Since I wrote the song on acoustic guitar, I favour a simple fingerpicking rhythm as the base. Unfortunately RTs that are simple without hammer-ons have not been recorded yet.
Despite the plethora of Guitar Realtracks, there's still a lot of ground that can be covered.
My fingerpicking isn't that great, and getting things quiet enough around my house can be a challenge. I've resorted to MIDI guitar parts with good guitar samples, but that's going well beyond the PG Music workflow. I put together a basic MIDI fingerpicking pattern with a C chord, adjusted the voicing for other chords, and built up the part in a sequencer by hand. But it took a lot of tweaking, hammer-ons didn't sound that great, and still sounded like it was being played by a sampler.
Another thing I played with was just putting together some basic strums, and dropping them into the mix. If you had the same basic pattern, you could (in theory) record the fingerpicking part until you had some good takes, and then build the part out of the best takes. If you've recorded to a click track, this can work out pretty well. Again, that's well beyond the typical PG workflow.
Of course, the best option would be if someone on this forum offered to put down the guitar track. 
Quote:
Best for the New Year - Ian
Thanks, and the same to you! And I'm looking forward to hearing more music in the coming year.
-- 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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David - I did neglect to mention that I have Roland GI-10 interface and the voices I use are XG which in some cases are marginally better than GMs. For a song like this I'm partial to a Nylon voice, and could fingerpick and tweak in midi. It's been awhile,since I've used the GI with the GK-2A on my J45. Definitely would take some after adjustment/cleanup of the midi data stream.
Or as you indirectly suggested - record and comp the guitar. Doable
Thanks for getting me thinking.
Cheers - Ian
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