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Singing to Sea (Sailing to Shore)


I used BIAB to sketch out this song. In this mix, I've kept the bass (but used ToonTracks EZBass to convert the realtrack bass to midi), autoharp, drums (but used ToonTracks superior drums to add extra drums), guitar 1, and guitar 2. I've recorded 2 more guitar tracks using my acoustic guitar.

Here is the BIAB realtracks info:

Bass - 1121 Bass, Acoustic, CountryWaltz 085
AutoHarp - 2709 Autoharp, Rhythm OldTimeSlowWaltz 085
Drums - RealDrums=GypsyJazzWaltzSW
Guitar1: 3176:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm CampfireSlowWaltz Sw085
Guitar2: 2053:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking CountryWaltzBrent Sw085

I exported the audio and then imported into Studio One 4. I added various plugins and occasionally manually manipulated some of the audio tracks.

The lyrics were born out of the translitic process, which begins with a foreign language poem. Here is a bit of info about this process if you are unfamiliar with it: What is a translitic?

I wrote 4 drafts, and this is my current set of lyrics:

I looked for you in the fields and the orchards
Museums and graveyards, through long halls of stone
Like the dead I fought hard and fast for forgiveness
Longed for the living, for laughter and song

All the beautiful words I fed to the west wind
Hands full of ash--nibbled and gone
But the bones of the dark sky were gentled by starlight
Broken ships, broken voices, all washed ashore

Hear the moon how she's calling; she's on her elbows at midnight
She croons soft to the sea, to her salt-water love
And I in my boat, I am drunk on my longing
I'm singing to sea but sailing to shore
And I in my boat, I am drunk on my longing
I'm singing to sea but I'm sailing to shore

Honey hands on the wheel and these rivers of morning
Green days of summer and long hauls of blue
Though I'd salted my youth with hard ligands of longing
This wingless bird of my heart is still wrapped in ribbons of you

Hear the moon how she's calling; she's on her elbows at midnight
She croons soft to the sea, to her salt-water love
And I in my boat, I am drunk on my longing
I'm singing to sea but I'm sailing to shore

Hear the moon how she's calling; she's on her elbows at midnight
She croons soft to the sea, to her salt-water love
And I in my boat, I am drunk on my longing
I'm singing to sea but I'm sailing to shore
And I in my boat, I am drunk on my longing
I'm singing to sea but I'm sailing to shore

I put the music together in about 2 or 3 hours, so it's kind of rough. The acoustic guitar parts were off the cuff. In some places they work, in others they don't. I'll need to go back and do some more recordings and then pick and choose the parts that fit best. I also will likely revise the lyrics a few more times. This is a sketch, a placeholder to come back to later.

That being said, I'm open to suggestions on changes I might consider for this song. Thanks in advance to everyone who gives this a listen.

Sounds good to me!

Love your vocal, good writing too. Also enjoyed your melodic solo guitar work.

With the EZBass, you converted a realtrack bass track to midi and then played that through the EZBass VSTi?

Welcome to the forum

Hi TexasFrets,

I agree with Dave (post above) you made a nice song. Fine melody and good sung!
Nice story too.

I heard a little disturbance (overstretched?) of the nice vocals. I think the cause is in the in the recording maybe?
Doesn't matter much. You did a very good job in so little time (really 3 hours?).
To me 'that is an acceptance that I will never apprehend everything that there is to know'... (free from your Translitic text).

Nice day,
Hans

TexasFrets,
Very nice tune. Classic folk approach with modern twist. Vocals and mix are excellent!
Translitic process.. Very cool! Enjoyed reading your post. Thank you for sharing!

Misha.

Todd,

Awesome first post.

A beautiful, well-written song. Reminded me of early Tom Waits.

Good mix. Excellent use of BIAB.

A gorgeous vocal (your voice reminds me of someone, but it is not coming to me at the moment - it just sounds so familiar).

Looking forward to hearing more. Welcome to the Showcase!!

fj

Welcome to the forum. Loved your vocal and lyric. Super backtrack. Well done

Todd,
The first two verses and chorus are brilliantly crafted lyric writing ( I thought the last verse more obscure ).
The gentle backing works well- it will be interesting to hear developments if you make any.
Your vocals are relaxed, warm and clear ( reminding me of Jesse Winchester).
A lovely song- welcome to the forum!

Robert

"All the beautiful words I fed to the west wind
Hands full of ash--nibbled and gone
But the bones of the dark sky were gentled by starlight
Broken ships, broken voices, all washed ashore"

Nice!

Well written, well sung, well played and well mixed, i.e.,
a fine production.

Welcome aboard!

J&B

Wow. This is reminiscent of my favorite "country" period when the doors to were open to everyone. This folk-tinged piece iis timeless. The lyrics were captivating...definitely not "on the nose" but not so obscure I felt like an idiot listening. Beautiful poetry.

The band is right there and your voice is high and strong with that bit of fragility that moves.

I read the link earlier, but it didn't really explain the "process", nor did the author's examples read much like song-lyrics (though I don't think he was aiming for that). Please consider writing a bit about it in the "Song-Writers" part of the forum.

Good to meet you.

I love this! It sort of, just a little, reminds me a bit of a few of my favorite Van Morrison tunes, in the vocals parts phrasing and timbre, and the mood and imagery of the lyrics.

This is excellent. The measure of a song is in it's impact on the listener, and this one hits home in a big way. There's plenty to praise in this song - the composition, arrangement, vocals, style, performance, and so forth. But I'd like to focus on the part that transcends all of that. This song instantly hits you and takes you on a journey, and the lyrics are just beautiful and fit perfectly. Sure, there are a few rough spots, but even the best singers who have some soul get a little edge in there in the right places, so I would not eliminate that completely.

Hi, Dave. Glad to have joined the forum. Really nice and supportive folks here.

I appreciate your kind words.

As far as EZbass, yes, I converted the realtrack to bass and then played it through the EZbass VSTi. This was my first time trying that approach. In the past, I'd either use the bass part for ideas and manually play my bass over the top of the BIAB bass, or I'd use Melodyne Studio and generate a bass midi and then play that through Trillian VST.

Thanks so much, Hans, for your supportive words.

Thanks for the head's up on the disturbance in the vocals. I'll go back and check it out. I ran the vocals like this: Mojave 301 -> Great River -> Distressor -> RME Babyface. But then inside Studio One, I used a preset in T-RackS 5. I'll go back through and see if I can tell where the disturbance started so I can avoid that when I rewrite the lyrics and re-record the song. If you happen to remember where the disturbance happened and can let me know, that would be super helpful.

As far as the 3 hours. I had originally written this song as part of a translitic exercise in 2017, so I had the chords all worked out on guitar. I have a bunch of templates already set up in BIAB and Studio One, so recording a sketch usually goes pretty quickly. Polishing the song though usually goes slowly. ;-)

Thanks again for your kind words.

Cheers,
Todd

Thanks so much for giving it a listen, Misha. I appreciate your kind words.

Looking forward to sharing more and also listening to everyone else's songs on the forum.

Thanks again!

Hi, FJ. That's so sweet of you to say my song reminds you of early Tom Waits. He is definitely a favorite of mine.

If you think of who my vocals remind you of, I'd be interested to know. I sing in different ways on different songs, and on this one, I felt like Lyle Lovett when I sang--but it's hard for me to tell if I'm actually sounding like Lyle Lovett.

Thanks so much for your warm welcome. I've owned and used BIAB since version 1 (30 years ago or so), but am only now getting involved with the forum. I've been a lurker on the forums off and on for years, but I thought maybe now that I have some free time (lost my job) I could participate.

Thanks again.

Cheers,
Todd

Great tune and vocal. I suppose because it's about sailing and it's a waltz, Nautical Wheelers came to mind. But it stands on its own. Loved the lyrics as well, great quotable lines throughout. Well done!

A really nice song. Excellent lyrics. Thanks for posting.

It's a lovely narrative with a fabulous sheen to the words and the arrangement is perfect.
The vocal is lovely as well.
The verse melody is borrowed from the Eagles but they probably acquired it through the ether as well.

Thanks for your clear response. The disturbance I heard was throughout the vocaltrack in the high end as if it is was recorded a tiny bit too loud. Nothing really to lay awake for.

Continue the good work!
Hans