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https://youtu.be/oeIA77o0hYII wrote this song to mark a 40th wedding anniversary (my own to be precise). It's still work in progress and I welcome any comments or advice on how I might improve it. I've used various Realtracks from BIAB 2017, mainly the EMOTION.STY, with Irish Bouzouki plus choral voices on a Roland GR-20 guitar synthesizer, and piano and pads on a Roland RD-600 keyboard, all provided by me. My vocals were recorded through a Roland VE-20 processor. The editing and mixing was done using Audacity.
Last edited by Andyman; 10/13/21 11:16 AM.
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Andy.
i really like the tempo you chose for this.
its a cute song.
just a couple of ideas mate.
i hear the vocs more up front , and a stronger doubling effect.
really like that break around 2min29secs.
thats good songwriting...well done.
best/happiness
om
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Thanks for the suggestions, om.
Your feedback is much appreciated, and I'll increase the volume of the vocals in the mix.
I wasn't sure if the volumes of the angelic voices and synth pad were quite right during the piano break, but as the piano seems to cut through quite well, I guess they are. Glad you like the song.
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Hi Andy,
My honest review of you song is, well...
The vocals and music are kinda like a burnt steak...
REALLY WELL DONE! Ha!
JK, awesome job on this tune!
And yeah, that break...really cool.
Kind of like a Springsteen in his heyday.
Hopefully your Wife liked it. I would think it to be an outstanding anniversary present!
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This is a really good song. I liked the backing tracks and that break, brilliant!
I thought in spots the backing track volumes slightly overwhelmed the vocal in spots. Instead of raising the vocal volumes I would decrease the backing track volumes. It doesn't need much as you are very close in volume matching.
I would let this sit for a week, come back with fresh ears and critically listen. If you agree you will know what I mean. But this is just my opinion. YMMV
You know you're getting old when a recliner and a heating pad is your idea of a hot date!
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Haha, great comment about the burnt steak.
Oddly enough, my wife likes the song but isn't that keen on the angelic voices in the piano break. Apparently they're "too old-fashioned".
Oh well, you can't win them all, but they're staying in because I like them. What does she know? Haha.
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Andy,
cool song.
The vocals are surrounded by a halo from the processor...not a big one but they seem to sit in a reverb/room separate from the backing.
Matching reverb is a way to put band and singer in the same room...even if you can only grab the parts you added and give them a little of the reverb from the processor they'll sit together better.
I'd have to agree with the wife. on the angels.
I reckon you could do your own oohs n ahhs.
Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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Thanks MarioD. I agree with you wholeheartedly about the vocal clarity.
When I said that I was going to increase the volume of the vocals, I was actually intending to do this by slightly reducing the volume of some of the backing tracks in the specific places where they interfere with the clarity of the vocals.
I know that this is the right way to go because I've already had to deal with the vocals clipping here and there, and I had to reduce the volume on certain words in order to overcome the problem, and so the last thing that I want to do is up the volume.
Ironically, I finished all the recording last week, but then the preparations for our 40th anniversary celebrations prevented me from finishing it in time for the big day (ie. Sunday 10th), although I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted it to sound.
If you're anything like me you'll know how frustrating it can be to have your creative flow interrupted, even when it's due to an occasion such as your own wedding anniversary.
At least I got to perform a live acoustic version of the song to my wife on our night of special celebration in front of our family and friends, and I'm pleased to say that it was well received.
Last edited by Andyman; 10/14/21 12:35 PM.
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Thanks for the helpful feedback rayc. Your advice is appreciated and I'm glad to hear that you liked the song.
I understand what you mean about matching the reverb, and I will certainly endeavour to do this in future, but unfortunately I'm stuck with what I've recorded for this song as I don't relish starting again from scratch.
I guess that the vocal would have sat better with the backing track if I had recorded everything dry and then added reverb afterwards where necessary, but unfortunately I used the default reverb settings that came with each Realtrack and I also chose a reverb setting for the vocal track BEFORE recording it, so there's no way to remove the existing reverb from any of the individual tracks and therefore I can only work with what I've got.
I guess the angelic voices on the Roland guitar synth is a matter of personal taste as some forum members liked it and so do I, so I'm going to stick with it. My vocal range is pretty limited anyway, so I doubt that I could provide good vocal harmonies.
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Nice song Andy,
You're very close to having a winner.
I think I'm in agreement with Ray's commentary
A little this a little that and it's perfect.
moto
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Here is the revised mix of the song. I have slightly reduced the volume of some of the backing tracks (particularly in the final chorus) to give the vocals more clarity. The first mix is still available for comparison. https://youtu.be/rJDAPbqckbI
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Great poetic pop song, nicely romantic story with stars and moon, of course  The chord progression is simple yet not too familiar. The relaxing instrumental section fits perfectly. The singing contains smile and soul. The band is suitably soft for the mellow confession of love, I especially like the use of the synths. Janne
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Thank you Janne. It is definitely one of my more upbeat songs.
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andy.
much nicer mate.
out of interest what plug ins did you use on this ?
just an idea, next song you do, as a test see what you can do with just the pg dx plug ins, before turning to anything else...my grandad used to say everything in moderation mate.
the reason i suggest carefull plug in useage is i feel often some are over used in songs these days.
(and yes ive been guilty in the past myself until someone in the past ...a big studio bloke...yelled at me plug ins are no panacea)
happiness.
om
ps i'm a hammers supporter...lol.
Last edited by justanoldmuso; 10/15/21 07:46 AM.
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Thanks for the thumbs up. Most of the changes I made were to the piano break and the last chorus, and I've got to say that I'm a lot happier with the result. Thanks for the earlier advice.
I'm sorry but I forgot to make a note of all the Realtracks I used, but they were from at least four different styles.
I used Solo Acoustic Piano Ballad from the CPOPSAJ style in the instrumental break: RT2046 Acoustic Piano.
The bass and guitar were from the EMOTION style: 995 Elec Bass, 1526 Guitar.
I used a mixture of drum kits from three different styles, plus some drum fills from a Latin style.
I think that the subdued piano comping during the rest of the song was from the EMOTION style: 1535 Acoustic piano.
I couldn't agree more with your Grandad's advice. I've been recording my own music for over 50 years and it's only since BIAB came out that I started using plug ins. Before that it was multi-timbral synths and a Steinberg PRO24 sequencer running on an Atari ST micro-computer, and before that I had to rely on recording each instrument live using a 4-track analogue tape machine.
In fact, I remember how I first started building up songs by bouncing tracks from one cassette recorder to another, and of course the sound quality gradually deteriorated with each bounce.
I think that you're quite lucky to be a hammers supporter. At least you get to watch EPL footy.
I used to go to some of Boro's home games until about 10 years ago, but I lost interest when they were relegated.
I've only ever attended two Boro away games, and you may be interested to know that one of them was at Upton Park on 4/12/76 when we won 0-1. I was in London for the weekend to see a David Bowie concert at Wembley Empire Pool.
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Really nice song and well sung. A fine tribute. Good work!
Windows 10, Intel Core I5 10400, 16 gig ram, Scarlett 6i6, Komplete keyboard, Sony Acid Music Studio 11, BIAB 2020 UltraPlus Pak
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What a good song, Andy. I'd also like to hear the vocal more out front. I really like the changes, and as mentioned by everyone, that break is superb. It's also the perfect Anniversary song. Not many make it to the 40th, and many who do would rather be somewhere else, but you are right where you want to be. Love it! Happy Anniversary to you both.
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andy.
hammers are an odd team. they beat big teams then loose to small ones.
brentford vs chelsea today. thats gonna be a hoot.
hammers everton sunday.
back to your song.
you wrote a good one.
a producer once said to me "hits were done before plug ins ya know". i would say go back to those old songs england exported to the world/usa invasion.
lots to learn studying those song mixes mate.
includeing song composition // arrangement.
just an idea.
they didnt have a lot back then. but it was the studio engineers that were exceedingly clever in lots of cases.
those songs are a great study. after many years i'm still learning/and still make boo boos.
best
om
Last edited by justanoldmuso; 10/16/21 03:27 AM.
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Great job on the songwriting and vocals.
Since you asked...
I think the main groove needs to be broken up with variation, i.e. fewer instruments at the beginning, a build in instrumentation, the drop that you did was great, and then another build.
I'd start with just fingerpicking guitar (no other instruments except voice) all the way through the 1st verse. Then maybe bass and drums for the 2nd section, and add more instruments from there. The sentiment of the song would be great with that sparse instrumentation at the beginning.
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