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With an eye and ear on production - you made the mark.

I like this one a lot, superb write, arrangement and performance.

I'll have more to say about this is a separate response - maybe right after this - because I think it might be helpful to some...



The reverb on the trumpet was "copied" from the song that I used as "production template"... just trying to match that...



It's always nice when someone specifically mentions lines that they like... I find it interesting because I (personally) would have picked out the lines that follow this...
"the prey is so easy
in this jukebox saloon
when he wins he's not sure that he cares"




Thanks for picking that one out...


Again... this was all "suggested" by the song production that I "borrowed from"...

About the Production of this....


Everything I did in this (production) was emulating the production in Bruce Springsteen's "Meeting Across The River"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm0v18EzDvQ

Kenny picked up on it. I expected more people would. But I enjoyed the "guesses" - went and listened to them all (and Caaron - I actually sat through the entire Michael George thing... )

If you don't know the song, do yourself a favor and go listen to it - it is a 3 minute movie set to music....


I do this occasionally... pattern a production of one of my songs after something I really like... maybe 20% of the time. In this case, I had been listening to Born To Run (the CD) and when I decided to work on this song, patterning it after "Meeting Across The River" seemed like it would work - AND (the important part)... takes me someplace I hadn't gone before...

Generally when I do this, it will give me flavors I haven't used before. It seldom sounds really close to the song that I am using as a "template"... in this case, I think it does. Not that that is the intention.

I'm throwing this out there as an idea that people might consider (if they have not already). It can help give you new ideas for how to produce your songs. And it helps to keep from having all your songs sound the same because you reach for the same tools all the time. This seems to be particularly true of people who write and sing/produce Country. Use that mandolin, steel, and fiddle all the time and you'll end up with a catalog that could use some "freshening up"...

(I have to be careful NOT to use the cello in every ballad I do because it FITS EVERYTHING!!)

So, pick a favorite song - past or present - and try to find the "pieces" that create its sound... and use them in your next production....

Rip a copy of your template song from a CD or download it from iTunes (or wherever) and include it in your DAW as a track. Keep it muted, of course. Then as your are mixing, listen to what you have, then solo the reference track and see if you are creating "that same sound". Even if you can't match it, it might give you something new in your tool box...

Oh...and... if you are a "Country guy"... I recommend looking to the current crop of Americana artists for new production ideas... New Country won't work for most of the songwriters here - so don't waste your time... that is NOT a cut at "new Country" - just an observation that it will not fit most of the type song that we write. It takes a whole new writer mentality to embrace New Country...

First, thank you for your commentary on the song. It is SO helpful to not only have your thoughts on it, but the suggestions of what to try for ourselves. Awesome!

I was certain the song I referenced was NOT the song but I listened to it in it's entirety when in school. The best way I have been able to state it is, I don't like it, but I really appreciate what they did production wise. I will have to leave it at that.

I'm glad you brought up the idea of finding the pieces and using them. So many times I feel like "someone will know and think less of what I'm doing!" Then I remember, I'm not doing anything TOTALLY original anyway!

Last, I had never heard the song that inspired your production so it's a great day to have been introduced to another great song! All good things my friend!

I like this suggestion of using templates... especially for me, because unlike a lot of the people in this forum who have a very recognizable and signature style, playing cover songs has turned me into a chameleon.

I think once I get a few animated projects that are already in process out of the way, I'm going to take this idea and run with it... recording songs "in the style of" my favorite artists. In this case, the template won't be a single song, but rather it will be patterned after the artist's style.

Great idea, Floyd! Thanks for sharing your technique... and especially, thanks for making it interesting by turning it into a puzzle we had to think about before you revealed your answer. Seems like something a song writer might do... ;-)

Thanks, Richard. I'm a bit surprised that anyone would not care for the trumpet....

Pattern Productions (In the style of) has pretty much become my BIAB hobby and daily use of BIAB/RB. As you point out, I import a commercial release into my project and attempt to recreate it within BIAB/RB.

When I'm not doing Pattern Productions I download good acoustic covers of commercial releases (guitar and singer or piano and singer) from YouTube and Facebook and use BIAB/RB to turn them into full blown productions.

Former The Voice contestant James David Carter has a pretty extensive library of modern country. Joe Var Veri has a lot of Elvis covers and some other good covers as well. Mike Masse and Jeff Hall have a lot of high quality covers. You can have a lot of fun with the Jazz of Gina Cicilia.

Unique arrangements and varying tempo maps can be quite challenging and these are excellent learning tools for the day your cousin sends you an MP3 of his original hit he wrote and wants you to do a quality, free backing track for his demo.

Thanks, Rob.... yeah, that trumpet did exactly what I needed it to do. It's amazing how good it is. I can't imagine that I will ever use it again - because I don't generally write songs that it would fit in - which seems a shame that such a great track is out there not getting the recognition it deserves... (I'm sure there are others like that, too)

Thanks, David - I appreciate you stopping by...

The trumpet intro & 1st few words made me think of vintage Springsteen - from the gentler tracks on The Wild The Innocent & the E Street Shuffle.
Very cool song and had the trumpet been a sax I'd have been convinced it was Bruce.
Nuff said.

Thanks, Trygve...

Thanks, Peter. Appreciate all of that. RE: The Trumpet - I was surprised by how much it played throughout "Meeting Across The River" when I listened closely - so I decided to let it be a similar thing... and as you say, after a while it does "grow on ya"...

Thanks, David.

Thanks, Herb...

Beautiful production. The trumpet was an unexpected treat. I will say, the lyric, perfectly matched with the melody, and the timbre of your voice, made me incredibly sad. That said, is exactly what the blues, jazz torch, and country songs are suppose to do, evoke emotion; this one certainly does. Great song.
Peace,
-Carolyne

Super job all around. It's nice to listen to a sparsely arranged song. I like your chord progression here. It takes the melody to places my ear can't anticipate and that keeps me engaged.

Great write!

Good ear, Kenny. I thought that trumpet was obvious ("lifted" from "Meeting.."). J.D. is a nice reference. Thanks for the kind words... Always looking forward to your next song...

Thanks, Tommy!

Hi Floyd.

Not had chance to listen to the forum songs this week, so arriving a bit late to this one.

I listened to the Springsteen song, though the linked version appears to have been taken down. If that was the model, then you've achieved it one hundred percent.

This is a super production and SO well performed. Superb and very clever lyrics, apart from one line.

Going back to listen again.

ROG.

Hi, Floyd !:))

Your best !
Simply outstanding
seen from any aspect !:))

I dig your vocal and you
know it, here the trumpets
and the piano sounded also
pretty mighty !:))

Cheers
Dani