Alan,
Wow! Five hours! That's incredible. In five hours, I'd be lucky to have put together the first draft of lyrics. I'm very impressed.
What I also find incredibly impressive is that, not so long ago, you said that you use your backings exactly as they come from BIAB, without any tailoring them. Is that true of this backing too? It truly sounds excellent.
Everything you've done here from writing, through to performing and producing is top notch and each component sits perfectly comfortably with all other components. I found this a most enjoyable listen.
I'm sorry to hear that Di's journey continues to be challenging. Please let her know that I'm channelling heaps of southern hemisphere healing thoughts her way.
All the very best of everything to you both,
Noel
Hi Noel,
Thanks so much. I really appreciate all those very kind words.
It took me about 45 minutes to write the lyric. I only changed two lines after I scribbled the initial lyric. I think the fact I also write novels gives me a small advantage with lyric writing. One day I realized that the lyric to many songs, particularly country and folk, is a novel in 100 words or less. I just learned to change 85 words into 85,000 words!
I tried three different band styles and settled on the one you hear. That took about twenty minutes. Then I had to decide on a melody and what instruments to use. the chord progression came pretty easy - about half an hour of chord inputting and making minor adjustments to them. I tinkered with the specific instruments I wanted for about an hour and a half. Then I listen to the music I'd created, over and over for about an hour in order to get a feel for it. I then put the vocal to it. I recorded the vocal three times and this is the one I chose (my second attempt). I did a final mix in audacity.
And you are correct - what you hear is directly off the BIAB chord input page. I "massage" the instruments there until I'm happy. Actually, that's the most time-consuming element of the project. I spent an hour doing just that. The only disappointment I have doing that way is the limited number of tracks available to me. But I overcome that by making a second recording with the some of the backing tracks deleted and then replaced by the additional instruments I want. I then load both sets of tracks into Audacity and line then up perfectly. When I play them as such, I get the full sound I want and, in my opinion, it sounds about as good as I can do with a formal DAW. Everything you hear is created, massaged and arranged BIAB and then transferred to Audacity. Again, I did all that in about 5 hours. I know it sounds like a lot of work but it is a smooth process for me.
I probably told you more than you would care to know, but that's my process.
And thank you for the kind wishes for Di. She's really struggling right now. I'll be sure to pass them on to her. We both appreciate your kindness. Wishing you well,
Alan & Di