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Jim Offline
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Originally Posted By: David Snyder

I thought this was great the first time I heard it.

I am confused about the reissue though, from the time stamp.

Is it really a reissue from March, or did it resurface from March? I have seen this happen to some songs that are even 3 or 4 years old and I can't quite figure out what is going on.

Is sure is a good song though.

I some times like to go back in time & listen to older songs of posters...
sometimes just to compare it with their new work...
If you like one well enough to make a comment, it will be resurrected in the Showcase, like this one was...
However, I received a PM from a user who was offended by having old songs revived, so I stopped...
Now I'll just have to PM the writer with a thumbs up frown


Jim
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David, very cool piece!
In some strange way, not sure if it is a compliment or discourage to you, but your sound reminded me of Pet Shop Boys smile Overall dynamics are great and interesting. But since you are open to comments, I will share my opinion, for what it worth...
Session Horns.... When I read your comments, and listened to the tune, I have identified them right away. Line is great, but sound texture is "pulling" things in a way. Sort of distracting from otherwise a very well composed and mixed tune. I have Session Horns and whenever I use them I have very mixed feelings. Seems they are doing what they supposed to do, but I found that even a good sound font (SF2) at times yields better results, even when over-dampened with reverb. I know, horns/saxes (and other reeds) are hard to replicate. Maybe thicker, more FX heavy or even doubled Alto+Tenor to give dimension? I am not authority on those things, just speaking as a listener smile



Best regards,
Misha.

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David, this is really great! I really liked the stops and syncopation. It sounds like you have The Tower of Power backing you here.

Thanx for explaining how you pieced this together. There are many ways to make music and it sound like you have mastered a number of them.

Great song!


Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.

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Very cool tune. Loved the vocal delivery. Made the song so special. Well done


Scott Collingwood
https://soundcloud.com/scottt709
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https://www.youtube.com/@SpiritLevel-ge3hm/
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Originally Posted By: Jim
Originally Posted By: David Snyder

I thought this was great the first time I heard it.

I am confused about the reissue though, from the time stamp.

Is it really a reissue from March, or did it resurface from March? I have seen this happen to some songs that are even 3 or 4 years old and I can't quite figure out what is going on.

Is sure is a good song though.

I some times like to go back in time & listen to older songs of posters...
sometimes just to compare it with their new work...
If you like one well enough to make a comment, it will be resurrected in the Showcase, like this one was...
However, I received a PM from a user who was offended by having old songs revived, so I stopped...
Now I'll just have to PM the writer with a thumbs up frown



I'm sorry if I did something wrong, I just liked the song and thought it deserved a comment.

A few months ago I asked in another forum if it was OK to comment on old songs and it seemed like people in general wouldn't have a problem with it.

The thing is that new users of the forum (like me) might like to go a little bit back in time to listen to what was going on here maybe a year ago, etc. And if we hear something nice it is hard to resist commenting on the piece - simply because the creator/artist deserves it.

Will

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Originally Posted By: dcuny
Another song! (Duh) See notes below for exciting details!

Edit: This is a new mix, with some additional harmonies that I'd left off the first time. Hopefully it's an improvement over the prior mix. I also did some editing to add missing consonants to some of the words, turning feels into fields, and so on. blush

Bound for Freedom

I've spent a lifetime working for the man
Won't let me go until I die
But heaven lies far beyond these fields
I'm getting ready to fly

Tell the conductor of that Gospel Train
I've got my ticket in my hand
My bags are packed for the Promised Land
I'll join that heavenly band

Chorus:
This is a railroad that's got no track
It's bound for freedom and it's never turning back
Praise the Lord and get on board
We're bound for freedom

I hear an angel knocking on my door
I see her standing in the light
It's time to cross to that other shore
She says it's time to take flight


Technical Details
Strummed Guitars - Native Instruments, Strummed Acoustic 1 & 2
Bass - Drums on Demand, Essential Bass (loops)
Drums - EZ Drummer, Nashville Basic Brushes
Horns - Zero-G, Brass Elements (loops)
Sax Solo - Band in a Box, Sax, Tenor, Soloist PopCountryMark Ev 085 #2019

Vocal Processing - Waves Tune
Mastering - Ozone 7 Elements
Effects - EZMix
DAW - Reaper

Notes
As part of my personal songwriting challenge, I'm working on incorporating various cool things that I've bought, but never gotten around to using, into my songs.

This time, I started with the EZDrummer Nashville Brush kit - lovely sounds! I added the Session Guitars to that, which are my current go-to toy. As usual, I built the bass line using Essential Bass loops. It's probably not the best way to get things done, but I like the level of control.

Then I went searching through my hard drive and found Zero-G Brass Elements loops, and went to town with those. Probably way too much horn, but whatever. Horns are cool.

I tried adding some other horn elements using Session Horns, but it was sort of blah. Maybe next time.

Backing tracks completed, I worked out a melody, which I thought was fairly nice, but verse and chorus are a probably a bit too similar too each other. My daughter concurs, saying the song "sounds the same" all the way through. I thinned out the vocal on the verses, and went with a big harmony sounds, but it's still an issue. Lesson learned.

I left a big hole in the middle to drop in a guitar solo from BiaB, and got to work on the lyrics.

Speaking of lessons learned, did I bother to check the range of the song this time around? Of course not! wink

I'm not David Snyder, so writing lyrics ended up taking about a week. Since the song has a sort of bluesy Gospel sort of feel, I went in that direction and ended up with a song about the Underground Railroad.

When it came time to fill in the bridge with an instrumental, I couldn't find any guitar solo that worked. I finally hit on the second to the last Sax soloist. The first solo one out of gate fit perfectly. smile

The vocals are obviously a bit lower than usual - it's a comfortable range, but it tends to be a bit "tubby" and harder to carve out space in the mix for.

My son's friend wondered how I got that cool distorted sound on the vocal. Turns out gain staging isn't something I excel at. Sorry about that. The ReLife plugin helped recover it a bit.


As always, feedback of any sort if appreciated.

I really enjoyed this David. Loved the arrangement, especially the horns.
Your strummed guitars sound great. I've just started using, and enjoying, Session Guitarist Strummed Acoustic 2: (https://soundcloud.com/user-952388172/the-forest-and-the-trees-better-mix).
Cheers, Mike


Mike Garry
BIAB 2025/RealBand (5), UltraPak, Kontakt, EZmix, Ozone 9 Elements, Audacity, MSi PC, Windows 11, 64bit, 16GB ram, CPU: Intel i7.

https://soundcloud.com/user-952388172
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dcuny Offline OP
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Sorry for taking so long to respond. I've been busy and haven't had much time to check in on the forum.

When I first saw the thread had come back, and figured it would be bad form to respond and put it back to the top again.

But since there have been several kind comments, it would be rude not to respond, n'est-ce pas? wink

So, thanks! smile

And Mike, I enjoyed listening to "The Forest AND The Trees".


-- David Cuny

My virtual singer development blog
Vocal 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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Mr. Cuny...

A big smile spread over my face as I listened to your song, "Bound for Freedom"! Right from the drums/percussion intro that sounded like handclaps, to the surprisingly funky horn and sax section arrangements, all the way down to the bluesy vocal harmonies. To my ears, your sassy, soulful composition sounds like something that David Clayton Thomas and Blood, Sweat, & Tears would have had a lot of fun with.

But the crowning touch was to read that the subject matter was based on the Underground Railroad. That you found inspiration in that dark but ultimately heroic experience is laudable. I'm always impressed when songwriters look to historical happenings for songwriting ideas because it keeps people aware of important events in the life our nation.

I'm gonna be coming back to listen to it, and who knows how many more times?

Thumbs-up!

LOREN


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David, I liked this, the longer I listened the better I liked it.

Tony


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David, I must have missed this first time round, but this mix sounds darn good to me. So many catchy things going on in the mix, especially the vocal harmonies and brass parts. Good stuff!
cool

John


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Very cool David!! Has an infectious groove and some cool lyrics! I think all of the elements came together really well. VERY, VERY nice job!! Take care. Greg

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