PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase The Writing on the Wall

Thanks, Rob! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for commenting on SoundCloud! Unfortunately, the comment got lost when I uploaded the new mix, but I appreciate it.

Hello, David

Very good melody!
The Turn chords are very effective.
(D - A on C# - G on B - G - A7)
The melody with stretta is very cool.
(Pretending to end to Tonic and continue melody as is)
Orchestration is simply excellent.
And your vocal is also very pleasant.
There is a pity in only one place.
It is the place that string obligato is the same movement as the bass line.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Hi David! I really like this tune just the way that it was! I was immediately hooked with the word “Aberdeen” and how it’s 3-notes kicked things off… I’m curious whether there is a real Aberdeen or is it totally fictional?

I liked you vocal, very easy to listen to. I’d say too much angst over something that, as it stands is a really cool piece of work.

I have a spot on my dining room ceiling that I taped and patched a long time ago...it always bugs me because I know I could have done a better job, but no one except me has ever noticed it!

When I get into those moods about my music work I usually decide to set it aside and revisit later, and I often have more time to focus on the small fixes and sometimes some brand new ideas.

Thanks for sharing this really enjoy work!

" it was apparent that more is actually less..." We could not agree more. As I often quote "perfection is approached not when there is nothhing left to add --but rather when there is nothing left to take away."

Greg pretty much nailed our feelings, "Really, really like this!! I hear a lot of 60's British influence (which I love). Orchestration is simply excellent!! Exceptionally nice listen!!"

We always enjoy your backstories on the production. I'm lucky to have (in many ways) "one take and I'm outa here Janice" as I can easily wear myself out just on our simple 4-5 track backing mixes.

We think that your choice of tracks and mix is excellent and well support your vocal. Most of the vocal processing is above my pay grade but whatever you did sounds fine to us.

Your choice of RT's work together very nicely. I rarely every use a complete style...they are cool jumping off places but, man, are there a lot of options after that!

Nice listen!

J&B

PS I built and upgraded my own PC's for decades. Nowadays I'm lazier and less tolerant of all things tedious so I just buy a new loaded iMac every 4 years
PPS You mentioned losing comments on a new upload. You can use the replace file option and keep everything else. FWIW

Hi, Shigeki.


You've got good ears! I'm fond of using stepwise basslines, they can make ordinary progressions sound better than they really are.


Hehehehe. I didn't think anyone would really notice!

It was originally only meant for the cello section, but I extended it out to the higher strings as well because I thought it made a nice build. But yes, it's lazy writing.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! The next time I'm tempted to do sloppy string writing, I'll keep you in mind (but probably do it anyway ).

Well, there's always emotional truth, but I try not to make my songs that autobiographical. My life isn't that interesting, and I'm glad for that!

The way I figure it, a songwriter's obligation to the listener to provide an emotionally satisfying story outweighs the need to tell a personal story. For me, that means using proxies that are easily recognizable and evoke similar emotional resonance without requiring a lot of backstory.

One of the things that attracted me to this piano track was the feeling of nostalgia, and I was trying to capture that. I was thinking about the song Ventura Highway. It reminds me of when my older brother headed off to college, and I remember watching the Greyhound bus carry him off to Los Angeles, and the being left behind in cloud of diesel.

So I was listening to the melody line that I'd worked out ahead of time, looping it over and over, trying to find words to fit the pattern, and finally a line came to mind:

Aberdeen's gone to Texas...

That pretty much wrote the song. I figured that since it was a three verse song, it would make sense to re-use that line at the start of the verse to create the transitions for a a going/going/gone sort of storyline.

There are a number of events in my life that inform the lyrics. One was a breakup with a girlfriend, and the realization at the time that I simply wasn't important to her anymore. I think that's the emotional center on the song:

No one in this town she's gonna miss...

The rest of the song was built in a similar manner. I only had three verses to work with, because I'd written the music ahead of time, and the piano was getting the bridge.

The "reveal" of the relationship in the third verse, because that's what a third verse does.

So there's no "Aberdeen", but there are specific events that I've drawn on in writing the song. Plus, this is clearly written in a "classic" country song style, so which sort of emotional touchstones it uses are influenced by that genre.

Did that answer the question?


I appreciate the reassurance. I just figured that it might have value to people to hear a bit more about the process.

While recording the vocal, my son was playing D&D online with his friends, and I had to edit out portions where you could hear him say things like "...I've got 1000 gold pieces" and chair squeaks.

Thanks for the support!

Thanks David...I love to hear the back story just like you told it above. I'm also not real interested in making songs autobiographical...but sometimes I'll hear someone's name--friend, relative, stranger-- and that will somehow click into a song idea. Thanks for filling in the "here's how it came about" info!

David,

That's a great song... I like the way it grooves along. Great mix and vocal.

Excellent job.

Bob

That reminds me of the quote often (mis?)attributed to Albert Einstein: Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.



Thanks, coming from you that means a lot.



Yeah, there's really an embarrassment of riches in the options that are available.



I'll check that out. I think it's only available in the paid version of SoundCloud.

Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Thanks for listening, Bob. I'm glad you liked it.

David,
I enjoyed this and agree with the positive comments- your voice sounds good. Definite Ringo/Nick Lowe Brit. pop sound which is so easy to like.
Well done!

Robert

Thanks, Robert! I appreciate the compliment.

But are we talking early "pop" Nick, or the current "country" version?

I saw Nick play last year with Los Straitjackets, and he can put on a show! And I saw him a couple years prior to that in a solo show at a little local venue, and he was awesome. I wish I had that kind of energy.... ever!

Thanks again!

I can hear a lot of Brit pop influences in your songs and that's why your songs are so easily likable - I grew up listening to Brit pop bands in the 80's. Very catchy chorus. Your voice works really well with the effects, once again. The arrangement is fragile, but airy - just like the lyrics. Well done.

Janne

This is an excellent tune. I got a bit of an Oasis vibe on this tune. Excellent vocal and lyric. Well done...

Thanks, Janne!

It's interesting that people are hearing a "British" influence in my singing/arranging. To be honest, I'm not sure what those elements are, but since that's a good thing, I'm more than happy to hear it!

Thanks, Scott!

David,

This is wonderful. So CATCHY!!!!!!

Very musical, man. Love the chord progression, the development, and the story arc, the musical arc, the build, and the vocals. And what an arrangement!!!

Just superb.

I don't know how I missed it the first time--I guess that was while I was on vacation.

Anyway great--and glad to hear you are not me. I was worried about that for a while.

Yeah, I think our wives would be able to straighten us on that!

Thanks for the kind words, David!

David,

This is terrific. Obvious a lot of work went into this - and yet it seems like "effortless" music - like it is "meant to be".

There seems to be a lot of beatles mentioned - but I hear more of the "cream of the crop" 60's pop thing. The Cyrkle's "Red Rubber Ball" comes to mind. Something so catchy it NEVER leaves you alone... exquisite pop writing.

LOVE your vocal on this. The processing is excellent!

Art music + Commercial appeal.

An EXCELLENT listen.

fj

Thanks! Praise from you means a lot!


After the "Ringo" comments, I listened to some old Ringo hits. I'm not hearing the connection there, but enjoyed listening to some nice songs.

So hearing that I fit into the "pop 60's" sound is just fine with me.


I'm glad you approve. It's hard for me to be objective about my voice and processing, so feedback is helpful.

I don't think I've figured out how to make the vocal sit in the mix properly, and in the future I think I'll spend more time doing A/B comparisons with a reference track.