Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! Been wondering what you were up to. For me, it reminds me a little bit of Tom Bombadil from the Lord of the Rings. Great work!
Windows 11, Intel Core I5 10400, 16 gig ram, Scarlett 2i2, Sony Acid Music Studio 10, BIAB 2020 UltraPlus Pak
I'm glad I was back here in time to hear your song. Everything appeals very much to me: very nice lyrics, good musical structure and the way you sing (and soeak) fits everything perfectly.
Really liked this..vocal nice and clear...and the lyric--I wish I knew the backstory on this! Excellent production and enjoyable listen. Noel..did you consider adding some actual jaw-harp phrases? I once had that thought but gave up on either trying to record it myself or finding a vst sample that was decent.
Thanks for posting!
Hi Tano,
Thank you heaps for having a listen.
I was thinking of writing up a separate article for the Songwriting Forum about how this song came together. The journey was a little bit different from most of my work. I'll get on to the in a few days when work settles down for me.
With the jaw harp, I created a loop from the Realtrack and then pitch shifted that loop in Reaper. I found that this was the easier way for me to get a balanced sound. I could create a jaw harp melody using this method but I haven't tried it yet.
This is not "just" superb, but, to my ears at least, genius. The melody and lyrics effortlessly tell the story - it's captivating, almost hypnotic! I loved it. Bravo.
Hi James,
It's great to see you again.
Thank you so much for passing through the thread. I sincerely appreciate it. I know that I can't possibly live up to the "genius" title. I'm way too ordinary for that -- but I confess that I loved reading the word. It was like that "sit up and open your eyes wide" moment that often comes when eating a chili pepper that's particularly spicy! Reading it gave me a zing. To be honest, I don't think I've ever once seen the word "genius" in any sentence about me.
Very nice, Noel. Great storytelling and an engaging vocal, including the spoken section. Words to live by: 'Friends to love, songs to sing, a sun that shines and a wonderful world to walk on' Regards, Leon
Noel, Sorry I am late for the party. Very BIG sound. Everything sounds great with all details well polished. Composition flows smoothly, nothing sticking out. Vocals are bright and clear, but I do feel you are a little tense when you sing. Would be interesting to hear a slow song with your vocals relaxed. Mix is pro level.
"He doesn’t dwell on things that tomorrow could bring ‘Cause each day’s a shiny new day"
I like that. Thank you for sharing.
Misha.
P.S. Jaw harp players? Cool! I have a friend who improvises on j.harp very well. Unfortunately he lives far. One day I hope to lure him to record some takes for couple of my tunes
Good to hear a new tune from you—it’s been too long. Love that vocal, so engaging! Your usual top notch production—really refreshing listen. And a wonderful character story/song—we could use a few more Jacksons these days! Great stuff—welcome back to the board!!!
Noel - This is a very polished production, no surprise there. Everything really works and fits well and is balanced, and nicely spaced and separated. I hope you don't mind, but I feel like this song would be perfect in a children's movie with Jackson traveling through a countryside, on long roads, riding a horse or in a wagon trying to find a place where he and his jaw harp belong. It just evokes that kind of vision.
Hi Ed,
Thanks heaps for visiting!
I love the images you mention. When I wrote this, I called on everything I knew about the concept of wandering minstrels... there were real-life experiences, and stories such as the Pied Piper of Hamylin, and Danny Kaye's musical movie, "Hans Christian Andersen". It was an interesting journey for me
It all began with this song from "Hans Christian Andersen" that I landed on one night while zig-zagging my way around Youtube. (It's pretty amazing what can be found on Youtube!)
Lovely uplifting song. Inventive use of jaws harp and a very memorable singable chorus (almost theatrical).
Hope you are doing well down there in Victoria.
Excellent work on a wonderful production.
Peter
Hi Peter,
Thank you for visiting. It's always great to see you!
Yep... things are good in Victoria. It turns out that we're one of the few places in the world to get on top of a second wave of covid so quickly! As I see it, Dan Andrews and Brett Sutton have done an awesome job. Soon we'll be nearly back to normal.
Great song Noel delivered with an excellent vocal and lush arrangement.
I was just thinking as I was listening that maybe the song is based on a real person you know, or have met on your travels, such is the detail you have included in your excellent lyrics.
I have always admired the way you are able to take a song apart and analyse the lyrics and other aspects of the song.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2025, Cubase 14, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
What a pleasant and quaint song you have posted! One can't help but smile listening to it. The instruments are played very well and the vocals match up very nicely. It sounds like a song from a totally different era. A brief injection of simplicity into our complicated, stressful lives of the modern world.
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