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Hi everyone, I made a Blues (kind of) and it's called For Emily
https://soundcloud.com/user-296497130/emilyAfter a sad song like 'Listen' I felt a need for something spicier. And I even introduced trumpets in it. I never did this before. That makes the song very special ;-). The story behind it: When I was in Mexico some months ago I promised to make a song for the sister of my sons' girlfriend. But it almost turned into a broken promise. Until now. Although the song is for her, it is not about her. I am curious what she'll think of it. But I am even more curious what you think of this song... Let me know what what you think or what I can improve, Hans =========================================================== Style and instruments Style: BROOD.STY (Brood Blues Solist) RealTracks: 1190:Bas RealTracks: 2260:Bas RealTracks: ~673:Orgel, B3 RealTracks: 3334: Guitar, El. rhythm RealTracks: 2623: Piano, El. rhytm Funk Swing (I had a lot of problems to get the sound of it right. I hoped there would be an update in time to solve these issues. that didn't happen, so I had to improvise) RealTracks: 2625:Guitar, Bariton El. rhythm RealTracks: 3333:Guitar, El. Solo RealDrums [in Song:PopPromiseEv16^1-a: Snare op 4, HiHat , b: Snare, Open HiHat Keyboard and loops: trumpets ============================================================= Lyrics: For Emily (c) HWBerkhout, feb 2021 I'm working on a melody I need a song I have to do this, you see? It's for Emily Now I'm getting more or less out of control At least, it hurts my soul This song is hiding somewhere in my head And that worries me, it makes me mad I'm looking for a melody, I need a song And I want inspiration to go along I'm looking for a cool tune, some Blues, maybe? Need it all for Emily =small solo= It's my philosophy; don't blow no balloon If you want a song, just find a tune And I need to find it, deep down in me with some nice words too, for Emily =big solo= I'm getting more or less out of control At least it hurts my soul This song keeps hiding somewhere in my head And that worries me, it makes me mad I'm looking for a melody, I need a song I'm looking for a band too, to play along I'm looking for a cool tune, some Blues, maybe? with some nice words about Emily I'm looking for a melody, I need a song I'm looking for words too, to sing along I'm looking for a melody, a real nice tune It gives me inspiration to get it soon But I want my melody be there in time to please Emily
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Hans, there’s a lot to like in this one. The cold open with the guitar and kick is way cool. Very well sung and I enjoyed the production, Tom
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Very cool intro Hans. Loved the vibe to this song. Excellent vocal and lyric well done
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Reminds me of 25 Or 6 To 4 by Chicago - a song about needing lyrics for a song.  It's blues! You can't go wrong by me! I enjoyed the song, and hopefully Emily will also! 
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal 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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Hans ...
You make some really nice music. And this one continues that streak. Love the short, abrupt stops along the way. They create a sense of excitement and anticipation. The lyric is really cool and your vocal is perfect. Really really sweet listen! Best to you. Take care ...
Alan
BIAB 2024 Ultra Plus-all StylePaks*Win11*32GB DDR5*Rhyzen 9745x*AT 2035 Mic*Peavey Nashville 112 Amp*Ibanez ART120* Acoustic/Electric/Washburn D200S Acoustic*Stromberg Monterey Jazz Guitar Loops: https://aldavidmusic.wixsite.com/bestmusicloops
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Hello Hans.
It kept my interest interested :-)
I kept thinking throughout how cool it would be if the girl's name too was "Melody".
Vic
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Songwriting is a good subject, nice to hear about the muse behind the story, you have cleverly positioned her in the song. Great selection of instruments, especially the bassist and solo guitarist. And instrument stops and rests give a nice dynamic impression. Good mix and excellent vocals make the song truly rock. I can imagine this would be a very good live song too, big crowd singing along the chorus  Janne
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"I'm looking for a melody, I need a song
I'm looking for a band too, to play along
I'm looking for a cool tune, some Blues, maybe?
with some nice words about Emily"
This is an excellent write Hans.
We are big Stones fans and being US southerners we have always
appreciated Jagger's ability to throw in a southern accent here and there without it sounding unnatural or like a parody.
We feel that on this song you accomplished the same thing as Jagger and we mean that as a big compliment.
Check out their last album Blue & Lonesome for an example.
So....excellent vocal and we love the trumpets.
Great mix too that sets up a nice soundstage on the monitors.
Well done!
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
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Hans, fun tune! Lots of cool articulation. Overall solid composition, vocals. You done justice to the genre One of your best mixes hands down. Two minor things I have noticed. I think solo guitar is a bit dry, compared to vocals and other instruments and I would put some reverb on trumpets too. I think Emily will like it. Good one Hans! Thank you for sharing. Misha.
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Excellent production. Love the opening. Very soulful vocal performance. Let us know what Emily thinks.
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Excellent groove, Hans. Trumpets are a nice touch. A good write about searching for inspiration. One of your best vocals, I think. Enjoyed this one a lot.
Regards,
Leon
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I dig it!
I like the driving beat and the singing guitar.
Has Emily heard it?
moto
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Hans, you never fail to please. This is a fun song to play along with. Good band, and vocal. There is a desperation in the music that fits the lyrics like an old glove. A very good write and performance.
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Another Berkhout workout!
Good mix Hans.
The halo of vocal processing stands out a little more on this one though...perhaps reduce that a little.
It's a mid 80s British Blues Pop sound and works well with the melody and narrative.
Well done.
Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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Love a good song about song-writing. This has great humor and grit. Production is superb and the sound overall is powerful. I hope Emily gets a real kick out of it. I sure did.
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Hello Tom, Scott, David, Alan and Vic (and everyone else), At first I can tell you 'Emily' was very very pleased with this song. So I did something good there ;-) Thanks for you comments and compliments on this song. I appreciate it a lot. Hans, there’s a lot to like in this one. The cold open with the guitar and kick is way cool. Very well sung and I enjoyed the production, Tom Tom, I was hesitating for a time starting the song this way. And I had to do a lot of rendering to get it the way I want it to sound. at those moments I regret I can't play those solo's myself. But it was nice to sing this way again after the other kind of songs. Very cool intro Hans. Loved the vibe to this song. Excellent vocal and lyric well done
Scott, like I said to Tom, it wasn't so easy to get the right blend. I tried severall sologuitars in BiaB. And all the time the song changed more and more into this blues. It didn't start that way. Reminds me of 25 Or 6 To 4 by Chicago - a song about needing lyrics for a song. It's blues! You can't go wrong by me! I enjoyed the song, and hopefully Emily will also! David, yes 'Emily' was very pleased, I heard. I think I don't know the song 6 to 4. I only know 9 till 5. But that can't be compared with this song ;-) Hans ...
You make some really nice music. And this one continues that streak. Love the short, abrupt stops along the way. They create a sense of excitement and anticipation. The lyric is really cool and your vocal is perfect. Really really sweet listen! Best to you. Take care ...
Alan Alan, that is a nice compliment from you. At first I had more of those breaks, but then I thought 'less is best...' (normally I'm not that modest in music). and you confirmed that was good, so thanks! Hello Hans.
It kept my interest interested :-)
I kept thinking throughout how cool it would be if the girl's name too was "Melody".
Vic Vic, a very nice thought of you. But I think it would have confused me when singing it... So, thanks again for listening and all your nice comments, Hans
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Hans,
A real knockout!
A very cool sounding BAND and an excellent vocal.
The chorus is SO catchy!! Loved it. And when the horns joined in it was icing on the cake. There was a sort of Huey Lewis and the News vibe to it then - SO COOL!!! Ear candy.
Might be your best.
Excellent.
fj
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Hans,
A good rocker with a very good vocal; this style suits that edge in your voice so well.
I like the inspiration: writing your way into a lyric that becomes the song you were looking to write...to please Emily. I hope its well received!
Excellent arrangement!
Robert
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Hans, I love the blues and you knocked out of the park. The vocal was absolutely fantastic. Great backing tracks and a super mix.
I liked the trumpets, nice touch! The lyrics were also excellent.
Back in my day the only time we started panic buying was when the bartender shouted "last call"!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Hello everyone, but especially Janne, Janice and Bud, Misha, Ezekiel and Leon, Songwriting is a good subject, nice to hear about the muse behind the story, you have cleverly positioned her in the song. Great selection of instruments, especially the bassist and solo guitarist. And instrument stops and rests give a nice dynamic impression. Good mix and excellent vocals make the song truly rock. I can imagine this would be a very good live song too, big crowd singing along the chorus Janne Hi Janne, thanks for your nice comment. I agree this song needs more than one Emily, but that is a bit difficult these days. So I wrote and sang it on my attic on my own. Then I bothered several people with it, changed the melody and tempo a lot of times and there it was. And 'Emily' was very pleased to my relief. After that I took a rum and coke... "I'm looking for a melody, I need a song
I'm looking for a band too, to play along
I'm looking for a cool tune, some Blues, maybe?
with some nice words about Emily"
This is an excellent write Hans.
We are big Stones fans and being US southerners we have always
appreciated Jagger's ability to throw in a southern accent here and there without it sounding unnatural or like a parody.
We feel that on this song you accomplished the same thing as Jagger and we mean that as a big compliment.
Check out their last album Blue & Lonesome for an example.
So....excellent vocal and we love the trumpets.
Great mix too that sets up a nice soundstage on the monitors.
Well done!
J&B
Hi Janice and Bud, well you gave me a really good feeling with your post! At first the compliment on the lyrics, while they didn't took me long to write them. It just came out of my head... But secondly, at first you heard John lennon in my vocals, but now that got even bigger; Mick Jagger took his place! Of course I told people here about my promotion, but those dutchies aren't very nice people. They made nasty remarks, start laughing or kept silence for the rest of their visit. Really nasty people. I'd rather stayed with you overthere... It looks as if I am making fun of your post, but I don't! I know who is telling them and I really appreciated these so nice kind words. So thanks a lot for writing this. Hans, fun tune! Lots of cool articulation. Overall solid composition, vocals. You done justice to the genre One of your best mixes hands down. Two minor things I have noticed. I think solo guitar is a bit dry, compared to vocals and other instruments and I would put some reverb on trumpets too. I think Emily will like it. Good one Hans! Thank you for sharing. Misha. Hi Misha, I missed you for a while. Glad your here again! Thanks for your compliments. You know I come from far with all these mixing issues. And I still have them! But every time I read 'One of your best mixes' it gave me that feeling I'm wandering the right track (!) About the lead and trumpets; You are the only one mentioning it like this, so you have bad luck! No, what I really want to say is that I had the same feeling when making this song. I added a lot of reverb on the trumpets, to the point I didn't dare to go further. They were much dryer. And with the guitar it was a decision, because I wanted it to sound close. Excellent production. Love the opening. Very soulful vocal performance. Let us know what Emily thinks. Hi Ezekiel, Thanks for your kind words. By now you must know Emily was very pleased and proud too! I made a song for her sister once (With love from Mexico), so she wanted one for her too she told me when we were there last november. So finaly I did. They also have a cousin I promised a song. He has to wait a little longer... Excellent groove, Hans. Trumpets are a nice touch. A good write about searching for inspiration. One of your best vocals, I think. Enjoyed this one a lot.
Regards,
Leon Hi Leon, thanks man! I am not fond of trumpets. I never used them in my songs till now. And in the last minute. I was listening to the concept and suddenly an image of KC and the Sunshine band came in my head. Don't really like their songs too, but they made moody songs (and a friend of mine loved it, so I couldn't escape). But their use of trumpets was what I missed in my song. That's how they came in. Still I wasn't very sure and didn't made them so loud. Maybe I should have... So everyone, thanks a lot for your nice and good critics. Stay safe and don't miss your vaccine! Hans
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