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I'm the Decider (the Good Old Days) Most of the songs on my album are blatantly political, so to avoid ruffling feathers, I’m not planning to post them here. This song is also political, but it’s much older, so hopefully not as likely to rile anybody up. I originally wrote this song in 2007, back before BiaB had RealTracks. In 2019, I rejiggered the lyrics and updated the song using two different RealTracks Ska styles. I rendered both of them out and combined selected tracks in Logic Pro. Rather than go to the trouble of setting up my good mic, I recorded the vocals with a Shure mic I keep mounted next to my computer monitor. It gave quite a different character to the vocals. Style is _RUDEBOY.STY RealTracks in style: 3486:Bass, Electric, SkaClassicAB Ev16 100 RealTracks in style: 1155:Organ, B3, Rhythm Reggae Ev16 100 RealTracks in style: 3492:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm SkaSlow Ev16 100 RealDrums in Style: SkaSlow70sWesPerc^2-a:Sidestick , b:Hat, Busy Snare Style is _RUDEGRL.STY RealTracks in style: 1156:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm Reggae Ev16 100 RealTracks in style: 3492:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm SkaSlow Ev16 100 The horn section comes from Punk N Ska sample pack by wesoundhuman.com Mixed in Logic Pro FX: Vocals: Logic Compressor and Channel EQ, PSP Easy Verb, medium plate preset BG Vocal: Kind of threw the kitchen sink at this - Compressor, Channel EQ, Waves Butch Vig Vocals, NI Replika, PSP Easy Verb and Autotune. Bass, Guitars, Piano and drums - Logic Compressor Organ and horns - Logic Compressor and Channel EQ Ran entire mix through PSP EasyVerb and Mastered in Ozone 8 No pitch correction on main vocal. I used Auto tune to lower BG vocals an octave. Lyrics: Look at me, if ignorance is bliss I'm the standard test. When Christ talks to you, what wrong can you do? If you're a bit reckless No one's ever called me the great communicator But look now who's an insider I make the decisions I don't care if they're wrong ‘Cause I'm the decider As long as I am resolute Faith based government Everything I say is wrong Everything I do is wrong But God is on my side Informed decision, you won't get from me I go with my gut Loyalty trumps failure in my administration Even the ones who suck Got people to tell me what to do and to say But not a puppet on a string Competent, incompetent, what do I care The big guy's on my team In other words...(chorus) I'm the decider (He's the decider) I'm the decider (He's the decider) Decision maker, problem solver That's not my game I'm the decider They call me a cowboy, there's nothing wrong with that As long as you're not gay (Don't ask, don't tell) Enemies of freedom are easily emboldened So do what I say Wish my words didn't sound quite so idiotic I need a great scriptwriter I make the decisions so what if they're wrong ‘Cause I'm the decider
Last edited by Chimble; 08/29/22 03:36 AM.
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Chimble,
I always do my best to avoid being critical either way when it comes to political stuff here in the forum, but I can still comment on the musical aspects of a tune, and I can say you did an awesome job with this track! Love that Reggae backing you produced...it's so effective! Enjoyed the tune!
Thanks, Torrey
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Joined: Dec 2003
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Super groove
Good vocal and mix
I decided that I like this song
Is that a Shih-Tzu on your lap?
Love is grand.
Divorce is twenty grand!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Joined: Jun 2020
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"Enemies of freedom are easily emboldened" . . . How true
Nice reggae feel and I like the horns.
Good job.
https://soundcloud.com/user-646279677BiaB 2026 Windows For me there’s no better place in the band than to have one leg in the harmony world and the other in the percussive. Thank you Paul Tutmarc and Leo Fender.
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Joined: Dec 2011
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This song has a very cool groove to the song. Super vocal and backtrack. Excellent mix...Well done
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Joined: Feb 2010
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Nice job on this one, the mix was very good to my inexpert ears. Liked the horns, were those loops? Some of the words didn't flow well but that's to be expected when getting this topical. I'm surprised you didn't use "Fool me once..." which is my favorite Dubya doofus line. Well done overall.
Windows 11, Intel Core I5 10400, 16 gig ram, Scarlett 2i2, Sony Acid Music Studio 10, BIAB 2020 UltraPlus Pak
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OP
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Thanks everyone for having a listen and leaving a comment. Super groove
Good vocal and mix
I decided that I like this song
Is that a Shih-Tzu on your lap? Yes, that's our Shih-Tzu, Ran-chan. She doesn't understand all the time I spend doing music stuff. Nice job on this one, the mix was very good to my inexpert ears. Liked the horns, were those loops? Some of the words didn't flow well but that's to be expected when getting this topical. I'm surprised you didn't use "Fool me once..." which is my favorite Dubya doofus line. Well done overall. The horns were from a sample pack. In the pack, there were three Ska-punk songs featuring horn parts. All of the phrases were neatly sliced, so it was just a matter of putting the slices I liked into the Logic sampler, and playing around with them until they sounded right. It was the first time I had worked directly with samples -- took a lot of time to choose the sample slices I wanted to use, but after that it was simple. I wrote the song in 2007 so I considered it a somewhat light-hearted comment on the Bush II administration. If I had written it in 2008, it might have been considerably more bitter.
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Joined: Sep 2010
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Nice work! A bit more reverb on the vocal than I would have liked, but I don't really know the reggae genre well. Fun listen. 
-- 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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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
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