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Hello forum friends. Hope all is well with you! I got a PM from David a little while back with some info about one of his posts. We decided to do a song together. I have always been a big fan of his music! He had a lyric which was a lovely metaphor about losing youthful passion and the magic of life as we age, a subject which is somewhat of a personal obsession with me lately. He wanted something with kind of a Sting vibe. I came up with the musical concept. We bounced the song back and forth a bit, and this is the way it ended up. Hope you like it! We'd love to hear what you think. Take care. David and Greg https://soundcloud.com/gjohnson-2/set-the-prisoner-free?si=0f8ca43ba09240af89409eb690ea17a0&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharingPlayers: Bass. 533 Guitars. 2714, 526 Pad. 1840 Drums. County Shuffle 12-8 brushes I added some midi as well (Moon guitar from Labs, Pan Flute from a Wind Instrument bundle, Mandolin from Komplete, Pad from Omnisphere) SET THE PRISONER FREE V1 How wonderful Is the rain that falls upon this golden valley Reminding me Of our joyful youth In years of eternal spring How magnificent The golden sun Upon the fields if morning But I'm a prisoner now, of my aging heart And I'm crying for release CH In my heart I'm begging Someone tell me who I used to be And in my soul I hear these words please set the prisoner free Yeah in my soul I hear these words please set the prisoner free V2 How marvelous is the summer rain When it comes without a warning So tell me why I feel so lost It’s like my soul's in mourning How far away is the heaven now I feel lost on land and sea Yes, I'm a prisoner now, of my aging heart And I'm crying for release CH In my heart…. Bridge How long have I been locked away afraid of even dreaming How far must I retrace my steps to find the love I’ve been missing In my heart…
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Hi David & Greg,
Nice song and well sung Greg.
Only minor comment - the vocal is lovely but a cut at around 120-150 Hz would take out the mic proximity boom and leave it nice and crisp.
Any room for an instrumental break?
Great work.
Best Regards
Nigel
Nigel Spiers
Christchurch, New Zealand
info@nzacoustics.com
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Great write - sad and mournful for a time lost. Smooth vocals, clear mix. Lovely to listen to - excellent job both of you! 
-- 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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Two of my favorites, getting together. How could it not be marvelous?! A beautiful write. What a nice melody! Beautiful vocal. A really nice production. Light, ethereal... A delightful listen. (even with these aging ears ) fj
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Always good to hear one from you.
Vocal sounds a little muffled. Could be Nigel has the answer.
Vic
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Indeed, it's 100 % Sting (minus the voice of course, but nobody else can sing like Sting).
I like it a lot! Great lyrics with a great voice and a really good arrangement and tasteful instrumentation.
Great work from all involved.
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I can hear the anguish in this. No suprise here, but a tad more bass would be nice You guys did a great 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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Greg and David ..
A fantastic song! The lyric, backing tracks, arrangement, production, vocal - everything - sounds terrific. Multiple tips of ther hat to David for a gorgeous interpretation iof life's progress over the pages of the calender. And Greg, I think this is about as strong as I've ever heard you sing. There's gentle power in your voice.
What wonderful listen! best to bothg of you ...
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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If you do try that low cut be careful not to kill off the fundamentals & render the vocal thin/reedy.
Possibly a better option to try some shallow scoops after finding the freqs that have bothered folk.
I like it as is...prox. effects suggests intimacy & that's a lot of what this song offers.
A lovely collaboration.
Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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Hi Ray,
I think you are right - you don't want a thin vocal sound.
I start EQing all vocals by first rolling off everything below 120 Hz with a gentle Q of .71. This allows the vocals to sit down in the mix without competing with the bass and kick.
(The only exception is with a very deep male voice where a different setting may be required e.g. rolling off everything below 90 Hz)
If there is still some mud I look at frequencies around 250 Hz and try some gentle 2-4 DB cuts with a Q of around 1.25.
The challenge here is that 250 Hz is in the fundamental range of most singers so I very rarely use this cut.
The only place I add EQ (where necessary) is a 2-4 Db shelf starting at 5K and a Q of .71.
If you use the Nectar Plugin (Izotope) vocal presets - many of them include an EQ with the above three settings or similar (highly recommended plugin).
I hope this information is of assistance and look forward to hearing about other members' vocal EQ settings.
Best Regards
Nigel
Nigel Spiers
Christchurch, New Zealand
info@nzacoustics.com
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Oh, what a great coolab team. David Snyder & Greg Johnson, two of my favorite influences. DANG! What a terrific result. Yes, yes, yes, the magic of life as we age. It's so good to hear some of it coming from you two. This is an outstanding collab, and I hope you guys come out with a whole album. Beautifully done.
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Greg and David...this is a beautiful piece of music....my first thought was 'how pleasant this is to the ear'...my mind was opened to the message by the joy of listening....gorgeous arrangement and accompaniment...Greg, your vocal was stellar...and David the lyric is profound...as one, like many of us, who has entered into the 'golden' years' wondering what that's supposed to mean, your song resonates with a myriad of thoughts and feelings...it checks all the boxes for me...well written, well crafted, well produced, well sung...touching, tender and terrific!
www.soundclick.com/firesongBiaB 2024, Steinberg Cubase Pro 13, Wavelab 11.2, SpetraLayers Pro 10, Audacity, Steinberg UR44 Interface, Yamaha Genos, Roland FP60 and FP10, Windows 10 You are who you are because you do what you do because of what you believe.
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Excellent collaboration Greg and David. Perfect vocal and loved the lyric. Really neat instrumentation choices in the song. Such a cool unique overall sound to the song. Very original... Well done
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Hey thanks for posting this, Greg. Man do you ever sound great! Happy Thanksgiving--and to everyone else as well!! For the record peeps, I LOVE Greg Johnson's sound and songs, and have always found him to be very Sting-like in many of his songs, to have a voice that is Sting-caliber, and a style that is truly Sting-worthy! So when he told me he wanted to do a co-write, I plopped down on the bed with a pad and a pen and said to myself,"OK, dude, channel some Sting." I had the first half of it about five minutes. (The second verse came a little later.) Anyway, I sent the beginning of it to Greg, and said, "make it sound like Sting." This is essentially what he sent back, in just a few phases. I went: "Wow! Dude you nailed it." !!!! I want to do some more collabs with Greg. The man is epic!!
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Hi, Greg and David !
what a superb tune and so
wonderfully presented !
I just love your voice Greg !
A masterpiece !:))
Cheers
Dani
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Hi Greg and David, What a fantastic song! Songwriting at its best, and man, that vocal! Track sounds great too. Outstanding collaboration, the start of a new partnership perhaps?
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This is a great collaboration! David’s introspective lyric and Greg’s soft vocal interpretation fit like a hand in a glove. It doesn’t get much better than this. Bravo, Tom
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Hi Greg and David
What a beautiful soulful song
So great played and sung
Background track is top class
One of the best songs I have heard in a long time here
Great collaboration
Many greetings
Andi ;-)
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That was a treat!
Excellent lyrics, DS. Some of your finest.
Vocal is top quality.
Instrumentation is richly textured==-silky.
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Great collab, fantastic GJ singing. Didn't really get the Sting thing, sorry. Greg sounds like Greg, and that's a good thing.
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