Hi Janice and Bud, Mario, Peter and Misha,

I was sooo busy with the piano sounds and after that I had an idea for another song, I completely forgot to reply to your so nice posts.
Shame on me!!! Very very sorry. I think my surgery did strange things to my behavior.
The voice seems fine, but otherwise...

Well, thanks a lot for your nice reactions to the Dice. I will reply to you all personally under the copy of your message here.
Hans

Originally Posted by Janice & Bud
The lyric and the melody are haunting in a very good way, Hans.
We like the sparse accompaniment and your vocals are excellent!
These lines reminded us of so many times with our mothers when they would light up talking about memories from their childhood. We both hope to always keep our “inner child” alive.

“I held my soul in my hands

And I stared at that worn out thing

I heard a child crying inside it

I didn't know it was still in”

Again, welcome back!
J&B
PS Love the cover art!

PPS We thought the piano tracks sounded good. But out of curiosity have you tried the MST's? IMHO, they are dramatically different (in a good way) from the regular midis if you have some grand piano sounds.

Hi Janice and Bud, what a nice reply! I guessed that if you would reply about the song, you certainly would quote that part of the child inside. And you did!
It was my mother always telling me about the child inside yourself. I liked the picture. So, she is also here...

I listened to some mst's and even tried some piano sounds from Native Instruments with it too. Indeed also some grand piano's. But I was not satisfied.
My own pianoplay is too simple and I was thinking of calling a friend who can play it very well, but decided to mix the 2 piano's from BiaB. Good enough I thought.
And thanks again for the welcome, but you noticed I'm still not yet well enough...

Originally Posted by MarioD
Hans, this is a great song.
I really liked the lyrics and your vocal on this one.
I also liked the mix, a drummer would have ruined the mood IMHO.
Great job on those strings.

Your best to date

Hi Mario, thanks a lot for that nice reply! And what a compliment too!!
I had a version with percussion in it, but it felt wrong (in a way). So I skipped it, and some other instruments too.
The string took me a lot of time, but i was satisfied too!

Originally Posted by PeterF
Hans
A very good intense song, well sung and produced.
Nice use of strings. Piano had some odd moments but overall it worked.
Peter

Hello Peter, very nice what you wrote. Thanks! yes that piano was a challenge. In fact to keep both piano's in line. But 'jumpiness' puzzled me. I didn't hear that.
What I heard was that where the first piano had to make place for the other (darker) one, there was a kind of overlap. I changed that afterwards. If I dealt with the problem I don't know.
Sometimes I wish I was a better pianoplayer...

Originally Posted by Rustyspoon#
Hans,
Good, deep song. Simple and effective instrumental, good vocals and balance between the two. Clear mix. I am with David C. and Ray on jumpiness of that piano, but also read your comment on FJ request. There are a few good Super Midi pianos in BIAB.
Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Hi Misha, very nice of you to write these words. Thanks! Every once in a while I want to make 'deep' songs. I like what they do (to me) while composing or singing them. you have deep songs too, maybe you understand what I mean then.
I have written some words about that piano sound and the mst's. I think my search isn't over yet ;-)

As I said in my intro here, sorry for the delay in responding.
I hope you have a nice day anyway,
Hans

Hans Berkhout
(Birchwood)
https://soundcloud.com/user-296497130