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Falling

Afternoon in late July
I'm falling
Hidden in tall green river grass
Underneath the endless lazy sky
Plovers circle boats as they pass by

And I with all my heavy cares
Logic and my evening prayers
Abandoned all my plans
They wash away like sand

   I am left suspended
   With my castles in the air
   Come tumbling down
   Down to the ground
   There's nothing there

   Just a kingdom made of cards
   Broken promises and hearts
   London Bridge is falling down
   We all fall down

Summer's gone and snow is softly falling
Somehow I'm still living in the past
Gone those happy sunlit golden days
Like the autumn leaves
All blown away

Our time has past
The hour's late
Old Tom rings closed Oxford's gate
The closing of a door
That's barred forever more

(Repeat Chorus)

Instruments/Effects Chain
Master Buss: HoRNet ThirtyOneMK2, Lurssen Mastering Console (Pop Rock, Warmer)
Lead Vocal: SynthesizerV (Oscar) Greg Wells VoiceCentric (Lead Vocal), Capital Chambers (Chorus Wide Vox)
Harmony: SynthesizerV (Jun, Hayden), Capital Chambers (Chorus Wide Vox)
Female Vocal: SynthesizerV (Weina), Raum
Cello: 1856:Cello, Background PopCountry Ev 085
Ac. Guitar: 2916:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm CountryFolk8thsBrent Ev 085 + Holds
12 String Guitar: 1680:Guitar, 12-String Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 085
Acoustic Piano: 2999:Piano, Rhythm CountryFolk8thsMike Ev 085 (Holds), Raum (Airy)
Violin 1: 2337:Violin, Background, PopHigh Ev 085, Abbey Roads Plate
Violin 2: 2338:Violin, Background, PopLow Ev 085, Abbey Roads Plate
Viola: 2336:Viola, Background, Pop Ev 085, Abbey Roads Plate
Descant Horn: Audio Imperia Solo
Flute 1&2: Audio Imperia Solo

Yada, Yada
As usual, any comments are welcome!

This song is yet another riff on the work of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (a.ka. Lewis Carroll). "Old Tom" refers to a bell in a tower in Oxford.

Edit: By "riff", I mean it references "All in the golden afternoon..." and "A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky".

I posted the original version of this song over 10 years ago. I'd always wanted to do this with better vocals, but unfortunately I'd lost all the files.

One of the new features in SynthesizerV is auto-converting vocal tracks, so that got me working on it... after I had thoroughly scoured my hard drive to make sure one more time that the files weren't sitting around somewhere.

I used Spleeter to split the track into vocals and backing. I was able to automatically covert the vocals, but it required a lot of corrections. It was obvious the backing track would have to be rebuilt from scratch.

I used AWC to figure out the chords, and it did an OK job of it. Then I found a thread on Song Master Pro, and the demo version did a much better job figuring out the chords.

The original version of the song was in C, but I adjusted it down to G to make it more singable. I tried out various vocal banks, and Oscar seemed the best fit. This version is a bit less "dreamy" than the original.

As usual, I tried my best to find avoid doing real work by looking for BiaB tracks that would do the heavy lifting. The high string trio worked much better than expected, and anchored by the cello meant I didn't have to do any string parts. There are a few spots where I should probably trim the cello back a bit.

For the guitars, I rendered out a normal track as well as a held strum track. I'd intended to add one more guitar part with light and pretty arpeggios, but ended up deciding the song didn't need it.

I added a descant horn in a few places as well as some flutes in the first section, but left them out of the second section, which is intentionally more bare than the first half.

I worked out a two part harmony for the second half, going to three part in some places, but it didn't seem to fit in well. Parts were too busy and fussy, and didn't seem to support the song. I kept a few of the parts that seemed to work, to give it a bit of change.

It's a rather slow song, and I played around with bumping the tempo from 90 BPM to 95 BPM. It's probably a bit better faster, but I'd have to do a lot of adjusting to really make it work, so I called it mostly done and posted it.

Hi David,

Very nice melody and backing and as always I am in awe of the Synthesizer V vocals.

Sounds like a lot of work went into producing this - Well done.

Best Regards
Nigel

SO good, David. Good write, and you fashioned Oscar so well. I really enjoy the backing track --so well put together and softly dynamic. Man, changing it from C down to G is a big jump. I wonder how Oscar would do up there. Maybe Natalie. Never mind. This is perfect as is.

Very pretty David.

This sounds like a nice song resurrection.

Man, your vocals sound awesome! Dude you have some pipes!!!!

David,

A lovely opening. Gentle, Full, like a deep breath to "get ready".
The tracks under the first verse are gorgeous. They are what I think of as "cotton candy tracks" - airy, delicate, sweet. Perfect for highlighting that (very impressive) vocal. That takes thought. And talent.
Nice walk-down melody.
A very nice balance on the BIAB strings (cello & violins). Nice (supportive) touch around 3:15...
Nice use of held chords on the acoustic.

The Mix is beautiful. (As is the arrangement)

"And I with all my heavy cares
Logic and my evening prayers
Abandoned all my plans
They wash away like sand"

Oh yeah.

Terrific Listening.

fj

David, really beautiful song, and the arrangement and production are splendid. Really tasteful dynamic shifts but not showy, which ain't easy. Everything serves the song perfectly. Nice work with the vocalists, too. Always enjoy your detailed explanations. Sounds like a journey, but...you made it! Nicely done.

Man David, you really show off your talent here. Great sound, wonderful instrumentation, vocals, writing. Everything came together so well. It's a very pretty listen, great work!

Brad

David...this is a gorgeous piece of music...your mastery of the Synth V voices is evident...the vocals are exquisite...the backing tracks are so professional sounding...but it's your composing skills and arrangement that are so, so evident here! This is marvelous!

David, you are the master of synth voices! They sound so organic it is scary.
Outstanding work on the arrangement and backing tracks. This must have been a bear to mix.
An outstanding piece of work.
Beautiful, just beautiful.
IMHO your best to date.
Loved it.

Hi David.

What an arrangement! This is fantastic. You really know your stuff. The intro was awesome and really captured my imagination and segued into a superb production. I loved what you did with Synth V. Until this presentation, I had not heard Oscar, now I've added him to my 'to buy' list. I really enjoyed the song, and I enjoyed all the images that sprang into my mind as I traveled along on your musical journey.

It's always a pleasure listening to your work! You never disappoint
--Noel

Very impressive. A lot of work on this one, but it sure paid off.

Cheers

Mike B.

Hi, Nigel.

Thanks!

Thanks again!

I appreciate the positive comments!

Hi, Marty.

Well, Oscar did most of the work.

Thanks! BiaB did most of the heavy lifting. It's mostly just a matter of finding instruments that work well, and using them in the right place.

Well, I started off in C, and it was too high for most of them. Obviously, you're going to get different vocal qualities in different registers. So while Oscar could sing up there, the emotional quality wouldn't quite be the same.

Thanks for stopping by and your kind words!

Hi, David.

Thanks!

Yeah, it turned out better than I had any right to expect.

Oh, I've got some pipes, but they don't sound this good. That's all synthetic voices.

It's good to hear from you - thanks for stopping by!

Hi, floyd jane.

To be honest... I sort of lucked into it. I had a listen to the original version, and it had a french horn on it. So I added it to the new version. Just as I was finishing up the mix, I noticed the piano was playing on the introduction. It seemed a bit busy to me, so I pulled it out, and... Ooooh, so much better. That's the thing I keep re-learning: things sound better when the non-essential stuff is taken away.

Thanks, but... I can't take too much credit. Panned guitars always sound awesome. And the high string trio works so nicely here - I really lucked out. All I really had to do was automate the faders, and most of the mix was done.

The "falling" melody? Thanks!

I kept the cello dry and put the a plate reverb on the high strings. It did a good job making the strings sound bigger than they were. I thought I was going to have to put a reverb on the cello to make it match, but I left it dry and to my surprise, it worked. So the high strings are nice and soft, and the cello keeps the its definition.

Thanks for noticing! The horn doesn't show up much, but when it does, it really does sound nice. That was something from the original arrangement I wanted to keep.

It's super-convenient that BiaB has an option for rendering out held chords. It's easy to cut and paste in the DAW, and sometimes it's helpful for making small changes to the strums as well.

Well, that made my day.

Thanks!

Hi, Ron.

Thanks!

I was a discouraged when I found that I'd lost the tracks to the original version, but the alternate tracks did a good job, and it was fun to hear the song with a slightly different "flavor".

I think the cello is the unsung star of the arrangement. The guitars are pretty, but the cello really helps to glue things together.

As for the dynamic shifts... thank goodness for track automation! It's my not-so-secret weapon.

It actually took less time than I expected. I got pretty frustrated copying over the original vocal because of ... issues, but once I got the correct chords worked out, it only took a few days to finish. It was nice not to have to sweat the lyrics for a change!

Thanks for your kind comments - I appreciate them.

Hi, Brad.

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Hi, Dan.

Thanks! That means a lot, coming from you!

But honestly, the SynthV voices don't require nearly as much work as they used. At least, they don't if you pick a genre that fits the voice.

Thanks for the kind words!

Hi, Mario.

Thanks! But... the software is doing most of the work.



Surprisingly, no. There aren't nearly as many tracks on this as the original. And once I'd automated the faders for the guitars, 90% of the mix was done. Everything else was put in relative to the guitars and voices, and there wasn't that much to do.

Thanks!

But... What am I to think, when my best work to date was something I did ten years ago?

Thanks for listening and commenting!

Hi, Noel.

Thanks! I tried my best to keep the elements of the original arrangement. I mentioned before - I think the cello is making me sound better than I actually am.

Heh. I heard a song someone did with Sheena, and now she's on my "To Buy" list.

When I first got Oscar, I thought his voice was perhaps too soft and quiet. But the "Rock" setting brings out more power, and I was surprised - and pleased - at what an emotional performance I got.

Thanks! I appreciate your kind comments!