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I was on a date, recently. The stunning lady in question turned out to be religious, and she asked me my feelings about religion. Trying to lighten the mood (in retrospect, about as big a faux pas as possible, from me), I said: "I believe fervently in God when things go well, and mutter bitterly towards Him when things are going badly". It was meant to be a joke, to lighten the mood, but ... well, you can imagine for yourselves just how badly THAT date went, from then on. My fault entirely, too ... Anyway, seems I was wrong, too - for, lately, I've had my share of "things going badly", and this is what I've come up with. It's, basically, the version I did in 2021, but having the vocals re-mastered and the instruments for the background completely replaced. See what you think? And yes, I'm singing on it ... a sort of "penance", if you will, for my rather hitherto flippant nature. My grandfather used to have a saying: "joke, and if you must, moan - but leave the saints alone". Hmm ... perhaps I should have remembered that, before allowing the "comedy light" (however innocently meant) to switch on, on my date? All feedback gratefully received - thanks for listening  Amazing Grace (public domain cover, 2024 version) EDIT:Dear all, Following suggestions, here is a second version. Haven't been able to fix everything, but hopefully this is better? I've changed the instruments around again, too, cutting out the strings altogether ... it's just bass, electric piano and guitar, now. The sounds are from Musio. See what you think? THANKS for listening!!! Amazing Grace (TAKE 2) AMAZING GRACE (lyrics) Amazing grace! How sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; Was blind, but now I see. ’Twas grace that taught my heart to feel, And grace my fears relieved; How precious did grace appear The hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; ’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home. ORIGINAL BAND: ****** Song Summary ************* Title: Amazing Grace - 7 October 2019 File:Amazing Grace - 7 October 2019 B.SGU Key=Db , Tempo 55, Length (m:s)=3:09 No intro. 18 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 18. Repeat x3 choruses No Melody No Soloist track. Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0, Style is 9-8_SLOW.STY (9/8 Slow-Tempo Arpeggio) Style MIDI Instruments are : Acoustic String Bass (33), Electric Piano (5), Acoustic Guitar (26), Orchestral Strings (47), MIDI Drums :1 Standard Drum Kit (1) RealDrums will be substituted :Pop98^3-a:Brushes , b:Sidestick, Ride I replaced all the MIDI sounds in Dorico, with the HALion Sonic sounds. My voice is recorded in Mixcraft Pro Studio 10.
Last edited by musician17; 08/30/24 02:34 PM. Reason: added second version of song
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Sounds wonderful. Go find that old gal and play this for her.
By the way, do you have a dess plugin to fix the ssses and tees at the end of your consonents.
BIAB – 2025, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud (Tip: No need to create a SC account to hear music - just hit ESC ).
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James,
A heartfelt and tender version... Great vocal.
Excellent production values. Love the tracks selections and mix.
That's a funny backstory - we've all had similar things happen!
Bob
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Hi Musician 17,
Just listened to your version.
Two suggestions:
1. The vocals are boomy and would benefit from a cut in the lower mid frequencies plus a roll-off at 125Hz
2. Sibilance
Both are easily fixed in your DAW.
Best Regards
Nigel
Nigel Spiers
Christchurch, New Zealand
info@nzacoustics.com
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James, like your arrangement and the thrumming strings{?} beneath it all. Yeah, tough to know the boundaries of even light humor when it comes to spiritual matters. Live and learn...
DC Ron
BiaB Audiophile
Presonus Studio One
ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM
Presonus Faderport 16
Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
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Nice version James.
A couple of suggestions for improvement:
It's been mentioned that the boomy vocal needs some of the low end removed and a little bit of de-essing required.
You should also smooth out some of the staccato in the vocal and some sudden stabs on the vocal such as on "once" and "lost".
Good start though.
Vic
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Dear all, Following suggestions, here is a second version. Haven't been able to fix everything, but hopefully this is better? I've changed the instruments around again, too, cutting out the strings altogether ... it's just bass, electric piano and guitar, now. The sounds are from Musio. See what you think? THANKS for listening!!! Amazing Grace (TAKE 2)
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James, I like this cut down version better. On thing though is that there are a lot of sibilance. You may want to get a De-esser plug-in if you don't already have one. Here is a list of free ones: https://www.bestfreeplugins.com/plugins/effects/de-esser-01.phpNote that I have no experience with any of these.
The fitness trainer asked me, "What kind of a squat are you accustomed to doing?" I said, "Diddly."
64 bit Win 11 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Hi, James. I love the backstory. Just the sort of thing I'd say.  Nice singing, with the caveat about the sibilance. I've never had much luck with de-essers. I'll normally go through my entire vocal and find the problem consonants, which are typically a sibilant or plosive, and then manually bring them down in volume. Some DAWs allow you to draw automated volume envelopes to control the volume in trouble spots. I'd also suggest manually shortening the duration of some of the /S/ sounds at the end of some of the words. Just cut the waveform off, and draw in a fade at the end. The Musio instruments sound fine, although they're a bit far in the background, so they didn't get that much attention. And that's fine. I was looking at Musio earlier this year, but between the slow instrument download times and the overlap of instruments I already had, I decided to pass. I'm in the process of getting ready to upgrade my computer, so I'm doing an inventory of all the instruments I've got on my computer, so I can figure out how to re-authorize them on the new one. I've got so many I can't really justify buying anymore. Except for that Instant Cello by Virharmonic, because it's on sale and you can never have too many cellos, right? And there's also... 
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That is a classic song. Last time I sang that was at the funeral of my wife's aunt. It was her favorite hymn. The family wanted me to sing it with guitar . Man that was the hardest song to get through that I ever sang. Not a dry eye in the assembly. I'll never let myself be talked into doing that again. It was tough.
Nice version. I agree with the comments on the vocal stabs, boominess, and highs. The stabs are just a matter of rephrasing to a more natural way of saying it. The rest is rolling off the lows and highs with EQ. As far as the backing tracks.... That really didn't make a difference to me. That's just a personal preference and I wasn't focusing on the tracks. This song is all about the words and the vocal delivery.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Nice job, James.
You've had plenty of advice here...
Keep at it...
fj
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Hi everybody, sorry I reply so late, and so briefly. THANK YOU so much for ALL your kind comments - sorry, once more, that I do not reply to each and every one of you separately. I've actually tried to apply a sibilance plug-in to my vocal track. Unfortunately, as David Cuny says, I think I have to do the work manually. I hate that kind of thing, truth be told, but it's a "necessarily evil", so to speak. So ... I'll do that as soon as I get some time! And yes, the sibilance is obvious and often present, so this is indeed a must do. David Cuny: you simply CANNOT have too many instruments, right? Thanks, again, everyone - I'll work on it! Really, really kind of you all to help!
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