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Joined: Nov 2025
Posts: 122
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OP
Apprentice
Joined: Nov 2025
Posts: 122 |
My older brother, Tom, asked me to write a song about him. He loves the ocean, beaches, and summer, so this is what I came up with. I used Band in a Box for rhythm guitar and drums. Bob Bentley played lead guitars and keyboards. He gave it a Doors (Ray Manzerek) and Carlos Santana feel that I love. https://www.johnwalradt.com/music/songs/summerday-master2026jan05.mp3SUMMER DAY Words and music by John Walradt I miss the wind and the water The days are getting warmer now Days of summer, I’m gonna write you a letter It’ll never get to you in this kind of weather. Oh, she has golden hair And she dances with the sun Like she doesn’t even care. Beaches, silver sandy beaches You know the ocean well and all that it teaches, Girls gather smiles on the sand And they make time disappear With the wave of a hand. Oh, she has golden hair And she dances with the sun Like she doesn’t even care. Days turn to sleepless nights Parties and apartments Blue and yellow basement lights, And your life is reflected in the bay And it melts into the morning Of another summer day. Summer day, summer day, summer day.
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Joined: Mar 2025
Posts: 1,027
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Mar 2025
Posts: 1,027 |
Hi John!
Definitely a summer vibe - the instruments and ooo BVs - created a shimmering heat feeling. Lots of gems throughout the song that all add listening appeal. In addition to The Doors and Santana, I also heard The Zombies in the vocal, Shocking Blue ‘Venus’ and some Seals and Crofts - all which adds up to a super song! Well done to you and Bob.
I’m going back for another listen!
Andrew
PS Which BIAB RealTracks did you use? I ask because forum members may choose to use it on a song of their own if they like it.
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,455
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Veteran
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 24,455 |
John, definitely a Santana groove - loved it.
Super "Manzerek keys" compliment the groove perfectly
Great vocal and harmonies.
Excellent guitar chops.
All mixed to perfection.
Loved it
The bumper sticker said "I'm a veterinarian, therefore I can drive like an animal".
Suddenly I realized how many proctologists are on the road.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Apprentice
Joined: Nov 2025
Posts: 122 |
Hi, Andrew. Thank you very much!
I picked these from Style: EMOTION.STY (Emotional Rock w/ Strings)
RealTracks in style: 995:Bass, Electric, HardRockLA Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 4198:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking SongwriterGentleFolkRock Ev 100
RealDrums in style:RockHardEven8^1-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride
When Bob Bentley (a good friend from the UK who was on Broadjam) heard it, he wanted to play guitars and keyboards on it. Solohead from Ukraine on FiveRR did the vocals.
I noticed last night after coming back to this site (which I mistakenly thought was defunct) I was surprised to see how many posts there were for "Stay Here Now" and I recognized your name this morning. I chanced upon how to get all instruments and information by just highlighting the thin window in the instrument bar, pressing CTRL-C, and it gave me the following summary:
[Song] [Title Stay Here Now]
[File Stay Here Now.SGU]
[Key A ] [Tempo 98] [Form 1-71*1]
[.Sty _JBALLAD.STY] [Style Classic J-Pop Ballad]
[Summary]
****** Song Summary *************
Title: Stay Here Now
File:Stay Here Now.SGU
Key=A , Tempo 98, Length (m:s)=3:03
No intro. 71 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 71. Repeat x1 chorus
No Melody
No Soloist track.
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Song is saved with bar changes for Tempo,Volume Changes,
Style is _JBALLAD.STY (Classic J-Pop Ballad)
RealTracks in style: ~700:Bass, Electric, PopHalfNotesPush Ev 085
RealTracks in style: 892:Piano, Acoustic, Solo-Accompaniment PopLiverpool Ev 065 (A-simple)
RealTracks in song: 1596:Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Pop16ths Ev16 065
RealTracks in song: 2975:Vocal Oohs-Aahs, Rhythm Pop3-part Ev 085
RealTracks in song: ~1118:Guitar, 12-String Acoustic, Strumming Ev 085
RealTracks in song: 3063:Vocal Aahs, Rhythm Pop3-part Ev 085
RealDrums in Song:PopSyncSw16^01-a:ClosedHat, Snare , b:ClosedHat, RollingSnare
*******************
[SummaryEnd]
[Chords]
|a) A| Asus| A| Asus|
|a) A| D/A| AMaj7| D/A| A| D/A| AMaj7| D/A|
| AMaj7| D/A| AMaj7| D/A| AMaj7| D/A... / Esus E| A| Asus|
|a) A| D/A| AMaj7| D/A| A| D/A| AMaj7| D/A|
| AMaj7| D/A| AMaj7| D/A| AMaj7| D/A... / Esus E| A| Asus|
|a) AMaj7| Abm7| AMaj7| Abm7| Bm| A| D| Esus|
| F G / /|
|a) C| Dm9| CMaj7| Dm9| C| Dm9| CMaj7| Dm9|
| CMaj7| Dm9| CMaj7| Dm9| CMaj7| Dm9... / Gm G| C| C|
|a) CMaj7| Dm9| CMaj7| Dm9| CMaj7| Dm9... / Gm G| C| C|
| CMaj7| Dm9|end) CMaj7|
[ChordsEnd]
[Lyrics]
[LyricsEnd]
[SongEnd]
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Posts: 122
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Joined: Nov 2025
Posts: 122 |
Hi, Mario. I recognized you from my post of "Stay Here Now," too. As I apologized in previous posts, I mistakenly thought this website group was defunct last fall but that was probably a few errors I made in trying to access it. I got posts from the early 2000s and nothing recent, so I forgot about it. Then last night, I chanced on it to see several people responded. Thank you for your comments! The guitar chops come from Bob Bentley, a good friend in the UK. The funny thing is that Band in a Box was despised by the purists on Broadjam but now I see a lot of members on there are using AI! I'm not a fan of AI as it charges into copyright issues big time whereas a software like Band in a Box is royalty free and its use depends on our originality.
John
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Joined: Aug 2025
Posts: 351
Journeyman
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Journeyman
Joined: Aug 2025
Posts: 351 |
Super sophisticated sound you've got going on this song John, it's a winner.
I really get the Santana feel. Really nice vocal, super smooth, and i'm really partial to those BVs ooohs! Super mix and production, really clear and everything where it should be. You've set yourself a high bar, but looking forward to your future songs.
Most excellent, kind regards.
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Hi, KW. Thank you very much! The sophisticated sound is the genius of Bob Bentley, a very good friend in a small town along the south shore of Britain. On top of the tracks I had, he played lead guitars and keyboards, then mixed the works. Solohead from Ukraine did the vocals. We manage to do all this on tiny budgets. With Bob on there, I'm not sure I could raise such a bar on my own. That's the dilemma of a songwriter with poor physical coordination. I just use a guitar for composing, not recording. That's where Band in a Box comes in! I was so delighted to be introduced to this software! I'll be sure to listen to more of your tunes as well. Thank you again!
John
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Posts: 2,912
Veteran
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Joined: Jul 2022
Posts: 2,912 |
Good song, immediately reminds me of the old song "Summertime", probably because of the similarities in the melody. I like how you bring in the Santana vibe, it really suits the song, as does the singer. Good selection of instruments, beautifully arranged and mixed - nothing to complain about. Well done ![[Linked Image - Only viewable when logged in]](https://www.pgmusic.com/forums/images/icons/default/thumbs_up.gif)
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Hi John. Great vibe with this one. Very good production, vox, guitars! I like it!
Paul
BIAB 2025
Intel i7-4790K, Win10 Pro, 16GB Ram
1TB OS, 2TB Audio, 1TB Samples
Focusrite Scarlett 16i16 4th Gen
Cakewalk Sonar, 64 bit
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The beginning reminded me of Venus by Shocking Blue, but a bit slower. It's quite a nice reference. The song is very good; the vocals and backing vocals are beautiful, as are the guitar arrangements.
Laurent
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All the elements of a good song are here: good melody, lyrics, vocal and instrumental performance. I didn't hear influences so much, I felt like the song had its own unique vibe. Great work!
Windows 11, Intel Core I5 10400, 16 gig ram, Scarlett 2i2, Sony Acid Music Studio 10, BIAB 2020 UltraPlus Pak
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Thank you, TM! It's reassuring to be in a group where the core of a song, music and lyrics, matter the most, and you certainly recognize that. I've been around enough production divas to know that you can only dress up a mediocre song only so much. I'll look around and give your songs a listen as well.
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Thank you, PG. I started off with a lot of Band in the Box tracks which worked nicely. Then I decided to just keep the rhythm guitar and it was pretty nice. Then Bob said he'd really like to work on it. I always start with several Band in a Box tracks and I usually end up that way. There are just a few songs where I delete some tracks.
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Hi, Laurent. I like the song, "Venus," which was twice a #1 hit. I'll take it! It was an enjoyable song to work on. Thank you much! John
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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PowerTracks Pro 2026 for Windows is Here!
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Season's Greetings!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!
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Team PG
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
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You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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