For at least 2 months I've been struggling to come up with new compositions. I've nearly always got 2-4 chord structure experiments in process, but of late I've not been inspired as what to do with them style-wise once I'm finished, plus while I now have the music for 5 songs just awaiting vocals added - 1 for female, 2 for duets and 2 just requiring mine - I can't even record demos due to the limitations of where I live.
This new instrumental was pretty much finished earlier this month, but I had 2 final solos for it and I couldn't make up my mind which to use. One is electric guitar, the other acoustic, but while the electric is the better and more dynamic solo, this piece is predominantly acoustic and thus the acoustic guitar solo fit better with the vibe. I finally chose the latter - Calm Lake Acoustic Mod Jazz Solo - but as it has spaces in between each phrase I had to create a hybrid solo out of 5 regenerations to fill in the blanks (see below).
"Winter Piece" consists of two short movements, the first featuring piano, two sets of strings, plus added cello, viola and violin; the second introducing acoustic fingerstyle rhythm guitar, bass guitar, drums and organ followed by a fiddle solo and finally the hybrid acoustic guitar solo.
Piano: Pop Ballad Solo Acoustic Piano ~ John Jarvis String Quartet #1: Runaway Soundtrack Country ~ Matt Nelson Strings Quartet #2: Snow Gentle World Flow ~ Avery Bright Cello: Sobbing Cello & Nylon Guitar ~ Matt Nelson Viola: Viola & Violin Ballad ~ Avery Bright Violin: Viola & Violin Ballad ~ Avery Bright Fingerstyle Rhythm Guitar: Acoustic Guitar: Seek Smooth Panpipe ~ Quinn Bachand Drums: Country Rock Guitar Solo Pop Ba ~ Brian Fullen Bass: Runaway Soundtrack Country ~ Dow Tomlin Organ: Giddy Up Country Ballad w Organ -~ Blair Masters Fiddle Solo: Fidget Bluesy Pop with Fiddle ~ Andy Leftwich *Fingerstyle Acoustic Guitar Solo: Calm Lake Acoustic Mod Jazz Solo ~ Brent Mason
*The Calm Lake acoustic guitar is a hybrid of 5 different samples as any single sample leaves spaces between the phrases. The sample was also mastered in Soren to give it lacking body, but bizarrely it amplified innumerable string squeaks which had to be muted when only one squeak could be heard on the original.
C - 4/4 - 100bpm - 4:02
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Your music is always such a treat, Chay. Love the way you build this one, too. It starrts with piano magic then builds to a strong feel mixed with contless emotions. I like how you mix with the right pieces coming to the fore at the best times.
Enjoy whatever happens! marty
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@babumusic51 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/marty-straub Band in a Box, Reaper, Cakewalk, Ozone 12, EZDrummer
Chay, you've created some beautiful music here! You've assembled quite the ensemble with those BIAB tracks! I can surely relate to that struggle to come up with something new! That's usually when I remember to check my voice recorder on my phone for short little melody snippets that pop in my mind occasionally that I quickly record. Usually something will develop from those. This was an enjoyable listen that is well worth the time investment to check it out! Thanks, TB
Good one Chay! I enjoyed listening and looking at your graphics. Well done. Here’s hoping 2026 will bring opportunity to record vocals in your own space! Andrew
Beautiful song with a beautiful sequence of instruments. Of course, I like the strings best, which create a slightly sad mood that I really enjoy. Well done!
As others have said before me, this is beautiful. You truly are a master of instrumentation and how to create sound-flow from one instrument to another. You have an amazing ability to lead a listener along on a gently flowing stream of carefully crafted music.
This is very impressive and very enjoyable. --Noel
Chay, very sinuous and cool. The change of instrumentation at the midpoint is a pleasant jolt. The solos are nicely placed and trade off well, too. A bit of a change of pace, but still you. Well mixed as always. Nice all the way around.
DC Ron BiaB Audiophile Presonus Studio One ASUS I9-12900K DAW, 32 GB RAM Presonus Faderport 16 Too many guitars (is that a thing?)
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Chay, Very beautiful... Those strings blend so well with the other instruments. Outstanding mix. Loved it! Bob
Thanks for the response, Bob, very much appreciated.
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Nicely done, Chay, you are a master at composing interesting instrumentals!
Thanks, Dave! I'm now praying that I can soon start doing vocals songs, but it's so hard where I live, I've now got 7 with the music already sorted, including a comical song from eons of epochs of ages of eras of yonks and yonks and yonks ago, aka 1973 when I was 22,
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Lovely composition. Fine instrument choices. I really like what the cello adds to the track.
Thanks, Scott! Yep I love the cello, plus it always works well with viola and violin. In this instrumental where the latter two cut out and the fiddle solo begins, the cello remains as it gives such good grounding,
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Your music is always such a treat, Chay. Love the way you build this one, too. It starrts with piano magic then builds to a strong feel mixed with contless emotions. I like how you mix with the right pieces coming to the fore at the best times.
Thanks, Marty! I'm actually surprised by the good reception it's had here, plus on YouTube where it's had double my average views, but while I obviously like the peace piece, it's not in my top 30 favourites out of 44 BiaB tracks posted! I must have caught a vibe I didn't realise I had.
Some favourite Waoist Adages: #1: Play on the Way. #13: Ask not for whom the flower blooms, it blooms for you. #58: Bring consciousness to it. #63: On the road to effortlessness, effort must be made. #92: Be Love Now, the rest will come on its own.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® users: Build 904 now available!
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