Sorry to butt in :blush The easiest way to duck guitar with vox using Reaper, which I know you use, is to use the Reaper ReaComp plugin as the last effect on your guitar track. Feed it via the side chain input (3/4) from the vocal track. And then adjust the Threshold to get the level you want. Much faster than using automation. I learned how to do it from a Kenny Gioia video many years ago. Set up the compressor similar to this: (image attached)
Thanks Dave! I watched this video from Kenny Gioia's Reaper Mania and as I sometimes use Cakewalk Sonar, I also watched this video from Mike at Creative Sauce and applied the ReaComp compressor to the guitar triggered by the main vocal through channel 3/4. I didn't know this existed prior to this week, and I can see it will be a handy technique to use from time-to-time. #lifelonglearning
Originally Posted by DC Ron
Andrew, love the groovy thang you have goin' on here. That opening guitar section is superb. Love the guitar-driven overall sound, too. Great vocals, and I'd agree that the gentle double tracking suits you very well. Great arrangement, and the bridge is quite tasty indeed. Yes, heavier, but still catchy and cool.
Thanks Ron. When first starting the mix, I had the RealStyle going straight through and thought "Nah - that's too much of the same". So I hunted for a couple of different guitar RealTracks and used those, but with the 3729:Guitar, Electric, Soloist GrungePopGritty providing continuity. However, it was this track that was too conflicted with the main vocal which I have recently ducked. I love doubled vocals (and sometimes tripled), but like sugar, I musn't overdo it. Glad you liked the song - thanks for listening!
Originally Posted by Torrey Bliss
You definitely achieved a "heavy" sound here and it sounds great to me! Very clever lyric writing! My favorite part of the song is the chorus section which uses a wonderful melodic structure supported by the perfect sync basslines and guitars moving around it all! Great song! Well done! TB
Hi Torrey! Thanks for the 'thumbs up' for the lyrics - it's the part that I least enjoy writing, although sometimes can produce quite rewarding results.
Originally Posted by WaoBand
Totally agree with the song's sentiments - on social media I've been writing essays on the subject for awhile now, when usually I write about spirituality and evolving consciousness - plus you've got a great chord structure for it, but I agree with Dave in that I find the rhythm section too crowded.
Thanks Chay - yes many of us becoming disenfranchised with wealth inequality - well I never was enfranchised. I'm hoping this topic gains traction with the masses as it is a global problem. Re the rhythm section, hopefully my latest change has gone some way towards addressing that. However, I also recognise that this genre is often 'busy' so I wanted to find a balance there.
Originally Posted by John Walradt
Terrific gritty rockin' tune, Andrew! I did something like that with a Twisted Sister feel which I'll post sometime...a Democrat theme called "Ride the Wave" a couple years before our disastrous election. It was unlike anything else I had done. It's fun to get into something different every so often. You broke out of your usual in a great way.
Thanks John - I agree! It's good to venture outside of our normal. I've definitely learned a few things with this genre. Hopefully, you'll be able to pull out your song at your mid-terms and 'Ride the wave' again!
Originally Posted by jannesan
From 60's pop to 90's grunge, you have quite a musical range :smile I enjoyed this heavier song, nice memorable riff that somehow reminds me of the 80's new wave. And I like the punk attitude in the lyrics, injustice clearly expressed, which reminded me also of Midnight Oil. Good mix and I enjoyed your expressive vocals and fitting harmonies, very good work! I would be more than happy to hear more of your angry statements smile
Ah Janne! You know of Midnight Oil in Finland - I'm impressed! I'll probably need to retreat to my usual for a while, but when I find material again, I'll have another crack. In fact, I've got a song idea from about 10 years ago that is worthy but I need to put a bit of effort in to it first - and I have a couple of songs to finish, and one of those is an assignment that Knee Wobbler set and the deadline is fast approaching! Thanks for listening!
Originally Posted by MarioD
Andrew, this is a great song. Great vocal and lyrics Super groove To nitpick I didn't care for the guitar playing licks like that while you were singing. It was very busy and detracting from your vocals. However that is just my opinion and others may not agree. Regardless this is a very good song.
Mario - I think there were a few others that agreed with you. I'm hoping that my 'ducking' treatment of the guitar has gone some way towards addressing that. Thanks for listening! PS It's been good to hear you singing on some of your recent uploads - very good! Andrew
Hi, friends. There was a dispute going on after "Baker Street" by Gerry Rafferty was recorded. The fellow, Ravenscroft, a saxophone player insisted that he wrote the hooky saxophone part but Gerry Rafferty said that he sang the notes to him. Well, there is a demo that was made by Gerry before London Studios recorded the song. It's supposed to be on a re-issue as and extra on the City to City album. It does have Gerry playing the original notes on guitar. Anyway here's the link and you can hear how roughly mixed it was. Nope, we aren't the only ones who made mixes that sounded like we were in the bathroom! I must say the original arrangement is interestingly different and worth a listen, but not sweet like the final master! I also read that "Baker Street" also hit #1 knocking Andy Gibb's "Shadow Dancing" out, but Casey Kasem had to re-record his broadcast keeping "Shadow Dancing" at #1 because Billboard's chart manager was told that if Andy Gibb did not stay at #1, his act would be pulled off of a Billboard concert event. The story has never been verified but it wouldn't surprise me! John
Yes because this tool works off of phonics You can transcend languages. The other thing that you need to realize is that choirs are not going to have voices that stand out. They went to a lot of work to make the voices blend. It's more of a question of does it sound like a choir or not. Remember you can test them all and I think you have till the end of February.
If you go to the demo page and pop open the accordion control at the bottom, you can compare them singing "Auld Lang Syne". It would be helpful if they got the pronunciation of the words right, and the stop consonants not replaced by the voiced versions ([i]i.e. /d/ instead of /t/): https://store.dreamtonics.com/product/choir-voices-collection/ My impression from these demos is Collection 1 (Contemporary, native English) is the most "pop", and least choral sounding with the least amount of blend. Collection 2 (Classical & Cinematic, native Chinese) has the "classical" choral sound. Collection 3 (Folk & Acoustic, native Japanese) choir has a full sound, but to my ear is the most accented. The first and third collection has a Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass; the second has a Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, and Baritone. I suspect that those first two choirs would be best for English, and having a collection of different voice types is always good. That makes a complete collection a no-brainer, if you can afford it.
For bass it's much easier for me because all the strings are a fourth above, but on guitar they just had to throw in that B string!
At least the 6 string bass has a C string instead of a B. Having the top two notes B and E makes chords like A and E a walk in the park. But change the guitar strings to E A D G C F and see what happens to your chord shapes. It's not pretty. I remember how I couldn't find any patterns between chords on the guitar, and then finally saw the "shift" that the B string did to the structure. I could suddenly see the E, A and D shapes were the same.
... BIAB has benefited greatly from customers who are "tough to please"!
It's hard to argue anything against that. Yes, a lot of pushing from the audience has helped improve the program enormously .
So true. Here's a thought: The challenge for growing and/or sustaining any business is figuring out how to attract new customers. That is, enticing those who don't currently provide feedback. Not hard to imagine that the predominant demographic here is a 50-80 year old male who has been using BiaB for over a decade. Since time eventually retires all musicians there's a finite future in listening to the current voices. A long term strategy (if desired) will require calibration to new voices and new ideas. (That being said, I have enough BiaB content to last the rest of my life. So I'm better than good.) Just my two cents. You get what you pay for around here...
Izzy, super song. Amazing vocals! I mean, they're...amazing. Did I say amazing? I should have, since they are, well, AMAZING. I said that, RIGHT??? Nice band, nice mix. Nicer than nice all the way around. I've used Mel for harmonies for more songs than I'll ever post here in my lifetime. For me, my sung harmonies are 100% better 100% of the time. But I'm not entirely right either, so there's that. (There's a hard (T-Pain) note bend of the "the-re" lyric at 2:27 that would sound more in line with the genre if not so hard. Caveat: See above note about me not being entirely right.) Cool song!
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.
Andrew, this is a great song. Great vocal and lyrics Super groove To nitpick I didn't care for the guitar playing licks like that while you were singing. It was very busy and detracting from your vocals. However that is just my opinion and others may not agree. Regardless this is a very good song.
The man of may talents strikes again. This doesn't sound like an experiment in Jazz harmony. It sounds like an expert playing jazz. Excellent lounge jazz Great arrangement Loved it
Funny - your storytelling and singing makes you a modern day troubadour that people would surely love to hear on the stage. Nice to hear accordion folk for a change The guitar solo sounds like home with the accordion and the washboard is rarely heard on this forum, so very inventive arrangement. I'd be very interested to hear a longer version of Metallica played with harmonica Janne
Janne, thanx for this wonderful review. I'm not so sure people would like to hear me on stage anymore. I stumbled on that accordion and I liked it. It is a little redundant but I think that may happen on a real front porch jam. I have used the washboard on a couple of other songs but they were covers and I can't post them. PS - I tried to record my harmonica version of "Sad But True" but my neighbor called the cops on me. That harmonica is loud!
Wow, this was so beautiful, Noel! And you're always so positive! I am not ignorant of the beauty in the world, but the bad stuff is hard to escape. However, we need lovely songs like this to balance things out. Great work, I'm humming it already!
Hi Rob. Thanks for visiting In this day and age, it's pretty hard not to be influenced by all the nastiness, turmoil and injustices that are everywhere around the world right now. Sometimes, though, I like to remember that there are also millions of great things to be thankful for. I think that part of the reason that I couldn't get these lyrics finished over the years is because I wasn't old enough to appreciate just how wonderful and how valuable life is. I'm old now, and that has made a difference to my perspective. Thanks for taking the time. --Noel
Mario, that was an entertaining little ditty! You are quite the resourceful lad! Those HB guitars are quite a good value for the money involved. I've got a Ric copy bass that I use on everything! Loved that quirky clever ending! TB
Thanx Torrey. I agree. The bang for your buck you get with HB guitars is hard to beat. I'm glad you liked the song and the ending.
HAHAHA. The Ad. Yep. They're out there. I can actully hear you pointing to the hyppie. He did well. So glad you sang this one, Mario. I'd really hate to hear SUNO or Synth. No one can do it like you. That E on the harmonica means you play in A, I think. Have no idea why harp players refuse the musical code.
Thanx so much Marty. I have seen ads like the one I described in my song. Being a guitarist I couldn't refuse doing a song about them. The E means the harp is in the key of E, or in my case "Ediot"!
Hey, Mario. There's something much more appealing and genuine about the everyman vocal you have than the polished vocals I hear on so many songs. The polka background and fun lyrics compliment your style and add to the enjoyment of the song. This is the stuff we don't get every day that makes music richer and makes us believe in making music. Thanks much!
Thanx so much John for this wonderful review. As you could tell I'm not a very good singer, thus most of my tracks are instrumental. But every once in awhile I come up with some lyrics, mostly comedy lyrics, so I sing them. I'm glad you liked it.
Your voice sounds so - different. Good song, with a strong "Carpenters" vibe that I really like. Add some vocal harmonies, and it really sounds like her. Beautiful, a little melancholic, but still full of positive energy. Enjoyed my listen. A lot!
Hey BD. Thanks so much for having a listen. I really appreciate your comments, especially the comparison to The Carpenters. I have been fan of The Carpenters since I first heard them back in the late 1960s. I'm glad you liked the song. This one was a slow one to grow. Thank you again, --Noel
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I remember how I couldn't find any patterns between chords on the guitar, and then finally saw the "shift" that the B string did to the structure. I could suddenly see the E, A and D shapes were the same.
The guitar solo sounds like home with the accordion and the washboard is rarely heard on this forum, so very inventive arrangement. I'd be very interested to hear a longer version of Metallica played with harmonica 
Janne
Good song, with a strong "Carpenters" vibe that I really like. Add some vocal harmonies, and it really sounds like her. Beautiful, a little melancholic, but still full of positive energy. Enjoyed my listen. A lot!
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