PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase NEW SONG >>>> "SOMETIMES YOU MEET A NICE ONE".

SONG TITLE : "SOMETIMES YOU MEET A NICE ONE"
(a rough demo)

ARTIST : moi..ALF-L..(a lad from london (c) 2021)

***THIS SONG IS DEDICATED TO ALL PG STAFF THAT HAVE PUT UP WITH MY CRAZY PRODUCT WISHES OVER THE YEARS. ALSO TO ALL PG USERS. HAPPINESS AND GOOD HEALTH TO ALL***

****BEFORE PLAYING THE SONG PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING.****


1. due to the variety of playback systems out there. watch your levels till comfortable with song...apologies if the listener hates the song. use earbuds if possible.
please note, and feel free to critique, this is one of those songs thats a 'ruff demo' that i cant ever seem to improve on the demo, no matter how much i strive.
in summary i got lots of self doubt on this one..lol.
frankly i like it and the way it 'bops along'...and like to 'crank it'..but some might not.
friends seem to like it, but maybe they were being nice.lol.
i find it difficult to classify the genre...thus i would be interested in also comments as to what genre it fits. i particular like the real track pianos....and the ending.
the song used all pg rt's n rd.
2. i like to sing in and experiment with many different vocal styles. this is one of them.
fwiw ive sung in everything from opera groups through church/folk/ballads/blues/rock/hard rock/metal and goodness what else..lol. i just love doing vocals. its my "thing" as it were.
and i enjoy the vocal challenges that different music styles present. unfortunately i'm loseing some of the upper vocal ranges i used to take for granted as i age....sigh.
3. Backstory.
the idea for the song/lyrics evolved over many years. the concept of the song is to reflect the experiences one goes through in ones life meeting and interracting with various people ...
and poking fun at moi...lol.
ie...
lifes lessons as it were, and how sometimes you meet someone who is a really nice person, and sometimes you finally meet a girl thats the right one. also how one is sometimes stupid hanging round with people that might give one grief. ie. one has to sort the wheat from the chuff as my lovely granny used to say.
the song also hints at the fact that just because you might meet someone that upsets you...
dont let that put you off keeping an open mind in meeting a new person, otherwise you might miss a very nice lifelong friend or even a partner for life.

the 'high falutin' lyric is kinda subtle and might not be clear to someone thats not grown up in the east end of london uk like moi. so heres some details...
Often us cockney lads from the poorer east end of london would go up to the london west end for a night out where the 'high falutin' women from well off families... HFW's... would hang out. or sometimes the HFW's would come in a group down to our patch in the east end and 'slum it' as it were....lol...at our clubs and pubs etc. and for some reason i never understood... some HFW's often thought us poor cockney blokes were 'cool' or 'wild' or whatever or more interesting or intrigueing than their rich west end upper class boyfriends. as they used to tell us. its cross pollenation tween the classes...i was kinda wild singin' in bands in those days.lmao.

my guitar is chugging along in the background...i used a jackson.
a little tidbit if i remember is i was testing a little very low noise mic preamp i built for peanuts, and used on the chuggy guitar track. i like experimenting. if i remember the box holding the circuit was the most expensive part and came from a dollar store...lol as i had free spare no cost i/o jacks.

if you notice i dont believe in useing a lot of processing on the original tracks in my songs..
as was hammered into me by a producer//AE once in a big studio who opined that too many people rely too much on plug ins//lots of processing, and who pointed out to me to quote..
"loads of great huge records were done before the outboard hardware processors and software plug ins we have today"...personally the plug ins included with pg and reaper apps are plenty for me imho. as well i like various plug ins that are free and included with computer music mag uk
which i buy once a year for 20 bucks to get the plug ins. i use nowt else.
my philosophy with each song is to put in the hours to make the song the best i can..
and of course i struggle like most people and do my very best i can cos i'm more a singer//songwriter than a big studio audio engineer.
i'm sorry ive forgotten the biab/rb style picker style i used on this one cos.i do soooo many songs each year and right now i cant get to my other locations where all my song details are... doctors orders etc.
all i can say is on a song i delve into every single style n' rt n rd etc to flush out the 'nuggets' of sound i want to use in a song.

4. like all my songs , i used the biab/rb/reaper combo to create this one.
(ive done about 90 original songs useing this combo over many years.)

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE SONG>>>>>

https://soundcloud.com/user-302791555/aniceonecalfl21

happiness to all.
oldmuso

This just a cool song!

Rob and Anne-Marie

RnAM...

Thanks for listening. You are both so very talented, and i really appreciate your listening.
Your both superb songsmiths.

I apologise if i havent been on the showcase much recently , just life and my family and other commitments sometimes get in the way.

Once this horrid covid is over, your lovely country is one my wife n’ i would like to visit one day...once the doctors let me travel abroad.

Happiness to you both.
om

Oldmuso, this is so cool. Yeah, I dig the lyrics. Sometimes you meet a nice one. This song is a nice one. Your songs are always such fun. The clarinet at the end is a good final statement. Take care, OM.

OM, super vocal, you have a great voice

Great groove and lyrics

I liked the mix also

Great ending

Loved it

Marty & Mario.

its always great to hear from you.
particularly as your both so skilled in songs.
thanks for listening.

fyi the little solo rt at the end was a 'piglet' to get right.

what i always try is experimenting with various rt's even tho' bb tells me 'your a very naughty boy, this is what is recommended best for this style'...lmao.
ive had many happy sonic accidents this way.

so haveing got my chord arrange n lyrics/vocs down rough i go thru thousands of styles useing the chord sheet ive fibalised. it takes a week lol.
but tis only way to find little 'nuggets' in styles other than my base style. i do crazy stuff like apply a jazz style to a rocker lol...n see what pops out.
i mention all this in case a new bb user is reading this.
its a ton of work of course , but only way, cos i cant afford all the fancy schmany live session musos and big studio sample libs. needless to say ive had some happy
sonic accidents from my 'naughty boy not right style' method...lol.

respect and kudos to you both.

happiness//keep rocking.
om

Cool intro. Piano was excellent. Super vocal and lyric. Backtrack had a really cool groove to it. Excellent guitar work. Well done..

No need to doubt yourself :-) Great song, good production (to my ears)! Great groove - and a great message, too. Keep creating :-)

Scott C.

Thanks for listening/nice comments. Much appreciated mate.

Let me say your a way way better guitar player than i.
Actually i’m going bonkers right now looking at affordable gear like…
Nux mg 300 and mustang micro and tc dark matter looking for that elusive classic rock tone per acdc /cheap trik budokan/doobs china grove.
My dear wife wants to buy a piece of gear for my upcoming b’day.

Trouble is lots of rock pedals i look at either have loads of menus and/or the drive settings are too ‘sizzly’ for my liking.
If you got any ideas i started a nux thread in sos forum.
some time for giggles i'll tell the forum how i met my wife. its a cute story...and was cos a guitar amp went 'on the blink'...lol.

Musician17.
Wow thanks for the nice comments/listen.
Believe it or not i’m my fiercest critic.
My lovely wife is even harsher…lol.
Give my regards to the uk. mate.

Happiness and kudos to you both.
Om

The intro, prior to the Joanna, is part Glitter band and part Magazine...it loses that cool, dark vibe when the keys lighten things.
There're no dynamics in the arrangement once the piano is in place - it all chugs along...the Licorice stick being an exception but a little late.
The melody is good, though having THAT GIRL play automatically straight after does show they are quite close relations.
A good mix though I think the vocals are a little loud - I know you like it that way.

Rayc.

Thanks for listening/comments.

Re “forward vocals’.

As i said in the song intro blurb i dont profess to be a big name big studio producer or audio engineer like a George Massenburg or a Martin.…
i’m more a songwriter/singer who does the best i can with each song. then others can judge whether they dislike it or not.

In the past i was told by some pro’s i mixed my vocs too far back…lol.
Thus forward vocs are not driven by my ‘ego’.
AND its a ‘catch 22’ i cant win....due to many many differing opinions in the music biz.

Someone once said to me in a big studio ‘even if you do by luck produce the perfect mix with a demo . if a big name wants to use your song such big name will want to do the mix their own way anyway ’.
(Altho’ stories exist whereby a song was re-done/re-mixed, but when the rubber hit the road…it was decided to use the original demo mix etc.. irrespective i value my independence and my life with my wife.. )

As i said even among pro’s there are many different opinions.
Some use lots more outboard trak processing ,…some dont.
Some want vocs more ‘upfront’ and some not so much.
Some like to use a ton of traks n’ plug ins and some dont. i dont.

Twould be a boring world if we all thought the same.
I just do the best i can and hope others like what ive done.

happiness/best
om

oldmuso,

I always love the vocals on your tunes and this one is SUPER! This song has such a powerful sound with the piano being the icing on the cake! I really like the mix that keeps the vocal solidly on top of everything else right where it should be! Great sounding tune!

Thanks, Torrey

Edit:
After reading Floyd and Rays comments I still want to emphasize that I feel your vocal mix is pretty good! Maybe it's slightly loud, but as I've said before, when I listen to your work it reminds me of Ringo Starr. When you listen to this link you'll see where I'm coming from in my preferences. Take care
https://youtu.be/SzaMwXnEleE

om,

Good tracks. Nice groove.
I agree with ray that the vocal is louder than it needs to be,

fj

Torrey.

thanks for your listening n' nice comments.
yep thats a happy interesting ringo vid.

all i want is happiness for the whole world..but i'm a romantic...lol.

thanks again.

happiness.
om

FJ.

thanks for listening//comments.

its all good. fyi before covid i was looking at upgradeing my monitoring once covid is finished hopefully, i can visit the gear store , prolly to get
Adam monitors which i like , but are costly.
i dont much like anything else imho other than the Adams.

remember for some of us users on pg we might not have lotsa funds for high end monitoring gear, due to other family needs.
ive also been burnt in the past by useing high end soffit monster speakers whereby the mixes didnt translate well to junk speakers that lots of people use.
its a delicate balancing act. interestingly the showcase is the only place ive been told my vocs are too 'forward'.

happiness

om

I get it JAOM,
you mix for you and aren't asking for suggestions.
Ignore me by all means but ignoring Floyd & Torrey's ears would result in a pyrrhic for you.
No one mentioned spend big - especially ADAMS big to achieve a good result.

Cool intro, and that piano is kickin"! Fun song

Hi OM,

I agree with all who say it's a cool song, because that's what it is!
The build up of the composiion is very good. but I think the piano could play a little louder, especially when it comes in.
You vocals are great. It looked they were a bit loud, but soon after the first words this was no longer the case.
During your song I thought on some parts:'oh, here it could use bg-vocals' and soon after my thoughts your bg vocals came in. That was nice, but they could use some db.

So, I enjoyed it very much!
Hans

This is a nice listen. A good write and production. Enjoyed it.

Charlie

Brad, Birchwood and Charlie.

Thanks soo much for the comments n’ suggestions… it makes my day to hear from all you highly talented folk.
As you know its ‘tough’ doing songs. I’m doing one now and its loads of work and the sounds i want are eluding moi…lol.

Best regards and happiness.
Om

Ps Rayc. like everyone i just do what i can within a very teeny budget. if the song fails i know ive done my best.
for me its about the enjoyment i get working on a song and seeing it come to fruition. irrespective of whether its good or bad. there will people who like it hopefully and others that might not. i'll take my lumps.

Very good vocals and an entertaining backstory.

The clarinet at the end sounded nice and it would be nice to hear it doing a few fills through the song too.
(but then Janice once played clarinet )

Cool engaging groove!

J&B