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I've been a BIAB user for years, but never posted a song in this forum. My latest "all real tracks" original song came out pretty good, so I'm posting it. It's called "Man, I'm Gonna Miss Montana" and was inspired by my annual trip to beautiful Montana every summer.

After BIAB (or RealBand) generated the tracks, I transferred the WAV files to my Yamaha AW1600 16 track hard disk recorder and then did a lot of editing and arranging there for the final music "bed". I sang the song and recorded it with a Shiny Box 46MX ribbon mic through a UA Solo/610 tube preamp into the AW1600. After the final mix I did some "mini-mastering" with the iZotope limiter in Sound Forge 9.0 on my PC to boost the sound level.

The song uses BIAB style _WSWNGMF Western Swing Medium with the following RTs:

537 Bass, Acoustic, Pop Sw 165
1296 Fiddle, Background WesternSwing Sw 165
1128 Guitar, Electric, Rhythm WesternSwingWarmA-B
812 Guitar,Electric,Rhythm Western Swing Sw 165
RealDrums=NashvilleSwing8^1-Snare,Ride

plus

1134 Pedal Steel, Rhythm Western Swing Sw 165
1672 Pedal Steel, Soloist WesternSwingPaul Sw 165
and a 2nd fiddle track (can't find the number) for solo purposes

You can listen on my Soundclick page HERE.

FYI, the song below it, "All Around Texas" is also an original that uses all RTs.

Any comments (good or bad) are welcome.

Thanks for listening,
Ralph,

I just love the song, has an "Old Classic" style beat, sound and feelings.
Enjoyed you vocals, did nice job.

You put a lot of work into this, with very good results. Again classic feel
to it. Lot of nice variations through out the song.

Thanks for posting your hard work and music with us to share.
Ralph,

Quite enjoyable. You brought a smile to my face. I could almost see the stage with the hay bales and barn door behind you. The only thing missing was the "Take it, boys..." before the lead breaks...

floyd
Love it, Ralph! Great job!

Mike
Hey Ralph, great track! All your work on this really shows thru...liked your play on "Montana". Thanks for sharing your work!
Thanks a bunch for the thumbs up, folks! BIAB RealTracks musicians have replaced my mediocre playing skills for much better song results. Plus, they always show up for the session!
You got a great sound going on here and the vocals seemed to be mixed in there really, really well. Super cool stuff. Very good production all around. I might have to a western swing song for this year's FAWM in February.
Hey Ralph!! I really enjoyed your song. Professional in every way. I listened to all your songs and they were fantastic. Thanks OCC
Not my genre, but good vocals and a nice mix.

Guenter
I like the easy feel of a song that might be played on the front porch with some friends while steaks cook on the grill!

You did a nice job of keeping a consistent groove while cycling various accent instruments in and out.

I also like the use of breaks.. they add interest

The real tracks you chose fit really well... in my experience, it doesn't normally work out so slick unless some effort is applied to demo a bunch of possibilities and used only those that fit seamlessly.

Your vocal style is just about perfect for the genre!

The chord progression is nothing particularly new or inventive, but I'm not so sure that an avant garde set of chords would have fit the song.

I also like the images you paint about montana, and why you miss it.

Nice job... a really well-developed song in my opinion!
Ralph,

Very nice. Good, honest delivery on the vocals. I like the laid-back Western Swing feel. Thanks for sharing!

Steve
Many thanks for the additional thumbs up! A special thanks to Pat for a nice "extended review".

I did feel very good about this song when I finished it. Thanks for the confirmations I was right.
Hi Ralph,

A great toe-tapping first post! It made me smile

Best regards,
Noel
Ralph,

I went to your web site, and my gut feeling was right... you're a long-time performer! I can tell a difference in songs that are written by people who mostly perform as opposed to songs written by people who mostly record.

Your songs have a lively "talkin' to th' people" feel to them. I'd guess you relate pretty well to the audiences you play for, and that ability only comes from time spent on stage. (not just in the background, but in front of a mic as front man)

I was pleased to see that you acknowledged your use of BIAB, and offered a little sales pitch about what can be done with it. Unsolicited personal testimony is what every product hopes for, but few products ever get to the extent that BIAB does.

Anyway, I enjoyed all of your songs. Keep on keepin' on!
Excellent lyrics! Song flows beautifully. Vocal is crisp and clear. Thanks for sharing!




My Music
Loved the song and the delivery.
Thanks for even more thumbs up, folks! However, it's starting to cause a problem. My head is swelling up so much I'm going to have to buy all new hats!

Pat, your comments are interesting. I performed in a rock band as a kid, waaaay back, but didn't do original songs or wasn't the front man. I did sing a few songs. In my adult life most of my performing has been at open mics, where I usually do my originals solo. Or, more frequently, jamming with friends, sometimes in a public area such as a bluegrass festival. I do tend to stick with mostly "conversational" type lyrics. I appreciate your observations!
Cool Song!
Great song and a great recording! I can never get my vocals to sit right in the mix like that.
It's all been said, great hook also. However as I sing along I have to fight myself from singing Man I Gonna Miss Montana and I wonder is Montana "will" miss me. But that is a good thing as it has me singing along with you already.

Nice Job!
Quote:

I can never get my vocals to sit right in the mix like that.



I haven't run into that problem on several songs I've recorded. I usually don't add anything to the vocal (EQ, compression, etc.), except for some slight reverb. However, maybe I just don't recognize a "sit" problem.

I did have that problem once with a BIAB RT electric guitar solo. But when I added some reverb, it "sat" much better. Maybe try different reverb types, if you've only been using one type.

Quote:

However as I sing along I have to fight myself from singing Man I Gonna Miss Montana and I wonder if Montana "will" miss me.




A songwriting friend of mine was also bothered by this "verb tense conflict". It all seems natural to me. Maybe because I was raised in Arkansas.

Think of it this way. The singer has just crossed the Montana state line into Idaho, heading back home. He thinks "Man, I'm gonna miss Montana". Then remembering that cutie in the bar thinks: "And I wonder if Montana misses me". He was very cool and he's gone now, so she probably already does.
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