New Song: "Wait And See" - PG Music Forums

Quote:

It's interesting that you mention the strings sound. I wonder if that's because when I think of strings, I tend to hear the more classically sounding strings (Mozart, Haydn, etc) rather than the lush film score sound.

I should prefix this by saying that there's nothing wrong with the strings - they serve their purpose, and fit nicely into the song. They've got a nice figure that works well, and you've put them in effectively.

So... Why am I complaining?

My initial thought was "the strings sound fake", but I'm not so sure about that.

It's not even that they aren't "lush" - although that's a lovely sound! I think what's missing is the interplay between the various parts - even in the short snippet that you've got. Even when you've got a "static" chord, you'll have voice written so they're going in opposing motion. Or you'll have the violins and violas holding high notes, but give the cellos an ascending figure, or perhaps a solo viola a descending line.

Yeah, that's a lot of complaining about such a small thing! I guess that it was the only thing that caught my ear (and admittedly not a big thing) that says what a nice job the rest of the song is.

Hi Austin,

I was really relieved to read that the song 'worked' for you. I've been experimenting with inspirational and motivational lyrics for a while and, to be honest, I find that it's difficult to write lyrics like these because they can, all too easily, end up sounding preachy. When I posted this song, I was curious about how other ears would hear the words.

Thank you bringing a sense of relief my way

All the best,
Noel

Hi Josie,

Thank you for jumping into the thread and visiting Youtube. I appreciate it.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Rob!

Good to read you! Thank you for having a listen.

My vocals are what I'd describe as "hit and miss" and that can often happen on a single word! Thank goodness for Reaper's ReaTune. I use it manually and it works a treat to tidy up they words or parts of words that don't go according to plan. That's a good point about the number of syllables. I thought I'd tidied that up sufficiently but obviously not seeing that both you and Floyd picked this up.

If I get around to this again, I'll get out the syllable scissors and trim a few.

Once again, "thank you!"
Noel

Hi Guenter,

Once again, thank you for taking time to listen to some of my work. I was pleased to read that the song started your day off well. I was hoping that people would hear the words as uplifting. I always find it hard to know how the lyrics sound after having heard them a ton of times.

All the best,
Noel

Noel,

Excellent song! Love the lyrics and overall feel - very uplifting and inspiring. Great vocal and video as well...

Bob

G'Day Floyd!

Thank you. Yep, even in Australia, "Broadway" and all that it stands for are well known.

Your take on the arms-linking-and-everyone-singing finale immediately created a picture in my head. I didn't hear the song that way when I wrote it but, when I read what you'd said, it sprang to mind as a perfect fit. Maybe a big Broadway producer will hear it and think that too! I'll have to have a play around with your BIABettes and see if they can extend themselves. For what it's worth, when I wrote "Wait And See", I had Glen Campbell in mind and how some of his songs have solo vocal and strings/orchestral backing rather than vocal harmony.

The link below is a recent one of his but the principle is the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvQ77PoNJ6E

He's a one fine singer!

Once again, thank you. As I mentioned to Rob above, I'll keep those syllable scissors poised and ready if I revisit these lyrics.

All the best,
Noel

P.S. Thank you for alerting me to Pat Marr's post!!!!! His rubber stamp has been WAY too enthusiastic over in the Off Topic forum. I'm not quite sure what to do about that one yet. How does one deal with a rubber stamp that's got a mind of its own and reads these forums through rose-coloured glasses? Hopefully, I'll think of something soon!

" It reminded me of "the big number" of a hit Broadway musical "

+1 Very uplifting Noel.

Hi Bob,

Thank you for taking time out to have a listen. Appreciate it. I didn't hear it as a Broadway number when I wrote it, but I'm beginning to hear it that way now!

All the best,
Noel

Hi RG,

Good to see you. Thanks for the positive feedback. You're absolutely right about my vocals. Singing is not my strong point but with Ozone and Nectar (iZotope), I can fake it a bit these days and nearly get away with it. You've caught me out regarding the "looking toward the future with a gleam in your eye", too. It seems that it doesn't matter what I try to write, I end up with that point of view. I wonder what Freud would make of that?

Once again, thank you.

All the best,
Noel

Hey Pat!

Always good to see (or should that be 'read') you. Thanks for the <rubber stamp> *LOL*. It works for me

Now ... I don't know if you've noticed or not, but your rubber-stamp has been active in the Off Topic forum and has done an endorsement of me that's so far from the truth that potential lawsuits ... well, let's not go there *sigh*. Suffice it to say that I was VERY embarrassed when I read those words! It reminded me of my teacher, Mrs Quinn, and Grade 3 all over again. That's not a moment that anyone should have to re-live! I hope that the stamp is now behaving itself.

Thank you for popping in and having a listen.

All the best,
Noel.

P.S. You made my day

You really are a fantastic asset to these forums!

Hi Ian,

I had a dad exactly like that too. He only ever saw the good in everything and everyone and maintained that one only ever gets out of Life what one puts into it! It's an attitude that I greatly admire. I guess I must have picked a little bit up from him

Thank you for taking time to listen and to comment. I really appreciate your thoughts.

All the best,
Noel

It's all been said already, so I'll just join in agreement: Really nicely done, all around. Nice writing, singing, and arrangement. In particular, I liked how you used guitar fills in the arrangement, and the "echo" on the chorus was +100 effective. As floyd mentioned, the "quick rhymes" were a nice element.

I'll give a single nit - the song deserves better strings!

Excellent.

Noel,

Interesting that in you're response to me, you add a link to a Glen Campbell video. Glen was my first musical influence. While the rest of the world was listening to the Beatles and Bob Dylan, I was learning to play "By The Time I Get To Pheonix", "Galveston", "The Wichita Lineman", "Gentle On My Mind".... which I guess means my first songwriting influence was Jimmy Webb (and John Hartford). And those lush Al DeLory strings... (And Jackson Browne's "These Days" has always been a favorite... did not know Glen had a version).

If you post that last CHORUS somewhere for download (that's all that's needed - an mpg of that last chorus)... I would do a sing along track. If you also included a SGU for that chorus, I could add the BIABettes on my end (there is a "choir" option for it that I've never used), and send you those tracks. And then if you do that too, and you get one or two others to do it, I think you could have that "whole cast" sound. Just to see how it turned out.... I think it could be an interesting experiment...

floyd

I am also happy to record a vocal if you would like me to

Great song Noel with a very meaningful messsage a great musical production all round.

Love the little text boxes thoguhout the song, a very uplifting song that all of us can get a message from.

Keep em coming!

Musiclover

Noel,

Very nice! I've been out for a few weeks, and glad I caught this one! It's all been said. Good job, positive, uplifting, and good mix. (Glen Campbell is one of my favorite musicians. Great guitar player, and singer.)

Thanks for sharing this!

Steve

Hi Danny,

Sorry it's taken me a couple of days to get back to you! Thanks for dropping by and having a listen. I'd like to say that I've finally learnt how to produce a good sound but I have to give the credit to Ozone for that. It's wonderful software. I mix everything without Ozone and then I add it to the final slot so that all the mix passes through it. Then I surf Ozone's presets until I get something that makes the mix sparkle. Sometimes I tweak the settings a bit but mostly I don't have to.

Once again, thank you!
Noel

Hi Bob (rsdean),

It's always good to see your name pop up in a thread! Thanks for the positive words. As I've said before, you were the man who inspired me with videos. I'm glad you got me thinking about them. They sure take a long time to prepare, though.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Josie (sundance),

Thank you for listening and giving me a smile.

Best wishes,
Noel

Hi David,

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it.

Regarding the guitar fills, something I do these days is to look for characteristic licks or fills in a track. I then copy and paste those into appropriate places and try to use them as instrumental hooks. It's something I picked up from a seminar by Steve Webber 18 months or so ago. To my ears, it seems to help polish the mix a bit more.

It's interesting that you mention the strings sound. I wonder if that's because when I think of strings, I tend to hear the more classically sounding strings (Mozart, Haydn, etc) rather than the lush film score sound. I'll have to investigate! As always, you've managed to give me something to think about.

All the best,
Noel

Hi again, Floyd.

Glenn Campbell is one of my all-time favourite singers. He and Jimmy Webb were lucky to find one another. As soon as I get a spare minute, I'll organise the chorus. Thank you for the offer! Like you, I think it could be an interesting experiment.

Thank you!
Noel

Hi Joanne,

I appreciate the offer. Thank you. Firstly, I'll have a listen to what Floyd puts together and go from there. I'll definitely keep your generous offer in mind.

All the best,
Noel

Hi musiclover,

I appreciate the positive words. Thank you

The text boxes came about because there was a spot in the video that I couldn't find anything suitable to use; so I put in some text. I liked the mood that it created so I thought I should also do it in a couple of other places. I was glad to read that it worked for you.

Once again, "thank you",
Noel

Hi Steve,

I'm still practising my Texan accent. To be honest, I haven't gotten too far with it. As long as it involves singing along with "One More Day", it's passable

Outside of that, though, there's no hiding the fact that I live in the land of kangaroos and emus.

Thank you for dropping in and having a listen. I'm also pleased to hear that Glenn Campbell resonates with you too.

All the best,
Noel

Really dug the visuals and the quotes...prolly got extra attention from me as I live for the outdoors. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Bud,

Thanks for listening. I always have fun putting videos together but they're incredibly time consuming. Still, I get a lot of pleasure at the end of it all when I get to sit back and 'watch' the music

By the way, you signature ALWAYS makes me smile when I read it. It's so true! 'Mixing', for me, NEVER gets finished. I just get to a point where I say, "Ok. That's as good as I can get it. Time to move on."

All the best,
Noel

Hey David,

Thanks for all these extra and very interesting thoughts. I always appreciate the ideas you bring to my music and the approached you suggest. What you say about inner-voice movement is so true. Although I used voice leading to compose the string section, I didn't take advantage of moving inner voices such as violas, second violins, cellos. That was definitely an oversight on my part. I'll have a play around with that and see where it takes me.

Once again, "Thank you".
Noel

Hi,

A number of people mentioned that they'd like to hear the last chorus of this song as an arms-linking-everyone-on-stage-grand-finale kind of chorus.

Lucky for me, Floyd Jane got his BIABettes and their friends on-board and, if you're interested in hear the end result, have a listen at the below link.

https://soundcloud.com/noel-adams

Regards,
Noel

Hi Noel
I love the BIABettes and then the way the last chorus is just you. The contrast is great.
Well done!

Hi Joanne,

Thanks for having another listen. I've got to give Floyd a mighty big pat on the back for organising the BIABettes. All I did was to slip his audio clip into the mix. (Thanks again, Floyd!! )

All the best,
Noel

Noel,

I guess I'll just second everything that's been said, Great job!! I really liked it! Downright inspirational!

Greg

Great work Noel! I'll get this playing next time I'm climbing our local Mount Douglas (well it's only 1,000 feet, but I need all the help I can get!)