I was playing with some nice dry drum sounds in XLN's Addictive Drums and it inspired me to try and re-create a song similar to those mid-1960s psychedelic ones, you know with very damped drums, odd chord progressions, Mellotron sounds, etc. So here's my recreation of that summer of 1967 in England when I was 19 and the warm air was heady with flowers, joss sticks, mysticism, Lewis Carroll, mazes, kaleidoscopes .......
Relax, float downstream and listen!

BIAB:
- Style: SMOOTH!~ Smooth-st,8 MOR-FM
- Tempo stepped down from 90 to 73BPM
- Bass, Piano, Strings and Guitar tracks only used, piano track used both for piano and 'Mellotron' (flutes on my Roland Fantom X6) parts.


YouTube Video here.

Lyrics, Technical Notes, etc. here.

John

My comments must be taken with the knowledge that we are of the same age... WOW,you nailed it mate!
Thanks for the trip in the wayback machine.
Great concept, recording and presentation, all first rate and a pleasure to listen to. And exactly the right length I might add.

Rick

John,

All that Rick said.. and MORE. MAN! This is SO good from every angle!

Great recording! Impeccable mix. PERFECT lyric.

Just absolutely STUNNING. Just WOW WOW WOW!!!!

Took a "tour" of your studio, too. Looks like a dream setup! Cool guitars! The studio is WAY too neat (clean)....

WOW!

floyd

Hi

A tad to young (Just) to have first hand experince with this style but you have certainly captured a vibe.

Really nicely sung and great overall production, also agree length is spot on.

Cheers

Adrian

Hey man, groovy, far out and err ....that's all I remember from those days.
The song evokes memories of my last days at boarding school (Malvern) in 1967 and then the times in London sitting in various parks being "groovy"; then discovering Carnaby street and the Kings Road Chelsea and the fact I was not as groovy as I thought It was difficult to be groovy and a Dental student. Those were the days, my friend, when I first started writing songs and playing in folk clubs, fleetingly meeting Hendrix and Clapton.
The memories flood back!!

What can I say but beautiful, well crafted and excellent.
I have run out of superlatives.
+1 to all the above comments also.

Peace and love Man
Alyn

Hi John,

Sounds like a forgotten Beatles' song.
Liked the video, too.

Guenter

Skyguy,

Someone took the words out of my mouth. Nailed it, indeed. I kept thinking, "This sounds just like . . ." and never came up with an answer. It is its own thing, yet would have fit in on any broadcast playlist of the era seamlessly. First rate job all around. I especially liked the vocal doubling. All you needed to complete the video was that trick with veg oil in water with food coloring through an overhead projector.

Hi John,

Incredible!!!! Outstanding!!!! Talk about a trip in a time machine. EVERYTHING about your song was perfect. Was this another entirely midi-based creation? I can't tell!

Floyd said it perfectly: "Just absolutely STUNNING. Just WOW WOW WOW!!!!"

All the best,
Noel

Ah. Reminiscent of my favorites. King Crimson and Pink Floyd. And strange days. Thanks.

What an incredible song. Well done. Definitely brought a smile to my face. Nice video too. I think I took that trip once :-)

Excellent song, production and video John. I enjoyed the listen. Thanks!

Sounded like the Beatles to start and then it morphed into King Crimson and Pinko Floyd.

Nice....

On my computer speakers there seems to be some high frequencies that need taming. Overall the mix sounds subdued on the mid high end but then there is something up there in the sibilent range.... mostly noticed on the vocals.

I'd like to hear a more present crack on the snare.

Very nice song. fits the genre nicely.... I was there in that era learning my chops from the masters.

Hi, John !

I am very impressed by your song
and performance !:))
Sounded very good to me !:))


Cheers
Dani

Many thanks for all the kind comments, I'm glad you enjoyed this psychedelic excursion! I certainly had a lot of fun putting this one together.

Noel, yes the main tracks were all MIDI originally from BIAB. I imported the bass, piano, guitar and strings MIDI tracks into Sonar (just dragged them across with both programs open). I then linked those to my Fantom X6 hardware synth in my usual way. I cloned the piano track with one track playing a piano patch and the other a flutes patch to emulate a Mellotron.

The lead guitar parts I played in to Sonar using Guitar Rig. The reversed solo taking most time to construct!

John

Many thanks for such a great track. This is just 'right here' and 'everywhere' all at the same time.

The style was following in the footsteps of great artists who have been there before, but at the some time carrying wonderful uniqueness to 'Make It Your Own'

Really Enjoyed listening

first rate all the way! you're spot on about the drums, perfect fit for the ol' Strawberry Lucy! much enjoyed!

John,

Everything has already been said, so I'll just sum up the song and video in a word...


WOW!

Many thanks VideoTrack, gruverider and Josie. Glad you enjoyed it!

John

John,

Very, very nice! Great sound. I think you keep getting better and better! I am a fan of your work, and this one definitely does not disappoint!

Steve

Thanks Steve, very kind.

John

Hi
VERY "Strawberry Fields"!
A superb re-creation of a special and mostly forgotten style.
Loved it!
cheers
Ian
yes- I WAS there first time round - I think!

Thanks Ian, glad you enjoyed it. I've just been listening to your 'Shads' recreations - very evocative also. Between us we've covered that most magical of decades!

John