Here is a song I wrote in 1973 about two college friends. This version was recorded in my living room with my late brother Harold playing steel guitar and me on rhythm guitar back in 1984. I recently came across this and other old recordings in my attic.

I ran the song through RealBand using the Audio Chord Wizard to create a chord chart and tempo map. The only effects added was a RB gate to reduce the tape hiss. I used the tempo map and chord chart to add a harmonica track as practice using the ACW and adding additional tracks to a previous recorded track.

Some time was spent trying to find a suitable drum and bass track but I did not come across anything that matched well so I opted for the harmonica. No BiaB styles were used, only the one track added.

Hope you enjoy.


https://soundcloud.com/charlie-fogle/rhonda-and-johnny

Hi, Charlie !:))


I like this song and
your performance really much !
You know, drums are not always
suitable to put in in every song,
it totally depends on the tune
and the intended rhytm ! :))
You and your brother did a really good job
on this one !

Listened with great pleasure !

Cheers
Dani

Sounds like that time period. The Flying Burritos, Goose Creek Symphony and so many other really great country rock bands......



It's good practice to use ACW to do what you did with the harmonica.

I'm sure there are some bass and drum styles that would fit perfectly..... don't be afraid to cross the genre line..... check the obvious ones....country and Nashville..... then look in the rock genre as well.

Herb beat me to it. Yes, Flying Burritos Bros and Goose Creek --both of which we still listen to.

Cool song and a nice tribute to your brother.

Thanks for the chance to hear this. We both enjoyed it.

J&B

Charlie,

Very enjoyable song. Listened several times and it is really stuck in my head now...

So nice to be able to hear Harold play with you - and so very nice that you have this recording...

The added harmonica works well.

The vocal is a little low in relation to the guitar and steel (and harmonica), so some of the words are missed (by these old ears). It might be worth recording a doubled vocal to add to this to help bring the vocal out a bit (I did this when I added stuff to "Diamonds" in the same way you are adding to this).

Did you try using a midi track for the bass. I would think there would be appropriate ones available - a simple 1-5 type country bass. It should be simple to adjust the midi track to fit your song - it seems to have pretty good timing so the adjustments would not take much. I haven't done that in RB, but have in Studio One and it is really easy there - I believe you mix there anyway?...

This is something special. You've done well with the harmonica. I think you should keep at it... and really "do this one up"!

floyd

Thanks for listening Dani. This theme of true love and devotion are right in your comfort zone. Rhonda and Johnny were a real life "Jack and Diane" couple similar to John Mellencamp's little 'ditty' hit song and maybe Dani and Beni as well.

Charlie

I'm glad you listened Herb. You have a good ear and always come up with some good insight and suggestions.

Regarding bass and drums, even though the tempo does not drift off by much, it was enough to create real timing issues with real tracks bass and real drums. There was an 'A' part marker on the first measure and no other markers were in the rest of the song. However, changes of a few beats between measures made the bass react as if there was a marker and caused the various basses I auditioned to do a speedy riff at tempo changes that sometimes were lengthy enough to carry over into the following measure, then abruptly slow back to the normal tempo. It was very distracting and would undoubtedly require a lot of editing to correct.

The drums were just the opposite. I tried several good sounding and matching patterns in demos but when the track was generated, the drums played a half speed and did not seem to play the complete kit.

Midi may be the answer.

This was for fun and ACW/tempo practice and I'm not sure if it is worth putting much additional time and work on this one. There is another song on the tape that I may try to work with. It's a song I always thought was pretty good and it sounds decent on the tape. Again, I appreciate you taking time to listen and comment.

Charlie

Hi Janice and Bud. Thanks for your kind comments. I haven't thought of Goose Creek Symphony in quite some time. I really use to get into their music. I'm glad you enjoyed this song and had a moment to reflect back on some of your classic country rock memories.

Charlie

Thanks for stopping by, listening and commenting Floyd. It's encouraging to hear you went back for another listen, even if it was to pick out the lyrics. ;=)

I didn't use Studio One on this project. It was an exercise in using RealBand. I have had issues with projects in the past with RB and just recently learned I was still on version 3 and had never updated RB. I had assumed it updated along with BiaB which is current. Anyway, I updated to the latest version 7 and wanted to see how much improvement there was with the RB DAW. Needless to say, it is quite an improvement.

I replied to Herb and had mentioned that midi might work for the bass and drums before I saw your post. Regarding the vocals being too far down in the mix, I agree. I tried some compression to help bring the vocals out some but they are low in the original stereo mix as well and the compression effected everything. I did not think of doubling the vocals. Good suggestion.

Harold was always a lot of fun to play with and I recall our time together with a lot of fondness. I recall one time when he and I recorded some tracks using an early dos version I had of BiaB for backing tracks.

Charlie

Charlie - I believe things such as this are to be treasured (I'm sure you feel the same). If you plan on taking this further, if I can help out in any way, I'd be happy to - just let me know. - fj

These tapes are treasures Floyd and I truly appreciate such an awesome offer. I took a listen to 'diamonds' and you really did a great production based on the back story. The B3 was killer and your younger voice added an interesting element. John Kerry would probably be so jealous of your coalition skills in putting your backing group together. It is a good song and I enjoyed it a lot.


Charlie

Hi Charlie,

yes, your tapes are a treasure. And this song is a nice tribute to your brother. I would just cherish it as is.
The harmonica is a nice touch.

Guenter

Great work on the harmonica, lyrics are superb, nice performance; thanks for sharing!

Charlie,
great song but on my system (laptop speakers at the moment) the harmonica seems "separate" from the rest of the wonderful song. In tune etc just maybe a bit too loud.

Otherwise thoroughly enjoyable

Alyn

Thanks for listening Guenter. I have the original reel to reel tapes in safe storage and work off copies of digital masters of the tape originals. These old memories are just fun to play with and learn about BiaB/RB at the same time.

Time is a good teacher. I'll not tell on myself of the number of vintage 78 LP's from my parents vast collection that became substitute 'clay' targets for my shotgun in the past. ;=(



Charlie

PGFantastic, thanks for listening and your kind comments. I appreciate it.

Charlie

The stereo mix of the original tracks is not balanced well and the right side is lower in volume than the left side, I panned the harmonica to the right and it apparently overshadows the original mix in some areas. Also by being on the lower channel may have made it sound separate from the overall mix. I was attempting to contrast the busy steel guitar work. Glad you enjoyed it overall though and thanks for posting your thoughts.

The Lyrics for those who may be interested.

Rhonda and Johnny
Some people have it all a love that’s good in every way
Rhonda and Johnny have it a love that’s good in every way
‘cause when she smiles at him his heart gladdens he’s filled with ecstasy
To know that she’s still cares and after all this time she’s still there
‘cause it’s a love that their living in their own special way
A love that grows stronger day by day
Some people have it all a love that’s good in every way
Rhonda and Johnny have it a love that’s good in every way
(Instrumental break)
Some people have it all a love that’s good in every way
Rhonda and Johnny have it a love that’s good in every way
Rhonda and Johnny have it a love that’s good in every way
Rhonda and Johnny have it a love that’s good in every way
(Instrumental outro)


Seeing them written out they are embarrassingly simple and repetitive. How many ways could I say they were a happy couple?

This is really good. You did a fantastic job getting the noise out of an old R2R tape!

When ever we do something live then try to add parts I rarely add RTs. I believe there are very few musicians that can keep time as steady as a computer! Thus RTs don't fit unless you use them sparingly. However MIDI works every time if you play them yourself. YMMV.

I agree that the harmonica is a tad to loud.

Personally all I would do is to lower the harmonica and leave the rest alone. However if you do decide to add some MIDI parts I am also available to help you.

Hi Charlie ...

Yep, fits the time period perfectly. Everyone has already said what came to our minds ... Flying Burrito brothers. Very nicely done! We really enjoyed the song.

I used to record an an Akai 4-track R2R Sound on Sound back in the late 70's and early 80's. I bought it while I was in Japan ... just got out of the hospital from getting shot up in Vietnam. I figured I owed myself something nice!

Again ... very nice!

Alan & Di

Oh, now I am highly impressed...... very few people even know of the GCS let alone listen to them.

If you are one of the folks who have never heard the GCS..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te0SGuFo_hI

enjoy.

Hi Charlie,

What a very nice song!
The gate works very nice, because I don't hear any tape hiss.
The harmonica was very well chosen. I've tried the Audio Chord Wizard a couple of times, but it doesn't really work that good for me.
You sure know how to use it!

Regards,
Rob

Hi Mario. Thanks for taking a listen. I was very pleased with the RealBand gate plug in getting the hiss off the tape. I use gates quite a bit due to low level environment noise. I have actually recorded nice tracks out on my deck in a fair breeze plus the natural birds, crickets and squirrels and easily captured a usable track.

Several others have also mentioned that midi may be a better choice for adding additional instruments. I recently purchased an Alesis 49 key midi controller but have not taken it out of the box and experimented with it yet. It's raining here all this week so being captive inside, may play with it some in the next few days. Prior to BiaB 2014 I used midi based styles from a Yamaha PSR-910 workstation keyboard. It had a 16 track midi recorder and I created backing tracks literally one track at a time and many times was able to modify an existing style as a starting point. It was rather tedious because I cannot actually play the piano. I have a picture book of piano chords and looked up each chord and practiced it to the point I could play a portion of my song without error and built my songs that way. Needless to say, I abandoned midi for real tracks with my purchase of BiaB. I am finding out some of the limitations of real tracks and also been playing with some of the abundance of midi styles in BiaB recently, thus the purchase of the midi controller.

I have imported these tracks into my Studio One DAW tonight and will try to bring out the vocals a bit and balance the stereo tracks and lower the harmonica in the total mix.

I appreciate your kind offer to help with midi and may have a few questions once I hook up the controller and work with a few songs using midi.

Charlie

Hi Al and Di. These tapes with Harold were also recorded on an Akai r2r from the late 70's. I bought it from a guy in the Air Force stationed at Myrtle Beach AFB. It may have come from Japan too. You probably deserved a lot more than a r2r for your time in Vietnam.

I also recorded with a Teac 3340s 4 track. I had one here at home on loan from my brother and our band had one in our studio.

I still have a Sears stereo r2r that works I got in 1968.

Thanks for listening

Charlie

Thanks for posting the link Herb. That was a fun 45 minutes..

Charlie

Hi Rob. I was very pleased with the gate that comes with RealBand. Gates are very useful to eliminate low level background noise, ac buzz, guitar amp buzz, coughs, chair squeaks and such. That it is included free with RealBand makes it even better. It is quite easy to use as well.

I love the Audio Chord Wizard and if I can ever assist you with it in any way just give me a shout.

The ACW can be quirky but is manageable with practice. I usually choose to add silence to the first measure when prompted by a pop up to make a choice on how to handle the first measure not being properly calculated by the ACW scan. I also use the ACW within RealBand rather than the one in BiaB. I then save the RB file and open that in BiaB. Nearly every measure in BiaB chord chart will circled in red indicating the individual bar settings have been changed due to the tempo matching.

I download about 30 seconds of songs from YouTube that I knew the chords of and practiced with these short files to play with the different settings and choices to see how changing from the default settings affected the accuracy of the ACW. I have also used my own BiaB created songs to practice to help figure the best calibration settings against a BiaB song that I knew all of the parameters.

I'm glad you enjoyed the song. I appreciate your kind words.

Charlie

Charlie,

Enjoyed listening. Felt like I was there in the living room taking it all in. Harold sure knew his way around that steel, he's got some wonderful licks in there.

Josie

I appreciate you taking time to listen Josie. Glad you enjoyed the song. Harold and I had a great time jamming. We also completed covers that night on a few country classics.

Harold could have helped everyone out if he were still with us by making some killer steel guitar user tracks don't you think?

Charlie

I sure do Charlie.

Josie

Sweet track!! Your brother rocked-"If there's a rock and roll heaven, I bet they have a hell of a band". Harmonica worked very well. The lead vocal is a bit buried. I wonder if you could remove it and redo it, or if it is still in track form, you could turn it up a bit. Nice tune!! Take care. Greg

Hi Greg, thanks for listening and commenting. This has been a fun exercise working with various features of BiaB and with a really old recording. Not with out deficiencies, but I have received some good suggestions and advice on making the production better and getting improved levels and mix from the original tape recording. Hoping I will be able to post a re-mix of much better quality soon.

Charlie