Hey here is my next instalment. Lots of realtracks here with a waltz vibe. I wonder how this one will go down. I didn't hold back!

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RealTracks in song: ~1122:Bass, Acoustic, CountryWaltz Sw 110
RealTracks in song: 854:Guitar, 12-String Acoustic, Rhythm RockWaltzA-B Ev 140
RealTracks in song: 2557:Cello, Background SlowWaltz Sw 085
RealTracks in song: 783:Sax, Tenor, Soloist Jazz Waltz Sw 140 (Bluesy)
RealDrums will be substituted :JazzBrushesWaltz: a: Brushes b: Snare, Ride
Style MIDI Instruments are Acoustic Piano (1)

Logic Pro X:
Vox. Vintage vocal preset with a lot of tweaks.
Ac gtr. Natural fingerpicking preset.
SFX crowd cheers.

Thanks!

I like the uniqueness you bring to each of your songs. Your production is always top notch.

An enjoyable listen.

Charlie

Great sound! Very nice arrangement and delivery.

Bob

Thank you Charlie and Bob. Great to get raps for the overall sound. It wasn't an easy mix.

Matcham,

Good song - well delivered - overall mix and sound is good - very well produced.

Peter

Matcham,

I really like this. Could you post the lyrics?


Regards,

Bob

Matcham, I liked this one. I also would like to read the lyrics. The mix sounds good. Tom

Same thoughts here....

Enjoyed it and would like to read the lyric.

J&B

Hey guys, thanks for your comments. I'll admit I was (am) a little nervous about how the lyrics in this song might go down, people's sensitivities and all. But now that they've been formally requested...

Walking in the Shadow

Walking in the shadow of madness
Walking through the valley of death
Tex takes a gun, kills everyone
Says it’s all for the best
Mama is down on her haunches
Tears made bloodshot her eyes
Rage fills the streets, they’ve turned up the heat
Some other poor suckers must die

Ali is walking his Corgi
Up to the end of his street
A bottle is thrown, assailant unknown
Ali is burned to his feet
Boom goes another jet engine
Fragments resound in the air
Bodies go down, parts of em found
Good to know somebody cares

Footsoldiers appear on the Network
In uniforms pin-striped and grey
They demand choose a side, ain’t nowhere to hide
You’d better do what we say
Better build up your assets
Invest in our castles of air
Like a dog with a bone, they won’t leave you alone
Til you knock and there’s nobody there

The summer sun now is relentless
Another small island gone down
Coconuts float, so build a boat
Nobody told you to drown
They say it will cool down this evening
And then you can tuck up in bed
Sleep is a gift, it gives you a lift
It spares you from what lies ahead

La la la la la la la la
And so it goes on and on
The beggar, the thief, the Indian, the chief
All marching til everyone gone
And the band plays Waltzing Matilda
And champagne flows on the deck
You’re having a blast, so why won’t it last
Coz you’re standing on a brokedown wreck

Matcham

As already said this is a really good mix plus your vocal was excellent. But man what depressing lyrics! It was like watching the nightly news!

Great job on this one!

Thanks Mario. Indeed watching the evening news is where I got all my material!

Matcham,

This is great. But I am confused. You say you don't like country.

This is clearly a style of classic country from way back in the day. You must mean you don't like MODERN country right, but you have no problem with Hank Williams?

A very interesting write, Matcham.

The music choice belies some of sharp edge of the lyric.

Good mix.

I am enjoying your songs.

.floyd

Thanks David and Floyd. Floyd I hope you mean 'belie' in a good way. I was aiming for tension between the sharp edged lyrics and the gentle sway of the rhythm. Does it work?

David sorry if I gave the wrong impression on your thread. I was talking specifically about the drivetime country radio format. I'm a big fan of Hank Williams and many many others in the country roots pantheon. Blues and roots into Americana is all I really listen to these days.

I was just ribbin' ya mate. I loved the song, but I had to point out that you were, well, singing country, whether you wanted to or not.

But real country. Back in the day country.

Hank would be proud. No, he would probably take a swing at you and tell you that you stole his song.

But that would be a compliment.

Ha! I owe you one David! M.

This is such a great song and I especially like how you put it together, as it suits your voice and style of playing very well. Excellent BinaB track choices.

This belongs in a Quentin Tarantino movie. Nice production, mix & vocal.

Good job!

Greg

Hi,

Your voice sounds like Nick Cave, at some point. You come from Australia, like him, maybe it's you
Your orchestration is very good, you did a good job.

Hi Matcham,

Very unique and stylish!
At times this makes me think of Leonard Cohen ( and that is a real compliment ;-))

Rob

Hey Tarantino, Cave and Cohen comparisons. I'll go with those!

I would also love to see the lyrics! Your vocal is wonderful-tons of personality and very relaxed and natural. Cello is beautiful-sounds custom played. Enjoyed this a lot!! Take care. Greg

Hi Matcham,

I agree with floyd. You created an interesting juxtaposition between lyrics and music. To me, the effect is similar to that heard in the M*A*S*H theme... a beautiful melody supported by an equally beautiful chord progression and with lyrics that stand in stark contrast about suicide.

As I listened, 'Inventive' was a word that sprang to mind!

Regards,
Noel

Thanks Greg. The lyrics are on the first page in this thread. The cello was an exciting find for sure. I simply played with volume swells to make the most of what was already there.

Noel thanks for your insight and 'getting' exactly what I was aiming for. Comparison with the M*A*S*H theme is humbling. What a great song, movie and series.

Matcham,
After the 1st 2 listens I thought Eric Bogle and his song "the Band played Waltzing Matilda", partly because of your mention of that song and then I read the words. Possibly a different subject but just as dark and just as good.

You have written a great emotive song with hard lyrics.

That was a great listen, everything about the mix was great.

Alyn

Thanks Alyn. I was referencing the Bogle song in fact. Waltzing Matilda as you may know is a famous Oz song - could have been our national anthem and should have been if sentimentalism had any say in our choice.

Matcham

Yes, Waltzing Matilda would have been much better. No more to add.

Cool song. I like the insight you have in writing the lyrics. Creative. Yes.... the "sounds like" hit me too.

Everything sounds good to my ear... perhaps a bit muddy in the mix. Nothing major.

I noticed something else right at the start that I will elaborate on. This stuck out to me and my first thought was, "that cello isn't the same recorded tempo, it's filled with conversion artifacts, and it's not matching up " sure enough, when I looked at the tracks, the cello is from a RT that's practically half the speed of the others. It's always a good idea to pick RT's that were recorded at the same tempo as everything else in the song. Yeah, you can use the track but you get artifacts when it has to be tempo matched to the song tempo and it's out of the normal range. BB/RB will force the track to play at the song's tempo, but in that tempo conversion you get audible artifacts and in the cello, you can hear a false vibrato or wavering sound that's unnatural as a result. The natural vibrato at 85bpm would sound perfect, but when the track is forced faster, the vibrato becomes unnatural sounding. Not a super big deal, but if you're planning to use your music in a commercial manner, that would be important to watch out for. This sort of thing can happen to any RT that's used out of it's recommended tempo range.

I have noticed this in my song projects and that's why I mention it to you. You can ignore it or you can try to select tracks that are all in the same general tempo range. For example, your tracks were all in the 110 to 140 bpm range, while the cello was at 85. You either needed to slow the others down by selecting something in the 85 to 100 range or find a cello above 110 to have a more natural sound without the conversion artifacts. My rule of thumb is to choose track tempo's within 10 to 20% of the song's actual target tempo.

All in all, I like the song.

Hi Herb, thanks very much for your detailed feedback. You are exactly right about the cello track used. I must admit I hadn't noticed the artifacts - can now of course! Usually I try to match tempos more closely but had to use the cello in this case as it brings the song to life better than any other instrumentation I tried.

I consider the songs I'm posting here demos. I'm writing and producing at the same time. I want them to sound as good as I can for you guys and your valuable feedback then later on I hope to have a body of work to choose from for further development. By then I hope to have a lot more realtracks to choose from and I'll start to hit up mates for studio tracking. Maybe even some musos here on the forum?

No real commercial ambitions. Maybe some radio airplay and live band appearances. Flogging music is hard work and not enjoyable imo. I'd rather create!

Matcham,
Cool song - rather like Diamonds In The Mine & other Songs of Love & Hate by Leonard Cohen - it has the same countryish instrumentation but far from it lyrics and bitter humour.
The La Las fit in even more like Laughing' Lenny.

Cheers Ray. I had to look up Laughing Lenny. Glad - even relieved - you recognise humour in the tune.