This is my first song for 2017. It began in December as a chord progression. The lyrics followed and the melody was last to arrive.

• This Road

The song started in BIAB. Additional tracks were then generated in Realband. Following this, the MIDI piano and wav files from Realband were taken to Reaper and vocals were recorded and effects were added (i.e. reverb, panning, Nectar, Ozone). For the piano sound, I used PG Music's HiQ 'Acoustic Grand Piano' playing in unison with a slightly brighter sounding piano from Dimension Pro.

Please feel free to comment in any way on any aspect. Also, if you have any questions about any settings or technicalities, please ask. I'll do my best to answer.

Regards,
Noel



BIAB Info

RealTracks
700 Bass, Electric, PopHalfNotesPush Ev 085
362 Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 085

MIDI SuperTracks
2087 Piano, Rhythm PopBalladJohn Ev 085

• Softsynth1: Sforzando with PG Music's HiQ Piano
• Softsynth2: Dimension Pro

RealDrums
BossaBrushesPerc^2-a,b:Congas, No Kit
BossaBrushesFull
AfucheShakerEv8[single]

What a great song, an enjoyable journey, I like the positive lyrics, beautiful singing and the interesting chord progression.

Janne

Noel,
A really nice piece of songwriting.
Strong lyric, strong melody, and strong vocal make for a really pleasurable listening experience.
Excellent stuff!

Peter

Hi Janne,

Thank you for taking time to have a listen. I appreciate it.

All the best,
Noel

Hey Peter,

Thanks for the comments. I appreciate that you had a chance to give the song a run though.

Best regards,
Noel

Noel, this one has the WOW factor. Superb write, mix, arrangement and performance. Enjoyed my listen of this fine song.


Charlie

Really nice balance in the story and fits your voice so well. You have a distinct , singing voice, and a narrator quality in your voice, also. Have you ever done talk shows or radio? Curious.

Just loved this song Noel. The piano was very nice. Vocal and lyric was excellent. Super clear mix...

Noel,

More great material from you.

The build provides anticipation. The choice of instruments works just so absolutely well. And all the while it is delivered with a really outstanding and interesting set of lyrics.

There was a subtle oriental persuasion within the melody, that I found very appealing.

You obviously went to great lengths to put this together so well. Well done.

What a beautiful song Noel!
Intelligently arranged with a relatively small set of instruments.
The transformation into the chorus works great.
Nice and melodic all the way, and beautiful lyrics too.

Rob & Anne-Marie

"Sometimes my legs get weary
And it hurts with every step I take
Sometimes I fall or stumble
But I keep walking, ‘cause that’s the only way"

A terrific start to a "journey" song, Noel. A good write - with your usual positive message...

Well sung and nicely produced. The piano-only start sounds great. The build is nice. The shaker was a clever idea for verse 2. Nice use of BIAB throughout.

Really enjoyed the listen.

floyd

Noel,

This song is excellent - very beautiful and inspirational. Great vocal and top notch mix as well.

Bob

Great vocal! Love the piano and the percussion, and the way you bring in the shaker, very effective. As always just a top notch job on the production.

Enjoyed the listen, great way to start off 2017!

Noel,
I agree with the above and would add that for me this is your best vocal performance.
I`m curious about your reasons for choosing the midi piano - it sounds great - over a Real Track?

Robert

"This road is the journey that I’ve been given
So I keep on walking from day to day
Where I’m going, I don’t know
And though I’m in destiny’s hands
On this road, I plan to travel as far as I can"

Wow! That is lovely and wonderfully produced. Janice is neck and neck with you
on positivity and me (Bud)? Well, lord knows, I try!

Everything -- absolutely everything - about your production sounds superb on our
monitors. The soundstage is lovely and the vocal sits so nicely. And that midi super
track just nails it (we really like those tracks - so much flexibility in the sound).

You certainly picked a great song for your first post this year.

J&B

Kudos!!

J&B

I very much enjoyed your lyrics.

Dear "Noel96"...

"This Road" was interesting to listen to. The opening bars of solo piano made it sound as though it would be a wistful ballad. But then, the addition of the medium-tempo "bossa nova" percussion and rhythm was rather startling, and gave the song a novel sound. In another way, it had the effect of somehow enlarging the emotional "space" around the song after that plaintive opening, as though I had been listening to it standing in front of a door that you opened suddenly so I could hear the fullness of it rolling out on a breeze. The subtle, measured dramatic build delivered me to an ending/beginning that summoned a strongly visual impression/image of the road stretching out before you.

I agree with the other respondents about the uplifting lyrics, too. No head-hanging in this song! There was obvious inspiration and passion in your singing voice. It would fit nicely as an anthem played before the commencement of an Olympics event.

Another excellent example of the BIAB school of songwriting!

LOREN (a.k.a. "bluage")

Hi Noel,

A beautiful song, beautifully performed.

Super arrangement and an excellent piano sound.

Your lyrics as always, are clever and thought provoking and you sing them as though you mean every word.

An excellent start to the year.

ROG.

The road of life, great write, love the mix and piano
nice performance, enjoyed

Kenny

Hey Charlie,

Thanks for taking the time. I sincerely appreciate your it.

All the best,
Noel

nice one chief ...

Noel,

This sounds great! I love this! A really excellent vocal, great lyrics, magnificent production. Great job!!

I'm late to the part and everything that I wanted to say has already been said but I couldn't have sait it any better than Janice & Bud said:



This is a keeper

What a wonderful mix! My god....

Thanks Andy! I've never done anything like narrating or radio. I'm just your every-day ordinary kind of person. BIAB opened the doors to a whole new world for me. With the program what used to be "impossible" became "I'm possible".

All the best,
Noel

"Sometimes my legs get weary
And it hurts with every step I take
Sometimes I fall or stumble
But I keep walking, ‘cause that’s the only way"

A terrific start to a "journey" song, Noel. A good write - with your usual positive message...

Well sung and nicely produced. The piano-only start sounds great. The build is nice. The shaker was a clever idea for verse 2. Nice use of BIAB throughout.

Really enjoyed the listen.

floyd





What he said!



Regards,


Bob

Noel, this sounds really good. Nice pianos. The piano has a mellow acoustic sound that to me is exactly what I like to hear in a piano.

Your vocal sounds good. I thought I was hearing tuning artifacts throughout the vocal track.

Nice job on the composition and writing of the melody and lyrics.

Yep... I enjoyed it.... in fact, it's on the second time through. Thumbs up! Well done.

Scott, thanks for that. I fiddled with this mix for around a month before posting. I always find mixing the most challenging bit and, for some unknown reason, this one seemed more challenging than usual.

Appreciate the visit.

Regards,
Noel

I love your vocals... such a nice voice to listen too - and so much power!

This is today's Hot Forum Topic.

Hi Noel. A delightful song and beautifully done. Cheers.

Thanks Trev. Appreciate your popping in. I'm not sure where the oriental flavour you heard came from. I have been watching a some South Korean dramas recently, though, so maybe that's had an impact without me knowing!

All the best,
Noel

I was honored to get a sneak preview of this beautifully written and arranged song. A +1 to all the well deserved accolades Noel.

Hello, Noel

Very beautiful and very positive song!
Conga and Shaker are so effective.
The deceptive cadence before ending you often use is so nice as usual.
As Robert said, this is your best vocal performance.
And as Janice & Bud said, you certainly picked a great song for your first post this year.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Hi Rob and Anne-Marie,

Hope all is going well for you both. Thanks for having a listen. Much appreciated.

All the best,
Noel

Thanks floyd. It's always good to see you drop in. Appreciate the feedback.

Regards,
Noel

Hey Bob,

It's always good to see you. Thank you passing through the thread and giving the song a run-through. I appreciate your comments.

All the best,
Noel

hi noel96 love this peace awesome nice work with biab thanks eric

Hey Dave,

Thanks for visiting and listening. I appreciate the feedback.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Robert,

Thanks for taking the time.

Using a MIDI Supertrack gave me a lot more control over the final sound of the piano. Firstly, when the bass guitar plays, there are often bass-note conflicts between piano and bass. I was able to remove all these low frequency problems by simply cutting the bass note from the piano. Also, the MIDI track allowed me to control the piano pedalling in just the way I wanted.

All the best,
Noel

Thanks for that explanation, Noel- I can hear the clarity in the sound that your choice has made in the music.

Robert

Hey J&B.

Thanks for passing by. It's always good to read/see you.

It took a while to get this song up and running and then mixing left me scratching my head a number of times. Still, trial-and-error seemed to eventually make a bit of headway.

Appreciate the comments.

Regards,
Noel

Hi Noel!

What a great song! Philosophical introspection with a beat!

This is so strong. The lyric is captivating and draws the listener right into the song. We think the percussions were just perfect ... and totally unexpected. You outdid yourself, my friend. Our ears are still smiling.

Wishing you the very best,

Alan & Di

Thanks for dropping in, Marty. I appreciate the visit.

Regards,
Noel

Hi Loren,

Thank you for taking the time to comment so thoroughly. I sincerely appreciate the smile you brought my way when I read through it.

In all honesty, BIAB has spoilt me. Writing songs with Dr Gannon's software is just so easy. Every time I use the program, I'm amazed at how straightforward it is to come up with a really professional sound. BIAB has DEFINITELY unleashed my inner-songwriter

All the best and thanks again,
Noel

ROG,

Thanks for the feedback. Mixing always challenges me and I'm grateful for all the help I can get! I'm glad you you had the opportunity to have a listen. Appreciate the visit!



Kenny,

That's for stopping by and having a listen.

All the best,
Noel

Thanks, Fiddler.

Hi David,

Thank you. I appreciate your taking the time. This is the first song in which I've fully explored what a MIDI Supertrack makes possible. The individual control over a note, what's played and how it's played, that MIDI allows is excellent. I'll definitely be developing my understanding further in this arena.

All the best,
Noel

Hi again, Andy.

Thanks for popping in again! I'm glad the mix works for you. I've listened to it so many times now, I think my ears a numb.


Hi Mario,

It's always great to see you.

When I was putting this together, I thought of you a few times because I know that you're very enthusiastic about MIDI.

This was my first real excursion into the 'nuts and bolts' side of MIDI. I learnt a lot putting this one together. I now have a glimmer as to why you applaud MIDI so much. It's capabilities are amazing.

Thanks again,
Noel

Hi Herb,

Thanks for taking time to have a listen. Appreciate it. Thanks for the comments, too. It's always good to know how others hear a song.

In relation to the piano, I decided to mix two different synths because I was trying to get a rounded mellow sound (PG Music HiQ piano) with a hint of brightness (Dimension Pro upright piano).

Also, with the vocals I didn't tune too many notes and those that were a bit off were around the vicinity. I suspect what might be happening is due to a combination of settings I had in Nectar 2. While working on 'This Road', I watched a Youtube clip on using Nectar's parallel compression and FX settings. I thought I'd try those settings. (I ended up using a small amount of Chorus as the FX.) Just in case it's of interest, the images below show those settings.

Regards,
Noel

Thanks Bob. It's always good to see you. I appreciate your support.

All the best,
Noel

Hi, Noel !:))


forgive me for being so
late for commenting but
I´ve just been too occupied
among other things with
travels abroad !

I am glad I did not miss
out on this beautiful tune.
you know that I love your
tunes and this is no exception !

Keep walking that road, Noel !!!

Cheers
Dani

Thanks Callie. I appreciate the support that you and PG Music so generously give. Everything I write is only possible because of BIAB. Seriously!



Hi Richard,

Thanks for taking the time. It's great to see you back in the forum. You've been missed.

I'm looking forward to hearing more of your work.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Josie,

I really appreciated your input and thanks for listening again. It's always good to have you visit.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Shigeki Adachi,

It's good to see you. Thank you for passing through and having a listen. I appreciate your thoughts and support.

All the best,
Noel

Thanks for having a listen, Eric. Appreciate it.

Regards,
Noel

Hi Di and Alan,

Thank you for taking the time. It's always great to see you both in the forum. I have to say that I like the concept of "Philosophical introspection with a beat!". That made me smile. Maybe one day I'll work out how to to do that on a regular basis! In the meantime, I'll just keep on going where BIAB takes me.

Take care and may everything good come your way,
Noel

Hey Dani,

Every time I see your name pop up in a thread of mine, I smile. It's always good to see you. Thank you for dropping by, listening and commenting. I appreciate it. From the sounds of things, you and Li are having a terrific time up there in the northern hemisphere!

Wishing you all the best.
Noel

Noel, your song sounds wonderful, especially this chorus. Thanks, Torrey

Hi Noel! I have been in and out of the forum (mostly out) since the middle of December, due to some health issues. I almost missed this wonderful song of yours. I'm so glad I noticed it today. This is probably my favorite of yours so far. I really like the piano. As you know, I am a big user of the Realtracks with BIAB. But piano is one instrument I will go to midi for pretty often. There are some great, realistic piano samples out there. And as you pointed out, you can carve out space for the bass (which you did nicely on this one).

As has been stated frequently on this thread, this was a good way to start the year. You have set the bar pretty high for you to build on for this year. Looking forward to see how high you will go. You are certainly capable.

Steve

Really beautifully done Noel!! A great write, nice arrangement and a wonderful vocal. You've started the year off right!! Keep it up! Take care. Greg

Thanks, Torrey. I appreciate your listen and comments.

Regards,
Noel

Hey Steve,

It's always great to see you. I'm sorry to hear about your health issues. I hope that healing is progressing well for you.

Although I've used midi piano before, this was the first time that I took time to adjust individual note velocities and pedal events. I was incredibly impressed with the control that midi allows. I will definitely be playing around more with midi now that I've been inducted!

Regarding the Texan tripthongs, if every you get the chance to hear a really broad Australian accent, you'll probably be amazed at how many vowel sounds can be squashed into a single syllable! It's quite impressive really

Thanks for taking time to listen and I thank you, too, for the comments. I appreciate it.

May your road be travelling a little smoother now,
Noel

Hi Greg,

Thanks! I got lucky with this one! Appreciate your taking the time.

All the best,
Noel