https://soundcloud.com/user-679049224/the-real-me

OK, so this is my second post. This is a song I wrote some years ago, but never formally started doing it until recently. There is so much to learn and explore with BIAB, DAW's, and the current state of technology. It's mind boggling... I got a little more ambitious on this song, and used a lot more tracks. I used Real Band tracks for the bass, drums, and one of the rhythm guitars. Rock Brit Driving EV16 for the drums, 1827 Bass Pop Modern Groove for Bass, and 680 Guitar Electric Rhythm RockBrit Soulful for the guitar. My friend Steve Waters played lead and rhythm guitar and I played acoustic. There's a bunch of vocal tracks too. If I had a snare drum I would add some in to a few places, but I don't have one, and since I updated my OS, my midi controller is no longer supported, which I never really understood MIDI anyway, so I'll do without it for now. Dang it, it's hard to be a singer songwriter these days... I swear, you have to be an engineer, an arranger, a producer, a promoter... thanks for listening, and any comments/suggestions are more than welcome.

You seem to be doing it right. This has a nice 60's folkie sound to it.

Nice song. Nice job on the recording.

I was actually thinking it was easier to be a writer and musician these days with all the tools like this.

The lead guitar has a bit too much reverb and is too far back in the mix. It's played well.

Nice work on the harmonies.

Midi is fairly easy. DO you use a DAW like Sonar or something similar? Quite a few of them come with drum synths built in and ready to roll. Adding a snare is easy.

Good job all around on this.

Hi Jamie. Nice to "meet" you.

We agree with a lot of Herb's comments. It's really nice song with a 60s Pop-Folk sound. The vocal harmonies are terrific. Very nice job with that!

And yes, the lead guitar break needs to be more up front (louder) in the mix. We're not quite as concerned about the reverb level of the lead guitar as Herb is because of the era of music this fits in. That said, we never were that fond of the deep reverb, but it was fashionable/in-vogue then.

The advantage of being your own composer, arranger, producer, etc., is that you can get it exactly the way you want it - not how "they" think it should be. And the more you work with the program, as well as read up on it, the better and easier it gets. We think you did a pretty danged good job. Best of luck with your music!

Alan & Di

All the tools are there... it's learning how to use and understand them that is hard! I can fix that guitar part easy enough. I can lessen the reverb and use automation to bring the solo up more in the mix. I use Logic Pro9 and I know there are some built in instruments, but I haven't gotten that far with it yet. Thank you for your feedback.

Jamie

Jamie,
I enjoyed this song ( would be nice to see the lyrics).I remember your first post here- that was a very good song too.
Your vocal and harmonies are fine ( nice ending!) and instruments well chosen.
Sticking with the rather steep learning curve on self production is fun ... and sometimes I just have to take a break go back to the notepad and guitar and remember why I started.
I hope you`ll keep bringing your songs here.

Robert

Jamie

You have really delivered with this production.

The vocals and harmonies work really well throughout.

Perhaps the lead break could be lifted slightly, as I think it's got more presence to offer than is being demonstrated.

Notwithstanding, this is great from every angle. Excellent.

Very nice listen

Jamie,

A nice listen. I agree with the comments from others... nice vocals and harmony (I might add a touch more reverb to the harmony for a bit more separation - but that is a personal preference)...and the guitar solo needs to come up (quite a bit).

fj

Jamie,

Great song! I really like your sound... Excellent job.

Bob

I'm not quite sure what you meant about adding a snare? Do you mean augmenting the RD snare? If you look in the BiaB file structure and find the audio file for the RD track you are using and then look at the file in a DAW or wave editor you will find samples of the actual kit used in the RD. You can cut out the snare hit and then place it anywhere you want to in your production. Sometimes we do that to double the RD snare for more "pop."

We enjoyed the tune! And we agree with the production tweaks already mentioned. Hope you stay around awhile. This is a great community to learn from.

J&B

Hi Jamie Archer, Thanks for sharing this as your second post! Great work on the vocals and lyrics. Excellent guitar too. Well done!

Hi Jamie,

I remember your first song posted here.

I really like this, nice vocals, especially the harmonies.

Kenny

Here are the lyrics... pretty simple really. Nothing earth shatteringly original about this one LOL
The Real Me

I want you to know how I feel
See for yourself that it’s real
I want you to ask me ask me why
Then dry the tears from your eyes

Cause its real its real its real
It’s the real me that you see
And I won’t I won’t I won’t change my mind
Cause you wouldn’t change for me

And this river rolls on ‘til its gone gone gone
Time now to carry on
Well you broke my back that’s a fact
But I never stay broken for long

You tested my strength
Drove me to the brink
Wasn’t written in stone only ink

Cause its real its real its real
It’s the real me that you see
And I won’t I won’t I won’t change my mind
Cause you wouldn’t change for me

Cause it’s real it’s real it’s real
It’s the real me that you see
Cause it’s real it’s real it’s real
It’s the real me that you see

Jamie, it sounds like you are off to a great start. Your track sounded pretty good to me. You also have a very good voice. Welcome to this forum and I look forward to hearing more from you. Thanks, Torrey.