I'm ***WAY*** out of my comfort zone here but wanted to try to create an Elton John type song anyway - just because. I've always enjoyed his music and I'm always willing to try something new. The vocal leaves a lot to be desired as I just don't have a voice for Rock music - and a lot of other genres, too. But, it's what it is, as they say.

This is kind of a work in progress - just experimenting. What I noticed as I listened was perhaps I put too much FX on the vocal in the chorus - should I to back off that a bit? (I have a new toy - a TC-Helicon Voice Live Play vocal processor - woo hoo!). He also tends to bury his vocal a bit in the mix, so I went that direction, too.

I'm open to any other suggestions and comments. As I said, I'm so far out of my comfort zone here, I can't see my way back! Thanks for the listen and any comments you might have.


File:The Worst Thing She Could Do - Am
Key=Am , Tempo 130, Length (m:s)=3:23

Style is ELTON1.STY (Elton 1 - Ev. 8ths Rock)
Style MIDI Instruments are : Acoustic Piano (1), Strings (49),
RealTracks in song: 995:Bass, Electric, HardRockLA Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 697:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ElecRockDirty Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 697:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm ElecRockDirty Ev 120
RealDrums in Song: RockClassicBritEv^5-a:Snare, Loose HiHat , b:Snare, Ride Bel

The Worst Thing She Could Do

The Worst Thing She Could Do
© 2017 Alan D. David, BMI / Diana Randall, BMI

(v1)
She looked at me in the strangest way
Said there’s something I have to say
I’ve tried to say it many times before
But I just can’t put it off no more

(v2)
Wiping tears from her dampened cheeks
She said I’ve thought about this days and weeks
But I can’t find an easy way to say
I have no choice but to go away

CHORUS
She said I’ll try to make this as easy as I can
This ain’t the way I had it planned
But as she said goodbye, she did the worst thing she could do
When she said I’ll always love you

TWO INSTRUMENTAL VERSES

CHORUS
She said I’ll try to make this as easy as I can
This ain’t the way I had it planned
But as she said goodbye, she did the worst thing she could do
When she said I’ll always love you

(v3)
She said it’s all me, it’s not about you
I did the best that I could do
But now I know it just won’t work
I’m sorry for the unplanned hurt

(4)
I nested with my hopes on high
Then my wings found the need to fly
I’ll always treasure my days with you
This is the last thing I wanted to do

CHORUS
She said I’ll try to make this as easy as I can
This ain’t the way I had it planned
But as she said goodbye, she did the worst thing she could do
When she said I’ll always love you

I really enjoyed this lively piano ballad.
Great lyrics and well produced.
Well done.

Thanks a bunch, Rob. I appreciate the feedback.

Alan

Hi, Al & Di !


You know that I have
a flair for experimenting
with different backgrounds
so I like to listen to your
experimenting - in this case
a very nice one !:))

Cheers
Dani

Alan and Di

I think you've captured what you set out to achieve very well.

Great lyrics.

The instrumental slotted in seamlessly and the overall feel works just like you wanted.

A great production, no question.

Sounds good Alan! Vocal double in chorus is a good effect! I think you might consider doing this as a slower ballad. I could really hear that working well too! Thanks, Torrey

Alan,

It is great the you are stepping out of your zone! And doing a fine job.

I like the chorus vocal effects. In fact I think you ought to get "heavier" with effects for this particular song. Include them on the verses, too... I'd even go so far as to try the "cranked up Autotune effect". I think it would really work on this.

I always had a sense that EJ's piano was brighter sounding that this (I'd up the high EQ to bring that out).

A good pop write.

Enjoyed it.

floyd

Alan,
You have absorbed your lessons listening to the music you enjoy and it shows-this is a really good pop song!
The arrangement sounds on point and I especially enjoyed the chorus... be interesting to see if you come up with a second version.
Certainly go play outside the comfort zone - its an encouragement to all listening here.

Robert

Very cool tune Alan. Super backtrack and vocal. Well done. Harmonies were excellent

Alan, well you know that we always appreciate when users try something else. And we might say that you definitely succeeded here. A nice different sound, and especially the chorus has a very cool ring to it. We are both Elton John fans, so you couldn't go wrong here.

May I challenge you to try a rap song next time? I'm very curious how that will sound ;-)

Rob

Song machine!!

man, a super pop write

progression really reminds me of EJ

I like the vocal effects

nice job,

enjoyed the listen,

Kenny

Hi Dani,

Yes, and I love the way you experiment with your sound. Thanks for the nice words - really appreciate them.

Alan

Hii VT!

Thanks for the losten and the input. So glad you liked it. Thanks for letting me know!

Alan

Hi Torrey,

Delighted you enjoyed it! O want to clean up the vocal on the - chorus as it seems to get a little lost on the mix - a little much reverb, I think, and maybe bring down the higher EQ just a bit. I'll run it about 10 or 12 bpm slower and see what kind of sound I get. I always appreciate intuitive suggestions!

Best to you,

Alan

Thanks for the input, Floyd. Glad you liked it. I'll play around with the EQ on the piano. It's a midi track and I had quite a struggle getting the EQ as bright as I did ... it just didn't respond well to the attempts to brighten it. I tried 6 or 8 real Tracks but couldn't find one that worked.

I', still evaluating the chorus. I'm not real happy with it and I posted it in order to get feedback like yours. I'm debating whether or not to double the voice on the verses or to add a half-octave higher harmony voice; maybe even add a half-octave lower to offset the higher.

Hmmm ... the cranked up autotune! Ya know, that just might work. Never thought about that. Might play around with that as my new vocal processor has their version of autotune on it.

You've given me some great ideas to play around with. I'll see how it sounds using those suggestions - thanks! Best to you.

Alan

Hi Robert,

Thanks so much for the listen and really nice comments! It's fun to step outside one's comfort zone here and there. Sometimes it works out pretty good and not so good other times. But you do9n't know until you make the journey.

Thanks so much for the encouragement. If I redo it, I'll post it. Best to you,

Alan

Hi Guys!

Thanks for the nice comments. I appreciate the encouragement and positive feedback. When I get time, I hope to "polish" this a little bit.

Hmmm ... a Rap song? Now, that's a real challenge! If I can come up with something, I'll do it!

Best to both of you.

Alan

Ha! But the rhetorical question: Is there any quality in the quantity? That's what I need to keep in mind.

BTW ... I have quite a few more ready to go. But I like to wait at least a few days between posts. Best top you and yours.

Alan

Kenny!

You are entirely too kind! But I thank you for the encouragement and kindness. This is still pretty rough but I hope to get back to it and give it a little more "zing"! Best to you, my friend.

Alan

We agree with all of the nice aforementioned comments and much enjoyed our listens.

I have to confess to never having listened much to Elton John (those were my lost blues and bluegrass years :)) so I'm not one to get too deeply into how much you captured the sound. But for us the sound you created works well and it's a most cool pop write and production!

J&B

Thanks a bunch. Much appreciated. I might redo this one in the future. This was rough cut just to get some feedback, which it did.

Thanks again! best to you,

Alan

You may be out of your comfort zone, but I really really enjoyed this one! Sometimes pushing ourselves out of our personal boxes can lead to some pretty amazing things. I also really love the lyrics on this one, especially:

"Wiping tears from her dampened cheeks
She said I’ve thought about this days and weeks
But I can’t find an easy way to say
I have no choice but to go away"

It totally broke my heart.

I loved this one, and can't wait for the next.

Hi Al
Thought the lyrics and the vocals were great.
Found the drums a bit distracting. Cheers.

Hi Ember (love your name!),

Thank you for that great feedback. Glad you enjoyed it. That verse you mentioned came to me pretty quickly. It's what predicated the rest of the lyric. Always enjoy hearing from you. best to you and all of Mr. Gannon's gang.

Alan

Hi Rich,

thanks for the listen and comments. Glad you enjoyed it in spite of the drums. Elton John always had a striong rhythm section, He liked his bass and drums. Thanks for tuning in! Best to you.

ALan

Alan. I really enjoyed this tune. I've always been partial to Elton's style. I would love to tackle something like this, but I'm pretty sure my country voice would be out of place in this style. I think you pulled it off nicely. Great job!


BTW-I saw a reference to an acquaintance of yours that I know as well. In 2000 I was doing a project in Nashville at Gene Breeden's studio at the old United Artist Tower. A wonderful steel guitar/saxophone player by the name of John Heinrich played steel on my second CD. The last time I ran into him he was set up at the Nashville Airport playing sax. Next time you see him tell him Gary Presson said Hello. Great guy!

Nice job, Alan! Good to see you hard at work! Good song!

Steve

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the very nice words - I appreciate that very much. Although I played lead guitar in several Country bands, I don't have a Country or Rock voice. It's more suited to Smooth Jazz and Smooth R&B. I did this one on a whim - just because!

I've known John Heinrich since the late 1970s. I met him in Germany around '78 or '79. John's a real good guy. I've not seen him in several years but get an email ever so often from him. As of two years ago, he was touring with Ronnie Milsap as his pedal steel, dobra, sax, clarinet and flute player. He's a multi-talented guy and very good on all those instruments. I visited with him at Scotty's International Steel Guitar Convention in St. Louis a few years ago. He was one of the featured players. Scotty passed away in the spring of this year. I spent a lot of money at his music business in Overland, MO. (a suburb of St. Louis). I met him in 1968 when I bought a guitar and amp from. In fact, I bought the amp I currently own (a Peavey Nashville 112) from him in 2006.

His (John's) long-time girlfriend passed away a few years ago and it really devastated him. Next time I talk or visit with him, I'll let him know you said hello. I'm sure he will appreciate it.

Best to you, Gary.

Alan

Thank you, Steve. It's a pretty rough cut at this point - as I told Gary, I did it on a whim. Glad you enjoyed it. I have several waiting in the wings - I like to wait a few days between posts in order to not hog the board. Hope all is well in South-Central Texas. Wishing you the very best.

Alan

Wow, what a tune Alan! It sounds outstanding, and I wouldn't have even thought you were outside your comfort range here. As others mentioned, in order to get that signature Elton John sort of sound on the piano it would need to sound a bit more "bright." That being said, it doesn't mean this isn't a delightful tune - it would just help it get that Elton John signature sound

Overall, a wonderfully written song and great pop tune. Thanks so much for sharing!

Hello, Alan

Very energetic song!
It is very a nice idea to use minor key for an Elton John type song.
It is wonderful to write songs out of your zone.
I also like to write songs out of my zone.
BIAB is very useful to do so.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Hi Deryk,

Thanks for the listen and very nice comments. I tried to "brighten" the piano several ways, but none of them helped very much. I got the best results from Audacity, but even that wasn't very good. It sounded cheap and "tinny" when I raised the higher EQ. Midi tracks have always been a challenge for me.

Glad you liked it anyway ... thanks!

Alan

Hi Shigeki,

Thanks for the very nice comments. And yea, BIAB is a great tool for experimenting and trying new genres. I'm delighted you enjoyed the song!

Alan

Good stuff Alan!! I think you've captured the Elton John thing melodically very well. As for the vocal, we all wish we could sing like him-one of the best pop singers ever in my opinion. However, you did a great job! This is very nice. I think Floyd's suggestions are good ones in terms of the mix. Great job!! Take care. Greg

Thanks a bunch, Greg. Yeah, if I could sing lim,ke that!!! Glad the vocal was tolerable. There are several songs for which I'm going to redo the vocal soon - this is one of them. As I mentioned in the intro paragraph, this is way out of my vocal ability; but I like to push the limits sometimes.

Thanks again. Much appreciated!

Alan