Hi there,

Some months ago I posted a song here and got very nice reactions. This should have encouraged me to send more numbers, but I did not post more songs. Why that was, I don't know. Yes, wait... I do know. I did not know what I can ask from you, beside listening to that song.
And here I am again. With another song I recently made. It's called Maybe. And I still want you to listen to it, but I have question as wel.
I made the song in BiaB and the style is called Wounded, although I changed some of the instruments.
What I noticed is that all instruments stop where you want them too (luckily), but if you want them to play just a little longer to avoid 'hard cuts' I can't see how to do that other than in a DAW. Although not a really tough point, I do hope one of you can tell if that can be avoided. The chord-options button does noy do this job.
Let me know if you know.
And give me your opinion of the song if you want. As honest as possible.

https://soundcloud.com/user-296497130/maybe

Thanks anyway and a nice weekend
Hans Berkhout

Hans, I really enjoyed your song, it's very good! The vocal on this is outstanding and the acoustic guitar work in this is perfect. I don't know if I understand your question correctly or not, but if it's about the held chord at the end, I have found that if I will set the ending bar about 8 measures past the last held chord, this will cause (not always but most of the time) the chords to sustain longer. I then edit out that last chord which will sound 8 measures later and do a fade of the sustained chord in my DAW. Sorry if this isn't what you meant. Thanks, Torrey

Good song...
Your voice sounds really good...
I enjoyed listening!

Thanks Jim and Torrey. I almost blush (a little)about your compliments.
And Torrey, it is exactly what you wrote. But my English is insufficient for these technical matters.
But (the big BUT)I have tried a bit of that as well. The thing is, in BiaB the melody sounds bad and because I record my singing in BiaB it always confuses me. So I thought, maybe (!) there is another solution.

But thanks a lot anyway. You gave me another idea: do what you say and shorten the instruments (if not solo and melody) in the chord-options.
Nice day,
Hans Berkhout

Hi Birchwood, wowzers! This sounds very full and I really dug the chord progression. That guitar tone is very warm! - Little too much reverb in my humble opinion but if thats' what you were going for fill your boots! Thanks for sharing!

Hi Hans,

What a really nice song you uploaded for us to hear! I very much liked it! Joe mentioned the reverb, but I think it was fine as it is, but this is obviously a matter of personal taste.

About your question, I think Torrey gave you a good answer - I too experiment with how many bars to use in the ending or when (at which bar) to hold a certain instrument, etc. If things doesn't work out then you are right... fix it in your daw.

Thanks a lot for sharing such a nice song!
Will

Very lovely song Hans, I enjoyed my listen a lot and in my own opinion I wouldn't change anything

Lovely song.
you either have a halo of proximity effect from your mic or the reverb/delay/chorus is creating an additional effect. It smears your vocal a little.
You have a nice vocal tone - it may also be effected by almost clipping or hitting a limiter.
I don't know which.
The vocal does seem a little loud.
Good job avoiding or dealing with essing and plosives though.
Cool song and arrangement.
Well done.
Sorry I can't help you with the issue you asked about.

Good morning (Dutch time) to you all,

Joe, Will, Furry and Ray C (sounds like a Popgroup) thank you very mutch for your comments.
I am very pleased with your compliments. And Furry, I had the same thing when having a problem. When I was young I had a nice voice and could reach BeeGee-hights easily. But that was way back. Now I had to get used to my 'new' much lower voice. I hated that voice at first. But you must find yourself te songs/melodies that fit with the voice. In your case? Try opera ;-)

And concerning the reverb. That's always a problem, too much, too little. I mostly choose a plate reverb for a middle sized room.
In the DAW I never add reverb (and follow the advise of Will and Furry -a bit-).

And Ray, I use a Gemini II mic from SE and if I sing close to it, it gives that tonal effect. But don't use that in a song where loud singing is needed.

With your compliments in my pocket I will continue making songs and let you hear them, ok?

Nice day,
Hans Berkhout

I like the instrumentation, especially the cello: it accentuates the mood of the song. I enjoyed the melody of the chorus and I like the way you ended the song on the word "alone."

I really enjoyed what you did with this song. Thanks for taking the time to post it on the forum!

Hi Ember and Ezekiel,

Thanks for your comments. Especialy that 'Cheers'.
And to use Ezekiel's remark: not 'alone'.

I like using cello's or violins. It gives more dimensions to a song.
Although, lately I used a harmonica in a song. That was quit a challenge if you are used to the ones I mentioned.
My son didn't like the tone of it, so I made it (Song: Fat Guy, on Soundcloud)

Thanks again,
Hans

Hans,
First of all, very good tune. I like progression, choice of instruments and vocals!

I might be not the right guy to professionally comment, so consider this is as a honest opinion of average listener. It seems to me that vocals are a bit detached from main backing track. Feels like it resides in high frequency than the rest and a bit loud. I would try fool around with trying to blend vocals better in the mix.

Thank you for posting,

Misha.

Really well done As others mentioned your vocals on this are really superb. Love the progressions, and thought it was nicely catchy as well.

Thanks for sharing!

Hi Misha,

You were right about the volume. I 'fooled' around with the mixer and volume and now it must fix better in the mix (I think).

Thanks for your suggestion, and of course your compliments as well!

Hans

Thanks very much,Deryk,

I already wrote I blushed (a bit) because of the reviews, but that colour is still there...

Hans

Very nice song. Loved the vocal. The guitar was excellent and the cello was such a nice touch. Well done.

Hi Scott,

I saw your note on my Soundcloud, like this one. Thanks very much.
The cello is always a sensitive instrument, during the ages I believe.
I have the impression more songwriters seem to be using this instrument nowadays, don't you agree? Even with electronic music. So nice times ahead ;-)

Hans

Well done...it hits that nice mellow spot but stays engaging.

I almost always comp endings in my DAW doing what Torrey suggested or using held chords or fades, etc.

Do you have your song setting set to generate a four bar ending? That helps also.

Enjoyed the song!

J&B

Thanks J&B, for compliments and the hint.
I have set the songsetting to a 2-bars ending. I will try the 4-bars ending, but will that also prevent the abrupt stopping of instruments during the song? For the start of instruments I often start one bar early (especcialy solo's). That works out nice. Not at the end. It's not a big problem, only a littlebit anoying.

I hadn't heard your music till now, I thought. When listening to a couple of your songs just now, I remembered hearing that voice! So nice.

Sincerely,
Hans

Hi Birchwood - I like a semi-autbiographical song.
I enjoyed this very much and the backing is great too - love that Cello - perfect.
For your information - if you want a chord to play on when held, enter it as chord "X..."
I listened to the end and I think that is what you do already.
Ian

Hi Ian,

Just saw your post. Thanks a lot for the compliments.
It was not realy autobiografical. In Holland we have no hills...

And about your hint, no I didn't know about the X. A lot of things I do with the chordbuilder, or the settingsform.

Nice evening,
Hans

Hi Hans, just to be clear, it is X...
That is - the chord and 3 dots.
Ian

Oh sorry, didn't know it was called like that. Yes, I often use that in my songs. Or with one or two dots.

Bye,
Hans

Nice composition and arrangement ... and they compliment the lyrics very well!