This is a song that harkens back to the ageless hymns straight from the church hymnal.

But.... it's not your granny's version of the song.

Drums, bass, B3, and 2 of the guitar tracks are BB/RB

The other guitar tracks.... delightfully crunchy, phased, and of course the leads are all my playing.

5 vocal tracks combined with some digital wizardry.... and you have this song.

It Is Well

As always, comments are welcome. Hope you enjoy this version of the old classic.

If you don't know the back story to this song and how it came to be written, check this link>>> https://www.staugustine.com/article/20141016/LIFESTYLE/310169936

Note: Cans or good speakers will deliver the best sound.... crank it or not.... your choice.

Influences for this production: Kutlass & Def Leppard concert on TV.

Great modern production...
It sounds it would have fit quite well with the P & W songs I heard this past Easter weekend...
Nicely done...
I enjoyed it!

LOUD it is.
I don't know - I think with the snap of the snare being louder than the vocal the melody becomes 2nd in consciousness.
Very up and, as we say in Oz, "happy clappy".

Well done Guitarhacker, fantastic choice of instrumentation on this. This sounds very full and very soothing to hear. Excellent mixdown. Thanks for sharing!

Herb.
Nice arrangement and excellent guitar playing!
Interesting and tragic story behind the lyrics.

Thank you for sharing!

Misha.

This is an excellent song that kicks butt. Super mix here. Your vocal is really strong.

This is fantastic.

Loved the intro. Super vocal and loved the guitars. Definitely not "Grannys version" :-). Well done

"And Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back like a scroll."

Got to be my favorite old Hymn, if only for this line alone. Powerful version that raised goose-bumps on me. Loved this.

Herb ...

This is a really nice production. The backing tracks are a perfect fit and your guitar work, as usual, is excellent. This is one of your best vocals ... of the ones I've heard.

Excellent in all respects!

Alan

Jim, It is most certainly, in the style of the modern christian bands. Glad you enjoyed it.

Loud it is... intentionally....but not "bricked" ..... and the snare, and drums overall, are intentionally up front. (Waiting on the day when PG gives us the option to play with the kit levels)

Joe, thank you.... essentially just guitar, bass, drums, and a B3 hiding in there.... but oh my! love those crunchy guitars.... indeed I do.

Crunchy, smashing and uplifting hymn. Great guitar solo, powerful interpretation, excellent mix.

Janne

Awesome!

love the drums, super vocal, very nice guitar

good mix

enjoyed,

Kenny

Guitarhacker:

This one worked really well for me—rich and compelling production. I’m not familiar with the source material, but this version resonates. Some great guitar work and the vocals are heartfelt and genuine. Thumbs up from this end!

Regards,

Deej

Thank you for listening. Every song has a back story.... some more interesting than others, some from sadder origins.

I had fun putting this together. It is a very powerful song.... and I tried to convey that in the music.

The intro came as a kind of after thought. It's a copy/paste from another section of the song. I thought the drums on this.... a real drums track from BB/RB was very interesting. As I mentioned in another post, I'd love to have better control over the kit parts. I'd really love to turn those cymbals down in the chorus.... blue to green... but with out that option.... it's a compromise between the highs and a washed out track in the blue.... they are a bit hot but it is what it is.

I'm contemplating a few more "not-your-granny's-version" hymns... we;ll have to see.

Thanks for listening.

Grandma would not go for it, HA, but I like it. Great job on this classic song!!! Cliff

I'm old enough to be a grandma, but I like it a lot

Now, that's a church I want to go to!! Great rock vibe here and I think it suits the song very well. Excellent vocal on this Herb!! And guitar!! A great twist on a hymn!! Take care. Greg

Nice P&W rocker for sure!

I'm old but I don't recall that hymn but then we went to tiny Methodist country churches. Heck I'm so old my grandparents were doing shape note singing in church...really.

Your guitar playing shines on this one!

We both always appreciate a genre smashing rework of an old PD song and, man, you delivered on this one!

J&B

BTW, Several times you mentioned wanting control over the drum kit. IMO, it's not difficult using volume and/or eq automation lanes to gain control or even remove a kit part. Once you've made the changes in a few select bars you can quickly comp up the new track from the bits you changed. Logic Pro makes it even easier as it will remove a tom or kick or snare allowing you to add yours to separate tracks for processing (not always perfect) - but as mentioned it can be done with volume shaping very accurately. . Logic also makes it easy via its "groove track" that will immediately and perfectly align all the tracks drum tracks you create with this process. As I'm sure you are aware all of the kit parts are at the end of each RD file for the respective track and can be copied for doubling or replacing parts on the original track. I like to find other samples sometimes. Sounds tedious but, at least for me, it takes less than 30m to double or replace snares/kicks. Volume shaping cymbals down or up takes more time but is, for me, sometimes worth it. Having the kit parts on separate tracks really opens up the RD options. All with a big ole FWIW!

J&B

Herb,

I really enjoyed that creative performance. Love the vocal and guitar. Great mix.

Bob

Goosebumps.... I guess that means mission accomplished. Thanks!

THank you for the kind words. Glad it was good to you.

Thanks for listening and commenting in such a nice manner.

Cool... the drums are straight out of real band. Thanks

Source material: The Baptist Hymnal. This is a classic old hymn of the faith.... I'm surprised you aren't familiar with it. Regardless, I'm glad you liked my interpretation of this old song.

Excellent rendition of "It is Well,"(written in 1873,) Herb.
When I think of that one, I naturally think of Hillsong's version and the impact their arrangement had on contemporary Christian. That, and the incredible life story of writer Horatio Spafford, which may be found on You Tube. Something not often mentioned is that Mr. Spafford had a falling out with his church, left and started a new one. Fitting, don't you think?
I was especially interested in the way you handled the drum track. I've listened to your version several times.

It sounds like you had a lot of fun with this one! Nicely done. Thanks for sharing.

Very creative. Full sounding. Really dig those harmonies and background vocals.

Nice to cross paths again, Herb. Take care.

Scott

Really like this rendition, Herb. One of my favorite hymns. I like the arrangement, and the grittiness of your interpretation. I was familiar with the back story on this hymn, born out of severe tragedy, revealing great trust. It is a very humbling, yet inspiring song.

Bob Sorge wrote a book called Exploring Worship some time back. There is an interesting section about the contemporary styles of praise and worship. Here is a brief excerpt:

"A prominant American glergyman compiled the following ten reasons for opposing the new music trend of his day:
1. It's too new, like an unknown language.
2. It's not so melodious as the more established style.
3. There are so many new songs that it is impossible to learn them all.
4. This new music creates disturbances and causes people to act in an indecent and disorderly manner.
5. It places too much emphasis on instrumental music rather than on godly lyrics.
6. The lyrics are often worldly, even blasphemous.
7. It is not needed, since previous generations have gone to heaven without it.
8. It is a contrivance to get money.
9. It monopolizes the Christians' time and encourages them to stay out late.
10. These new musicians are young upstarts, and some of them are lewd and loose persons.

These ten reasons are adapted from a 1723 statement against the use of ---- hymns!"

So, even though my dad would not appreciate modern instrumentation/arrangement of this old hymn, I say - go for it! Give us some more!

Steve

Glad you like it.... even though grandma might not.

Yep... glad you like it too.

I had done a version of an old hymn rocked up, at my church before ( it was kind of jazzy.... on my sound click page) ..... they actually liked it. I like to hear the hymns the way I think they should be played.

Sounds like you approve. thanks

Shape note singing.... wow.... that's ancient. I figured even the old timey methodists should know this one...... Oh well.... now you do. Thanks for the info and the listen.

Thanks Bob...

Hillsong has some fairly hot versions of hymns and their song writing skills are extraordinary. Thanks for listening.

Yep indeed.... I did have fun. One of the things I did that worked nicely (I thought) was the reverse guitar at the end of the second verse. thanks for listening.

Yep... I used 5 vox tracks.... one lead, two doubled, and two harmonies. thanks for listening and it's good to see you here again.

I'm glad you popped in and took a listen. And.... that you liked it. I'll probably do at least one more in this manner.

Herb,

A good "update" to a hymn. The guitars are well done - nice lead - and nice harmonies.

I thought the snare could have used some reverb so that it did not sit in front of the vocal. The cymbals in the chorus need to be toned down. They are loud and harsh...and completely take over the mix. The rest works.

glad you like this version FJ. As I have commented on previously..... I hate that the drums are all on one track. If I use EQ to tame the cymbals.... that throws off the snap of the snare.... if I add verb to the snare, it muddles up the cymbals and the rest of the kit. I might need to find another way to do my drums because they are in fact the biggest issue I have with a top quality production. I'm generally pressed for time, but I might just have to see if I can convert the read drum tracks to midi somehow and then use my DAW to split them into multiple tracks and that gives me the power to decree which part of the kit shall get verb and which part shall get EQ.

or maybe I can experiment a bit with my existing drum synths for a bit..... but real drums are so quick and convenient, despite their shortcoming of all being on the same track.