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Posted By: Keefmeister My Good Friend - 11/18/19 11:01 AM
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPsOclaX5k8
SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/keefmeister-1/my-good-friend

This is a ballad about a songwriter's good friend...his guitar.

_ACCNTRY.STY. Acoustic Country w/ Pedal Steel
Instruments: El.Bass, Ac.Guitar, Ac.Guitar, PedalSteel, Drums
RD: NashvilleEven8^6-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, HiHat Open :Brian Fullen
RT518: Bass, Electric, Pop HalfNotes Ev 085, Dow Tomlin
RT365: Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 085, Jason Roller
RT362: Guitar, Acoustic, Strumming Ev 085 , Tony King
RT363: Pedal Steel, Background Ev 085, Steve Hinson

Added these:
Set 278; 2975 (RVoc0001.ST2) Vocal Oohs-Aahs, Rhythm Pop3-part Ev 085^^Rhythm^^Pop, Country^^
Set 310; 3198 Guitar, Acoustic, Soloist PopBalladBrent Ev 065

All tracks are BiaB except for
1 - an Addictive Drums track to embellish the BiaB track in a couple of places (cymbals & toms only).
2 - all vocals are mine except BiaB Oohs-Aahs track (Shure SM7B mic and Focusrite Scarlet 6i6 audio interface)

Approach:
I generate/export several takes for most RealTracks and cobble the best sections together in my DAW (Cakewalk Sonar). This is especially true of the soloist track. Prior to export, I will remove BiaB reverb, pan all tracks to center, and set volume to default so I can manage these in Sonar. In many cases, the BiaB tracks are left untreated in Sonar because they are produced so well. I have some iZotope products that help bring the song across the finish line including Ozone 9 and Tonal Balance.

I started using BiaB about a year ago. It's truly an amazing product. It's great for songwriting or recording when a songwriter's performance skillset does not include all the instruments they hear in their music. Kudos to PG Music!

Cheers!

- Marc
Posted By: cliftond Re: My Good Friend - 11/18/19 03:30 PM
yeah, that is a good friend indeed Marc!!, and a good song, well, excellent song!!! I love this one Cliff
Posted By: Torrey Bliss Re: My Good Friend - 11/18/19 06:32 PM
Great job on this Marc! Very good vocals and playing! The background vocals are also excellent! Great band choices here! Thanks, Torrey
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/18/19 07:23 PM
Thank you, sir! I appreciate the feedback.
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/18/19 07:30 PM
Thanks Torrey! I wish I liked my own singing voice, but ya work with what ya got. My dad had a great voice but I didn't inherit that gene. smile BiaB is a marvel. Still have a lot to learn. Thanks again...
Posted By: floyd jane Re: My Good Friend - 11/18/19 07:37 PM
Marc,

A good first post. Nice use of BIAB.

Good vocal and really nice harmonies.

Excellent mix.

Welcome to the Showcase!

fj
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/18/19 08:26 PM
Thank you, Floyd. It's good to be here. smile Appreciate the feedback.
Posted By: Ember - PG Music Re: My Good Friend - 11/18/19 09:54 PM
Really great use of the _ACCNTRY style! Thanks for sharing it with us here on the forum.
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/18/19 10:46 PM
Thanks Ember!
Posted By: TuneMonger Re: My Good Friend - 11/18/19 11:28 PM
Nice mix and vox. Also liked She's the one, which followed this on your SC account. Yeoman work!
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/19/19 12:35 AM
Thank you, TuneMonger! smile I'm having a lot of fun with BiaB. It brought my music production capabilities up several notches. Creds to PG Music and the session musicians on RealTracks.
Posted By: Scott C Re: My Good Friend - 11/19/19 06:37 AM
Welcome to the forum. Loved your vocal. Lovely backtrack and lyric. Well done.
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/19/19 10:47 AM
Thanks, Scott! I appreciate the feedback and the kind welcome to this community.
Posted By: sslechta Re: My Good Friend - 11/19/19 12:35 PM
Originally Posted By: Keefmeister
It's great for songwriting or recording when a songwriter's performance skillset does not include all the instruments they hear in their music.

Can I get an "Amen!"? Love that quote sir.

Marc, I have no issues with your vocals here, much better than mine, LOL.

I really loved the feel and mix of your guitars in the song with the vocals. It all comes together pretty nicely. The stock footage and photos used in the video were nice too. Good job all around.

Keep up the great work!
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/19/19 01:05 PM
Amen! smile Thanks a bunch, Steve. I appreciate the feedback.
Posted By: AudioTrack Re: My Good Friend - 11/19/19 01:12 PM
Marc, this is a really nice delivery.

I like the tempo, it fits the song perfectly.

Clever use of lyrics too.
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/19/19 03:06 PM
Thank you, sir! Appreciate your taking time to listen and comment.
Posted By: rayc Re: My Good Friend - 11/20/19 05:32 AM
Nice arrangement.
You blended the OD percussion well.
Posted By: Birchwood Re: My Good Friend - 11/20/19 06:34 AM
Hi Marc,

This is a good song, well sung, good harmony, nice mixing and most of all nice melody!

Hans
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/20/19 11:32 AM
Thanks rayc...the ride cymbal bell strikes in the intro and verses seemed to fit in nicely, but the Addictive Drum toms that play in the last chorus (under "enduring loyalty") didn't have the same big, deep sound as the Nashville RealDrums in BiaB, so I just added reverb and pushed them back in the mix. Not perfect, but good enough. smile Thanks again!
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/20/19 11:33 AM
Hans, thank you for all of those nice comments. Much appreciated.
Posted By: Jim Re: My Good Friend - 11/20/19 09:46 PM
Welcome to the Forum Showcase...
Nicely written & performed...
I will be looking forward to more of your tunes!
Posted By: MarioD Re: My Good Friend - 11/20/19 10:23 PM
Welcome to the forum! Man, what a hell-of-a-first post! Those backing tracks were great. Your vocal was excellent.

This was fantastic!

PS- I think we have the same best friend!
Posted By: Deryk - PG Music Re: My Good Friend - 11/21/19 12:15 PM
Welcome to the forums Marc smile I really enjoyed my listen - the vocals are top notch, and the harmonies are really on point. Looking forward to hearing more from you. Thanks for sharing!
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/21/19 09:19 PM
Thanks, Jim. Much appreciated and nice to be here. smile Love the hieroglyphics in your signature. <thumbs up>
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/21/19 09:33 PM
Hey Mario! Thank you for your feedback. BiaB is an outstanding product. Given the superbly produced RealTracks/RealDrums, I've become less dependent on my own mediocre performance/recording skills. For me, it's all about the song, not my ability (or inability) to play or record it. I'm putting more quality time into BiaB, then post-production in my DAW (Cakewalk Sonar), Melodyne, and several iZotope tools to produce songs. My productivity has increased ten-fold. Don't get me wrong, I still love to play but I don't have the pressure to play multiple takes until I an acceptable recording performance. I'm having a blast.
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/21/19 09:36 PM
Thank you, Deryk. Kudos to PG Music! My only regret is that I just discovered BiaB a year ago. I wish I'd known about this magic years ago. I'm making up for lost time. smile
Posted By: Deej56 Re: My Good Friend - 11/21/19 11:44 PM
Marc,

Love that opening; really pulls the listener in. And the vocal is smooth, sitting really well in the mix. Nice work on the solo as well; really pretty. If this is a first post the forum, it’s a terrific start.

Kind regards,

Deej
Posted By: Ezekiel's Storm Re: My Good Friend - 11/21/19 11:48 PM
Very good production. I liked your use of instrumentation. Voice sounds good!
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/22/19 11:14 AM
Thank you, Deej. I appreciate your comments! I've been a home studio enthusiast for many years and have posted a few music videos on YouTube and some songs on SoundCloud. Productivity has skyrocketed with BiaB. This is, however, my first post here in the User Showcase. Thanks again.
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/22/19 11:16 AM
Thank you, Ezekiel!
Posted By: Greg Johnson Re: My Good Friend - 11/24/19 07:06 PM
Pretty song!! Really interesting approach with the lyric! Vocals are very sweet, and production is excellent! Take care. Greg
Posted By: Keefmeister Re: My Good Friend - 11/26/19 11:58 AM
Thanks, Greg. I appreciate your having a listen and providing feedback. Cheers!
Posted By: Noel96 Re: My Good Friend - 12/07/19 07:53 AM
Hi Marc,

I really enjoyed the journey that you took me on with this song.

As I sat here listening, I smiled an awful lot because I was very impressed at how you used personification of the guitar to create this story. It was nicely told with lots of good imagery. You won me over!

And I agree with you, BIAB is brilliant. I know that I write so much better because I get BIAB to do the heavy lifting. The program frees me up so that I can concentrate on words and music. Not a day goes by that I don't sit down with the program and create something.

It's great to see you jump into the forum.

All the best,
Noel
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