Hi everyone,

First of all I want to wish you a very good 2020. With lots of songs to be made and all that in good health!
Secondly I want to apologize for not being too active on listening to your songs the last month. There were some bad things that caused this, but all this is behind me so I can tease you with my comments again...

In one post I said I'd made a waltz but hadn't the guts bringing it to this forum. Well, now I did! This song originally was made by me in 2017, but I wasn't really happy with it. So it took me some time between other things to refresh that song. At first the lyrics now rhyme. But only with the great help from Stefan Nachtsheim who helped me with the proper grammar. He is really strict, although he lookes so friendly. But I have dedicated this song to him.
And I changed a lot in the melody, so it sounds more like a waltz than the original song: https://soundcloud.com/user-296497130/that-beautiful-night?in=user-296497130/sets/birchwood-2020

The song is a bit melancholic, but waltzes mostly are. It's about an old man in a care home thinking of the good old time; the beautiful night. So, no politics, no hidden messages. Only a sensitive song that was nice to sing.

The song has tempochanges: from 105 for the verses to 145 for the chorusses. The style is Rundown. The key is G. I used a piano, two cello's, a fiddle and a nylon sologuitar and drums. In the chorusses I had to use some other instruments (two rhythm guitars, different drum) because the first ones couldn't handle the tempochange.
I faced a problem. With every tempochage I heard a click and a thick white bar appeared in the audio track. Had to remove them manually.

I hope you like it, but please be honest if you think I did something wrong.
Hans Berkhout

The lyrics:
That Beautiful Night
(c) HwBerkhout, dec. 2019

Sitting with my photo book on my lap
I felt a bit sad
Browsing through the pages full of history
I fell out of my bed

The nurse had to help me up
and handed me the book too
But something made it difficult for me
to look at the faces I once knew

I thought:
All that matters,
will fly away
Yes, all that matters,
will be gone one day

Chorus:
But still I see that night, that night
Oh, so impressed I was
By the moon and the stars
in the sky so bright

In that night we all danced
Yes, life had begun
We were young, had it all
Oh, this was fun...

And sitting in that tiny jailish room
with nothing much to hold on
I’m wond’ring why I'm still here,
while my life is already gone

Time stood still with that album on my lap
but soaked with tears then
My life gone by, nothing ahead
I tried to stand up, but fell again

I thought:
All that matters,
will fly away
Yes, all that matters,
will be gone one day

But still I feel that night, that night
Oh, so impressed I was
By the moon and the stars
in the sky so bright

Yes, it was that night, we found love
We were young,
but had all
we dreamed of...

That night, that night
Oh, so impressed I was
By the moon and the stars
in the sky so bright

Oh, it was the time
that my life did ignite
Now I'm old, but the night
still feels so light...

But one night, one night
I shall fly
To the moon and the stars
You'll see me shine in your sky

On a beautiful night...

Loved this tune. Cool lyrics. Wont belong and these lyrics will become a reality. Well done...

Amazing tune - a fantastic waltz, and the lyrics work amazingly well with the instrumentation. It is superbly lush and flows effortlessly.

Thanks for sharing

Hans,

"Oh, so impressed I was"

...because this is a VERY impressive piece.

An excellent write. Captures the situation well.

And the backing instruments are really well chosen - fitting the lyric thought at each step...

Well sung. Heart-felt. Appropriately emotional and then "hopeful".
(the chorus vocal gets a bit "high EQ harsh", but not much)

The tempo changes are IMPRESSIVE!! Well done!

This is an EXCELLENT listen.

fj

Impressive piece of music, well arranged and produced. Good writing and I always like your vocal.

Nice way to start off the new year, Hans!

Having spent time in a care home with family over the past
year this song really grabbed us lyrically and melodically.
The tempo changes worked wonderfully and reminded us
of how the faces of the residents would "light up" when they
were telling us stories from their younger days. You've
captured the feelings that we encountered perfectly.

The tempo changes were perfect for moving back and
forward through time.

Great vocals along with the entire production!

J&B

This a real classic, I love your passion and also changing pace.
This is an excellent composition.
Rob4580

Hi Scott, Deryk, Floyd, Dave, Jance, Bud and Rob,

Thank you very much for the compliments. You all managed to give me a smile this day.
This song was more difficult than I thought. The tempochanges were nasty. Every change gave a sound like tingling bells on my recordings of the vocals.
But I discovered nice things with the tool 'accord options'. For instance a mix of shots and pushes worked out very nice.
But sometimes I wished there were two pages on the mixer; one for the instruments I use from the beginning, the other for the instruments in the chorusses. But don't tell me that what a Daw is for. I know, but...

Scott, if you think old this situation I sang about comes quick. So don't. You're too active for that. Help the others to get rid of your prime minister for example...

And Deryk you said it very nicely 'It is superbly lush and flows effortlessly'. Especially when you realize it wasn't effortless at all!

Floyd, nice how you picked up the word impressed. I was searching for the right words in my lyrics and remembered how impressed I was as a child (living in the tropics then) by all those stars in the sky. Many evenings I slipped out of bed to ly on the ground watching them Thinking of that time I got this word. And I think I found a way to alter the harsh part. Thanks for that.

Dave, one day we must do a song together since you loved my voice and love your kind of music. Maybe together with Chris. She seem to like some of my songs as well. Interested?

Hi Janice and Bud, I didn't know you had a 'live'experience on this issue. Nice to read the lyrics fit well in that. I have no experience on this topic. I am only thinking how I would act if I'm in such a situation. Dangerous feelings cause they can depress me for a while. But you have a subject then for a song!

Rob, these tempochanges are big fun. Try it and you get my point. But have a towel nearby for the sweat. Thanks for the passion-compliment!

Hans

Really nicely done!! Very poignant story! The arrangement is very nice, particularly the strings....beautiful!! Great job!! Take care. Greg

The bridge between the verse and chorus works really well.
Good on Stefan for being the school master.
This works REALLY well.

Hans,

It’s interesting how we self-judge our own tunes—thinking they may be, well, not so great, and so never letting them see the light of day—like maybe how you felt about this own. But hearing it without any expectations . . . well, it's really, really good. Some absolutely lovely production touches on this.

At first I wasn't sold on the chorus tempo change . . . but the more I listened to it the more I warmed up to it, and I think you made the right choice there. Love the accordion.

And love your vocal on this and an great write on the lyrics.

Terrific stuff!

Regards,

Deej

You & Stefan have truly written a sensitive good song...
Lyrically & musically capturing the subject so well...
The slow-engulfing melancholy of the present...
Contrasted with the fast exuberating memories from the past...
Nicely done...
I enjoyed it!
★★★★★

Hi Hans,

Well done and very enjoyable to listen to.
I always get waltz in my blood after watching the New Year concert from Vienna... I like music composed by the Strauss family, but I have never dared to try to make something myself in this style... and after listening to your composition, I am quite sure I will never be able to make something as good as this.

It is a really well-thought out and intelligent brought together song! I envy your great talent as much as I enjoy listening to your songs!

Take care!
Will

Hans, this is brilliant! This could be anyone of us in a few years.

Great instrumentation. The lyrics were heartwarming and the vocal was very good. The tempo and style changes were brilliant.

Hi Hans,

besides yourself I am - no doubt about that - the one who has listened to this song most often. And you know what: I liked it more and more with each version you sent me. And I love it right now. It's great in all respects - but I said this already after listening to a very early verrsion.

I am very much flattered that you dedicated the song to me, although I am not quite sure, wether you did that because I'm a couple of years older than you and you expect me to be in that situation very soon and unavoidably, or because I gave you two or three hints

And BTW: strict... Ha, you don't have the slightest idea how it feels like when I ever get strict ...

Whatever, the lyrics cover an issue that many of us forum guys can relate to, and I wouldn't be honest if I claimed that these thoughts were completely new to me.

But since I know that you turned 65 yourself yesterday I think that you did not write those lyrics from a completely theoretical point of view, right?

I already told you that I admire your usage of RealTracks in this song a lot. You have an unmistakable great voice and way of singing, and this became, again, very evident with this song.

Everything great about this production !!!!

hartelijke groetjes,

Stefan

This was a bold concept and yet IMO it just worked so well! Your singing was perfect for it. Great gestalt all around. You gotta be very proud of this one, it's a gem!

Hi Hans,

This is an excellent write.

The creativity that's on display with this production is awesome. It seems to me that as you settle into BIAB and your DAW more and more, your level of proficiency grows and grows and your song just keep on getting better and better. Do you have a fan club? I'd like to sign up

I really love what you've done here. It's wonderful.

All the best,
Noel

Hans,
very unusual piece of music. It is almost like vaudeville on heavy steroids, in a good way I think the most interesting about it, that you tried hard to step away from norms, and it worked well, if that was your aim. If it was not... Still a very cool experimental work! Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Hans

Some excellent writing and composing (loved the tempo changes). Simply an impressive and evocative piece of work.

Really well done.

Peter

Hi Greg, Ray Deej56 and Jim,

Thanks a lot for your very kind words. I wrote I hesitated about posting this song, but your words gave me the conviction it was a right choice to do so. So thanks for that.
My decicion to make this song was mainly that I wanted to challenge myself making a waltz with tempochanges forth and back and sounds like a waltz. I had all sorts of ideas about strings that swell up when a chorus starts (like in those classical waltzes, but I couldn't find suitable instruments in BB or on my keyboard. I thought I had this song ready, but noticed it didn't sound like a waltz And the lyrics did not rhyme!
Than I thought 'keep it simple'. Still the song took me a lot of time and instruments. Two kinds of basses, drums, guitars for the chorus, a nylonstring guitar and fiddle for the verses and two cello's. And I wanted to sing with multiple vocals in the sub-chorusses and chorusses, but Stefan pursuaded me to do solo-vocals


Greg, you called it a poignant story. I agree on that, but it was fantasized. I had no real live examples in mind. Only how I would act if this happens to me.

Ray, I'm so glad with your words, but also a bit amazed that you had no complains about this song, the performance or the mixing of it all. I thought, what have I done wrong? (I'm teasing a bit). I know you always give good comment and advise, and with your comment on this song the bar for future songs will lay higher. A challenge for me!

Deej56, I like what you wrote about this song. Especially that 'at fist you were not sold by tempochanges', but got sold eventually. You become a fan of waltzes now?

Jim, you know how nice you can write? What a nice two sentences: The slow-engulfing melancholy of the present..., Contrasted with the fast exuberating memories from the past... I really want me to find words like that for a new song. Thanks for putting your comment like this.

Hans

Hello Will, MarioD, Stefan, TuneMonger, Noel96, Misha and Peter,

What very nice words you all used to describe your opinion on this song! If I wasn't 65 years for some days now I would have blushed by them. So thanks a lot!

Will, I let my wife read your letter in the hope that she would now look up at me with full admiration... that didn't happen, but she expressed admiration to your words instead. I could only agree, that htey were very very nice words. Though, I am sure you wrong yourself by saying that you cannot do something similar. You're the expert!

MarioD, you used the word 'Brilliant' two times. Take care with that. I almost start believing I am. Luckily my wife hold my feet to the ground. But thanks!

Stefan, I doubt if I did the right thing dedicating this song to you, after your post. You say i haven't seen you strict, but how to explain your reaction on my lyrics then? Only red markers in it, telling me what I did wrong. I only persist in keeping the word 'Jailish' in the lyrics, where you cried out you haven't heard of that word. Me neither, but I thought everyone will understand and so new words are born ;-)
And if one becomes 65, it's not logical to connect that age to the topic in this song. So you are not only (too) strict, but also mean.

TuneMonger, you expressed it exactly as it was; A bold concept. I thought I made all kind of songs, why not try a waltz? They are nice to listen to, but very complicated to com[pose. Well you told me I succeeded. Thanks for that.

Noel, your question about me having a fan club, intrigued me. But after consulting my wife and sons I have to give up this idea. They think it's already very heavy for them that I terorize them from the atic with my music and want me to keep it like that (at the most).
So I fear I don't have enough supporters... But I was very honored with your message.

Misha, calling my song a Vaudeville on heavy steroid is some kind of expressing. Even if I had to read it 'in a good way'. I think I will use your expression as a title for a new song. Love it (although I don't understand one syllable of it). My real aim was to raise the bar with making songs. Can I make a kind of waltz. And on my terms. And I agree, in my life I always tended to find my own paths. If that is similar to stepping away from norms? Not really.

Peter, your words I do understand (more than Misha's Vaudeville [teasing you, Misha]) and are so true. That's also why I hesitated so long to come with this song (the concept was made in march 2017), how would you all respond to a waltz, that kind of things. But I'm glad I did it (with Stefans' help on the lyrics), because your responses are all so kind.

Hans

Superb arrangement, very simple but still very rich, everything works and at right times: cello at the beginning and in the end and also in the interplay with the nylon guitar, good drums, light piano calms the song nicely before the chorus and the accordion is introduced in slow speed before that wonderfully working faster tempo chorus.

The touching story and your interpretation are really elegant and fragile. A waltz suits excellently for that melancholy mood.

Janne

Very nice work Hans! I like the complexity of the different rhythmic patterns in this! I kind of puts me in mind of something Billy Joel would do! Great lyrical composition and your vocal was excellent! Thanks, Torrey

Hans,
On second listen the way the song `s story evolves to the first time change came through- very well realised writing!
Your vocals always command attention- and the variation of intensity here is great.
Not sure about the ending...otherwise I very much enjoyed your waltz into your "golden years"!

Robert

Hi Janne, Torrey and Robert,

Thanks for your very nice replies and huge compliments. I was pleasantly surprised by this.

Janne, it was like you say, this story needed a waltz. I had never done this before, so it took me some time to make it then in 2017, and later in the last months of 2019. Thanks!

Torrey, now we both have a waltz! But when you compared my song a bit with work of Billy Joel, well... that is some compliment. Thanks!

Robert, I was impressed how you listened to the song, really! You know why? You are completely right with what you said about the ending. I was hesitating writing those lines there. Originally the character faded away, later on I didn't mention his ending at all, and here I wrote he becomes a star in 'your' sky. 'Your' wasn't really good, because there wasn't someone he was talking/singing to. I think it better could have been 'the' instead of 'your'. Unless this was not what you meant. Then let me know.

Hans