Razor's Edge


File:Razor's Edge.SGU

Key=D , Tempo 40, Length (m:s)=2:48

Style is _MORTALS.STY (Mortals Soul Pop Soloist)

RealTracks in song: 3546:Bass, Electric, AmericanaSlow12-8SteveAB Sw 040
RealTracks in style: 3088:Piano, ElectricVintage, Rhythm AmericanaSlow128Mike Sw 040
RealTracks in style: 3722:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopSoulHeldSlow128Brent Sw 040
RealTracks in style: 3723:Guitar, Electric, Soloist PopSoulGritSlow128Brent Sw 040
RealTracks in song: 3086:Organ, Rhythm AmericanaSlow128Mike Sw 040
RealDrums [in Song:AmericanaSlow128^04-a:Kick Hihat Quarter, b:Kick Snare

A very slow Pop-Rock Blues in 12/8 time signature.

I was going give you a rather detailed explanation of how I approached genesis and assembly of this song, as I did on my previous song. But I thought it might bore you, so I decided not to.

I replaced the original bass and drums from the style and wrote a completely new chord pattern. I gave the solo guitar a slight bit more echo/delay than the indigenous track for the style, plus quite a bit more distortion. I then added the organ for a more spatial sound. That's probably all you might want to know, rather than the full approach I used.

I attempted to model the guitar solo similar to the style and sound characteristics of Tak Matsumoto, a Japanese Blues guitarist I like quite a bit.

Hope you enjoy it.

Alan


BY REQUEST, HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS AS I PUT THIS ONE TOGETHER:



After selecting the style to match the song idea in my head, I wrote a whole new chord pattern, changed the bass and drum tracks. I then added the organ. I wasn’t sure, at first, if it was a good idea to use an organ and electric piano together. But after playing around with them for a while, I thought it sounded okay, so I kept both. The organ gives a little more depth to the distant ambience. The electric piano fills the left side of the soundstage, opposing the rhythm guitar on the right. The electric piano and the guitar sit in front of the organ.

My deeper thoughts as I mixed this: A broken heart, represented by the solo guitar, is crying out, but weakly so, as it has been thrown onto the razor’s edge by devastation. The lead guitar is in the middle of the front-to-rear depth. I wanted it to sound as if the other tracks were cradling and soothing it, soothing it from the cut of the razor’s edge, thus placing it a little further back in the mix than what is typical/usual. The drums are more forward than I usually mix them in this sort of song. They’re also simple. I wanted them to represent the heart beating loud, above the anguish, as though calling out for comfort. The bass has a few fill runs, my effort to further expose the drama of the heart’s pain. I gave the guitar a little more echo/delay and turned up the distortion a bit. The solo guitar is generic to the style. I just manipulated it somewhat.

It might seem a little silly to some folks, but that’s how I approached this song. I attempted to personify the broken heart to tell it’s tale of woe to the listener. As I write most of my my instrumentals, I usually have a little movie playing in my head and I try to capture that movie in sound.

I tried to give the guitar the sound that Tak Matsumoto most often uses. If you’re not familiar with him, he’s a Japanese guitarist I like a lot. His sound and style is somewhat similar to that of Gary Moore and, perhaps, a little Jeff Beck.

Hope that information is worthwhile to a few of you!

Alan

Well, I like your explanations, Alan. Interesting and informative. Dang, I wrote that part as the song was just starting. Then I had to stop writing to just listen. Twice. I like the moody chord structure, and, man, that guitar is HUGE WITH FEELING. Yes, I hear Tak. So well done, Alan. Thanks.

ZOWIE! That's good!!!

Once again, Alan...Thanks for showcasing RTs that I haven't heard (or paid attention to). You often inspire me to go have a closer look...

This is an AMAZING instrumental. It is much like what I like best from Jeff Beck. I am not familiar with Tak Matsumoto - so you've sparked my interest there, as well.

Excellent.

fj

Good stuff, Alan, love the fx on the guitar.

Nice, unpredictable chord changes make for an interesting instrumental.

I'm not familiar with Tak Matsumoto, but I'll check him out.

Enjoyed!

WHAT??? WHAAAaaaaaaaaaaat? But... but..... what about the enquiring minds? Boredom ain't the biggest problem they have to deal with! Anybody who doesn't want to read the explainy stuff can just skip it.

Having whined that:
Once again, I see a bluesy trend in the forum at the moment, and I AM LOVING IT!
Speaking of which, I am also loving everything about this song. I find the pauses where only the drums play to be really effective... to the point that I'm thinking.. "no.. don't stop yet.. I'm not done listening"

The guitar tone is actually pretty similar to the tone that this forum's own Eric gets on his guitar... a tone which everybody seems to remark about in each of his songs. (Eric should make a User track if he hasn't already)

I'm curious to know if this required much regen or if it worked pretty quickly. Because it sure does work!

Thanks for posting! I'll be back.

Marty ...

You are always so kind. I appreciate that so very much. I thank you for the multiple listens. I like playing around with chords, progressions and the like. Sometimes, something good happens in that process.

Wishing you everything good.

Alan

Floyd,

Thank you very much. I haven't listened to Beck in quite some time. I think I'll head over to YouTube tonight and do a little catching up. Thanks for jarring my memory. I've been listening to Tak for about a year now. He's mostly contemporary blues and blues rock. Either way, I like what he does.


Again thank you very, very much. Wishing you the best ...

Alan

Hey Dave ...

Thank you! I played around the the guitar fx for about fifteen minutes - it came together pretty quickly. Glad you enjoyed it. I like Tac quite a bit. For my ears, he's somewhere between Gary Moore and Jeff Beck. Many thanks for the listen and nice review!. Wishing you everything good.

Alan

Hey Pat ...

Okay, as soon as I'm finished wit this reply, I'll go back and edit in my thoughts on the song development. I just didn't want to bore anyone. And yeah, Eric is a fabulous instrumentalist. He deserves every accolade he receives.

The regeneration went relatively quick. I probably did 8 - 10 regenerations. There was one I liked slightly better but the ending was pretty rough, so I went back to this one. Thank you for your kind words. I sincerely appreciate them. Best to you & yours ...

Alan

Alan, this is a blues masterpiece. Loved that guitar tone and your chord progression. Everything about this is perfect.

PS - I also like to know how people put there songs together. This old dog still can learn a new trick or two.

Mario, my friend!!!

Thank you very much. You truly humble me. I just went back and added my thought processes as I put this together, as well as somewhat of an explanation how those thought processes materialized during what I call the "construction phase". Hope you find something of value in that.

Best to you. Stay warm!

Alan

Really nice.

Loved the major-seventhy middle and end section - sounded a bit like the Eagles for a moment, then the chords shifted again.

The instrumentation sounded good to me.

I enjoyed reading the additional information on how the song was put together as well.

Love this. Although this song is an instrumental - (a really good one I might add... ) the structure of the song had me thinking and feeling lyrically. I'm a bit melancholy in mood these days and not too far into the song I had the vibe of Paul Carrack (Ace, Mike and the Mechanics, solo) coming from my speakers. One poster mentioned an Eagles sound and groove, yep - Mr. Carrack wrote "Love Will Keep Us Alive" that the Eagles recorded - so that fits too.

Enjoyed my listen a lot. Hope to hear another from you soon.

Charlie

A beautiful chord progression with many hot moments of eye-closing anguish. The guitar lead was equally as saucy, if not more so. Also liked the simple organ background that helped defined the ezquiaite harmonies. Really enjoyed listening.

I'm a sucker for gently weeping guitars. This example is about as good as it gets.

This is awesome. The guitar had some much feeling to it. Well done. The backtrack framed the soloist so well. Just a beautiful piece of music. I am so glad you let us know how you developed the song and what you were trying to achieve. You nailed it big time.

Al,
Wow! That`s a guitar track that`s so fine in your very emotive vehicle; I think you definitely achieved your goal of maxing out the heartbreak.
Very much enjoyed!
I might have missed it; what effects did you apply to the RT,please?

Robert

Hi David ...

Many thanks for the really nice comments! The song is in the key of D but the verses focus more on the Bm aspect, but the chorus goes to Dmaj7. I've always thought the transition from the relative minor to the Maj7 of the tonic/root is such a sweet and soothing sound. I need to use it more often!

Glad you enjoyed the song and the explanation of my concept. Wishing you the best ...

Alan

Hi Charlie ...

It's always a pleasure to have you listen and comment. I've never listened to Mike And The mechanics but a few times, years ago. I am familiar with the Eagles song "Love Will Keep Us Alive" but never paid attention to the writer credit.

Glad you enjoyed it! There'll be more soon - a a few waiting in the wings. I usually don't post a new song when the previous one is still on the first page of comments. I think it's just courteous to the other forum members to do it that way.

I could write a lyric for it, but my voice makes a cement mixer sound like a top-ten vocalist.

Many thanks. Best to you ...

Alan

Hi Tangmo ...

Thank you sao much for those very nice comments! Sure do appreciate all that! What I like about the organ track is it is, mostly, a steady hold on the chords - not too busy. Therefore, it creates an ambience that deepens the mood opf a slow blues. At least, that's my thought on that.

Thanks for the listen and helpful comments! best to you ...

Alan

Alan,

That one heck of a blues instrumental! But what’s as amazing, if not more, is the thought process you put into the composition. Very impressive—and your description adds a context to the tune that makes me appreciate all the more. The artistry is outstanding.

My very best to you,

Deej

Hi Brian ...

Many thanks for the very kind comments. Appreciate them very much! Best to you ...

Alan

Hi Scott ...

Thanks for the listen and very nice comments. I figured my rambling about how I tend to put my songs together - specific to each song as I post - would bore most of the folks. Seems I might have been wrong. So, I'll add a little explanation to each of my songs until folks do get tired of them.

I particularly appreciate the comment about the backing tracks framing the lead solo. That was the primary intention of my effort. Thanks for noting that! Glad you enjoyed it. Best to you., Take care ...

Alan

Hi Robert ...

Thanks for the super review! I appreciate it very much. As far as the effects on the lead guitar - nothing real special, although I did feel they gave it a nice sound. I simply added some echo/delay, chorus, and a little extra distortion. That's all I did - all pretty simple and basic. All the effects were from the BIAB collection of VSTs.

Again, many thanks. Wishing you the best. Take care ...

Alan

Hi Deej!

So glad you dropped in for a listen. I'm really happy you liked your listen. The manner in which I wrote/composed this song is pretty similar to my approach about most of my instrumentals. There's a movie playing in my mind as the song unfolds - try to find musical sounds that will translate that movie. I don't specifically tell myself to do it - it just happens of its own accord.

Thanks again, my friend ...

Alan

Firstly - I'm jealous...I can't make Brent's tracks sit well in my songs - it just doesn't happen which leaves me without an huge resource.
This is a really smokey progression and he organ/Rhodes balance is very cool. I had a real Rhodes for a while. I loaned it to a friend - they both disappeared.
The only thing I'd quibble about in tis mix is the clicky kick...no one else will notice or comment but it does, for me, stick out.

Hi Ray ...

First, many thanks for the nice comments. I appreciate them. I think the incorporation and melding of Brent Mason tracks depends on the smaller nuances of the musical project. Most of his RTs, regardless of genre in which they appear, will always have the smallest amount of his country roots present. Having made a very good living as a lead guitarist for many years, I tend to evaluate nuances of various guitarists. Although I don't practice scales per se, I know them when I hear them. As an example, sometimes when a Maj6 chord is be9ing used in Smooth Jazz, I can hear a more typical country construction in the lead guitar track. They're not particularly noticeable most of the time, but to some of us, they're evident to some degree. It's like your ability to hear the click in the kick drum pedal when most of us can't.

Ah - I've been down that road when both a loaned item and the person to whom I loaned both disappeared. My grandfather always told me that when you loan something, be prepared to assume it's more likely a gift. I don't really play keyboards - do tinker around with them at times and something not totally objectionable happens here and there. But I liked the "quiet" continuity of the Roland on this track. It offered a good background/bed with little to no interference of the other tracks. I've also noticed in BIAB 2021, there's better seaparation between the right and left hands of the keyboards. That's been a big help to me.

Anyway, thanks for the listen and nice comments. Best to ya ...

Alan

Hi Alan & Di,

With your description of the song, we fit into the musical story that you wanted to tell us. The sound of the guitar is well worked and gives the impression of speaking to us. The organ and the electric piano are well spatialized and reinforce the dark atmosphere which emerges from it. I appreciated.


Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

Not much to add as so many thoughtful and articulate comments have been made.
It's bluesy enough to sit nicely in our wheelhouse for sure.

The solo is outstanding. I had assumed you had comped it from many tracks...amazing that it was a single generation.

Any potential purchaser of BiaB should have the opportunity to listen to this as it's a tremendous illustration of what talent and BiaB can accomplish.

A tip of the hat and pint glass to ya!

J&B

Alan

That was one of the best sounding guitar tracks I've heard BIAB play.

Really nicely done.

Peter

Alan,

Fantastic!
It's just a typical blues in 12/8 time signature.
The guitar solo is wonderful.
I thought this song could only be done by you.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Hello Derochette ...

Thank you very much for those very nice comments! I appreciate them. Glad you enjoyed the song. Wishing you the very best ...

Alan

Howdy Folks ...

Hope all is well in Georgia. Here in Northern Alabama we're supposed to get freezing rain followed by some snow over the next two days. I grew up in that kind of weather, but the folks here aren't used to it. But, I think we will all survive it!

Many thanks for the kind words. This one fell into place pretty quickly once the ball started rolling. There are so many wonderful RTs, it's sometimes difficult to settle on just one. But this one struck me as soon as I generated it. I played around with it for a while and ... voila!

Again, I am humbled by your kindness. Many thanks. Wishing you the very best of everything ...

Alan

Hello Peter ...

I have to agree it's one of the best RTs in BIAB's treasure chest of music tools. I can only take credit for choosing it - but wish I could play that good! Those days have come and gone.

Thank you very much for the kindness. Wishing you everything good. Take care ...

Alan

Shigeki ...

You are much too nice. Thank you so much for those very nice comments and support. I appreciate it very much.

Wishing you the very best ...

Alan

I like to hear the thought process.
I also liked the tune's process and it sounds like the guitar was weeping.
Good one Al.

Vic