SONG TITLE : "MY GRANDAD"....
***WARNING .... DUE TO SO MANY DIFFERENT PLAYBACK SYSTEMS.....KEEP YOUR LEVELS DOWN TILL YOU GET COMFORTABLE WITH THE SONG***
https://soundcloud.com/user-302791555/grandadcalfl2016 ARTIST : moi..ALF-L..(a lad from london (c) 2016)
(i like to sing in lots of different vocal "styles". this is one of them...please use good earbuds. apologies if the listener hates the song.)
DETAILS :
1. this is a song very very dear to my heart. and, in fact when i was creating the song/recording i was very very emotional and tearfull often as i miss my grandparents so very much...who were wonderfull kind people that lived in london uk.
if you listen closely to the vocs youll notice in some places my vocs cracked a bit. so..instead of going for perfect vocs i decided to keep the honest emotion in the song.
(biab/rb/reaper was used in the creation of the song.)
i still can only play the song occasionally cos i get so emotional as it reminds me of so many good times when i was a kid.
2. the song is about how , when i was a little kid...my grandad would take me to see West Ham United football team play in their old Boleyn ground in east london uk. and i would get comics too.
then...after the match we would take home a present for my grannie.
in summary, for me its a song that brings back wonderfull memories.
3. please tell me what you think of the outtro fade.
it was an attempt to create a nostalgic sound picture by the vocal stacked repeats. right at the end of the song i say..."ITS A GOAL GRANDAD". i used to get so excited when my team scored...lol.
i'll leave the song up on soundcloud for a few days and see if there is any interest.
feel free to critique...i'm a big boy.
4. the hammers just finished one of their best seasons ever in the premier league.
the team has a fascinating history.
(just google/wikipaedia etc.)
best
oldmuso (a lad from london.)
Love your style, ALF-L!. Even my ears had tears on this one. So glad you had such magic moments in your life. Mine was my GREAT grandmother. Really, man, chills. Yeah, I dig the ending fade. It's as if the memories seem to drift off, but you come back in with a loud "It's as goal, Grandad!" to show they never do. Well done.
Hi Alf,
Yes this brings back good memories for me as well - my old Dad used to take me down to Highbury on Saturdays to watch Arsenal play.
Enjoyed your song.
Best Regards
Nigel
It's a good vocal performance and the steady guitar is good too.
Perhaps too steady - there's a lack of dynamics and some sections where the strumming is all there is, expects a lot of the listener.
The outro...works well though the "little kid" voice lack the excitement I'd expect.
With t, hat said I really like it.
thanks everyone for the comments and listening.
fyi..ive also sung opera in the past..lmao.
happiness to all.
om
Enjoyed!!.. loved the organ filling it up, this is like a clean song in the style of Kevin Bloody wilson Minted mouth organ !! .
Well put together !.
Thanks
A good, honest story-song. Plenty of emotion there without too much saccharine.
The fade-out works well. Thanks for sharing
Ghostgum.
yep...no saccharine....i didnt want to overdo it.
fyi i miss my grandparents terribly.
thanks for listening.
best
om
justanoldmuso,
The little personal intro was a very nice touch! Great job of telling a story here! As I mentioned in the last post of yours, your material reminds me so much of Ringo and I LOVE it! Great job on the tune! Thanks, Torrey
Torrey Bliss
thanks for listening/commenting.
fyi...i really wrestled with the song.
ie how complex or simple to do the production.
its a debate i often have with myself..lol.
one of my songwriting tenets is...am i putting
"lipstick on a pig".
my theory is a song should communicate and work with a few traks...this is stuff i learnt from big studios once.
best
oldmuso
Love your intro. Set the song perfectly. Brought back some very nice memories. Loved your vocal. Reminded me of Peter Noone.
Not sure what DAW you are using. There are some free and reasonably priced level meters you can add to your mix buss. If you mix to K14. You will be safe with levels. Soundcloud will level balance your mixes and can take the life out of them if they are too loud...
Scott C.
thanks for listening.
the vocs are just one of many voc styles i use depending
on what i feel the song needs.
fyi daws i use are reaps/biab/rb.
re "K"
in reaps when i mixdown...normally its to -0.3db
but i'm gonna try the "K" approach next chance i get.
see what gives.
happiness to you.
om
I really like the build-up of the song, from simply talking to an arrangement that would work in a large venue. I think the outro works well also, even though I personally try to avoid fade-outs. As a United fan I'm sorry we didn't allow you to keep Lingard :-)
Alexander.
thanks for listening.
re lingard...he did so well for WHU didnt he ?
i think he felt limited at Man U.
thats a big loss for the hammers.
WHU are a funny team...one week they beat a big team,
and next loose to a poor team.
used to bug my grandad no end when he was alive.
happiness to you.
om
A fantastic intro and outtro. It must have been very difficult to sing this one; I could feel the pain in your vocal.
Outstanding vocal, lyrics, backing tracks, and mix.
Loved it - IMHO this is your best to date!
What a wonderful tribute!
I really like the song construction and the instrumentation. I can hear this a a really good pub song.
Reminds me a bit of Ray Davies.
I enjoyed this!
Muso,
A very nice musical tribute. Smooth singing - spoken word transitions. Solid backing. Thank you for sharing.
Misha.
P.S. Grandparents are the best!
thanks everyone for listening and commenting.
yes it was a very difficult song to do emotionally.
happiness to all.
om
ps my next song is different/funny/zany...i'll post in a couple of days. all about aliens.
song is called "Intergalactic rocking spaceship"...lmao
We, too, spent much time with our grandparents and can very much appreciate your tribute.
The story was well told indeed and we thought the builds in the production were very effective.
Thanks for the journey back!
J&B
janice/bud.
i encourage any comments from you both... negative or positive....given your both so very talented.
yes the relationship with ones grandparents is a very special one.
i dont want to sound nuts...but sometimes i feel they are like guardian angels watching over my wife and i.
the very best to you/happiness.
oldmuso.
Nice tune and lovely story telling.
Was listening to a Roy Harper song the other day (When An Old Cricketer Leaves The Crease)which has a similar vibe (sort of).
Good work on this.
Peter
'justanoldmuso'...
Aside from the emotionally stirring background information you provided on the creation of, and the inspiration for your song, it is a powerful listening experience also because of the way you build-up and bring down the number and volume of the instruments over the length of the recording, the full-voiced vocal doubling, and your spoken-word storytelling talent. The outro fade works to maintain a never-ending feel to the song. Definitely, the nostalgia you desired to communicate comes through and through. It's a memorable listening experience.
PeterF and bluage
thanks soo much for listening and your nice comments.
i'm really happy that people seem to feel the ending works.
i debated at length over the ending which worried me a lot as to whether it would work.
best to you both.
om
ps...to clarify ...as people have asked me...
the "chicken run" was an area of the hammers boleyn football ground.
a remarkeable aspect was you would see people often blowing bubbles all over the football ground. it was a great sight
to see on match day.
Great job OM. I love your accent. You have a nice singing voice.
And I'll ditto Torrey here, the song style reminds me of something Ringo would do. That's a compliment of course.
The outro sounds fine to me. I really enjoyed it.
Josie
justanoldmuso,
For me, this has just a great Kinks feel to it. The organ you have running through this gives it great heart (though from a production standpoint, I might dial it back just a tad in spots). The harmonica was a great choice as well. Love a story song!
All my best,
Deej
om,
Great song - great vocal. Excellent production.
I really enjoyed this song and the backstory.
Bob
thanks everyone for listening and the kind words.
i wish you all great happiness.
this saturday..tomorrow... its a new season for english football (soccer in north america).
i'm keeping my fingers crossed my hammers do well...lol.
so i'll be wearing my west ham united shirt.
best
om
Good singing, good song, nice tribute
om,
A very nice look back. A story well told. Nice use of the BAND.
Pleasant vocals. Nicely mixed...
fj
FJ and tunemonger.
thanks for listening and commenting.
i appreciate it.
every happiness
om
update.
All.
wow i'm stoked , west ham fc (who this song is partly about ) is now top of the league after beating leicester today, and newcastle last week. yowser.
i need some advice tho'. should i keep the mygrandad song up on soundcloud or replace it with another new song ? cos i have loads of songs and dont want to bore people. i'm scared to delete the song in case it brings bad luck to my team now they are numero uno...lol.
happiness to all.
om
WOW what a week, my grandad must be smiling down from heaven. maybe my prayers to him worked..
cos our team the hammers had a fab week.
west ham utd booted manchester united with all their
huge talent out of the carabao cup 1-0...
and then yesterday in the premier league..
beat leeds utd 2-1. i am totally stoked.
i miss all the fun we used to have at west ham footie
matchies.sadly uk soccer/football has become too much
money orientated now.
what a week.
om
and the march of grandad and my soccer team , the
hammers continues. i'm so chuffed.
they beat everton last week , then ghenk in europe during the week, and now the great spurs with the great harry
kane today. my grandad must be danceing a jig in heaven.
now gonna go listen to user showcase.
me happy cockney lad.
om
YESTERDAY HAMMDERS BEAT THE BIG MAN CITY.
A BLINKING MAZING...penalty shootout.
efl cup. wowser.