Ok here goes. First ever (part) song posted here, so please be gentle!

Song to Mum

Note: This is a couple of excerpts from the song adding up to about 5 mins. The second excerpts starts at around 3 min 55 seconds. See details below for an explanation why the whole song isn’t here.

I had the tune ready pretty quickly but have been writing the lyrics for a couple of months. I decided to bring in BIAB to help with the backing track and speed that side of things up. I have written a few songs over the years but nothing major. In the last year I have been recording lots of covers in Sonar to get up to speed with using it. The question was - what to write for my first major song?

So I decided to write a song about and dedicated to my Mum who is 88 and still going strong. I captured many of my own memories and ideas and also from my three sisters and, of course, from Mum. I decided to write it in chronological order so the song progresses from her birth through to current times.

It starts with a small extract of Chopin (Nocturne No9) as this was a piece that she used to play on piano and practice ballet to. I took the first 15 bars of a MIDI file of this and transposed it up a semitone from Eb to E to match the rest of the song. I have not included it here in case of copyright problems (does anyone know if it would be ok?).

I haven’t posted the whole song here for a number of reasons:-
- It isn’t finished and is already 15 minutes long but will be close to 20 minutes when finished. I guess there are a lot of memories for someone who is 88!
- It is obviously quite a personal song and many of the memories won’t mean much to anyone other than me, my Mum and close family.
- Because of the above it might become boring to other listeners so an excerpt seemed more appropriate. I have posted the first 4 minutes and the break later on in the song.

It’s a rough mix as I am still deaf in my left ear after getting an infection at Christmas.

Here’s the info about the song:
****** Song Summary *************
Key=E , Tempo 68 bpm
No Melody
No Soloist track.
Style is =BAL85_F.STY (Ctry Bal., fpk guit. (85 RT))
BassCustom Synth is Hi-Q 034 01 Bass, Electric, 61 Classic SampleTank.tgs
PianoCustom Synth is Hi-Q 001 01 Piano, Acoustic, Grand SampleTank.tgs
StringsCustom Synth is Hi-Q 050 01 Strings, Ensemble, Movie SampleTank.tgs
Style MIDI Instruments are : Finger Electric Bass (34), Acoustic Piano (1), Slow Strings (50),
RealTracks in style: ~~364:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 065
RealDrums in style: NashvilleEven8^2-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, HiHat
*******************

****** Other tracks added in Sonar ***********
- Chopin Intro from MIDI file (not present in excerpt)
- Vocals – need some rework in places due to having a cold
- Electric Guitar solo (around 3m 40s)
- Electric Guitar backing (from 3m 24s)
- French Horns backing (from 3m 24s)
- Piccolo between verse and chorus
- SFX – Air raid noises, speech, bombing
*******************

Really pretty music!! So well conceived and arranged. Very 70's vibe-that's my era. How did you do the vocal processing? I just love the feel. I would love to hear more. Beautiful music!! Take care. Greg

Greg said it all. We enjoyed it.

And....yep, what's on the vocal?
It has a very airy feel that doesn't
always work. But for this song
We really like it.

Touching tribute!

J&B

Thanks Greg, your comments are much appreciated. I had the chord progression in my head for ages and thought there was a song in there somewhere but the 70's vibe happened by accident. I'm glad you like the vocal sound. I recorded them using my AKG D5 mic through the Boss BR-800 into Sonar on my PC. I used Melodyne to create the harmony and doubling and Sonitus reverb (I love the sound of this reverb). On the chorus I used the Sonitus delay to create the beat sync'd echo and give it some width. I also added a touch of ProChannel EQ, PC4K S Bus compressor to glue it all together.



Thanks a lot Janice and Bud, it's great to receive positive comments from such highly respected song writers and singers on here. I did think I had gone over the top with the vocal sound but I wanted some warmth and lightness and it seemed to fit with the backing track. I'm hoping that Mum will like it too

Thanks folks for your positive feedback.

Rec

Hi Rec,

beautiful music. Great concept.
The guitar solo is awesome. Is that your's?
Very enjoyable listen.

Guenter

Wonderful tribute to your mother. The best thing is she is still here to enjoy the tribute. The vocal production is reminiscent of early works by Randy VanWarmer. The music production is superb.

Rec,

What an entrance! Beautiful!

A great flow to the music. The vocal processing is really nice. So is the vocal itself...
Terrific mix. I thought the drums were just a hair soft - a little too far back, so it might be a reverb that is setting them back (but just very slightly).

And Man! NICE guitar work!!!

I can't wait to hear the 20 minute version (how about some lyrics when you do?...)

floyd

Hi Receder,
This is music that I relate to...
Great vocals, and what a guitar solo! Nothing wrong with a concept of 20 minutes. If it's ok with copyright I'd love to hear the whole song.
By the way... loved Catweazle back in 1970!
Grtz
Fred

Awesome tune. Here a little David Gilmour there. Well done

Great first post! I like the concept and it is a great tribute. Super guitar solo. Very well sung. I think the mix is good but as floyd said the drums could come up some. Also a lyric sheet would be nice. I really enjoyed this and look forward to more. Tom

Thanks very much Guenter. Yes it's my solo. I used my Peavey AT-200 in modeled humbucker mode through the BR-800 using the "smooth lead" patch and recorded directly into Sonar. I used this method - record a few "improvised jammed solos" and cherry pick the best bits which I then learn and then re-record that.



Thanks for your kind words Jim. That's a very good point and it's what spurred me on to get the song finished soon. Very kind of you to compare my voice to Randy VanWarmer - if only! Always loved "Just when I needed you most" - but what a range he has!



Floyd, very kind words of encouragement. Thank you. I agree about the drums and actually think you may be correct regarding the reverb. One of the downsides I found from using the drums RT from BIAB in Sonar is that you don't have anywhere near as much control over the sound as you would using, say, the Addictive Drums VSTi plugin with each percussion instrument on separate tracks. I will see if I can improve it with some tweaking.



Lol Fred, glad you remember Catweazle. They don't make them like that any more. Thanks also for your kind comments. I haven't yet found out whether a MIDI piano extract of a classical piece played on a piano plugin (SampleTank 3) would infringe any copyright. No person is actually playing it but maybe Chopin's relatives have copyright over the notes being played?



Thank you Scott. Funny you should mention Dave Gilmour. The last cover I recorded was Comfortably Numb and he is undoubtedly one of my heroes. The challenge would be to come up with a 2nd solo in my song to come anywhere close to the one in Comfortably Numb.



Thank you Tommy, much appreciated. I will definitely look into the drums. I am still working on some of the lyrics and changing bits here and there all the time but will post them when finished.

IMHO you shouldn't worry about copyrights. Chopin's works are in the public domain.
I liked everything in your song, waiting for the completed piece.

Hi Rec,

Welcome to the forum.

Stunning! Such a beautiful piece of music. Considering you only bought BIAB/RB in December, you've done really, really well to come so far. As floyd said, "what a great entrance!"

This is a wonderful tribute to your mum.

All the best,
Noel

Rec,

That is a masterpiece.

The Churchill quote was inspired and then the solo, which was perfect for the break.
WOW what a way to introduce yourself musically.

I wrote a 3 minute song for my Mum, which she sadly never heard due to medical events, but this is a real tribute.

I would love to hear the full final version.

Alyn

Thanks sfiks, I am just about to upload the latest version including the Chopin intro.



Thanks Noel for your very kind words. It's the good folk here such as yourself that spurred me on to buy BIAB and I am so glad that I did. It's so inspiring as a song writing tool.



Wow, thanks Alyn. That's a true compliment coming from such a gifted songwriter as yourself.
So sorry to hear about your tribute song which your Mum never got to hear.
I am just uploading a new version to Soundcloud although it is still unfinished at just over 13 minutes.

Rec

I cannot see any way to edit my first post (there is no Edit button available) so here is the link to the latest version of the song...

Song to Mum (Latest Lyrics)

I took Floyd and Tommy's suggestion of bringing the drums more forward in the mix (I had actually sent them to an effects bus with reverb by mistake so well spotted).

As others have said, love the feel of this - very cool 70s vibe. Great mix as well.

Bob

Thanks Bob, much appreciated.

Rec

I listened to the 13 min version. Super vibe going on! Definite Pink Floyd elements to my ear. I'm also a fan of the vocal you have affected; it works well with this song.

much enjoyed!

Hi Receder,

We are very impressed by your first contribution!
It has some very strong resemblances with the early Pink Floyd (the verse vocal sounds like Richard Wright, the Chorus sounds like David Gilmour).
We listened to the 13 minute version (which is kind of long by the way :)) and we loved the total arrangement, including parts of Churchill's speech. This song definitely represents the feel and sound of the 70's/80's era.

And about using Chopin.... you can use any work of classical composers completely royalty free. We've done it a couple of times. Bare in mind the following:
In America the artist has to be expired at least a hundred years, in Europe seventy years. The same goes for painters etc. (should you ever want to use pictures of paintings in your video's)

Keep up the good work!

Rob and Anne-Marie