PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase Baby Don't Make Me Blue (first effort at writing a vocal)

Well, I finally decided that I should try my hand at writing an actual song with vocals.

My good friend Jenni helped with a few of the lyrics, and once I was happy with the melody, Desi laid down the vocal track for me. Thanks team.

RealTracks used:
~902:Bass, Electric
1995:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm
~1228:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm
RealDrums: SmoothJazzCoolSw16

Developed in BiaB and RealBand 2016, and mixed / produced with Sonar Platinum and Izotope.

All comments welcomed of course. Thanks for listening.

Baby Don't Make Me Blue

Song:
Baby I gotta tell you
we gotta be more than friends
don't you think I care for you?
don't you see me make amends?

I wanna be the one to tell you
you're the only guy in my life
don't you care if you make me blue?
we gotta be more than friends

Here we are
you know we're just chasing them
chasing the moon and stars
I'm a holding on tight,
but you still want to fight and fight
baby it's so hard for me to know
if you don't love me, go
Why do you make me, please don't make me
and I'm still so strong for you baby
still hoping you'll be there to save me
Don't make me, don't make me,
Don't make me, please don't make me blue

I know I wanna give it my all
And I hope that you feel it too
I know that special look-in your eyes
But why do you make me blue?

Here we are
you know we're just chasing them,
chasing the moon and stars
I'm a holding on tight
but you still want to fight and fight
baby it's so hard for me to know
if you don't love me go
Why do you make me please don't make me
and I'm still so strong for you baby
Still hoping you'll be there to save me
So don't make me, don't make me
don't make me please don't make me blue

Absolutely a great and beautiful song ! And what a great voice of Desi ! Masterpiece !

Thanks Leo for your kind comments. They are appreciated!

Trev,

This is great!!!! Desi's voice and her performance are outstanding (and then some)!! I love the laid back, cool-jazz-with-a-twist-of-funk feel.... really classy music and a credit to everyone involved! Your mix is superb. Everything sparkles

A creation to be proud of indeed.

All the best,
Noel

Noel
Thanks for stopping by. I genuinely appreciate your comments. They do mean a lot. Thanks!
Trev

Hi Trevor.

Well, that was just amazing!

Such a sophisticated chord sequence and a classic arrangement with a George Benson feel to it.

Beautifully performed, produced and mixed with an unbelievably good vocal from Desi. She's obviously been doing this for a while!

To say it's "Radio Ready" would be an understatement.

You've got to do some more of this stuff.

ROG.

ROG, thanks a million. I'm encouraged by your feedback for sure.

Beautiful backtrack and vocal

Hi Trevor,

what a beautiful song. Everything fits: lyrics, chord progression, arrangement and mix. Desi is a great singer!
Hats off!
Give us more of this.

Guenter

Trev....

What a nice "first write" on lyrics.... You certainly nailed it first time out...


My only crit is that this superb vocal is way to far down in the mix. Your vocalist is a great singer and her vocal needs to sit CLEARLY on top of the mix, not down in it. My guess is a few dB up (3 to 6 dB should do it) would do the trick. It's almost where it needs to be but not quite fully there. Listen to Celine or Cher or Marriah .... set your vocal level accordingly.

Excellent work.

Trev this is absolutely gorgeous! Well done!

DANG! I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this song blew my expectations right out of the water... and I wasn't even swimming!!

I'm guessing Desi had her vocal chords surgically replaced with rubber bands, right? Her vocals stretch so well from note to note! Just beautiful... the perfect vocal accompaniment for your rich jazz composition!

I've always had a hard time trying to build convincing transitions in the jazz realm, but I thought your chords flowed VERY well in this piece... and the lyrics are a perfect fit for the mood and cadence of the song... very well done all around! It's surprising to me just how adding vocals to a good song can make it a great song, and the sum of your contributions on this project work together to create a very compelling composition... as Josie said, it's absolutely gorgeous!

Pro sounding from start to finish! Great job!

Hi Trev !
An incredible emotive voice with an efficient smooth jazz music ! It is great......I appreciate very much. Thanks for posting this song. Christian

Guenter, thanks for your positive comments, they are appreciated.

Herb, thanks for taking the time to listen. I genuinely appreciate the feedback, and will have a much better listen to the levels. I thought that they were a fair bit on top from the middle to end of the song, maybe a bit light at the start. I did deliberately keep the vocal "Mmmmm" and "Yeahhh" low during the intro, but perhaps this needs lifting too.

Thanks again.

Josie, thanks for your positive comments. They're received with gratitude!

Pat, I'm really blown away by the fantastic feedback. I have to admit I am extremely pleased with the vocal, and there's no doubt that this is the one single item that gives massive strength to the song. Thanks for your comments, greatly appreciated.
Trevor

Hi Christian,
Let me say that I'm buzzed out by the positive feedback, yours included. Very much appreciated.
Trev

Scott
Thanks for the comments!
I'm pleased to receive them
Trev

Hello, Trevor

Very gorgeous and beautiful song with emotive vocal.
It is such as a song written by B. Bacharach and sung by Whitney Houston.
It was so nice to use Acoustic Piano instead of Rhodes Piano.
I also like your chord progression, which is a little bit different from mine.
For example, maybe I will put chords on the first 4 bars as follows. (But it is merely a matter of taste.)
Ebmaj9 / / / - Fm9 on Bb / / / - Cm(add9) / / / - Dm7 / G7(b5) G7

Anyway, this is great.
I look forward to your next song very much.

Best Regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Trevor
A great all round effort. Sophisticated song writing and performance.

No need to be shy about writing more lyrics. You left the gate running and never looked back. Excellent write, mix, production and performance. Enjoyed this from start to finish.

Hi Peter

Your feedback is absolutely appreciated. Many thanks for taking the time to write.
Trevor

Hi Trevor. Well, if this is your first attempt at writing lyrics, that is quite incredible! Absolutely love the Jazzy vocals. Well done. (Very much)

Amazing. All the superlatives have already been posted.

The write, the wonderful vocal, the mix...the everything is
is way off the chart.

The production just sparkles on our monitors.

Congrats -- one to be very, very proud of.

J&B

Awesome!! This is pro quality man!!

Hi Joanne
Thanks very much for your praise. This has been a great fun exercise.
Trevor

Hi Janice and Bud, thanks a million for stopping by and having a listen.

Especially thanks for the flattering comments!

Trev

wellllll.... that's a very gracious statement on your part, but I don't think you need to give her ALL the credit! Her job was to sing, and she did a great job! YOUR job was to:

1) write the song
2) write the lyrics
3) mix the song
4) master the song

and YOU did a good job too! If either of you had done your part at a level of competency that wasn't in synch with the rest of the project, the whole thing wouldn't have been as good as it is. You're getting rave reviews because you both nailed your parts. And you had 4 opportunities to screw up (but you didn't)

Bottom Line: great collaboration, and a real feather in your cap!

Nice!!!
Totally pro to these ears, not only the song and performance, but the mix and production are both top notch in my opinion.

Trevor.

To say "I'm blown away!" would be an understatement.

A stunning arrangement. The interplay between the piano and the guitar is very well done. The bass line is tasty. And the drums are superlative! Don't know if they just "fell into place" or you worked hard to make them do that - but it was one of the best drum tracks I've heard in any forum song - like it was a live drummer recorded for the song. Stellar.

Your vocalist should be a star. That's a million dollar voice.

EVERYTHING is top-notch. Pro level.

And it all begins with the song. This CANNOT possibly be the first lyric you have written. The melody is gorgeous. The lyric is every bit a match for it. These type lyrics are not easy to write. Very few people ever master them. It is a real talent. They have to "say the right thing" but more importantly have to "sing" in such a way that they (the sung words) become one more instrument among all the other instruments that make up the song/production. They are not lyrics to be read - rather, they are lyrics to be HEARD - and if they do not "fall on the ear" perfectly, they fail. At no point in your lyric does that happen - they work perfectly all they way through. This is amazing songwriting.

Color me impressed.

floyd

WOOOOOOOOOW!!! This is incredible. Sounds like a hit from the 70's/80's. The music is so pleasant and your vocalist is nothing short of amazing. I'm not sure the last time you posted a song Trevor, but I will be anxiously awaiting your next post. This is SOOOOO DAMNNNNN GOOOOOD!! Take care. Greg

An awesome tune in all respects.

Bravo!

Hi, Trevor !:))


This is just fantastic !
WOW !!!!

Cheers
Dani

Thanks David
Your comments are received with much gratitude!
Trev

Great writing, and I loved the singers voice.

Hi Trevor,

For some reason we missed this before.
But what a great song! Very well sung and a very professional musical arrangement.
good work all around!

Floyd, thanks a million. Coming from you and many of the other experts here can only be taken as a great compliment.

Thank you so much for taking the time to explain what you identified as key points.

What I can say is that after the initial melody was established, a lot of time was spent in Real Band with the Multi-Riff and regeneration in an attempt to get the instruments to work harmoniously together. I think I eventually achieved that.

Well, yes, it's the very first lyric, ever. And it somehow came rather naturally. Maybe I'll give up electronics and computer software development and try songwriting a little more. But hey, maybe it was just a one-off, by chance(!).

One thing I have learned about BiaB and RealTracks, is that they don't ever try to deliver what you want, because they set the framework. Taking this approach helped my to establish a process of understanding exactly how the drums, bass and other instruments would be decided, and then I worked on how I could establish integration of my song, my melody and my lyrics to harmonize / mesh them seamlessly together, without conflict. I wanted to allow all of the musical phrasings to continually complement each other. I think I achieved that.

Notwithstanding, you are part of a team of continual high-class deliverers, and your words carry significant gravity. They are much appreciated.

(Color me flattered and in much gratitude to you.)

Sincerely
Trevor

Super song by you.
Your best till now for me.

Great arrangement and a super singer.

Sergio

Incredible vocal work; splendid lyrics; strong production; thanks for sharing!

BlueAttitude

Thanks so much for your positive feedback.

It's greatly appreciated.

Trevor

Greg, coming for you this is a great compliment indeed.

Many thanks for stopping by and offering such sensational feedback.

All the best

Trevor

Dan, I really appreciate that you took time to have a listen, and even more your positive feedback.

Thanks a million!

Trev

Trevor,

Such an amazing song and beautiful vocal as well. I hope that you pass on congrats to the singer, she sure can sing

Where have you been hiding your talent Trev up to now?

Brilliant arrangement as well, I do feel that the audiophile version does add that little bit extra of sparkle as well.

Great song, so good you could go places with this.

Really enjoyed the listen
Musiclover

Hi Dani,

Sorry, I didn't get back to you yet to say a big thanks for taking the time to listen, and for your very kind feedback. It's greatly appreciated.

Hope everything is going well for you.

Best regards
Trevor

What an awesome tune and a vocal performance. Flawless and VERY enjoyable!!! Way to go!

Wow Carolyne. Your comments are greatly appreciated.

I'm always impressed with your material, so doubly appreciate the comments!

Trevor

Rob and Anne-Marie.

Your feedback is very much appreciated. Please accept my gratitude for your comments.

Trev

Not hard to like this one! I agree that the vocals sit to far back in the mix a tad, not much but they seem to be competing with the piano for attention. Other than that it's a great arangement and production, The lyrics are very good also, you should do more (lots more).

Rick

Hi Sergio. Very flattering compliments, which are truly appreciated. Yes, I agree I am especially pleased with the vocals. Appreciate you stopping by.

PgFantastic,

I'm tremendously appreciate of the feedback. Let me personally thank you for your supporting comments. They are received with gratitude

Regards

Trevor

Hey, Musiclover,
It's sure remiss of me not to have sent a big thanks for your extremely supportive comments. They are appreciated and received with much gratitude!
Thanks again for your feedback.
Trev

Videotrack first time is always the best time, great job.

A complete success on every level! Simply outstanding!!!

Trevor,

I just noticed that you've gotten about twice as many views on this song as anybody else, even compared to the heavy hitters whose hit count always tends to be higher than the norm.

Can you shed a little light on this? Did you link to the forum post on other web sites to draw more hits than the regular forum traffic would generate?

Whatever you did is something we should all be doing to draw people here to the BIAB site so others can be exposed to the potential of PGMusic products!

I'm not only impressed with your song and with your first lyrical work, but now I'm impressed all over again by your promotional skill!

Hi Pat

No, I never mentioned this on any other site. Guaranteed. In fact I'm not even a member of any other music related forum (except for Cakewalk, but I'm not active there at all).

However, Floyd's Take Me Drunk has received a similar number of views in the same amount of time (and it deserves it too).

And Noel's Brighter than any star has nearly 20,000 views!

I've got a long way to go

But I'm indebted to all that the song has been well received.

Thanks again

Trevor

Hey Mike, thanks so much for taking the time to listen and share your views.

I've really appreciated the feedback and responses.

Your comments are truly appreciated.

Best,
Trevor

Trevor,

I just had to comment on this again... this is SO GOOD!!!

No need to go into detail. It is simply a great listen.

A SONG. The way songs ought to be. A true delight to hear.

I really cranked it. The mix holds up.

Standing O.

fj

Thanks Rick, your feedback is greatly appreciated. I am going to have a much closer look at the levels. It might be that I've been a little too conservative with the vocals.
Thanks for your ideas.
Trevor

Fantastic, beautiful song. Excellent vocals.

Kenny

dga,
Thanks a million.

Yours and others comments are truly appreciated.

In think I really need to look at the vocal levels, and so I've started to look at the mix in more critical detail, I will hopefully post a remix shortly.

In the meantime, everyone's support and feedback is absolutely received with much gratitude.

Hello Videotrack,

I come across your song today, and I must say that I am impressed: the melody is strong, the voice is superb ... and the arrangement perfectly chosen!

Well done !

Hello VideoTrack,
I did not find a more recent composition so I give you my impressions on it.

Beautiful orchestration, each instrument is in its place and the voice of the singer is endearing. Good work.

Best regard

Dero13 alias JaniJackFlash

Really pretty song Trevor!! Did not realize you don't write many lyrics......you're off to a good start!! Really well done in every way.....love the singer (voice and performance)!! GREAT!! Take care. Greg

coool

And I really thought I might get to hear Trevor sing

Well done. I hope you'll get the bug and write some more songs.

I really really like this !! One of the best songs I've heard on this forum in quite a while. It's absolutely refreshing and the vocalist is great. She is a little low but her tone still comes through in the mix. I know lyrics are hard :-) But you did a very nice job on this. - Henry

I'm late to the party and everything that I would say already has been said so all I can add is this is one hell of a fantastic production, pro all the way.