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This is a bluegrass gospel song that has an interesting story behind it. It's never too late to do something you want to do. A friend of mine wrote this. Chris decided a few years ago, at the age of 70 something that he wanted to learn to play the mandolin. So he went out, bought a good mandolin, found a teacher, and started on his musical journey. He became better at playing and joined a few pickers from his church. He started a weekly jam session at a different church on Wed afternoons that has grown to quite a few pickers coming in. Well, he decided to try his hand at writing something and this, well, this is his first attempt at songwriting. He brought it to me..... lyrics and chords and had even typed out the melody line note letters on a sheet of paper. He didn't want to sing it so I was tasked with that job. As a side note: He has encouraged his wife musically, who has picked up a ukulele and has also become rather proficient playing it. She has joined a Uke band. So.. this is the song. Style is Olbones Bluegrass/Americana Bass: 2877 Fiddle: 3158/2028 Mando: 3155/2033 Guitar: 3185/2176 Banjo: 3413 Dobro: 2176/2042 Since I didn't feel like singing this and Chris absolutely refused to sing it, and no amount of cajoling, begging, or coercion could get Diane to go near the mic.... Solaria is the singer. He's My One I don't have the lyrics in digital form....But you should be able to understand them clearly. Hope you enjoy this bluegrass gospel song. Chris R. kindly gave me permission to post this. Let me know your thoughts.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Sounds good.
Vocals are very well done. Sounds "real".
Mix is good.
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I like it, although there is a mandolin  Good choice of instruments, sounds like a real band. You did a really good job on the vocals and those genre-typical harmonies 
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Lovely song and as Floyd says, the vocal sounds real.
Vic
Last edited by vicarn; 09/04/23 11:15 PM.
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Herb,
This sounds great. Solaria and the song have so much presence. Excellent!
Bob
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Very good write, Chris! Excellent choice of band pickers. Mando is one of my favorite instruments. Herb, you are so good at those singers. Still would've like to hear Chris give it a whirl. "He's my one. You can be his, too." Perfect.
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Floyd, BD Thomas, Vic, Bob, and Marty
Thanks for listening and commenting. Yep... it takes a bit of work to get the vox like I want but it's worth the work. I used the BB harmonizer to render the harmonies. I don't often use it because it sounds so.... what's the word? "Canned?" But in this case, it worked perfectly and the first time I heard it I immediately thought of the Trio ladies.... Yes, it's very specific harmony style to bluegrass so it worked perfectly in this instance.
Again thanks.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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First off I love bluegrass...good bluegrass pickers are the most skilled string players on earth IMO...this is a really nice song...love the message and it's interesting to hear a AI voice singing gospel (very nice)...great track and production all round...lovely melody...it's exciting to hear of a senior citizen taking on new challenges (ie. playing a musical instrument)...all of us over 70 folks should be encouraged by this...loved it Herb!
www.soundclick.com/firesongBiaB 2024, Steinberg Cubase Pro 13, Wavelab 11.2, SpetraLayers Pro 10, Audacity, Steinberg UR44 Interface, Yamaha Genos, Roland FP60 and FP10, Windows 10 You are who you are because you do what you do because of what you believe.
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Tip of the hat to your friend Chris for staring his musical journey at 70, and kudos for the write, good stuff indeed.
Band sounds good, Herb, nice work making that vocal sound real also.
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Pleasant musical arrangement. A+ to Chris for picking up instrument at 70. Good wholesome mix, especially considering that sources are so different. Thank you for sharing,
Misha.
P.S. My mother in law had a 93 y.o. mandolin student.
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Sounds great!
Nice melody, clear mix, Solaria does a good job on the lead.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Herb, you did one heck of a job with that synth vocal. It sounds like a real human.
Great mix and instrumentation.
Outstanding message.
Life is short so make sure you spend as much time as possible on the Internet arguing with strangers.
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Firesong, Dave, Misha, David, and Mario
Thanks guys for listening.
The funny thing is, I'm not a really big fan of bluegrass music. I and really appreciate it when it's played well, by talented pickers, but most of it isn't. One of my earlier bands actually hosted a bluegrass festival. The owner of the venue...a large outdoor music park, saw our band at his venue and asked if we could play the event.... actually he wanted our PA since it was rather large. Hiring us for the 3 day event was cheaper than renting a PA with technicians from a sound company. We didn't play very much and he was fine with that... but we got to hang out for 3 days at a bluegrass festival. Bordering on agony.... I didn't want to hear another banjo again..... The point being there was a very few bands there that were captivating to listen to, and most were ... hurry up.... get them off the stage.
Yeah, you gotta give Kudos to anyone who embarks on a new skill set in their senior years. But it's what keeps you young.
God is in the details.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Congrats to your friend and to you for such a pleasant song, Herb.
It really does sound like a song you’d hear at one of the Sunday morning bluegrass festival shows.
Kudos to your friend and his wife for learning to play at stage of life. That is uplifting.
Well done!
J&B
PS We played in bluegrass bands for many years and gigged at large festivals but gotta agree with you re the banjo.
There are some amazing melodic (chromatic) style banjo pickers but they are rare.
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! A few of our videos are here on our website: https://www.janiceandbud.com/our-music.html
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