Done Thanks All

Thanks for the input from yawl. I added a little bass bottom to the last part and cleaned up a few things. thanks to all

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Iā€™m really digging the ending segment with the volume swells. The spread is really nice and the acoustic sounds sublime with it! :+1:

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Hi Jamieson Glad you liked that combination of swells at the end. I had to take off the click track and just wing it. Some of the timing is still off. You have to anticipate beforehand when to pluck the guitar string. There is about a quarter second delay. I tried cutting some parts and dragging segments, but it just didnā€™t work. I now am going to try a new song/ instrumental using the swell and other programs to get some interest. Thanks for your comment

sounding good. I think that there are some timing issues with the vocals on the first couple of lines, it then falls more into place. It could be a taste thing but they sound off a bit to me. Otherwise i like where this is going and i look forward to further installments.

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Hi Eric On that vocalā€¦the first time I sang it, the timing was better but I was way off key. The next time was better on key but off time. ha ha the click track I used at 70 bpm was hard to get things tight? I am just experimenting. Most times I put too many layers in a song, so this time I stripped it down. One can always add. I walked away from it today because it doesnā€™t have any direction yet. Back at it tomorrow and might change everything. Thanks for taking the time

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Well it didnā€™t take long to get to the end! :smile: I didnā€™t even have a chance to get bored! :laughing:

Very bare bones approach. Nice to hear that sparseness. I like what youā€™re trying to do with the vocal. Thereā€™s a few spots where you kind of miss the ā€œnoteā€ on the vocal and thereā€™s more of a mouth sound (some kind of tongue soundā€¦or clicking sound, not a solid note/ tone). I would have preferred to hear the full tone of the note in those places. However, you do create a certain mood with your vocal style and thatā€™s always kind of interesting for me to hear. I think this tune is a good idea that could be expanded upon! :+1:

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Hi mr W When I do a demo feeler like this I donā€™t pay too much attention to the raw vocal. As an old fart, I have a thangy called dry mouth and those clicks are from my mouth opening. ha ha If I suck on a cough drop and put on some chap stick, those clicks go away. I just forget. I can fix that. Also that AKG 414 picks up EVERYTHING. I can be a foot away and rub my thumb and finger together and you can see the meter bar go up. thanks for your help again

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Love this Paul - the more I hear the stuff youā€™re coming up with lately, the more Iā€™m a fan. What I find awesome about this is the rawness. The vocal is just a bit scary and unhinged, which is what is so cool! As i said with your last one, this is just all emotion.

I love the change with the volume swells at the end. I could hear a simple piano part coming in and underpinning that.

Keep 'em coming! :+1:

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I havenā€™t worked with a 414 in many years, but what I recall is they are very sensitive in the high end. The word ā€œbrittleā€ was common to describe them (YMMV). I didnā€™t really notice squeaks, or if I did they didnā€™t bother me.

Very cool ā€œlo fiā€ feel on this, the guitar stuff is similar to something I composed many years ago. The vocals are very raw though, very compelling. The guitar swells at the end are really interesting, would love to know how you pulled that off.

ā€œmy belleā€, or technically ā€œma belleā€ on the lyric sheet AFAIK. ā€œMy ladyā€ essentially. The belle of the ball. Southern belle. BellĆ­sima. :slightly_smiling_face:

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As always I love the intense emotion you can deliver with your melodic playing and singing, Paul. I like it as is, but this easily could be the basis for a much longer song.

Perfect timing is for machines. It is great to be close, but it is both the imperfection counterpointed to the perfection that produces the nearly indefinable specialness of art. Yes, you tried resinging and traded one flaw for another, and your ears decided which one was more right now.

When and if you expand on this, it may or may not capture the essence of this recording, but even still I feel it will be beautiful in its own way.

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Hi Andrew The really weird part about this song is that I come up with the lyrics as I go along. That is why you can tell the difference line by line in the vocal. I have a small pad an pencil on my lap trying to rhyme etc. It wasnā€™t my intention to have this become a sad break-up song. Interesting your thoughts of having a piano part in the last section. Have to think about that:) A thumbs up from a guy who is super talented negates, at least for the moment, what is going on in the world.

Hi Stan the MAN I didnā€™t EQ or compress anything on this track, but on the back of the 414 I think I switched it to 200. I might be wrong, but I think that might cut frequencies under that number? I had tried this mic on my niece and it did not go well. Later on I found out that this mic actually boosts some high freq and is not suited for a female. Itā€™s just handy for me. I donā€™t really use it properly. I sit at my puter and it is pointed at my mouth and when I switch to the acoustic guitar I just tilt it down 45 degrees. ha ha So much for the soundhole alignment. TMI I know. On the swell in the latter part of the trackā€¦I just played single note decending scales in both A and G chords. Then I finger picked using the same swell jumping back and forth of course. The third track I single noted again using harmony notes from the first track. I liked the sound and just left it for review from you guys. thanks for your interest

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Hi Mr Patron Itā€™s funny you talk about emotion. I do have to try and get into a state of mind from just listening to the musical notes. I think is this uplifting, sad, curious etc. I also agree about the perfect timing being overrated. Most times I mute everything but one guitar track and sing along with just it. I also cheat once in awhile and actually move drum track elements to fit my sloppinessā€¦only slightly:)
Back to vocals. I think from now on I am not going to erase my original vox tracks. Thatā€™s where the emotion came from, so why throw it? I am going back to work on it today after these comments have been favorable. You canā€™t really tell if your track is decent or junk unless someone talks about it, Thank you much

Yeah, basically a high-pass filter. 200 is usually a bit high, but maybe not for what you were doing. You were singing quite low for your range so it may have prevented some ā€˜boomā€™ and rumble.

Thanks for the ā€˜swellā€™ info! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Love it Paul!
First the song: itā€™s very innovative in a sixties kind of way. Iā€™m impressed!

The guitar sounds fantastic in the intro. What guitar where you playing? Donā€™t worry about a squeak or two, only makes it more realistic.
Your voice is great when itā€™s so brittle.
Iā€™ve been trying to get a really good recording of just an acoustic and Iā€™m not very satisfied so far. How did you mic the guitar to get the stereo sound?

Is the electric coming in reversed?

The song could be longer, but doesnt need to be in my opinion. If you want to make clear that ā€œthis is it, thereā€™s no moreā€ you could consider playing that A an octave lower. Now the last note goes up and you sort of expect something more.
Otherwise, donā€™t change a thing :wink:

Hi Evert :slight_smile: First off, I have a cheapo older Ibanez guitar. I used the electric only in the second part with three different swell one time takes. The acoustic first chord is an Am without the C (b string)note. ha ha The second one is a regular Am chord. I was doodling with that watching a TV show and like the sound of it all. Anyhow I took a second take for track number two. I threw them hard right and left. Where the two sounded too identical( only a few spots) I delayed one by 18 ms. Donā€™t know why that number, but it kinda works. I am so not schooled in any of this. Now for example, the slow single notes coming down, my second track just didnā€™t sound good, so I copied and pasted the first there with the same delay. Seemed to work? The next guy would most likely just play it over. I have no patience I have to admit.
The electric (PRS) is straight up only using that swell setting from a line 6 amp. I donā€™t like and use that modeling amp for anything except that swell that I have used in many songs. I think it was Emma that remarked she had tried it and gave her fits trying to tame it. After just a short amount of time, the volume starts to rise quickly. I had to go back and chop up those tracks and reduce volumes up to 7 db just so it wouldnā€™t have you abandon your headphones:)
I did play it in the studio today and noticed it was at 12db, so I did boost the main up 4.7? Not sure if one is supposed to boost the main (which I have never done) or the individual tracks?? I will look at again tonight. I really wish now I didnā€™t sing about something sad especially in these times. Good to hear from you and thanks for you comments

Thanks for your great explanation Paul. I often hear that cheapo guitars sound good in a studio. This one certainly does anlyway. You played the two takes well though,I really thought you used a stereo pair of mics in xy configuration (or similar) to make one stereo recording. Anyway, sounds great. The swell sort of reminds me of a reverse recording (a trick the Beatles did first I think). So it turns out to be a Line 6 setting.

I think thereā€™s easier ways of leveling the volume, but your chopping handy work made it all the more sixties- like I guess (when they might have been cutting and pasting bits of tape together).

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feaker,
Audio quality of guitars are very nice. Not sure how you are modulating the volume of the guitar at the end: volume knob twirling or volume pedal or ? I like the effect. OK, I just read you did a Line 6 Volume Swell. I think I have that on a PodXT or maybe my Helix Native. I certainly donā€™t have perfect pitch, though it seems to me youā€™re in a minor key which adds to some moodiness. No gripes about an abrupt ending, though I wouldnā€™t complain if you had another verse and chorus; wouldnā€™t mind if the song was longer. Nice job.

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Hi aaron The chord are Asus4ā€¦Amā€¦the third one I can not fine it is f b d g# ha ha As far as modulating the swell volume. You canā€™t. I had to break the track and reduce segments. Yeah, it one of those songs you can go back and change directions easily. Really that ending doesnā€™t fit the song at all. I was planning to just use the swell for fill and sustain. I stopped playing, moved to the right and played those extra tracks, and then dragged them back over to the song. I should just copy that ending and use it for another track. Then go back an finish that song with the same mood throughoutā€¦and longerā€¦in fact we are getting a storm to drop 18 inches of snow so I am doubley shut in. Thanks for finding this bud

Trippy tune Mr. F, , kinda spooky though

Courtesy of Mr. Google (heā€™s a real know-it-all)

image

Could also be Bdim7, Ddim7 or Fdim7, same notes

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