Sailor55

Glad you bumped this. It's killer. Like I've said before, I can't possibly do stuff like this but I really appreciate it. Love the drums.

Thanks Tom. You are right as rain! Those intro synth voices are now gone leaving a tidy three minutes which I think is just enough to make the point. I've always suspected I should do that but never had the... the what?... courage? Anyway, thanks for your appreciation and input.

Thanks everyone for the chance to bump this song. Many years ago, a young man (not me, of course) might waste his valuable time with Pictures of Lily. In my youth, it could have been Swank or Cavalier magazine. But we've come so far, haven't we? Now its possible to kill hours upon hours with animated strangers performing (for a fee, and in private) whatever suit's ones pleasure. The song's protagonist doesn't think that's such a bad thing. Nor does he know he's addicted. He respects the lady and would like to tell her so in person. Never gonna happen. - D Re Dryness: blame Steely Dan.

I though this tune was so odd it would probably slide off the ‘songs’ forum after a few days. Now that there are positive responses (for which I am humbled) I’m inclined to explain what I can. It’s partly for my own benefit because, admittedly, I’m not entirely certain what it’s about, but I know very well how it feels. Private Eddie himself is a universal stand-in for anyone who's faced war, whether 76 years ago in the mud of Belgium, 15 years ago in the oncology ward, or yesterday on the fentanyl laced streets of Vancouver. I lack the courage to face any brand of war. I stand in awe of those that have, or are in the process. I draw my strength from them vicariously. I knew several Eddies. All are now ghosts. One was a dyslexic childhood friend unjustly shunted into the role of dunce, who was anything but. With bottomless courage, he was my fearless protector in a world rife with bullies. Cancer took him early. He fought valiantly to the last day. I thanked him at his deathbed. (Now he’s waiting for me outside) Another Eddie was my father, who was in the Normandy invasion of June, 1944. Over the following year he fought across Europe returning home with a leg full of shrapnel and trunk full of psychological damage. Yet he held a job, raised a family and became an asset to his community until his death by suicide in 1982. He was a difficult man with whom I had many conflicts. As an adult I learned to forgive him. Finally, I realized it was I who needed forgiveness for failing to recognize a hero in my midst. The song was originally inspired after seeing what was once a very pretty young girl covered in scabs and soaking in methamphetamine on a down town street. I went home and wrote these words: Someone led your angel astray… I saw her spitting on the sidewalk… She had nothing to say… Those phrases were abandoned before the ‘Private Eddie’ theme evolved but the girl remains referenced as a disposable stray. I created a nylon guitar part then painstakingly transposed it to midi. By accident, I ran it through the ‘ooh’ voices in the TTS-1 synth. I liked the result so much I decide to let that introduce the song. The rest was put together a bit at a time and the lyric evolved during production. The vocal was sung eight years ago. I tried hard to improve upon it for the current remix but I simply could not. It’s not that it’s so great, only that I probably now lack the necessary pathos to do it justice. I thank you for listening. Eddie thanks you too. - Dan

This has happened to me exactly once in the latest version about a week ago. I was putting an instance of Guitar Rig 5 in an FX bin that was otherwise empty and... 'poof', the Cakewalk window closed and that was it. Fortunately, I didn't really lose anything either, but it was a bit of a shocker. I've logged a lot of hours on Cakewalk since then with no problems at all.

If you spent 9 years, I can certainly give you ten minutes and more. I listened twice. It's astounding to me that one person can recreate, or even embrace the daunting task of recreating, in a believable way, Genesis, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, Jethro Tull and the other progressive rock bands I once listened to devoutly in my twenties. This is a remarkable achievement. I'm eternally grateful someone out there is paying homage to that stuff. Who is the audience in today's world? I'm not really sure. Old-timers like me, no doubt. Don't know about the young ones, but it would be great if they paid some heed.

Many Thanks amiller, Douglas and Tom. This tune was a long labor of love. I truly appreciate this feedback. Tom... you're quite right about the 'dryness'. I suppose it's from many years of Steely Dan's influence. However, yours this is the kind of perspective it's useful to have, and I certainly do take it seriously. I spent time worrying if that reverb-soaked wood block thing needs a break. Now I have some confirmation. It's part of a prepackaged Dimension Pro sequence that's hard to edit (the reverb is on the sample, I didn't add it), but I believe I'll make the effort to find a way to somewhat lessen it's relentlessness. It could be pulled out in appropriate places for sure. There are actually three separate drum sequences that sometimes overlay each other and sometimes not. I'll pay attention to the drums during the guitar solo. This is one of the few songs I've produced that doesn't use either real drums or 'Additive Drums 2' in more traditional ways. Yep, I agree, the saxes are probably dryer than they should be for a tune like this, so I think I'll deal with that too. Other info: The singer is not me, (I only wish). He's somebody who worked for StudioPros and went by the name of 'Dustin'. He may or may not still be available there. I sang the original guide vocal for him. I expect he understood the intent of the song immediately and probably slammed this vocal out of the park in one or two takes. (StudioPros probably doesn't take more than an hour to complete any track.) A friend did the lead guitar at the end. I pieced it together from several sweet bits. I played rhythm guitar and the piano intro. The drums were, as mentioned, Dimension Pro synths and likewise, the acoustic bass and the muted trumpet parts. The saxes were carefully chosen and edited solo samples from 'Greg Adams Big Band Brass' (a product of Big Fish Audio). I wanted the effect of a tenor and an alto trading lines. Man, it took a long time to get that down. Thanks again everyone and cheers... - Dan

Sort of speaks for itself, I guess... http://www.taggerband.com/Music/DBH/RedTide.html

This is quite a good mix in my opinion. The acoustic and electric guitars blend nicely and go to the right places. If I was producing a video of a canoe trip I'd definitely want to use it. Only one thing, I'd say. The 30-second synth part at 2:40 is a good refrain but maybe a different sounding synth here? Or maybe instead... just a thought... let the acoustic have a go out front for a bit. (I assume that section might represent the 'folding area' sign you ignored. In Canada, we call that a portage). You could make it 'big' sounding like the synth part but it would be a refrain from the dreamy electric stuff yet still be in keeping with the overall guitar feel. Of course, it's easy for me to come up with bright ideas then disappear into the night. But be assured, I'm aware of the work you put into this, and it shows nicely.

Brilliant, I'd say. I could never play that way but I like it a lot. On CD Baby it says "Stay" by Bats Brew is recommended to those who like Zeppelin, Kings X and Yes (not sure about Yes). I'd say this particular song might appeal to those who like the Allman Bros. and/or Lynyrd Skynyrd. Great work.

He's been gone 15 years, but still visits some nights. Breaks my heart, he does. http://www.taggerband.com/Music/DBH/PrivateEddieUnwinds.html This was produced entirely with two ancient synths (TTS-1 and Dimension Pro) plus a vocal track.... long intro, vocal starts at 1:04)

This has happened to me very occasionally in the past (even with SONAR). I found that closing and re-opening Cakewalk always worked to bring the Now time bar back. It would be a hassle if it happened often, but in the last six months or so it's only happened to me maybe twice.

I thank you one and all for the great feedback on this tune. It's very much appreciated 'Tell Her She's Okay' has passed through many iterations and several re-mixes. I didn't start out as a duet. It once had somewhat different lyrics and just the male part. It morphed into a duet when a great singer (Raquel) became available to me. The song is now mixed and mastered to an integrated loudness of -14 LUFS. It was much louder at one time (about -8 LUFS). When you looked at the final stereo mix in Cakewalk (SONAR at the time) it resembled the proverbial 'sausage' (i.e. squashed into a long rectangle with a taper at both ends). There are some who'd say 'who cares what it looks like', and I would agree. Ultimately, my ears were the final arbitrator. Now that streaming services normalize the power of their signals, highly 'peak-centric' music is suffering. Instead of being louder than other mixes they're now reduced to a common loudness. Any lack of dynamics then becomes quite apparent. The loudness wars seem to have come to an end. Believe me, I've found that as hard to accept as anyone else, but here's the thing: when I remixed this to a lower loudness I began to hear many subtleties that were never previously evident. An overall loud mix that still exhibits good dynamics is terribly hard (impossible?) to achieve. But once again let me say thanks to everyone for the positive vibe. A lot of work went in, but the bottom line is, the song was meant to be fun.

A pop song about a fellow with a laptop and far too much time on his hands... http://www.taggerband.com/Music/DBH/TellHerShesOkay.html

It took me a while to figure out a decent way to show the signal flow configuration of ProChannel. Here's a little drawing I came with that makes some sense. I think it shows what's really happening anyway.

The Cakewalk Signal flow diagram is quite useful and I've referred to it often. I keep a bookmark to it, and it's definitely worth the time to study. I have a small issue with it though. It's not clear how the ProChannel fits into the signal flow. I admit it's hard to show graphically, but I don't get how the three-way switch above and below the standard Fx bin accurately shows how Prochannel is configured. I know from the documentation text that Prochannel may be pre or post the FX bin, but I don't think the diagram makes that very clear. The diagram seems to suggest (sort of) that there is either the Fx bin or the Prochannel in the signal flow, but not both, and I know that's not the case.

Like a few others have said, it's not my 'genre' either, but, I believe in giving credit where credit is due. I thought the lyrics and vocals were great. That's not to say the rest wasn't extremely tight and focused, but in the world I come from, I'd tend to bring the vocals up rather than down. Or, more likely, leave the vocals alone bring the rest down some. Just a bit. Maybe I'm getting too old, but I had to strain to catch those lyrics and they're quite good. So is the singer. I'd go the opposite way to what you're suggesting. Still though, it's a great effort, (and that's coming from someone who's completely out to lunch when it comes to alternative rock).

Many thanks freddy & daryl, much appreciated. It was a lot of fun (and work) to build. I once rented a workspace in a depressed end of the city. This song tries to capture the mood on the street at the time. Cheers...

Just another dull grey afternoon on East Hastings Street... http://www.taggerband.com/Music/DBH/ABlueNoteDay.html This was built entirely in Cakewalk using legacy SONAR synths, Dimension Pro, True Pianos & SI-Bass and with the help of some Big Fish Audio samples.

Thanks very kindly SPAK for you great feedback on this tune. It took much time, effort and organization to produce. The first version was probably the best it could be given the time, tools and skill level I had in 2011. All the tech blather above is my way of saying how pleased I am the state of the art for home producers like myself has advanced to a point where very old projects can be pulled up and actually improved upon. When I listen to the mix now I hear dozens of subtleties that were simply buried on the first pass. And yes, I do believe that is a real Hammond. I was brought forward in the new mix. It one of the things that was kind of buried before. Cheers... - D

Here's a blues tune I created in 2011. I mixed it in SONAR. Most of the tracks were recorded at StudioPros. They also mixed and mastered the first version but I was unhappy with the result. (They did give me excellent individual tracks, however). So, I ended up re-mixing it myself and then sent it out for pro mastering. The "loudness war" was in full swing at the time. The mastering guy me gave something very hot, and I was satisfied, I suppose. Now there's a new loudness standard that's finally been adopted in America and Europe (Google LUFS and knock yourself out). Peak power has been supplanted by 'integrated loudness' measure in LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale). For example, Anything streamed by Spotify now gets standardized to -14 LUFS so there's a big penalty to pay for squashing the life out of your recordings. I have re-mixed and re-mastered the original song in Cakewalk to conform to a loudness of -14 LUFS. (The original version was a crazy -6 LUFS). I've included an image of the original and new wave forms. Here's the new and (I think) and much improved master. http://www.taggerband.com/Music/DBH/DoYouLikeTheBoy.html

Many thanks scook for this information and taking the time to make the video. This had been bugging me for a long time. As I said in the edit to my post above, I was able to do it for the first time earlier today and I have no idea why it worked. However, your way seems to be the best way to go and to make sure it always works. Much obliged!

Blades' post above nicely lists all that is good about drum maps. Myself, I use Addictive Drums 2 and make my own maps using the standard AD2 map as a starting point. Generally what I do is use the mouse to pull all the things I want to use in a particular song down to the bottom of the map. Typically, the kick at the very bottom, snare and hat above that, then toms 1 thru 4 (both rim-shot and open versions), then cymbals & other percussion. I find that having the real name of the instrument at the left is extremely helpful. There's two disadvantages of using drum amps, though: You can't edit 'drum map' midi and other midi in the same window. (I can't imagine how it would work anyway). Once you assign a midi track to a drum map you can't make a single drum "instrument track" linked with the drum audio track. It was always that way in SONAR and still is in Cakewalk. I'd love to see that fixed some day but I've learned to live with it and it's not exactly a big problem. Having the drum map is still worth it to me. (Admission, I am a drummer). Edit: I stand correct on my point 2 above. I just tried to make an instrument track with a 'drum mapped' midi track and it actually worked. First time ever for me. I guess I should have tried it one more time before I posted. But it never used to work. Honest.

Strange. I made sure to try it out before posting so I wouldn't be giving wrong information. I've used Find/Change many times for other purposes and found it always worked. In the past, I've used it to give every note in a drum track a length of either zero or some other small value since, in most cases, the note length for a percussive drum sound is usually irrelevant.

You can also use 'Find/Change' under 'Process'. For example: Say you want to change all notes on channel 5 to channel 7.... Select the midi you want to change and use 'Find/change'. A window of many midi parameters opens. Select all notes in the channel range 5 to 5 (don't change anything else). Click OK. Another window opens. Select all the notes in the channel range 7 to 7. Click OK. All the notes will change to channel 7. I've just tried this. It works.