AndyB01

I really like this - it has the feeling of an old English or Scottish lament - emphasised further by the solo strings (viola or violin 🤷). Your vocal control is immaculate and the performance is top notch. Minor crit, I might have varied the guitar arpeggio a little, but this is just taste and fancy. Great work Andy

Great song - definite 70s vibe and a bit of an Eagles/ James Taylor feel (now that would have been an interesting collab). Great vocal tracks and some very good lyrics in there too. Andy

That sounded very nice considering it was 'thrown together' - I can't wait to see what you can produce once you really get stuck into it. 🙂 Welcome to the EzKeys club - I've used it on a lot of my songs (sometimes building a song from the midi packs and more recently using the replace midi feature where you use the midi packs to play 'in the style of'). There's a lot under the hood of EZK 2 I still haven't got my head around - if I only had more time but there's precious chance of that at present as still in the thick of a house renovation project. Andy

Oooh now covering this could be considered as extremely brave - even sacrilegious in some circles - but I think you did an amazing job with it. Nothing to change here. Loved it Andy

+1 to that - house has to be empty for me to record vocals. Nice cover that Steve - you did a great job on such a tough vocal. How do you fancy tackling America - that's one of my favourite S&G songs. 🙂 Andy

Comments and a like on YT - who can fathom YT rules, the world's gone mad! Who cares what YT thinks, I thought it was great. Andy

Did the upgrade registry hack a few months back on my 'unsupported' i7700 laptop. Seems more stable than 10 in use - zero issues to report. Andy

Nothing to add to what's already been said - just a great tune and performance. 👍 Andy

Hi Rex I am glad Covid hasn't damaged those fabulous vocal cords - they sound as good as ever on this. 🙂 Great work Andy

That drone is both distracting and mesmerising at the same time - I really like the synth work - has a kind of Vangelis feel to it. I feel that if Einaudi wrote synth pop - this is the kind of music he would make. There are a lot of layers to this - and I'm not one who really appreciates electronic music - but this is very cool. 😎 Andy

Piano sound reminds me of some of Ant Phillips' solo work (Private Parts & Pieces - Autumnal) - I hear the very slight tuning issue but it is masked by the effects on the guitar so it's hidden in the mix. Nice work Andy

And a key change as well - what's not to like 🙂 Great tune and I agree about the rhyming of 'guy and' with 'tryin' - as Tom observes - very clever indeed. Andy

Firth of Fifth - Steve Hackett.

Killer acoustic tone (is that a 12 string?) and some lovely chord inversions too. The vocal is truly excellent and I love the lyrics. I'm not entirely convinced by the addition of the drums - some light percussion maybe but these feel just a little heavy - but that's just taste and fancy and one guy's opinion. Don't let that minor crit detract from what is a great song - I loved it. Andy

We're in the process of helping my son renovate his first house - a neglected 1980s semi-detached. Lots of very foul-mouthed trades involved: plumbing, carpentry, sparky and plastering - each with their own unique and colourful vernacular. I'm sure Baby Evie next door is learning lots of new words her Mum and Dad would rather she didn't. 🙈 Reminds me of the old joke about the little girl whose house was having an extension built. She spent the week helping the builders - Wayne and Gav - by taking them drinks and biscuits and sweeping up after them. At the end of the week they gave her a pay packet, with a few pounds in, so she proudly went to the bank with her Mom to open an account and pay it in. After learning how she'd earned it, the cashier asked the little girl: 'So, will you be working with Wayne and Gav again next week?' 'Well' said the little girl, pausing for a moment... 'It depends if those w@nkers from Jewsons deliver the f*ckng bricks!' 😂😂

I'm a big fan of EzKeys but think I'll pass on these two. I'm not a huge fan of mallet sounds (marimba, glockenspiel etc) in general and I can't think where I'd use them really. I think I already have a few in another VST somewhere if I ever do have the urge.

Definitely a melancholic vibe to this one, love the builds and voicings; all comes together very nicely indeed. Andy

Right in my wheelhouse this Peter, sounds and looks terrific. Enjoyed the listen. Andy

Agree with many comments, I've always been a huge fan of Mike's work and his videos have quite literally transformed my understanding and ability in using Cakewalk, and DAWs in general. Also subscribed, and the fact he is sticking with Sonar makes it more likely that I will do the same. Andy

'the smell of closing time' - such a good lyric. Nice work. 💛 Andy

I do both, I had lyrics for a song about two years before I found the right melody for it - I'd tried a few but nothing really worked and I didn't want to compromise on the words. In the end, an EzKeys track proved to be the answer. Other times I have a melody or chord track and think 'I can write a song that goes with that'. It varies, but generally I'm a lyrics first songwriter. If I'm emotionally invested in a song (i.e. if it's personal in some way), it's always lyrics first. I think you should do whatever best works for you. Andy

If you look at how classical guitarists hold their guitar, you'll notice the fretting hand is higher than the picking hand and the weight of the guitar is supported at an angle - often using a footstool (an upturned waste bin works just as well). You don't have to be extreme about it, but tilting the guitar in this way and modifying your playing position can radically improve your technique and help you develop an effective barré that you can play with a relaxed hand. It's not for everyone, but worth a try to see if it works for you. It's not a magic trick however, you still need to practice and persevere. Regards and good luck Andy

Oh yes - great work - love the bossa feel of part two. This has definitely improved my mood this morning. Great song title btw (private joke - I wrote one a few years ago with the same name - very different groove and feel mind you and most definitely not in this league) 😆😂 Larry stole the show (again)! Looking forward to the album. Andy

I have an i7700 CPU quad core - the one with a TPM that MS refuse to support officially on Win11, despite lots of user evidence that it works fine. After a full backup, I applied the registry hack yesterday, downloaded the ISO and did an over the top install; I couldn't face reinstallation of all my programs and VSTs. Early indications - it is working fine and I don't mind the look and feel. MS do force you to click a waiver that says 'as your PC is unsupported, you are not entitled to updates and patches' but that's very carefully worded and doesn't mean they are going to restrict access or stop you getting them. I did a fair bit of reading around on that. So if you are trying to squeeze a few more years out of a device with an i7700, the workaround install does work. Andy

'Is that your actual singing voice?' (er no, I borrowed it off a mate); and 'Why did you want to record such a depressing song from the 1970s...?' My sister after hearing my cover of Alone Again (Naturally) by Gilbert O'Sullivan. She has about as much tact as your average house brick. 😂 Andy