AndyB01

I wanted it to get 'big' in an orchestral sense and 2:50 was a long time to wait for that crescendo but definitely worth it. This is beautiful work Fred and by no means easy to do (my attempts sound so lane in comparison), well done. Andy

I didn't have anything to compare this with so I searched for a sung version on YouTube and then listened again to your version - you did a good a job with this. I would have liked a little more light and shade (crescendo and diminuendo) to give it more feel - perhaps a nylon strung guitar would give you that - but otherwise I enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing Andy

I thought the original mix was perfect on my Sony MDR-7506 cans (but I do love me some drums) - enjoying that muted guitar and that dreamy sax - aww just lovely. Great to kick back to and fabulous guitar chops all round. Andy

Kurt is right, Mike's Cakewalk videos are incredibly good. One way to fatten this is to triple the guitar track using panning and switched reverb - here's a really neat technique I picked up from @Creative Sauce - watch from around 20 minutes in where he covers this. Might help: Andy

Hi Kriss. Bass was a little too high for me and Kurt is right about the timing, but some lovely guitar chops and tone in there. It's a very intimate vocal but it comes and goes a little in places but that kind of adds variety and mood so maybe don't change it. I'd also agree with Kurt on some percussion and maybe some strings to lift it in places. The lead guitar melody worked for me but the tone didn't - a little 'thin' I felt so maybe you could fatten that a bit or add some drive on the remix. These things are all subjective though and ultimately what I think doesn't matter, it's your song and if I'd written and performed that I'd be feeling pretty pleased with myself. Thanks for sharing, Andy.

The thing about clean guitar is that there are simply no hiding places for any flaws in your technique (not than you need any) because this was peerless and flawless at the same time - loved it. I'm with Lynn - it finished way too soon. 🙂 Andy

I think I have his entire solo catalogue, so I'm something of a superfan but unfortunately I missed out on tickets for the forthcoming Seconds Out tour. ☹️

I listen to a lot of Steve Hackett and he makes lots of small nods to and excerpts from previous tracks - often from different albums - in new material, so I'm always on the lookout for that trick and and I think it's a really neat one.

This has an AOR feel - I love a 12-string - nice chord progression, story and great lead work too. Very nicely done all round. Andy

I definitely agree with Wookie on the above - that was my first thought. Home run on the mix for me - sound great on my Sony MDR-7506 cans - what a terrific song and such creative lyrics; you should be very proud of that. Top work. Andy

I love the tribute to Pt II in the middle - that is such a great hook - definitely keep going. Andy

Kudos to your percussionist (the rest of it wasn't too shabby either). I really enjoyed that Peter, as I do a lot of your stuff. Thanks for sharing - that video was well worth the effort, really brings the track to life. Andy

Gary that's beautiful work my man, simply superb and you chose a very nice arrangement. Just as I was listening to that, my outside Christmas lights flickered into life (they're on a timer, but no coincidence methinks). All I can say is 'more please' and when's the album coming out? Andy

Great song - killer ballad and vocal - both big ticks for me. I agree with @emeraldsoul on the drums but given the brilliance of the rest, it's a minor crit for me. BGVs were a stand out. Thanks for posting. Andy

Nice work. A lot of intricacies and complexity in there - demands multiple listens - I like. Now, please tell me you're going for the whole Ant Phillips Private Parts & Pieces vibe, so this will end up as part of a full 12-CD boxed set. 🙂 Andy

I was thinking the same thing 😂😂 Feel free to have a crack at some of the others featured on the video short. 🎵🎶

OK so this is a serious issue - I get that - but we all need a little light relief from it - right? Some of you may have seen this video (which is getting shared like crazy online) comprising clips from spoof Xmas Songs but there are only clips, not full spoof versions of the songs featured (whether there will be remains to be seen). So my sister sent it to me and after having a good laugh, I felt inspired to see if I could write the lyrics for one of the songs on the album. And so friends (and I really do apologise so sincerely to the wonderful Johnny Mathis), I give you - new for 2020 - my version of "When A Mask Is Worn" If you're not in the UK, some of the humour may not translate so here's a mini cultural guide to the lyrics: Matt Hancock is our award-winning Health Secretary Boris, of course, is the UK PM (less said, the better) renowned for metaphors in press conferences that refer to cavalry horns and bugle tooting Pubs are places we love to consume beer and chat for hours about nothing of any significance - but they're all closed so we're all getting smashed at home mRNA of course is the smart new Pfizer vaccine - around £20 a shot (probably the one the politicians will get) compared to the Oxford vaccine at a mere £3 a shot (which is the cheaper one we'll all get) 😉 Disclaimer: the mRNA vaccine may not actually make you immortal - that may have been poetic licence on my part 😂 Anyway - enough rambling - here are the lyrics and the song - I hope it makes you smile (I apologise if it didn't) A vial of hope Sits frozen in a block Encased in ice So says Matt Hancock At his vaccine plans Doctors laugh and scorn This comes to pass When a mask is worn COVID-19 Crosses land and sea It’s out to get Folks like you and me But as the bugle toots Boris sounds his horn This comes to pass When a mask is worn A drunken hue Settles in the air We’re all so pissed We’ve passed out in the chair We may be locked at home But as always, here’s the rub This comes to pass When you close the pub So for the few A new reality mRNA And immortality But it will come true For Boris said it clear We’ll all be saved, now The cheapskate vaccine’s here Ten thousand planes Take off in the sky Masks are burned The smoke thrown way up high All across the land Dawns a brand new morn This comes to pass When a mask is worn Yes this comes to pass When a mask is worn I'm not looking for nits and crits as I really threw this together quickly (as you can probably tell), it's just for a bit of fun. Keep safe everyone Andy

I've used it in CbB too - not noticed any crashes or significant instabilities but a lot of 'noise' online about it being buggy as a product. Maybe it depends on the use case and how far you push what it can do. Certainly seems ok in my 'other' DAW that I 'very rarely' use... 😉 Andy

I have it working in S1 Pro (sshhh). Mainly inspiration so far Andy and you can learn way more about music and chord theory than is good for you. 😂 I load up a loop I like in Scaler (it has loads built in), bind that to the midi keyboard, set the inbuilt sounds to none and then route the I/O to my VST of choice then I can 'play' the bound chords and edit them using the chord wheel, change inversions and so on. I am still right at the bottom of the learning curve but it looks useful. Andy

I suspect Scaler is one that splits opinion. I got a copy during Black Friday. It's a complex old thing so I'm in the process of trying to learn how to use it. Once you sort the routing out you can do some clever and interesting stuff. Andy

This is really not my thing but I thought your intro/ outro construct was cleverly done. I saw the sheer volume of lyrics and thought 'this can't work' but you have made it work. The vibe was a good one and your vox performance was well-executed I thought and the mix on my headphones sounded balanced. Wookster is right about the lyrics, always worth an advisory although the odd expletive didn't worry me too much. Thanks for posting, it was an interesting listen and I can see that a lot of work has gone into this. Andy

This, is a very good point. I did that with a song once, fixed the tempo but the second one was never as good.

I'd agree with Bjorn on the tempo, possibly up the drums a notch and maybe add a tad more drive to that lead guitar - but it's all a question of taste and these are minor crits. I do like it more when the guitar gets busy in the middle section (good chops btw). Well done overall. Andy

Fabulous - I could just kick back and listen to your stuff all day long - thanks for the share. Andy

Genius - great mix and lyrically inspired. Well done. Andy