Barry Seymour

Thanks for that observation on the kick; the pisser is it sounds different everywhere so I'm never sure what to mix for / to. (A common problem, I know.) I have Sony headphones, plus the new Mackie mixer, which gives me a richer fuller sound. Doesn't sound too loud to me, but I'll check. I have more mixing to do in any event; the solos stick out a bit too much for my taste.

Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, I'm conflicted on the guitar solos; not very inspired, I'd like some different textures. Slide is a great idea!

Very kind, thanks.

TDR Kotelikov for mastering, BREVERB for reverb. I add on the compressor in Pro Channel as well. Belt and suspenders. I also use Bertram Denoiser as I'm recording from my dining room table!

I gave up on the Behringer; I was getting crackling, popping and dropouts. Bought a Mackie mixer and it works a treat.

Got a new song, with bass by a good friend from long ago. We may do some more takes, especially me on the guitar solos. Input welcome! Edit: It's done!

Well, I dug out the old driver package I used to use for my previous Behringer audio interface from the mid-2000s and it's working. The one they said not to use. Phew. At least my new $1,300 laptop is working now.

Hey guys, I hope you can help me, I'm at my wit's end. I've been working with Cakewalk for the past year, had a lot of success, has been recording songs just great on a six year old Toshiba laptop. But I now I have a new HP Envy laptop, and I can't get my Behringer Xenyx 302 USB mixer to work with it at all. i Install the ASIO driver and plug in the mixer, then either it doesn't work, or the outputs go somewhere else, or there's latency, or it just doesn't work at all, or it works, but then at my next session it fails again. I am mystified. I've tried ASIO4ALL (worked on my old laptop), ASIOLinkPro, and another one whose name I forget. Nothing. At this point, I'm thinking I need a Focusrite Scarlett, or some other mixer that has dedicated drivers. But it need it to be reliable. I don't want to be fiddle farting around with drivers and settings, I just want to set it up once and have it work. Any suggestions? Thanks. Barry

I understand how bundles contain all audio for a project, but I have two questions: 1. What if I want to convert a BUN file back to a standard project? Would I open the BUN file and then do File | Save as? 2. If I create a BUN file, are VSTs included? My guess is the audio is stored with the alterations made by the VST, but the VST itself is not included. Am I understanding that correctly? Thanks, all.

Oh, this is fun. It's like if Joe Walsh and Steve Miller had a baby. 😄 I love the energy. And I thought the Chipmunks had retired!?? And rhyming 'ghost' with 'exposed' is bloody brilliant.

Yo Doug. A few thoughts... Bear in mind I'm early 70s in my mindset. Thus the slight 'punk' twang in your singing is not always my cup of tea. However, you do it well here. Harmony vocals are very solid. I am unsure of how to even suggest it, but it sounds to me like all of the instruments are chugging along on their own separate paths, rather than being part of a whole. Maybe some more compression on the individual tracks, then a mastering VST on the main bus? Also hearing a little sound in the fade out, maybe a percussion track in the headphones. Maybe that's deliberate? Some thoughts on lyrics: (Please forgive me if I sound like an annoying creative writing teacher, ha ha.) This sounds very laid back, it's a great sound. But if I were writing about a craving, it would be more intense. But that's just me. I always strive to make my lyrics flow just like they'd be spoken, with the same rhythm and emphasis. That's just my preference. Some turns of phrase here don't go that way. If deliberate, OK, but if it were me I'd tweak it. "With you there's always surprise." Maybe "a surprise?" Or maybe it was there but I didn't hear it. "Where harmony's a song...Lasts forever as we get along." That seems rather vague to me. What exactly are you trying to say? Chorus sounds like fragments. Maybe "Crave, I crave you, Crave, this feeling is so new?" Just some thoughts. But I love the vibe, it's very Byrds / Tom Petty. Very much an earworm.

I like the way the lyrics flow smoothly; they all fit together like clockwork, yet each individual phrase sings / flows naturally. Beautiful and more than a little poignant. Good sound, supports the singing without getting in the way. Great stuff.

Impressive, sweeping sound. These should not be 'gratis!'

Arial is actually a tired old font from the 90s, IMHO. Starting with Windows 7, Microsoft used more advanced fonts that worked with Cleartype, and changed the default system font to 'Segoe UI', specifically designed to work well with ClearType (subpixel rendeering) and to look good at small sizes. If I had the ability to set the global font for Cakewalk, that's the font I'd choose.

You can adjust the scaling of windows 10: go into Settings and search for 'Make Text Bigger.' Drag the slider to change text size, then close Settings, log out and back in. That'll affect everything in Windows, including Cakewalk. On a 4k monitor I'm guessing it could have a profound effect.

Here's the final. Added more lead guitar, centered it, redid a number of vocal phrases, cleaned up the distortion in the vocal track. Added a bit more volume to the "Faux Garfunkels" (background vocals) Thanks, everyone, for your invaluable input!

I'll think about it... Thanks.

Thanks for pointing out the distortion - it came in on bits where I re-recorded some lyrics. I will review, thanks for pointing it out. The vocal harmonies I added to the chorus are just pads - I didn't want to go too heavy on that since I also have a string pad there. Were you thinking harmony vocals actually singing 'San Francisco Days?' Thanks for the kind words on the song.

Okay, here's the next version. Changes: Changed the lyrics about the drummer. I wanted to keep this more factual / autobiographical. Added more guitar on the way out Added vocal harmonies to the chorus Adjusted levels, especially on the strings I'm feeling like a regular Alan Parsons! Comments / Suggestions welcome. (Modified to link to the final version of the song.)

You are too kind. I actually struggle with my voice - I can't do as much as I used to. But that happens with the passage of time. I like the strings too! There are a number of settings in the VST, I went with a 'cello section' setup, it's really lush.

All of my songs have some aspect of my story in them, this one more than most. Let's just leave it at that. I may add more guitar soloing in there - it seems like the solo guitar appears and disappears rather abruptly. Also, kurt (above) recommended some background oohs or aaahs on the chorus, quite an intriguing thought. Thanks for the kind words.

It's actually quite funny - with all the work I do on lyrics, and rhyme, and meter, and emotional content, etc. etc., not to mention composing the song, arranging the drums, playing the guitars, painstakingly assembling the string parts I can't actually play - it would never have occurred to me on my own to just sing 'aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh' in the background at any point. 😄

I like that idea! I thought the strings were carrying that, but they continue on through the verse. I'm gonna look into that. Thanks!

Here's a new one. Let me know what you think. (Edited to show the final version)

Thank you all for the feedback and the compliments. I can't do it without folks like you helping me polish it up, get it right and learn. If any of you are on Facebook, I invite you to like my page. Who knows, something might come of it one day. https://www.facebook.com/barryseymourmusic