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An Easier Way to Let Me Down


Johnbee58

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As I had to remove the previous song I posted due to controversial subject matter, I thought I'd  "replace it" with another tune.  This is bluesy but not beyond the norm of most bluesy songs.  No controversy here.  I just want to make sure I haven't become the Sinead O 'Connor of the Cakewalk forum.  I didn't really want to rattle anybody's cage with the last tune and I'm sorry some took it that way.

Here's "An Easier Way to Let Me Down", a tune I did back in 2017.  Using Toontrack EZ Keys & EZ Drummer, Trilian Bass, Hammond organ by Native Instruments and horns by Garritan.

https://johnbowen.bandcamp.com/track/an-easier-way-to-let-me-down

I will get to listening to some other's tunes on the board a bit later.

😀John B

Edited by Johnbee58
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I am sorry you had remove your song before I got to comment on it.
I for one understood your message and that music is a form of personal expression not matter what the subject.
I was not offended in anyway and could relate to your song and your message.

lies.jpg.5609f4be9d5b8b6ba9eb97b67b34f869.jpg

Edited by garybrun
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2 hours ago, garybrun said:

I am sorry you had remove your song before I got to comment on it.
I for one understood your message and that music is a form of personal expression not matter what the subject.
I was not offended in anyway and could relate to your song and your message.

lies.jpg.5609f4be9d5b8b6ba9eb97b67b34f869.jpg

Amen to this!!

Thanks!

😀JB

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Hi John.
I have listened to your song quite a few times now and it is quite complex.
Also quite sad...  reckon the song comes from experience?
Lots of great little bits in there with horns and other instruments.

Did you pan your voice slightly to the left (10 o'clock) to the left and not center.
It through me a little as I thought my speakers where out??

Edited by garybrun
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33 minutes ago, garybrun said:

Hi John.
I have listened to your song quite a few times now and it is quite complex.
Also quite sad...  reckon the song comes from experience?
Lots of great little bits in there with horns and other instruments.

Did you pan your voice slightly to the left (10 o'clock) to the left and not center.
It through me a little as I thought my speakers where out??

Nothing wrong with your speakers.  The vocals are panned about 10:00 to the left.  But I think I panned the reverb far right (not sure.  Have to check.  That project is two years old but I still have it archived).   Not necessarily  inspired by personal experience.  I write the music first, then write the words according to the feeling the music gives me.  Thanks for checking it out.

 

🙂John B

 

 

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HI John,

I listened to your song (liked it a lot)..

Good recording.. Sounded nice in my work headphones...

Sorry you had to take down one of your songs.. I haven't been around consistently to have caught it while it was up.

But this one will do nicely.

 

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John

I like the steady groove in the background - piano, drums, bass - that supports the vocal. And then you add in the horns for a jazzy kind of sound.   Really nice break at 2:28 that transitions back to the main theme perfectly. Well done.

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Nice one John!  You have blended a Blues/Old Style R &B with a kind of Jazzy swing.  The rhythmic flow of this song really carries it along and the horns really add a lot.  I think that the panning that you used worked for a good separation of voice and horns.

 

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3 minutes ago, freddy j said:

Nice one John!  You have blended a Blues/Old Style R &B with a kind of Jazzy swing.  The rhythmic flow of this song really carries it along and the horns really add a lot.  I think that the panning that you used worked for a good separation of voice and horns.

 

Thanks, Freddy.  Yes, that was the reason why I panned the vocal to the left.  To create separation between the horns and the voice so they wouldn't be in each others way in the mix.

🙂JB

 

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Hi John,

Very interesting song on a lot of fronts . I enjoyed the modal piano part up against the S Dan bass style part .

Gave your tune a nice rhythmic  bounce ..

As the song develops you go into some very complex chordal and song arrangements featuring  instrument change ups horns and nice sub motifs that play off each other  .

Good stuff there . Seems you stand apart in that area ...must have taken a lot of time to get that right

I got your songs vocal message VIA listening and then reading your lyrics . Since I am a non vocalist ...can't say much about whats happening there ...

Overall you seem to have a quirky bone here and there in your musical bone structure ...

BTW that is a complement in my book  ....

A little  over 10 years ago ..I used to joke around w a few forum members on the old songs  forum

It seems a number of my tunes had their own thing going on and they  didn't fit into a box

Because of that ,   I used to call myself Captain Quirk  ..

all the best,

Kenny

 

Edited by Kenny Wilson
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You should write for Steely Dan, plain and simple! Of course they are defunct. And you have your own thing going on that's great. That bridge or what you might call it, that's really complex and wonderful.

I think your vocals here are some of your best vocal work. It's noticeable that you've thought out some reverb/delay and it works. The sax-horn  harmonizing towards the end also has this treatment. The organ has nice effects, too. For me, I'm finding the piano a little dry, maybe just a hair of some treatment on it might blend the piano in to the rest.

That's a proper fade-out ending! nice choice.

 

cheers,

-Tom

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6 hours ago, emeraldsoul said:

You should write for Steely Dan, plain and simple! Of course they are defunct. And you have your own thing going on that's great. That bridge or what you might call it, that's really complex and wonderful.

I think your vocals here are some of your best vocal work. It's noticeable that you've thought out some reverb/delay and it works. The sax-horn  harmonizing towards the end also has this treatment. The organ has nice effects, too. For me, I'm finding the piano a little dry, maybe just a hair of some treatment on it might blend the piano in to the rest.

That's a proper fade-out ending! nice choice.

 

cheers,

-Tom

Wow!  I do appreciate that assessment, but Don and Walter did a pretty good job without my help.  My stuff is garbage compared to theirs, but they are a big inspiration and influence for me.  I agree with the dry piano comment.  The other day I tried adding some little bit of verb to it, but I couldn't find a room in any of the reverbs I have to suit it.

but................

I sent some of the raw tracks to another member of this forum and he's working on a remix/remaster.  Last week he sent me a PM with a link to my current mix through Altiverb's Memphis recording studio room.  Knocked me on my *****!  I asked him if he could do the whole song and he said he would take it on.  I can't wait to hear his work. 

😀JB

 

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Nice one John! I really like the slow steady swing of this. Lynn was right, I hear a little Steely Dan in there as well. The song threw me a little around 2:30 where it changes up, but in a good way. Really good piece of work John!

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