Larry T.

Well done steve ??....anyone who attempts to cover Steely Dan has a lot of ground to cover....Becker and Fagens's "unique to the song" chords, way above average musicianship, ears of sonar to hear and do things in the mix that few others can ????

really well done kevin....all around great job....song, lyrics, vox, arrangement, playing, mix ??️??

Hi Philip....i'll pass on the mix talk but have to say that the song is way cool and is really first rate ????

listened to the first five minutes, sounds intriguing....need to set aside an hour to hear this properly....will check back soon ????????

Hi paul, very nice song....you have a very good conception (feel, flavor, instrumentation, tempo) of the piece already so it's now just a matter of taste and exactly how you want to see it realized...to my ears there isn't much to change....i would shorten it to around 3:40 and maybe add some piano and a few electric guitar touches ????

Hi Makke....nice I - IV - V piece ????

Hi Tom, definitely a narrative as there is no break in it until the 5:10 mark or so (the sequencer and other instruments all sound fine and the song really picks up at that time all the way to the fade)....unless you're Bob Dylan not too many folks can pull off a long narrative piece, that being said, the music backing the narrative is strictly supportive and not meant to take attention away from the vocal, so, really not much to change unless you write some more music to break up the narration....all that being said it's a cool song ????

nice work Kurt, especially with 8GB of ram (that's what i have to use as well)....consistant feel throughout the piece, nice sound on the fretless bass....very well constructed....are the drums live?? ????

nice touch you gave this one jack....humorous with the sting of truth to it....i'd bring up and/or play with the EQ on the drums and cymbals to get a bit more clarity from them ????

huge elvis costello fan....what an interesting song to cover....your version sounds sonically better than his while remaining pretty faithful to the arrangements which were really a cool gumbo of melodies and riffs....great job on a great song ????

Thanks Bjorn....lately i've been adhering to the Steely Dan ethic of keeping everything dry (i don't think there's a bit of reverb on any of their songs....i could be wrong) but i did realize the lead guitar parts in certain sections do sound a bit thin and i couldn't get the EQ to give me any more help with them....i've used the reverb and delay a lot in the past so i decided to let them stay dry but i will go back and see about doing some reworks on this tune....cheers!!!! ????

Thanks tom....i will have to play around with this song more....your observations are helpful and accurate ????

re: The gene krupa ending version: this is so compositionally beyond what i can do at this time i really don't have much to say except it's powerful, melodic, quirky, intriguing, accessible and enjoyable....you and jack c. are some of the most interesting, inspiring and enjoyable composers here yet you don't sound anything like each other....great work ????

wow....you are on a real creative roll jack....i never did get back to finish listening to your last song, so let me put some time into this one....it's a real tour de force of composition and playing....the production and mix sound is very good....the EQ/audio of the synth's is outstanding as is your playing/programming of them....the ending is really cool....this is another one of my favorites of yours along with My Special Place, selim and sivad ???????? edit: i have to say that your composing in the last few months is miles above anything i can do at this time....thanks for the inspiration and education....cheers!!!!

this is also one of my favorites that you have written....well crafted from start to finish....i like the drums, they fit perfectly imho....beautiful....takes me back to the first time i heard philip glass' take on bowie's "Low" instrumentals, yes, it's that good ????

great intro (midi cymbal??)....guitar, bass, drums and keys all enter smokingly good....nice midi hi hat, makes for a high energy/upbeat feel....tasty guitar takes over....nice groove....overall extremely good, well worth putting more time in to make a full fledged song ????

Thanks Steve....that is a cool story....I was trying to figure out what to call this song....I knew it was gonna be ______ Blues....think I was watching TV and heard obsidian and the light in my head went on ....the timing is courtesy of the metronome as it gave me the freedom to concentrate completely on what I was playing....cheers!!!! ????

i've used the CbB SI Bass for a few of the songs as it sounded better or was easier to play at the time....i like the SI Bass a lot ????

Thanks Wookiee, that is what I try to create with ambient pop ????

nope, direct injection from Yamaha bass to audio interface to CbB DAW audio track.... didn't use any amp sim at all....only bass guitar processing i did was careful manipulation of CbB Pro Channel EQ module ????

regarding "The Soft Cool Kiss of God", that's outstanding, beautiful, you must of had a time with the EQing as the organ and cello seem like their places in the audio spectrum are quite close/similar ????

Thanks David....this is the most recent song i've written, finished it a few weeks ago....the vibrato is just me on the guitar fretboard, was recorded using around 18 different tracks for each guitar section to get maximum ability to craft the tones and stuff, played through a Focusrite Scarlett Solo with no effects other than careful EQing.... after playing for around 54 years i think i've finally got the vibrato down!!!! lol!!!! ????

Thanks jack....the bass was played live using three different tracks, one for each section....i ran it through my Focusrite Scarlett Solo audio interface with no effects other than very carefully set DAW EQing for each section....the bass is a 2004 or so Yamaha RBX170, for a cheap bass it's surprising robust....the bass knobs settings i used give a Rickenbacker-type sound here's a pic of it:

greetings....latest creation called Obsidian Blues (ambient pop music)....all observations, critiques, suggestions and questions welcome....let's go!!!! https://larryterrano.bandcamp.com/track/obsidian-blues-ambient-pop-music DAW: Cakewalk by Bandlab pc: windows 10, i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz, 8GB ram, acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitar, focusrite scarlett solo, arturia minilab mkII, arturia analog lab 4 lite, CbB effects reference speakers: M-Audio BX3 website: https://larryterrano.bandcamp.com/ Special Thanks to Mike at #creativesauce on You Tube whose incredible videos on how to use CbB made this possible

tight, smooth, tasty, precise, well arranged, superbly played, great production and mix ????