Johnbee58

Hey! On the PC I use in my music room (which is dedicated to music production) I have it in an area that's rich in electronics and under the desk which means that it drops the connection on a very regular basis. The PC is a Windows 8.1. I was advised last year to buy a USB based receiver for it (kind of like an antenna to pick up the WIFI from my network). I haven't bought one yet. Here's the situation. I already have a USB WIFI receiver, but I don't know if it's the right kind. I bought it about 10 years ago for my Windows XP machine that had no internal receiver. My current PC HAS an internal receiver and does pick up the signal about 60-70% of the time but I get so tired of having to go into the modem setting and restart it when I see the damned exclamation point (!) The receiver I have is a Belkin and it's just a little square thing about 1 inch by 1.5 inches that plugs into any USB port. The reason I haven't just taken it and plugged it in to try it is that I don't want to take a chance on ruining or frying anything. I don't want to destroy any of those USB port because I use them frequently for backups and stuff. Would I be risking the integrity of my USB ports just trying it? How well do you think it would work? Should I just buy a new receiver? Thanks ?John B.

Long Beach Island!! I love the place, but it's been more than 30 years since I've been there. It's a beautiful place to vacation. I used to always get a room at the Spray Beach Motel (ocean side, of course). I hope you had a great time there. But I think your song and vid reflects how much you enjoyed yourself. ?John B

I enjoyed this, especially the softness in your vocal delivery. Very pretty music too. There was a song in the 60s with this title. It was a different tune entirely but when I saw the title I thought you were doing a cover. ?John B

Hey, Folks!? Just wanted to thank all who listened and commented. If I could please ask for one request to those who may listen and post further. Could you please comment only on the song and try to ignore the subject matter. I know it's difficult because the content jumps right out and grabs you, but please know that I'm past those feelings now. I've redone my attitudes on everything relating to my music, how I produce it and how others feel about it. I'm OK there and if you want to you can flame it to death and I promise I won't give you any flack about anything you say. But I would really like your thoughts (whatever they may be) on the production and mix and try to ignore the negative aspects I'm voicing in the tune. I'm still proud of it. I was thinking about re writing the words but I think I'll keep them as they are because they reflect a dark moment of time in my life and the beautiful thing about music is the self expression aspect. Thanks so much ?JB

Back in the 60s there was an instrumental band called "The Ventures". It was mostly guitar & drum oriented and the themes were mostly cars and beach party life (think Beach Boys but without the vocals). This song kind gives me the feeling on a song they did called "Out Of Limits" in that it has a very interesting riff that goes through most of the song. Anyway, listening to this was like a trip down memory lane. Thanks for posting it. ?John B

Thanks again Mark. In my frustration that caused this song to be written, I deleted 10 years of songs from my Soundclick. 90 songs just in a fit of frustration. I regret it because some of them I'll never get back again, but that's my bad. I'm going to re post what I can but it will take awhile. I regret doing that for more than one reason. ?JB

So very sorry. I added Ginger's Song and forgot to change the old link. It's fixed now. Thanks! Hope you'll revisit ?JB

Thanks, Mark ? Question though. How did you access 12 more pages of my stuff? I took everything down a few weeks ago. Not that I mind if you did find it somewhere and I hope you enjoyed it if you did, but I wasn't aware of anything else out there. I plan to re post some of it soon. What you said about your friend I can identify with. Many times I have the same problem. I can rehearse a line and have it sound great 10 or 20 times. But then, when I think I'm all ready to go, I hit the record button and it all falls apart!. It must be psychological, but what I don't get is I'm not under stress like I would be in a pro studio situation (Time is $$$$$$. I'd really be a mess there?). It's my home studio and I have all the time in the world. I also take notice about myself that I close my eyes TIGHT when I'm recording a vocal, and it's a habit, so that indicates stress. I try to relax, but I can't. It's weird. ?JB

The day I have to make music on a little thing like that is the day I stop making music. Period! ?John B

Is there any way on Soundcloud to change the order of the song list? If so, how? Thanks John B?

Is that the one that's similar to Scaler? If it is, it helps you make chords and chord progressions. But I've asked the same question. How does one use it? I can tell you how I use (Scaler). I use it to create the chord voicings and progressions and then I put the MIDI into EZ Keys to make articulations from unique chords and progressions using the browser in EZ Keys. Apart from using it with EZ Keys, I really don't know how you would use it except for maybe block chords or suggestions for chords & voicings if you are a proficient pianist/keyboardist. ?John B

Jesse, listening to your songs is like going on an expedition. They all sound different and they go to places that you never seemed to have explored before. You're like the 21 century's version of Frank Zappa. ?John B

I lost 7 loved ones in the last 5 years. First wife (of 34 years), both parents, brother, two uncles and my beloved doggie. I thought of them all when I watched this video and listened to this beautiful song and I cried. I could hear the raw emotion in your voice. Elvis couldn't have done a better job. I could tell you felt it with every note you sang. I was late getting into whoever wrote this beautiful piece, but I was moved deeply. It brought the message home to me. Death is cruel, but something we must endure. We must enjoy our loved ones while we have them. Every moment with them is so precious. I'm still crying. ?JB

Sweet playing, singing and content. You have your own sound, Freddy! ?John B

Ahhh. Sounds handy. How do I do that? ?JB

Good suggestion. I'll put your words on my bathroom mirror too. ?

As far as the lyrical content of this song, I was considering re- writing the the words, but I think I'll leave it as it is. At the time I was depressed and frustrated. It was an off moment for me, but that's cool. That's what art is all about and it's a beautiful thing. I don't feel that way now. I've come out of the fog, but I'll have this song to look back on when I need to remind myself of those dark times and thoughts. Kind of like what Lennon did in his song "Yer Blues". EDIT-Lest someone take the Lennon/Yer Blues" statement above out of context (that's happened on this board already. Believe it or not), I am NOT comparing myself to John Lennon as far as talent or songwriting ability. I'm not putting myself" up there with him." I just mean that he expressed himself and his depression in that particular song. That's what I did here in mine. Please don't misunderstand that. ? ?JB

Thank you amiller. I won't find another singer because nobody could sing my songs they way I do. I'm not being conceited or delusional. My own vocals don't bother me. They used to but I'm not going to let it bother me anymore. I do my best singing MY music. ?JB

No. I've changed my outlook. I AM good enough! I'm an amateur and I'm I'm proud or it. And I give up trying to be what I am not. If I don't measure up to your musical expectations, please don't listen because I'm not going to keep trying to beat a dead horse attempting to do the impossible! If you're going to make the same old critiques and cannot accept my music as I present it as best as I can, please don't listen and don't bother repeating yourself with the same old tired critiques that I say time and time again I can't do anything about! If I make only one person on this board happy, I'm fine with that-from now on! That sounded a bit harsh and off putting. Please accept my apology for acting a fool. Let me put it another way. I'm not going to apologize for the shortcomings in my music anymore. It is what it is. If you like it, fine. If not, fine too. I will no longer respond with hurt and offensive tones. You can flame all you want and I will try my best to take your suggestions and do something with them. If I can't, then I can't. As I said, I'm only an amateur. Some here are pros and I respect that. I feel wonderful for you and I respect your opinions and feelings, but understand that unlike you, I'm limited. But I'll take what you suggest and work with it as much as I can, IF I can. As far as my self loathing, I'm done with that too. Fact is, I'm proud of what little I can accomplish. I do and I will take pride in my music. This song here, for instance. I'm happy with it. Sure, somebody else could probably sing it better, but I'm happy with it because it came from me. I was also very happy with "Quietly She Sings". A few of you called me on the vocal work being out of tune and throaty. OK. That's how you see it and I respect that. As I said, I can't do anything about that but thank you for your suggestion. I'm proud of it anyway, really. It expresses me and that's all I really want. I'll keep making my music and keep posting it. If you enjoy it, I'm glad. If you don't, I'm glad too. Thanks for listening to the small amount of self expression I can get out. And thanks for your opinions and suggestions. I will do the best I can with them, but I won't make promises. Yours in music ?John B

Thanks, Jesse. I really appreciate that. ?Just an amateur having fun. JB

Bjorn & Rik-Thanks so much. You're being too kind. ❤️ ?JB

Great! Thanks so much! ?JB

This is why I don't jump right on to updating. I wait to see if there are any complications like this. I did run it on my spare PC in my bedroom but not yet on my music PC. I have a small project which I'm just starting with only a few bars written in Scaler and EZ Keys on the bedroom PC. Works fine, but as I said, it's only about 5 bars so far. I won't update the music PC until this is solved. ?JB

I've been wondering if it's possible to accomplish something in CbB. Probably not, but it's worth asking. If I have a vocal track that I'm just mixing using no particular special effect and I want to do a line or two with say, a doubler or flanger, I have been up to now putting the lines I want doubled on a separate track for the effect. I'm wondering if there is some automation in CbB that would allow me to cue a special effect to trigger at a specific point on the time line instead of using a whole track and channel for just the effected part of the vocal. I hope I'm not being too vague in my explanation as to what I want. I'm figuring the pros probably don't have to use separate tracks and maybe the Cakewalk Bakers baked a tasty morsel like this into the program. Thanks in advance! EDIT-While I'm asking, is it possible to make automated changes in things like EQ and compression too? ?John B

Thanks so much, guys! The "vocal drops" just kind of happened naturally. Glad you like them. The groove is from the new "Urban Jazz" EZ Keys and EZ Drummer packs, but with some of my own variations and chord progressions. I also upgraded to NI Session Strings Pro 2. For the benefit of other Session String users here who haven't taken it to Pro 2 yet, I highly recommend it. It's much easier to use than the older versions of SS and has some great new features. ?