Johnbee58

I could feel my blood pressure subsiding when I listened to this. Fitting title too. Very pretty. ?John B

Excellent cover. mix is great. Everything sounds very pro. Well played, sung and recorded. ?John B

Thanks Emerald Tom and Doug. Good point regarding Dylan, Reed, Waits & Cohen. You could say they have their own styles vocally. I have a "novelty" type of soul voice which I've used on a few tunes that people have made favorable comments on. Maybe I should use that voice permanently, but it doesn't fit every style of music. It wouldn't fit this one well. It's kind of like if you ever heard heard some of Billy Joel's songs like "52nd Street" (the title track of the album). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6sEc_WsoeA&list=RDO6sEc_WsoeA&start_radio=1Regarding my insurance, I retired early 4 years ago and my union gave a 50% discount which in April they saw fit to take away so now I must pay full price. I managed to get an Obamacare plan, but that will cut into next years tax return. Only 13 more months till good ol' Medicare. I can't wait. But I don't want to make this a thread about health insurance. I get by OK but the voice lessons would be a bit much. I looked at some of the Roger Burnley videos that Christian sent me and they look impressive, so I think I'll give them a go. ?JB

Thanks Christian. Your response is very encouraging. I didn't know about the YouTube vids regarding vocal lessons but I'm going to look for them. I'm also going to re sing this song. Fact is, I love this song and it deserves a better vocal performance. I think a lot of my problem is how I go about it. First of all, I break a very important rule regarding singing-I sit down to sing! Pros tell you NEVER to do that! A vocal performance should always be delivered standing up. But the reason this happens is because I use the DAW as a writing tool. I sit and write the lyrics line by line and record them line by line. This results in the sometimes "unsure" sound of how I want the melody. What I should do is continue to do what I'm doing but only to write my words and craft my melody as a rough track. Then when I'm sure how I want it (like I am now), set it up, rehearse it a few times and then record it proper, standing up with the full lyric sheet in my hand and concentrating on delivery as a whole instead of the line by line. I should do vocal warm ups before I record (which I don't bother with now). I know how to do warm ups because I remember how from when I took voice lessons years ago. In this way, I can utilize the valuable Comping tool available in CbB. I CAN do this. It's just that I'm always too much in a hurry to get a song out. I take my time establishing the song up until the vocal track. I should take this final step with the vocals to get them as good as I can. Thanks again for your tips ?JB

Seriously, you didn't offend me. I just wish I had it in me to be at least as good as you guys, or at least as good as I was even 10 years ago. You said it was constructive criticism, and it is and it's good, but only for people who have potential, which I don't anymore. I feel like Keith Emerson must have felt when he had to face not being able to play keyboards anymore. I used to have a good voice and people told me I did. Professionals told me I did. I took voice lessons in my 20s and my instructor told me I had a unique "lyric tenor". But time takes away those things. Somebody suggested voice lessons now and I looked into them. But around here they get $30.00 a half hour, which is probably not unreasonably high for this day and age, but that's $120.00 a month. I'm retired on a fixed income and my health insurance just doubled so voice lessons are out of the question. There are really no options for me so maybe I should just stop embarrassing myself. I like to write and create music and unfortunately, I'm the only "singer" I know. I know you mean well and I appreciate it, but if I can't cut the mustard among just regular guys like on this forum there's no point. ?John B.

Yeah. I know I'm not a professional singer. I just do this for fun. I know my voice is terrible in this (as usual). Try to look beyond that if you can and try to enjoy the song for what it is. Just produced by an amateur who loves to make music, if that's possible. I keep thinking that perhaps one day some company will come up with a software program that will allow you to create voices that you can make perfect and unique. Then people like me who can't sing anymore but love to make music will be able to create songs and nobody will ever know of their "weakest link". Cheating? Perhaps, but we already have drum machines and keyboard programs some of us use to make us sound better than we really are. I don't think I'll ever see it in my lifetime, so I'll just have to live with what I got. Either that or give it up. Thanks. ?JB

Kloon, martins, bjorn, Doug, and Grem (again)- Thanks so much for taking the time to listen and reassuring me that the mix isn't as bad as I was originally thinking. @Grem- After listening to various setups I have at my disposal, I have to say I agree with you on the "whisper" assessment. I'll have to revisit that next session. ?JB

OK. I made some changes to the mix and song. I compressed the bass much more and the drums a tiny bit, I changed the kick drum to a softer one. I'm hearing an over compressed bass note at about 2:34. How does it sound to you? Does it stick out like a sore thumb? I changed some of the string arrangement close to the end. Added a whisper to the "and slowly fall apart" at the end. Let me know what you think. ?JB

It has a nice feel to it. Relaxing with a great message. ?John B.

What! No music?! Shoot, I was hoping to hear a song from you!? ?JB

Thanks MR & Grem! The bass in the mix is kind of a boogaboo. But I think I'm gonna cut it a bit anyway. Like you've experienced, MR, it sounds different on different playback gear. I did this mix on cans but I'm going back tomorrow and listen to it through my LSRs. MR gave me an idea on the whisper thing I might try. Not exactly what he suggests but something similar. I have to be truthful here. I'm not "playing" the piano. I wish I was but I'm not that good. I used the EZ Keys browser function, although I input my own chord changes with the help of a program called Scaler. I wasn't consciously thinking along the lines of George Harrison's song when I did this, but that way of thinking could certainly apply here. George's guitar weeps. My "piano" sings. ?JB

"She" is a piano. Needs a few tweeks yet. Do you think the bass is too hot? At least it's not political. Hoping to hear from more of you on this one. Thanks! New link below https://www.soundclick.com/html5/v4/player.cfm?songID=13891166 ?John B

Pretty cool. Is the baritone sax real or virtual? Sounds pretty real to me. Love the singing and the lyrics. ?John B

This is very pretty. Reminds me of the guitar intro to Genesis "Blood on the Rooftops". ?John B

Exceptional quality in the song, arrangement, performance and recording. ?John B

Thanks Jessie. Truth is there isn't much of my family left. ?JB

Thanks Doug! ?JB

Sorry. I hit the wrong button ?

Re posted and re linked for Jessie Screed ?JB

See, you guys work your magic with exciters, compression, side chain limiting, etc. I know the basics of these things but I still can't come to grips with how to master them like some of you people have. ?JB

@Jim RoseberryThanks for your input. I think you're right about getting away from music for a while to get a better perspective of it. I've been thinking of that myself for a little while. ? @Gswitz I apologize to you for over reacting to what you were doing. To tell the truth, at first I took notice to an improvement in what you did. For a few seconds I was going to ask you what you did (sounded like some kind of EQ or compression correction) but then when it got distorted it started to bother me. There was a long time when I didn't allow for my stuff to be downloaded because about 10 years ago some smart ***** decided to download something of mine and distorted and made it ugly. This person essentially murdered it, in my mind. This person MEANT it to be a mockery. I realize now that that was not your intention and I sincerely apologize for jumping to conclusions, but perhaps you can understand now why I did. The whole climate of the thread at that point was getting a bit hostile (thanks to me. I accept full responsibility) and that's why my first reaction was to be offended. Let's just call it a PTSD of sorts. ? @TVR PRODUCTIONS I also hope you'll accept my apology. You're not a troublemaking troll and it was just your way of offering advise. And you're correct. My voice isn't good. I don't know about yours. Maybe it's better than you think. What I plan on doing is connecting with a vocal coach and get his/her evaluation. He/she might not be able to make me ready for "The Voice" but hopefully can, as Tezza was suggesting, give me some pointers to make it a bit better and more pleasing to listen to.? I also regret I took down all of my music from the internet. I might work on putting them back but then again, maybe I won't. It was a stupid knee jerk reaction on my part. Some of those older tunes are going to be hard to re locate. You're all good people. I'm sorry for acting like such an *****. ?JB

It looks like some of the drama from my other current post spilled over to this one. Wookie, I'll take what you said to heart. I'll also take it that you like my song here. For both, thanks. Leadfoot-Thank you very much. I appreciate your taking the time to listen. ?JB

Then I guess I'll have to. I have no talent.

Listen please everybody. I know you're just trying to help, but it's not happening. I'm finished with music. It's nobody's fault, it's just that I'm not talented. TVR is right and Tezza is right. I can't sing and it's too late to learn. All of these years I've been deluding myself into thinking I had musical talent. I don't. Yesterday and this thread were just a wake up call. It's been too important to me. There are other things in my life I should focus on, so I guess this is a way of getting my attention to that fact. My music has been just another form or masturbation. I can't even get my family to listen to it. Other than my wife and and a small handful of people on this site, I'm the only one who listens to it, and that's sad and pathetic! I've spent so much time and money on it over the years and it's nothing but frustrating. It's become a monkey on my back instead of something I enjoy and this is a part of it. It's time for me to re focus on more important things in my life. Facing reality is sometimes a cruel slap in the face. Well, June 6, 2019 was my wake up call. My music is dead. It's like losing a friend or a family member but I've lost many family members over the past few years. I'll get over it. You're right. I have no musical talent. Thanks for pointing that out. Now I can move on. ?JB Chuck-Sorry you wasted your time.

When my music is mocked publically it's not criticism anymore. Just let it go please!