Lee Shapiro Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 A deeply personal song about mental illness. Written as kind of an open letter to my doctor, who seems to be making things worse for me instead of better. The subject matter is softened up a bit, written as an upbeat country-rock song. Hanging By A Thread 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garybrun Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 Sorry to hear of your illness Lee. The black dog is not good. Music is a great way of expressing things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark skinner Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 Lee , I think this is "by far" your best work. I can't believe how relaxing and smooth it is given the subject matter. You have created a Great convincing song from the heart . Loved the vocals and especially the harmony parts at the outro. I'm wondering how you pulled off the pedal steel sounding track ? Thanks for sharing this . I truly hope you feel better soon .. spring is here , that always makes me feel better. mark 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bapu Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 Nice track Lee. The performances were stellar no matter how they were made. Vocals were very good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack c. Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 nice job.jack c. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bajan Blue Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 Lee - this is a great track - well written and well played. Very nice mix on top of that Cool Nigel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Bush Posted March 6, 2022 Share Posted March 6, 2022 Nicely done like the harmonies ,super production really clear and crisp 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Shapiro Posted March 6, 2022 Author Share Posted March 6, 2022 6 hours ago, mark skinner said: Lee , I think this is "by far" your best work. I can't believe how relaxing and smooth it is given the subject matter. You have created a Great convincing song from the heart . Loved the vocals and especially the harmony parts at the outro. I'm wondering how you pulled off the pedal steel sounding track ? Thanks for sharing this . I truly hope you feel better soon .. spring is here , that always makes me feel better. mark Thanks Mark, I appreciate it. I'm a bit surprised about pulling off the pedal steel sound as well. I've had a few pedal steel VST plugins for years, and I've never been able to come close to what I achieved in this song. I think I just listened to a lot of Rusty Young in Poco and tried to remember the way he was playing. I'm not in front of my DAW right now, so I can't remember the name of the plugin. But for my own "memory's sake", I do remember the word "STEEL" in the title in all capital letters. So I made a mental note, to find that plugin again when I need it. Thanks again! (I'll let you know what the plugin is when I get to my DAW) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Shapiro Posted March 6, 2022 Author Share Posted March 6, 2022 7 hours ago, mark skinner said: I'm wondering how you pulled off the pedal steel sounding track ? Okay, I'm on my DAW computer now and can tell you what I used. It's Indiginus' "The STEEL - Electric Lap Steel Guitar", which apparently I've finally figured out how to make it sound good. Among my other VST plugins in that same category include another Indiginus product called Delta Blues Acoustic Slide Guitar (which I've used on several songs) Impact Soundworks Pedal Steel, Orange Tree Samples' Slide Acoustic, and Slide Lap Steel, and Wavelore Glide II. Some of these produce great sounds, but just like a real pedal steel guitar, they're difficult to master. (All of these are Kontakt controlled plugins) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesha Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 Hi Lee, thanks for sharing this as you say very personal message. I hope you can get what you need when you need it. Sometimes the more you need help from a doctor, you learn how unhelpful they can be. I think the song is great ! really enjoyed it. The structure of the song is great, the vocals and guitar and all the parts actually are very well done. The mix sounds right on over here, so nothing at all I could say to improve anything ! great job. And Better Weather started playing and that one is great too ! You have your stuff worked out, be well and best wishes with your health, keep making music! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Shapiro Posted March 11, 2022 Author Share Posted March 11, 2022 2 hours ago, treesha said: Hi Lee, thanks for sharing this as you say very personal message. I hope you can get what you need when you need it. Sometimes the more you need help from a doctor, you learn how unhelpful they can be. I think the song is great ! really enjoyed it. The structure of the song is great, the vocals and guitar and all the parts actually are very well done. The mix sounds right on over here, so nothing at all I could say to improve anything ! great job. And Better Weather started playing and that one is great too ! You have your stuff worked out, be well and best wishes with your health, keep making music! Thanks treesha, I sure do appreciate everything you said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwnicholson78 Posted March 11, 2022 Share Posted March 11, 2022 Thanks for sharing this. Everything sounds outstanding and the lyrics are perfect. I hope that writing this helped you in some way. I personally would have liked to hear the vocals a little more up front, but that's just me. Great song. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeringAmps Posted March 17, 2022 Share Posted March 17, 2022 On 3/6/2022 at 6:44 AM, garybrun said: Sorry to hear of your illness Lee. The black dog is not good. Music is a great way of expressing things. I'll just echo Gary and the rest of the Forum. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention you did a stellar job with the STEEL! t and great chorus! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Shapiro Posted March 18, 2022 Author Share Posted March 18, 2022 11 hours ago, DeeringAmps said: I'll just echo Gary and the rest of the Forum. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention you did a stellar job with the STEEL! t and great chorus! Thanks! I appreciate it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noynekker Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 Wow Lee . . . the way you set it up at top of the thread, mental issues and all . . . well, let me assure you, this is one very together piece you've written and recorded here. The mix sounds great to my ears, and musically, as it evolves towards the ending, there are some surprising change ups that kept me listening and appreciating. It really connects with me, perhaps because it is in a similar vein to one of my favourite Canadian folk rock bands, it's got a very easy laid back feel to it, with some serious undertones. Glad you shared it all here for us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Shapiro Posted March 19, 2022 Author Share Posted March 19, 2022 21 hours ago, noynekker said: Wow Lee . . . the way you set it up at top of the thread, mental issues and all . . . well, let me assure you, this is one very together piece you've written and recorded here. The mix sounds great to my ears, and musically, as it evolves towards the ending, there are some surprising change ups that kept me listening and appreciating. It really connects with me, perhaps because it is in a similar vein to one of my favourite Canadian folk rock bands, it's got a very easy laid back feel to it, with some serious undertones. Glad you shared it all here for us. Thanks for your very kind comments, I appreciate it. The lyrics were relatively easy for me to write because it's an ongoing conversation with a very difficult therapist. Because of the whole opioid epidemic, this young therapist thinks she knows what's best for me and is trying to take away the one medication that has helped me stay sane for the past 40 years. I'm going to give her this song when I have my next appointment.....whatever good that will do me. But anyway, comments like yours makes me feel a lot better about myself and inspires me to write more. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy j Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 One of your best Lee. You expressed some great sentiments, vocals-instrumention-performance were all done very well. The mix sound spot one also. Nice one indeed. Glad to see you back on the forum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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