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Post by nikonbob55 on Nov 25, 2004 17:28:59 GMT
Hi, and Happy Thanksgiving to all! My friend Al (the talented voice of our band) brought me a tune he'd had in the vault for some time. His girlfriend Renee wrote a lyric, which he set to music. He brought it to me a couple of months ago to see if we could flesh it out on my PS5. It is a country tune - which is why he hesitated to bring it to a hard core rock and roller like me - but it is a good tune, nonetheless. He would have loved to have had a female do the backing vocal, but had to do it himself, which stretched him quite a bit. He did prevail, and the result is titled "Pardon My Smile", which I've put on our Sound Click page here : www.soundclick.com/bands/6/ballsagainstthewallmusic.htmI played all the intstruments, and Al did all the vocals - a note of interest to the guitarists out there - the slide you hear was played on a home made slide guitar, consisting of a cigar box for the body, a maple neck (with rosewood inlays to mark where the frets would be), and a Radio Shack transducer in the body to allow it to be recorded. If anyone would like to see this interesting contraption, let me know, and I will take a digital pic to post on here. It works surprisingly well for a homemade instrument. One just has to get used to the sensitivity of the transducer while recording. Safe and Happy Thanksgiving to all!
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Post by mcarp555 on Nov 25, 2004 20:46:21 GMT
Is Al getting used to walking around on tippy-toe? Nice tune, especially the chorus. I'm not too crazy about the harmonium in the background, but everything else is fine. Sounds like your homemade lap steel does the job!
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Post by nikonbob55 on Nov 25, 2004 22:23:25 GMT
Thanks for the candor Mike....an honest impression is always helpful! You were right - that backing vocal was just too painful. I've remixed it, lowered it, and sent it hard left to kinda coexist with the slide part. It sounds much less hurtful this way.
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Post by mcarp555 on Nov 25, 2004 23:42:09 GMT
Well actually, when I said 'harmonium', I meant the organ. It's a type of organ-like keyboard instrument.
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Post by nikonbob55 on Nov 26, 2004 0:46:29 GMT
Oops! Well, the harmonium you're probably referring to then is the Percussive Organ in the MIDI file. I used that along with the Church Organ because I liked the arpeggios it did in the chorus. I do think the mix is better overall with the backing vocals set back compared to where they were before however. Listening with fresh ears after dinner to both mixes confirmed that. In any case, as always Mike, thanks for all you do!
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Post by mcarp555 on Nov 26, 2004 8:59:40 GMT
Well, it does sound less cluttered overall with the backing vocals out of the way. Still, the ceaseless drone of the organ (whichever one it is), could be improved, in my opinion. But, if you're happy with the mix, that's the most important set of ears to contend with.
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sgulley
Superstar
If you really like music and recording it then never stop trying to get better at it.
Posts: 3,000
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Post by sgulley on Nov 27, 2004 1:35:00 GMT
This does sound very country. In fact, the chord structure sounds extremely familiar (maybe I've heard one too many George Jones songs)
Anyway I really like it. The homeade slide is very impressive. I wish that I could somehow master the slide at my age, but I don't think that is going to happen. I would be curious to hear a dobro or an electric slide with lots of reverb, but I know that expensive is a major factor in why we bought our PS5s in the first place.
Enjoyed it.
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Post by mattl on Nov 27, 2004 6:29:35 GMT
hey bob, i have this inherent hatred of country music but your story about the slide got me over. nice playing, arrangement and song. what about a stick on transducer froma music store? i been tryin to sell my soundspot for years. not to be nitpicky but is the lead gtr a little flat? might be chorus makin it sound that way, iu experience that alot myself when i drench it. maybe its just me.. anyhow thanks for posting nice to hear ya doing some stuff
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Post by nikonbob55 on Nov 27, 2004 13:11:32 GMT
HI Stan and Matt,
Thanks for the comments! I'm FAR from "mastering" that slide - in fact, I'm pretty far from mastering the guitar in general. I'm a bass player who's trying to get the job done, that's all. Luckily, the slide is tuned to an open G, so it's not difficult to do simple things with it. The chord structure is the basic I - IV - V, and we opened it up a bit by using a major 7th in the IV position. I'm not a fan of country at all either Matt - in fact, I love the joke about when you play a country song backwards, you get back your girl, your truck, your dog, etc. But this was about helping a friend to flesh something out, so I was happy to participate. The lead probably sounds a tad off, because I punched it in on the track where Al's backup is, and that track is drenched with Reverb to take the edge off those high vocals. I did tune the Ovation and the fretless bass to the PS5 tuner before doing any tracking, so I think the reverb's more the culprit here.
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sahib
Chart-Climbing Member
Posts: 42
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Post by sahib on Nov 27, 2004 14:35:38 GMT
Bob, Big change from some of your other stuff like 2 roads and moody. But it works. Love the homemade instrument thing. Sahib
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Post by nikonbob55 on Nov 28, 2004 12:48:34 GMT
Hi Sahib,
Thanks - it's a HUGE change, as I prefer the "classic rock" sound overall, but this one was for a friend, and it happened to be country. The home made slide will be on the next one as well. I've done the music, and Al's developing a lyric.
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