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Martinswede

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« on: January 16, 2019, 10:40:07 AM »
Hi!
This song is aimed more as a complete production than my earlier posts.
Couldn't find any single instrument strings, just those horrible pre arrangements, so I went with more synth/organ/flute styled arr.

I dear say my finest song so far.

All the best,
Martin

https://soundcloud.com/k-martin-j/help

Help

I don't want to see you, today            
with the hat you stole from a poet
and your fancy shades

You're so good at taking' the blame,
but everybody's starving in some way

You take my time and you wash it away
Always know how to keep me afraid

You're so good at using my name
but everybody's starving in some way

Let loose all hell            
I just need a little help            
from my friends               

Go off and tell
Everybody I'm full
Of pretends                     C                  

You keep up with my pace babe,
As I try running away

You're so good at falling behind
And making me wish I was blind

Let loose all hell            
I just need a little help         
from my friends      

Go off and tell
Everybody I'm full
Of pretends

(C) M. Järnevi 2019

pompeyjazz

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« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2019, 05:28:04 PM »
Hi Martin,

Good to hear from you again. Nice acoustic and I like the dual tracked vocals and instrumentation when it kicks in. It's just right, not too much, not too little.

Vocals sounding good as well.

Cool organ at the end. Would have liked to have heard a bit more of that  :)

Really enjoyed the listen

BTW - 20 inches = 50.8 cm  ;D ;D ;D

Neil C

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« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2019, 06:19:57 PM »
nice one,
Simple and striped back - integrating lyrics, I really like the line 'but everybody's starving in some way'
And I really like the middle sections with organ and your backing vocals. got a bit of Elliot Smith in there somewhere.
thanks for the share
 :)
neil
songwriter of no repute..

adamfarr

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« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2019, 08:43:38 AM »
I definitely like those lyrics - lots of interesting touches (hell/help, keeping up/falling behind). Lots to chew on - very original and with each listen we can find some new clue or insight. (Perhaps the word you meant was "pretence" - but "pretends" is a little unique touch in itself...)


Musically it was also effective, everything suiting the song and nothing overdone. Getting creative, I maybe thought the chorus (or the final one) could be lifted a touch more - I liked the organ but wondered how it would sound with the harmony vocal above the lead and maybe the organ filling out underneath? (Although I often have these ideas and then find I have no way of hitting the intended harmony vocal notes!)


Cool song indeed.

PaulAds

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« Reply #4 on: January 17, 2019, 04:52:22 PM »
This is super, Martin!

Like the lyrics a lot... And there's some really good, thoughtful delivery of those lyrics too.

You fancy some drums on there? I could try to help if you like...

Excellent  :)
heart of stone, feet of clay, knob of butter

Cawproductions

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« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2019, 05:10:05 PM »
Hi Martin,

Great vibe to this, Nice melody from such a simple chord structure. I like the phrasing you have , it catches me out but in a "Keep me on my toes" kind of way
Sounding very nice here,

I can hear that studio recording now...

Andy

Skub

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« Reply #6 on: January 17, 2019, 06:12:14 PM »
Yo Martin.

A touch of Americana here.

I hear little echoes of Neil Young in one of his more gentle moods.

A lovely listen and my favourite of your so far.  8)

The Portrait Piano

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« Reply #7 on: January 17, 2019, 09:30:24 PM »
Hi Martin,

This one really works for me. Stripped back acoustics progressed to double vocals & strings for the chorus. The type of strings chosen was spot on in my opinion & the gentle vulnerability in your vocals added that special touch.

The Portrait Piano

crystalsuzy

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« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2019, 02:45:09 AM »
totally enjoyed listening to this Martin :) The lyrics are really compelling and the vocal melody suits perfectly :)
I like the way you sing this with a certain amount of vulnerability and melancholy and the doubling in the chorus gives a little lift
Like the organ as well...nothing not to like about this one  8)

Yodasdad

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« Reply #9 on: January 19, 2019, 07:18:38 PM »
No matter how hard I try, I still struggle to pay attention to the lyrics when I'm listening to a song.

With this one though, they really caught my attention, possibly because the guitar was kept nice and simple to allow them to stand out.

I think you've done a really good job with them. They told a compelling story but still left me having to interpret them slightly.

A bit 'late 90's' in it's style to me, not that that's ever a bad thing.

Liked the ethereal organ.

I thinked I'd have liked slightly more prominence from the vocal, but other than that, great job.

Yodasdad.

Martinswede

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« Reply #10 on: January 20, 2019, 08:13:09 AM »
Thank you all for your input on this track! And a huge thanks to @Boydie for this forum!

I thought explaining the song in the original post would take away some focus from the song but here it is.
A bit personal, so if you don't fancy that go to the section after.

It's autobiographic and the theme is alcoholism. Some say drinking is an escape, but it really is embracing life. You take a slice and you indulge in it. 'F the rest. Coz no one can deal with everything. So just stick with what you're good at.'
Here's where the tears come in. I got clinically sober this Friday and I'll stick too it for the rest of my life. (Insert live sized smiley) Life has never been this beautiful, never this dark. But it's ok.

The list:
@pompeyjazz Thanks, I'm real proud of the organ part. It's three different stems with a synth each. First time I used my music education on a recording.

@ Neil C
I like that line too. Even used it twice (insert smiley). I put all of Elliott Smiths records as a playlist and had them on shuffle/repeat for over a year.

@adamfarr Thanks, I recorded a vocal harmony with higher pitch to use in the chorus, but decided to stick with using a panned lower harmony and filling the high register with organ.

@PaulAds Thank you! I'm not intending to add drums, bit a big thanks for the offer!

@Cawproductions Thanks, If I keep writing (ha) quality stuff(ha) like this I'll consider studio time, but till then 8 square meters of living room will ave to suffice.

@Skub Thank you! Honestly I hate americana (they even named a coffee made of 1/5 espresso and 4/5 hot water after it, very apt) but I'm very glad you hear some Neil in it!

@The Portrait Piano
Thanks, my first idea was to emulate real instruments but them all the knobs in the synth plugin got hold of me.

@crystalsuzy Thank you! I wanted the vocals to go from a cocky Mick Jagger style and to a more intimate chorus, and I think it worked.

@Yodasdad Thank you! In the first mix the vocals where a bit harsh, so I changed some settings. But just some dB here and there can change stuff a bit too much. In the future I'll use parallel effect chains and mix them instead of adding .5 decibels here and there. For this track I mostly used the FAT channel plugin in Studio One. So much more useful than point and click graphic eq.

MonnoDB

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« Reply #11 on: January 20, 2019, 12:36:26 PM »
Hi @Martinswede  I listened to this the first time before reading your second post and the lyrics I found to be intriguing and indeed I really liked the sparse arrangement. It’s a lovely gentle song and I love the way you’ve sung it. With the insight of the back story, I like it even more - I really like the way you’ve kept it obscure enough for the story to be open to interpretation and how the insight opened it up for me.

Congrats on your recent milestone. And although it’s not even on your song, I love this Line ‘Life has never been this beautiful, never this dark’ ...

K

PaulyX

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« Reply #12 on: January 20, 2019, 06:28:35 PM »
Hey Martin
I liked the track a lot, especially the double tracked vocals in the chorus (clever the way you go for a kind of spoken delivery with one of them, not a typical harmony) and like PJ mentioned the organ at the end is a great way to end it... almost like the end of a church service.
The lyrics are cool too.  I particularly like the "hat you stole from a poet" line.  With just a few words that makes me imagine all kinds of back stories to the song.  Thanks for sharing what the song is really about (and well done on that front), in fact though I think the song works just as well if the listener thinks it is about relationships - it's suitably vague so people will find what they need to in the words.
It's all too beautiful.

cowparsleyman

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« Reply #13 on: January 21, 2019, 12:59:06 PM »
@Martinswede - Just writing this as I'm listening to it for the first time.

Sounding great so far.

0:59 Great use of the spoken tracking of the LVox...and the space between verses, makes the song breathe.

Love the very subtle stuff going on at the periphery.

VERY VERY Nice Martin

Rich



SlavaB

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« Reply #14 on: January 21, 2019, 01:34:44 PM »
Hi Martin,

Very nice song, I really enjoyed it. Very rich sound and great vocal. Well done, very good composition.

Best Regards,
Slava B.