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Try - Ashes for Dreams

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MonnoDB

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« on: October 24, 2020, 05:21:04 PM »
Hi All...

A new one from myself and @Jambrains... This one came together very quickly in our normal rollercoaster way 🙂... It leapfrogged over others the way that sometimes happens.. 

From a writing perspective, I actually started this one with a completely blank sheet - had one of those ‘I need to write a song’ itches even though I had promised myself I’d resurrect one of the many unfinished songs in my DAW! Sat down with my guitar and the verses came very quickly..... With this one it was all about the rhythm of the lines for me, the phrasing carrying over the lines in particular. I came to curse myself for that when it came to tracking the vox - a tad challenging!!!  Then came the chorus and a few days later the m8... Threw down a very simple midi piano track and played around with a bit - speeding up/slowing down/key etc... fired it over to Sweden for an opinion ... and well.... he jumped on it immediately and I really loved how he interpreted it... and 2 weeks later,  here we are.  A  bare vocal track winged its way to JB and after much exciting back and forth between us this rather fab track IMO is what came back for me to add vox to..

It’s high and wordy so it took me a couple evenings of singing it to get the phrasing ‘locked’ then tracked the 3rd and then 2 rounds of BVs.... structurally it’s more or less the same as the demo except an extra verse and those lovely guitar riff sections. But boy does it sound different  ;D ;D ;D Oh and the solo is awesome - so fab to sing against this one!!! @Jambrains  - maybe you can fill in the playing & production info?

As always all critique welcome - anything that pokes your ears, comments, Suggs etc..


Try me, don’t assume that I will bite
You’ll find me less scary, more inviting
Than the picture that you’ve painted in your head
Let’s take the time to figure out if we’re a match instead

See me how I want to be seen
Release me from loving unrequitedly
I need to show that I’m not playing games
And even though I’m sure I won’t assume you feel the same

Put your arms around me, hold me close
You’ll see that we fit better than most
Was I made for you and you for me
I guess that time will let us see

Tell me, tell me what I need to hear
Please sell me the story that will seal the deal
To bring us right to where we need to be
The bells will ring announcing that we were meant to be

Put your arms around me, hold me close
You’ll see that we fit better than most
Was I made for you and you for me
I guess that time will let us see

My heart’s pounding now that I’ve found you
I hope that you will feel the same
With time I believe that you’ll find
Love worth the wait

Put your arms around me, hold me close
You’ll see that we fit better than most
Was I made for you and you for me
I guess that time will let us see

PeteS

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« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2020, 05:39:31 PM »
Another corker from you two. Strong vocals and a memorable chorus.  Loved the combination of Jambrains strong guitars and your piano Karen. Probably my only critique would be that I would have liked the instrumentation to build at the chorus as well as the vocal.  Loved it though. 
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MonnoDB

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« Reply #2 on: October 24, 2020, 06:49:26 PM »
Another corker from you two. Strong vocals and a memorable chorus.  Loved the combination of Jambrains strong guitars and your piano Karen. Probably my only critique would be that I would have liked the instrumentation to build at the chorus as well as the vocal.  Loved it though. 

Thanks a mill @PeteS  - to clarify, all instrumentation / playing / production was JB, it's not my piano, @Jambrains uses EZkeys..  I just rocked up to sing it when he was done :) ! I tried to edit my original post with this info but it won't let me save it for some reason..

Thanks for the listen and the lovely comments - noted re build.. :)

Beebeesmith

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« Reply #3 on: October 24, 2020, 10:41:35 PM »
This is really good, melodic, great start, good vocals, good everything, But as already mentioned there is little build, literally hits the ground running and doesn’t pause for breath. If I may say so I think that it’s mostly down to the drums. Imo they need to be tamed in a few more places and that alone to my ears would change the dynamic of the backing.
Just a suggestion not meant to offend as it’s a great song
BB

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« Reply #4 on: October 24, 2020, 11:10:31 PM »
I liked this one a lot. Hits you straight from the off. Great riff & plenty of energy. You`re phrasing is spot on I reckon I reckon @MonnoDB . Lovely vocals & of course wonderful playing as usual by @Jambrains . Nice one guys.  :)

pompeyjazz

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« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2020, 08:49:40 AM »
I love the jingly jangly melodic vibe to this one @MonnoDB and @Jambrains, a Byrds feel to the guitar. It's funny how sometimes a song emerges and "jumps" the queue. This is oh so catchy that I'm not surprised. I'm singing along to this one before the end, it's really infectious. Fabulously put together and performed  :)

Jambrains

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« Reply #6 on: October 25, 2020, 01:29:34 PM »
So, in the spirit of the new ' give the details' initiative here are some production notes.

Drums came first, before anything else. Took quite some time to get the groove exactly as I wanted it. Here and elsewhere some have commented on them being busy and they are, esp the kick. Today I went back and tried something simpler and the whole tracked collapsed like a failed soufflé. The bass is tightly locked to the kick and match to the guitars so with less kick there are 'holes' in groove. Bass is partly programmed in EZbass, partly played but the played parts has been 'midified' and fed into EZBass. I have 2 good basses and I'm a decent player but EZBass is still a blessing. Simple parts are a breeze to knock out with EZBass and when playing is required I don't have to commit to a bass sound while recording. No matter which bass I use I can 'midify' the track and get the right sound out of EZBass. A real game changer for me. Some compression and my secret weapon for bass: the TSE Audio BOD (free!!!)

I used two guitars on this, one Epi LP with EMG 85/89 and a 90's Ibanez Talman with Kent Armstrong lipstick pickups. There are 6 guitar tracks, 3 pairs played a little different and in different positions. Each pair is LP on on side and the Talman on the other playing exactly the same thing. Each track is individually treated but I think all of them goes through the AC30  emulation in BIAS AMP. They all end up on a buss that will send to an F/X bus with the Cubase ping pong delay. For a long time I believed that distorted guitars needed to be dry as not to loose definition and attack. That may be true for reverb but a short delay work wonders to create big walls of guitars (as I tend to like them).

Lead vocals goes through Waver Vocal Rider, IK Multimedia Black 76 and White 2A compressors and FabFilters R reverb. There are also two sends going L and R where there is a slight pitch shift up/down (Cubase own) to thicken it up just a little. There are also send to Waves ADT and Soundtoys Little Micro Shifter, both are carefully blended in, just a touch. One send to Cubase stereo delay as well.

Masterbus has FabFilter Q3 Eq  in m/s mode, cut lows out of the sides, add just a little highs on the sides and cut some mud out of the middle, FabFilter C2 Compressor just to keep things together  and FabFilter MB Multi Band Compressor with two bands, one for the highs and one for the lows just to keep them under control and finally the IK Multimedias Stealth Limiter last.

moraamarolaloba

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« Reply #7 on: October 25, 2020, 01:47:33 PM »
Beautiful song and production, your voice has a flexibility and adaptability that I love.
I don't know if it's a problem with my head phones, but the guitar seemed to me to have a very strong volume, but in these things you already know that everything is personal appreciation.

Very good song. I love choirs.

Stay safe my dear  @MonnoDB
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Grubstar

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« Reply #8 on: October 25, 2020, 03:19:36 PM »
Hi @MonnoDB @Jambrains

What an absolutely 1st class high energy song I just  loved the beautifully sung vocal melodies and great lyrics and the song has a killer chorus and a great mid 8 to boot, classic songwriting all round .Also, Jambrains playing and production were 1st class, loved the guitars, bass and drums.You two really do work  well producing these fabulous power pop/rock creations.

Unclenny

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« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2020, 07:10:11 PM »
This one definitely fires on all cylinders @MonnoDB and @Jambrains !

Great vocals, massive guitars, driving bass line.....and lyrics that paint a surprisingly picture of a budding relationship.

Really tight mix.
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Jamie

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« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2020, 01:38:15 PM »
@MonnoDB @Jambrains

Hi guys, excellent song, beautifully produced, sung and played. Loved the break at around 2,20 that was spot on.
Nice one guys!

Cheers

Jamie

MichaelA

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« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2020, 10:07:37 AM »
Blimey that builds alright, it’s a proper riot at the end - that what you call getting the party started. Great to hear you were excited about it so that is ‘jumped the queue’. I have got one like that just now and it’s my new priority over the previous new project that had started becoming a bit of a plod. Well the enthusiasm you obviously put into this one comes out the other end in the form of a real infectious pop/rock tune.

Super chorus and tight harmonies, yep you can singalong on first listen, so delivers on the catchiness front.

It does sound like it was a difficult one to sing, not because of what you’ve done Karen, but because of the word density and rapid delivery required. You did a great job though, even cutting through that cacophony of instrumentation at the climax. I did wonder why you didn’t sing it a couple of semi-tones lower as you seem to have a more gutsy sound to your voice a very slight bit lower. You sound sweeter and a lot more feminine at this higher pitch, but which of course contrasts with the masculine rock explosion added by JB.

Just a thought, but you know best ...and all those detailed production notes were way out of my league. What a professional duo you both are!  ;)
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digger72

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« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2020, 06:44:01 PM »
Hi Guys,

More gold.

Sounds so happy and full of joy; great for the end of summer.
Sort of Cosmic Thing era b-52s with some Cranberries thrown in for good measure.
The vocal sounded a little strange at 13 seconds or is that my ears? (A bit like the words skipped slightly.)

Really excellent pop-rock vocal.
Nice break down for the M8.

Brilliant how these things start of with a simple idea and just snowball.
For me totally Chart worthy - if there was any justice in the musical world.

Digger

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« Reply #13 on: October 29, 2020, 05:43:43 PM »
@MonnoDB Im not sure if I have said this previously but your voice is so unique !!! I really like it, very distinctive.

Great song I enjoyed the listen, the production was very well put together I thought. :)

LostBoy

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« Reply #14 on: October 29, 2020, 08:54:35 PM »
Well done guys! Very catchy as always, lovely harms and guitars. Only thing I noticed is that to my ears Karen’s voice doesn’t have the same presence as usual, a couple of words are completely lost eg. “Need“ on the first line of second verse and also “hearts” on the hearts pounding line. Might need a subtle push around 1 or 2k?? Anyway...you guys know what you’re doing...I’m just being an extra set of ears for ya for whatever that’s worth.😊👍🏻

Great song!