[pmarino]

Hi all,

This is a brand new demo/song. In a very unusual move for me, I recorded it today in GarageBand using multiple tracks, recording the vocals separately into my new condenser mic. I also tried my hand at some background vocals in the chorus. I'm a bit unsure of it all.

Anyway, thanks in advance as always for listening and for comments/suggestions.

Song here: http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=11481016&q=hi&newref=1

Lyrics:

(Verse)
I remember when
We held our stance
And took a chance, to live
And I know that
All those days are gone
They won’t come back
And I lack, the strength
To carry on

Through the darkest nights
I still believed
We could reach, the end
And that’s why
I just wouldn’t let it be
So I held on tight
And pushed you right, away
From me

(Pre-Chorus)

Now, my path I can trace
To how I got here, in this place

(Chorus)

I'm far from somewhere
And close to nowhere
Well, I want to be wherever you are
And, I belong to no one
Yet, still long for some
Of what you have, but I went too far

(Verse)

On this island alone
I taste my tears
And chase my fears, away
Like a ghost

And in my final days
I hope I’m found
I’ll look around, for you
To save me

(Pre-Chorus)
So now, I’m on my way
To try and get out of this place

(Chorus)
I'm far from somewhere
And close to nowhere
Well, I want to be wherever you are
And, I belong to no one
Yet, still long for some
Of what you have, but I went too far

I'm far from somewhere
And close to nowhere
Well, I want to be wherever you are
And, I belong to no one
Yet, still long for some
Of what you have, but I went too far
Of what we had, but I went too far

©2012 Philip Marino

[nooms]

good song phil
great lyric
far from somewhere  close to nowhere..great chorus
those bvocals work well

nooms

[jmacdon]

A great song - very professional and certainly something I'd listen to on the radio.     In fact, the opening verse sounds very James Taylor.   I'm sure he is an influence !

My one peev is the link between the pre-chorus and the chorus.   The pre-chorus ends "out of this PLACE" and the chorus starts "I'm far from ...." but you dont have a key change!    Eeeeek - this spoils the song and, as such, robs the chorus of being the hook that it deserves :-(

[tina m]

im realy pleased to see your progressing & trying new ways of recording phil & have listened to what others have been cajoling you to do
i like the song a lot
my only thing i would say is that when you record a guitar & a vocal separately its important to make sure they sound like they fit together
here the guitar & the vocal did sound a bit like they were in different rooms

[pmarino]

Thanks nooms, jmacdon, & tinam.

jmacdon: I'll fool around with a key change and see what strikes me.

tinam: I'l get better at this multi-track recording stuff...

[nfelockhart]

Very nice. Great voice man! I like the rawness in this piece.

Was this recorded in one take or over-dubbed?

I can't tell if you put some compression afterword or if the guitar and the lead vocals were recorded simultaneously through a microphone, I feet that I notice some compression in the mix. Not a bad thing, it may be one of the factors that gives the song its rawness that I like, but I want to hear more of the guitar when the vocals come in. It seems to me that the guitar gets kind of quiet compared to the vocals by the compression.
Another thing I noticed was the backing vocals being a little off pitch which, again, is another one of what gives the song the atmosphere. If you recorded in one take, I'd say that's solid. But if it was over-dubbed, it could be tighter? But honestly, I like it kind of rough like this. lol definitely makes the song more interesting than the same song hypothetically being perfect, well-mixed and in tune. Great job!    

[James Nighthawk]

This is an odd one for me. I can hear it has real potential. However it isn't sitting right with me as stands. Perhaps because it simply needs more going on. For an acoustic only track the chords, strumming pattern and the lyrics are all very safe. With songs that have very few musical components, I like something to grab hold of me. A clever lyric, an in your face blinding vocal, a smart guitar motif...

If this was taken into a full band with layers of instruments and dynamic/textural changes, it could turn into something lovely. The melodies are well defined and it does have a nice structure, yet is open enough to allow each instrument to stamp some magic on it. The kind of song a band like to play around on and have fun with 

[Schavuitje]

Hiya

I to like the rawness of your stuff mate although it took me a bit of getting used to.
This is one of my favourites : although I agree with nfelockhart - If it is over-dubbed then use that feature a lot more... I do haha
Until a take is perfect, or as close to what I want it to sound like as possible. Those backing vocals could do with nailing a little better and I know you
can do it 

[pmarino]

Thanks nfelockhart, James, and Schavuitje.

As always, helpful suggestions! The dubbing is new to me, so I'll keep working on it.

James: I agree. This one needs more than what I can do musically.

[cheff daniel]

a fine song pmarino. for some people its just better when they record voyce and guitar at the same time. when you can use two or three mikes and different tracks there's nothing wrong with that. i do that myself when recording a acoustic song it helps me to keep the dynamics and interaction between vox and guitar in control. do just what you like and play around with it. and be carefull not to overuse effects like compression, reverb etc.


gr.    Dan

[pmarino]

Much appreciated, Dan!

I've uploaded a new version of the song based on previous comments (e.g., nfelockhart), focusing solely on the guitar track. It's brighter and more prominent than the original version. Same link as before.

[bewarethisboy]

I could listen to this all night  - a really unique sound

[pmarino]

I could listen to this all night  - a really unique sound

Very kind, thanks!

[Dutchbeat]

wow, sounds nice and crispy, Philip

well done

perhaps not the most diverse song you have written, the songwriting sounds a bit 'static' on this on, but crispy sound!

[mihkay]

My favourite of your tracks so far man. Especially like the vocal melody in the verse.

Couple of comments from experience.

Backing vocals. I find that I need to practice them much more than the lead melody as they tend to be out of my normal comfort zone vocally but in the desire to get a demo "out" there is always the desire to record the first try. True?

The mix is missing bottom end. I found when I first used a condenser the top end was suddenly there and it took a bit of getting used to having that extra top end.