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I wrote this a few years ago... the past 3 days made it the 4th and final attempt to record it. 1st on my player. Called "Always be" A bit of Eastern influence. I'm pretty happy with the way it came out this time. Though my voice is toast! The lyrics are posted.
Any mix issues let me know.

Peace!

Jahva wrote:I wrote this a few years ago... the past 3 days made it the 4th and final attempt to record it. 1st on my player. Called "Always be" A bit of Eastern influence. I'm pretty happy with the way it came out this time. Though my voice is toast! The lyrics are posted.
Any mix issues let me know.

Peace!

I Listened to it... Its got huge potential...

It kinda parallells "The Inner Light" in terms of topic. Both samples address the illusions, under which we exist.

Thematically, Not sure where you are taking yours...

MIX:
- I detected a smidgen of bongo/tabla and then it died off.. If it were me, I'd build up the percussion , to drive and emerse the song into a middle eastern flavor (It reminds me of Middle East/Arabian)

- BG Vocals... If it were me... I saw some holes and gaps that could easily resolve with bg harms ...really eeerie types of vocals to lend to that eastern mystique.

Main Vocal: I would play around a little with panning, for effect. Theres a rasp in the vocal tone. It so happens, that its compression would work really well with a 'hell's gate' effect, (a gated signal response that would lend extraordinary mystique to the vocal theme. (Use sparsely) Most Ghost movies use that effect in their sequence of lost souls, etc.

Good work!

Thanks for checking it out and your comments PD.

Thematically... I see only life and change... not death.

It was originally an acoustic song. The idea was to have a sitar and real traditional Eastern sounds. Not easy to duplicate on a $80.00 Yamaha Keyboard... so it evolved to this. More so from the realization that I couldn't do it it properly w/o real instruments.
I still wanted a hint of the percussion sounds in it so during the break there is a drum beat... I'll check it in the mix maybe bring it up a few db's.
More harmonies would need an additional singer or two... but I agree more could be done with the BGV.
Thanks again...

Hey, how's the Sitar coming along?

Much like this one. Break out the hookah!

Jahva wrote:
Hey, how's the Sitar coming along?

Its Not . Its sitting in my closet... It seems, not only did one of the strings pop, but some of the inlay came up around the edge of the gourde. Poor workmanship and /or the horrible way in which it got delivered (By ship) probably took its toll.

As for learning it, for now, I've lost interest because of all the stuff surrounding it. At the moment I just don't have the fkn time to sit and decipher all the ambiguity to fugure it out. But that 's okay...My interest will eventually revive...It always does. Theres no rush for me...Its not like I gotta play at the Ravi Vuvishna Raga work shop next week.

Meantime I am trying to locate a reliable supply-source (for the strings and other accessories) . Then I might find a worthy book that can clear up many of my questions.

The lesson here...Dont buy exotic sh*t without assurances of associated support...

Bummer PD! I still look forward to hearing what you can do with it... eventually.
I did a quick search on ebay... not sure if it will help but here's a link.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/String-/10176/i ... 1&_udhi=52

GuitarMikeB wrote:Much like this one. Break out the hookah!

I think you did a nice job, considering the limitation of resources that were available to you. Reminds very much of Zep's 'Kashmir'.
They were said to be listening a lot to Oum Kalthoum at the time and hired some Egyptian and Moroccan string players for the song.

PaperDog wrote:

Jahva wrote:
Hey, how's the Sitar coming along?

Its Not . Its sitting in my closet... It seems, not only did one of the strings pop, but some of the inlay came up around the edge of the gourde. Poor workmanship and /or the horrible way in which it got delivered (By ship) probably took its toll.

As for learning it, for now, I've lost interest because of all the stuff surrounding it. At the moment I just don't have the fkn time to sit and decipher all the ambiguity to fugure it out. But that 's okay...My interest will eventually revive...It always does. Theres no rush for me...Its not like I gotta play at the Ravi Vuvishna Raga work shop next week.

Meantime I am trying to locate a reliable supply-source (for the strings and other accessories) . Then I might find a worthy book that can clear up many of my questions.

The lesson here...Dont buy exotic sh*t without assurances of associated support...

I doubt you would have gotten any more support had you bought a bassoon or a harmonica from some store in Canada. Nor should you have.

The store has no obligation to teach you. Some stores do have a staff of music teachers available for lessons on various instruments, but that cost extra. You are responsible for your education.

There is an excellent Indian music forum that you are already aware of, where you could learn a lot by asking questions and listening to the answers from experienced players and fellow students with similar troubles. You could have learned how the musical instrument industry operates in Indian culture and known not to throw a lot of money at an unseen/played sitar unless you implicitly trust your source. The trustworthiness of various sources is a popular topic.

Or next time you're in Austin, drive up about halfway to Waco and visit Buckingham Music:
"About tweaking: We inspect and tweak (adjust) every instrument that comes to us before selling it. We are one of the few who don't ship "boxes in and boxes out" or drop ship directly from an importer. All Indian instruments need inspecting/adjusting before shipping to work properly and be at their best. This is a little more expensive but we're quite sure it's needed as our customers have told us this and we haven't yet found one instrument in the lower grades that didn't need some work. See also Testimonials sent to us. A public comment from a very well-known figure: "I cannot understand how many instrument dealers can sell their instruments and not put any effort into tweaking the instruments to feel and sound their best."... Ashwin Batish."



With a little perseverance, you might even find some one right there in El Paso who can teach you about the sitar.

To be blaming the store for your ignorance just seems so Glambert Try taking some responsibility for yourself.

If those who built your sitar, probably Muslims, looked up your name on the internet and found your postings here at BM , heh heh heh little wonder they custom built you a total turkey of a sitar.

VinnyViolin wrote:
I doubt you would have gotten any more support had you bought a bassoon or a harmonica from some store in Canada. Nor should you have. The store has no obligation to teach you. Some stores do have a staff of music teachers available for lessons on various instruments, but that cost extra. You are responsible for your education.

Who exactly are you... The Sitar resource bouncer?? For the record Mr Vinny,, I am compiling a nice set of resources on my own. (The info you laid on me before, simply was not up to my standard.) In fact, I had already seen most, if not all the referenced material you had pointed to. I will collect what I need , soon enough.

There is an excellent Indian music forum that you are already aware of, where you could learn a lot by asking questions and listening to the answers from experienced players and fellow students with similar troubles. You could have learned how the musical instrument industry operates in Indian culture and known not to throw a lot of money at an unseen/played sitar unless you implicitly trust your source. The trustworthiness of various sources is a popular topic.

Could've, would've, should've... You speak with past-tense, as though you are convinced that my options are gone forever... If you weren't so tunnel visioned on trying to take your stabs at me, you might have caught the part in my response to Jahva , where I said the interest will revive... I simply don't have the time right now to decipher the 'lessons'.

Or next time you're in Austin, drive up about halfway to Waco and visit Buckingham Music:
"About tweaking: We inspect and tweak (adjust) every instrument that comes to us before selling it. We are one of the few who don't ship "boxes in and boxes out" or drop ship directly from an importer. All Indian instruments need inspecting/adjusting before shipping to work properly and be at their best. This is a little more expensive but we're quite sure it's needed as our customers have told us this and we haven't yet found one instrument in the lower grades that didn't need some work. See also Testimonials sent to us. A public comment from a very well-known figure: "I cannot understand how many instrument dealers can sell their instruments and not put any effort into tweaking the instruments to feel and sound their best."... Ashwin Batish."

Yeah I read Buckingham's page ... They sound great. But Since I have never purchased from them, this claim of their's means absolutely nothing to me... Sounds like any fifty other vendors trying to project QOS. Did you buy a sitar from them? How much extra were they referring to?

With a little perseverance, you might even find some one right there in El Paso who can teach you about the sitar.
To be blaming the store for your ignorance just seems so Glambert Try taking some responsibility for yourself.

Vinny, if you keep pontificating like this, you'll go blind. 1) Show me where I blamed any store? 2) I commented about the poor shipping and you take that, as me being 'irresponsible"? Bwahhahahaha!

If those who built your sitar, probably Muslims, looked up your name on the internet and found your postings here at BM , heh heh heh little wonder they custom built you a total turkey of a sitar.

So you are saying that Muslims do that sort of thing? Then, That would make sense.

PaperDog wrote:

VinnyViolin wrote:
I doubt you would have gotten any more support had you bought a bassoon or a harmonica from some store in Canada. Nor should you have. The store has no obligation to teach you. Some stores do have a staff of music teachers available for lessons on various instruments, but that cost extra. You are responsible for your education.

Who exactly are you... The Sitar resource bouncer?? For the record Mr Vinny,, I am compiling a nice set of resources on my own. (The info you laid on me before, simply was not up to my standard.) In fact, I had already seen most, if not all the referenced material you had pointed to. I will collect what I need , soon enough.

There is an excellent Indian music forum that you are already aware of, where you could learn a lot by asking questions and listening to the answers from experienced players and fellow students with similar troubles. You could have learned how the musical instrument industry operates in Indian culture and known not to throw a lot of money at an unseen/played sitar unless you implicitly trust your source. The trustworthiness of various sources is a popular topic.

Could've, would've, should've... You speak with past-tense, as though you are convinced that my options are gone forever... If you weren't so tunnel visioned on trying to take your stabs at me, you might have caught the part in my response to Jahva , where I said the interest will revive... I simply don't have the time right now to decipher the 'lessons'.

Or next time you're in Austin, drive up about halfway to Waco and visit Buckingham Music:
"About tweaking: We inspect and tweak (adjust) every instrument that comes to us before selling it. We are one of the few who don't ship "boxes in and boxes out" or drop ship directly from an importer. All Indian instruments need inspecting/adjusting before shipping to work properly and be at their best. This is a little more expensive but we're quite sure it's needed as our customers have told us this and we haven't yet found one instrument in the lower grades that didn't need some work. See also Testimonials sent to us. A public comment from a very well-known figure: "I cannot understand how many instrument dealers can sell their instruments and not put any effort into tweaking the instruments to feel and sound their best."... Ashwin Batish."

Yeah I read Buckingham's page ... They sound great. But Since I have never purchased from them, this claim of their's means absolutely nothing to me... Sounds like any fifty other vendors trying to project QOS. Did you buy a sitar from them? How much extra were they referring to?

With a little perseverance, you might even find some one right there in El Paso who can teach you about the sitar.
To be blaming the store for your ignorance just seems so Glambert Try taking some responsibility for yourself.

Vinny, if you keep pontificating like this, you'll go blind. 1) Show me where I blamed any store? 2) I commented about the poor shipping and you take that, as me being 'irresponsible"? Bwahhahahaha!

If those who built your sitar, probably Muslims, looked up your name on the internet and found your postings here at BM , heh heh heh little wonder they custom built you a total turkey of a sitar.

So you are saying that Muslims do that sort of thing? Then, That would make sense.

Thanks for listening Vinny...
I've tried listening to Arabian or Moroccan music/sounds... most of it comes off too serious and dramatic to me.
Where's the 3 minute fun tunes!
But hey life is full of misunderstandings. Sometimes it's all we see.

Now this I get...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HqQoLq5c2c

Jahva wrote:Thanks for listening Vinny...
I've tried listening to Arabian or Moroccan music/sounds... most of it comes off too serious and dramatic to me.
Where's the 3 minute fun tunes!
But hey life is full of misunderstandings. Sometimes it's all we see.

Now this I get...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HqQoLq5c2c

I visted Oman once, back in the 90's. When I was there, I actually bought a CD of a locally acclaimed Singer/songwriter, who had released some POP-contemprorary songs ala- Middle-eastern style.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the songs sounded. Most of it was up-beat/dancable and came replete with strong hooks, choruse and solid verses.

What most Westerners don't realize about some of moderate Islamic countries, is that while they will practice rigid control over the right to sing and dance, they apparently also regard such activities as purely professional (as in don t try this at home) This means , you can go to the major hotels in some cities and catch the lounge act without persecution. (In Bahrain, they even let you drink at designated hotels...Highly controlled environments. )

Vinny, shame on you for not sharing that information during your lecture on Anti-Christianity

Could be the whole Bollywood influence over the regions...

Here a video of Ravi and his daughter... I love watching their faces... how happy the music seems to make them feel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xB_X9BOAOU

PaperDog wrote:

Jahva wrote:Thanks for listening Vinny...
I've tried listening to Arabian or Moroccan music/sounds... most of it comes off too serious and dramatic to me.
Where's the 3 minute fun tunes!
But hey life is full of misunderstandings. Sometimes it's all we see.

Now this I get...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HqQoLq5c2c

I visted Oman once, back in the 90's. When I was there, I actually bought a CD of a locally acclaimed Singer/songwriter, who had released some POP-contemprorary songs ala- Middle-eastern style.

I was pleasantly surprised at how well the songs sounded. Most of it was up-beat/dancable and came replete with strong hooks, choruse and solid verses.

What most Westerners don't realize about some of moderate Islamic countries, is that while they will practice rigid control over the right to sing and dance, they apparently also regard such activities as purely professional (as in don t try this at home) This means , you can go to the major hotels in some cities and catch the lounge act without persecution. (In Bahrain, they even let you drink at designated hotels...Highly controlled environments. )

Vinny, shame on you for not sharing that information during your lecture on Anti-Christianity

"moderate Islamic countries"
Medieval Monarchies dressed up with all of the latest tech toys, ruled by Wahhabi Islamists dressed in their tribal garb who are existentially dependent on western economies and weapons? That's moderate?? Their people tried to rebel like those in Egypt, but US and UK had already helped them to prepare in advance and effectively thwart their peoples aspirations of more freedom and rights. ....... in this case "moderation" must mean indulging the "infidel's" vices and brutally repressing their own people to keep business flowing smooth.

And thank you so much for sharing your shallow tourist's perspective on music Paperdog.