General Music Chat

My wife got me a new computer so I just had to put together a love song for her. Its on my profile called "If I Don't Have You". Its a collaboration

Hope ya like it.

Many thanks to
Pascal: Hamond B3
Bill Rogers : Guitar and Strings
Pete Seeds : Guitar and Bass
Michael Noll : Piano
Lyrics
If I Don't Have You

How am I gonna smile
How am I gonna sleep
If I don't have you
How do I start my day
How will I find my way
If I don't have you
Its crazy but I'm in love with you
and I'm never gonna change my heart.
How am I gonna see
How am I gonna breath
If I don't have you
How do I stop the rain
How can I stop the pain
If I don't have you
Its crazy to be in love with you
and I'm never gonna change my heart
I guess you had it all figured out
and I didn't even have to try
I know you are the love that I lost
Now all I can do is cry
If I don't have you.

.....................................

Nice use of the distant mic RGM. Hardly ever hear that these days. Is this the track you posted a few days ago?

Very good stuff indeed. There are remnants of the Beatles in there too.

No this is a different track. Still working on the other song

It's beautiful man.

I'd spice up the guitar solo on the break. Not very much, but it is so "on the beat", it would have a little more life if it meandered a little in and out of the beat.

That's about the only thing I would change.

It's really beautiful bro.

.....................................

RG, man, that's a nice piece of work. There's something about it that gets to me. Yeah, there could be some changes here or there, but so what? It's good as it stands, too.

Very very nice job.

I like "Disgusted," too.

You have a nice honest voice with no frills, but it hits the ear in a good way. You have some solid taste in the effects dept, too. Both of these are arranged well.

I dunno who you're collaborating with, but you ppl have some good writing skills. I love the drumming that you do, cuz it's so understated, yet perfect for the piece. I have some tunes that need that approach, & I can't seem to communicate that to any of the drummers that I work with.

.....................................

Thankyou Craig, Chippy, & Philbyman

As Drummer turned attempted singer I find the word "YOU" to be the hardest word to sing in tune. Its a killer fer sher.

there's no such thing as an "attempted singer." Either you sing or you don't and you DO sing well, BUT I'd like to hear your good voice louder, more up front in the mix with LESS effects on your voice. There's no reason for you to be "shy" about putting your voice up front, it's THAT good, PLUS this is a message song. Never record a message song with you sounding like you're singing from behind a building. A message song should sound like you're in the room next to your intended message receiver. You asked for an opinion, there's mine. Everything's good on this except the vocals, GET THEM TO THE FRONT OF THE MIX. Try a version with up front vocals and lay it on us. You're going to be pleasantly surprised at the results....

RG - concentrate on "opening up" your sinuses when you sing those difficult vowel sounds. U's & E's are tough for some. Let the sound roll through the ol' nose holes, & all through your headbone. That's the best way I can describe it, in print.

You're doing just fine as a singer, so far, but I do get the sense that you're holding back a bit. Opening up the sinuses will go a long way toward solving that. It feels unnatural at 1st, like it might even feel like this will make you sneeze, for somone who's never done it, cuz you're not used to expelling breath that way in your natural speaking voice.

Try directing your sound out through your nose & mouth in equal volume for awhile. Then you'll settle in to where you feel more comfortable with those pesky vowels. It will change your tone a bit, too. For most, it deepens the tone while giving it a touch more volume, but it's always for the best.

Yeah, good song even if it is sappy.
Another point about your vocals. You were probably reading them as you sang it, seeing as how it is a newly written song. Professional vocalists can get away with that, since that's their trade and they're used to it, but us regular folk aren't going to be able to put all of our feelings and confidence into a work if we are also concentrating on reading the words while performing it. Before reworking the vocals next time, just work on it with just the music as a backing track, and be working on memorizing the words while you work on it. Then when you do the next take, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much better your vocals will come across. Even on cover songs, after I get the words memorized, they come out with so much more confidence than when we're first working on them and reading the words as we do the song. You know what I'm talking about.
You did a fine job of singing it on the take that you have now. And the mix is fine for me, but we all know that we get different ideas on the mix every time we listen to something. If that song is only going as far as being played for your wife around the house and to friends and family, it's fine the way it stands. But it's a good song and maybe you want to shop it out a bit. If so, you'll want to work on it and polish it up a bit, and maybe take a few of the suggestions you got here from your bandmix buddies, or the countless remix ideas that are probably jumping all around inside your head every time you listen to it.
Whatever you do with it, at least you know you have knowledgeable friends out here that are willing to help and give you plenty of feedback on any projects you have. Advice is cheap, friendship is priceless!
Good luck with all your projects.

Very nice! I agree that your being a little self concious of your vocals. The effects seem to take some of the unique qualities away, and that your singing from across the room. But this is a really nice tune to listen to.

And its another day in Paradise !!!

Rich:
I did not find this sappy or cleche' at all.
Oh sure it's probably an impossibility to do a love song that is total non-cleche' (for lack of a better term).
Wonderfully executed in my eyes. I am equally sure my wife will like it as well when she gets a chance to hear it.
Man if that dont get you some leg, I know of a real nice monistary up in the mountains of Tibet.

P.S.
Be sure to pack some long johns.