Please note: so at the moment, this entry is not yet finished. It will be when the final demo recording is done. I still have to start the recording for real though.

So what came first? James JD Stenzel came with lyric. Please take look at the forum entry at songwriter101.com first for lyric and comments.

Anyway, some 2 days later – as I remember – the idea was done with the morning coffee:

Here’s the what I call “ideatape” version…

I then used software Band-in-a-Box (great songwriting tool!! – go to pgmusic.com to find out) to lay down the structure and hopefully find style for song to get going for a start.

I have to admit that sometimes I leave some tracks from this backing generating software untouched, but also lots of times everything is redone when the BandInaBox file is transferred to DAW (Digital Audio Workstation – in my case Steinberg’s Cubase). But regularly the structure is done with help of BandInABox.

For this lyric and melody I didn’t think a straightaway chorus would have been nice. Also the words didn’t take me to a “now sing along y’all” part. I’m not an expert in these things – working mostly with whatever comes next, as it comes along – but the song’s title is now done as a musical part on it’s own, and the other lines of the lyric’s chorus are building up to this. So perhaps the songtitle itself is the only chorus – cannot really say. Does it matter?

The Band-in-box take – still at the computer with cheap PC mike and even cheaper PC speakers

DAY 2
Meanwhile I’m now waiting for the Bandbox Audiophile Edition to be delivered on 1TB harddisk with all their “realtracks” in full WAV format.

Explanation: whenever you hear a pedal steel, fiddle, sax etc. in the music there is a big chance it was done with BandinaBox realtracks. So edited and not played live – with pitch correction, copy/paste, you name it. I do still a lot of live playing with the guitar, synths and drums so I can see no harm in doing that. You should just not overdo it.

Anyway this Audiophile Edition now also has classical realtracks (orchestral) and I may wanna try these on this songs. These realtracks are not samples – they follow the chord sequence and generate melodies. Some of these melodies may work great or inspire new ones to get a nice backing.

So no new developments for song untill this harddisk is delivered. Probably coming days.

DAY 3
I decided to continue without the HD delivery, and did some more work for a version country contemporary ballad. Whenever I can put in a pedal steel I probably will. And yes it was possible, using those bandinaBox realtracks. It means that I probably won’t use strings because the pedal steel is doing that background. In it will probably also mix nice with an electric guitar. But you never can tell. I might get bored with the pedal steel or something better pops up.

Here’s the version so far with the pedal steel already in it’s place. It might be overdone so parts will still be deleted later on. If it will make it to the final recording at all…

First recording Cubase with pedal steel realtracks

I also running into speed problems now. It really felt to slow now and I had to speed it up. Point is you cannot speed up too much – it not only makes me sound like a Madonna’s Virgin, it distorts the music tracks also. So I have to decide what tempo before MIDI is converted to WAV. I also think my vocals should be pitched higher.

For that reason also doing test mixes are usefull. I just tell Cubase to do the mixdown and it produces a nice stereo WAV file which I then load into Soundforge for mastering – tempo changes, loudness, overal reverb/ambience.

Most other tracks on take above were edited and not played myself, so next thing will be to add more parts that are played live – drums, bass and when all is well on its way guitar. Adding the guitar in most cases makes the track far more lively. I also can hear the songparts not being clear enough but adding live tracks will solve that easily.

DAY 4
I did another take with BandInBox in country style. I now think it should be country ballad or perhaps pop ballad direction say Celine Dion (electronic drums, synthesizers). Or – like idea started – classical/pop. But also more folky comes to mind, or something direction Leonard Cohen style soft pop. I got clear orders from lyricwriter not to make it sad…

Another in front of PC recording exploring style for song – cheap mike and even cheaper PC speakers…

Nice thing I noticed in above recording: I can hear it needs tempo changes throughout song – slowing down, speeding up. Song pure is probably piano ballad – perhaps I should try it on piano and take it from there. O well, who knows, next test recording…

DAY 4 – EVENING
I may have found the direction I want to continue with. I used some country (pedal steel) but changed backing to synthesizers and more electronic sounding drums. I also transposed from E to F and speeded up the tempo. It is now more towards medium tempo and less slow ballad. The recording is without vocals and not at all finished but could be I continue in this style. Also got suggestion to try it Elton John style which I think should also be possible.

Backing – no vocals – test recording Cubase

DAY 5
I’ve decided to continue with latest style recording for a Moonpub Music demo. I can fit in my vocals nice and probably there is room enough to do nice guitar part also. I got my roots as a guitar player and don’t wanna lose that. It feels like a nice crossover country/pop. But I may do another version also to make song more acceptable for others who may not think it’s the best version for song.

So no more test recordings for now. The demo recording is well on its way now, only waiting for the guitar parts and all vocals to be added to it. End of blog entry. Check entry for song when it is finished. Thanks.