#Frail Autumn,, #GarageBand,, #Lyrics, #music, #Retirement Projects, #songwriting

How many years…..or takes…to find your dream.

22 Comments
The Whole is beautiful. The part? Equally considered as beautiful too.
EACH SONG. CHOICES AS TO WHAT TO INCLUDE GUITAR WISE. THANKFULLY ONLY SIX CHOICES. OH! FORGOT THE BASS GUITAR….
Fender Jazz Bass guitar and the infamous Tip-Top Hat. 🎩

When you begin a song, it eventually gets under your skin. You do not want it to. But it does. At first though, you just think it will take a few minor add ons, followed by a few vocals. A few takes and Bob’s your Uncle. ‘Ooh…nice’ you say. Recording little additional add ons to complete the satisfying outcome should be a doddle. You finish the bit by bit parts and ‘Save’ on GarageBand. Then email them to yourself……24 times with little changes in each one.

That’s when the frown is ever present in a first, second, third, to fifteenth and onwards…and back to the song first trialed basics to follow ups. There are bits in each that let the side down. Or…give hope.

Here below are 9 versions from a total of 24 sent to email. There are always a mass of emails to myself to cross fingers and find my happy place. However, I didn’t find happiness on each receiving email with this one song. Scenario? Listen on the really high quality Apple Mac M2 recording system through decent Beyerdynamic headphones. After finalising each of the tweaks on GarageBand on each perceived improvement part, email them in basic quality form (due to upload need for WordPress acceptance) and click ‘Send’. Listen on the iPad downstairs through inferior headphones to my lovely ones upstairs and go….’What the heck! That’s a completely different quality to the originals on the Mac M2 recording system’. So it becomes make and do.

As a technophobe and in no way either a sound engineer or producer of skill, it is just a case of shrugging the shoulders and accepting these songs I am working on as the best I can get currently.

You’ll see how one song can provide a sharp learning curve though. So with my newer songs, I suppose the lessons learned up to now will be great experiences for avoiding mistakes.

‘Stop this Heartache’ is the finished song title. Started out as ‘Crashed Out’. I hope these examples below can help to show how I develop a song.

Basic. Acoustic guitar,drums and initial keyboard tune.
Add an overlay of 2nd keyboard. Long filler musical notes.
Keyboard changed to a xylophone vibe. Not good!
Reverted back to original keyboard sound. Add small electric guitar riff.
Brighten up Master track to add punch.
Trial vocal tune. Sung with low exploratory vibe.
Vocal sung with a bit more conviction. The first part only to check if okay.
Master track altered for more punch. Vocals acceptable so kept and the whole song now sung. Harmonies unsure, so tried something a little different below.
As above. Tweaked slightly.
The guitars to choose from for specific sounds needed. Yamaha Drum electronic kit.

IMAGES BELOW CAN BE ENLARGED BY TAPPING ON THE PHOTO.

22 thoughts on “How many years…..or takes…to find your dream.”

    1. Thank you Friedrich. These songwriting excursions? There is still a long way to go re: getting it all working satisfactorily and arriving in a place where it feels decent enough in quality to platform it other than the blog site. YouTube, Bandcamp, etc. But it has been a fun experience. GarageBand, to record with, does have limitations as a free app. Logic Pro, purchase driven, is the next aim.

      The guitars are really nice to play. Some great bargains in there too. But a few, the electric guitars especially, are very difficult to keep in tune. But the bass guitar is my steadfast. I was a bass player in the 1970/80s. So it definitely feels more familiar, and therefore, more comfortable to play.

      Cheers and all the best.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. I just listened to some of the individual recordings, and I really enjoyed it. Yes, I’m sure the work involved is endless. But what work isn’t? Personally, I stopped making music around the time cassette tapes came onto the market. 🙂 All the best 2u2!

        Liked by 2 people

      2. I believe cassette tapes are making a small comeback. People love the physical opportunity of holding something real. Vinyl is popular now too. Also, retro has admirers too. It is fairly easy for musicians to get their songs onto cassette or CD and sell copies. Streaming and MP3 recordings are also a way for bands to sell songs. But, that is a while away for myself.

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Vinyl can sell at really high prices. I have an old vinyl collection book with prices over the decades. The book is about 20 to 30 years old now so not current price valid. Our Team 23 single released in 1982 has been seen anywhere from £15 to £85. Although the higher prices are a bit suspect I believe. It is quite a rare find nowadays due to a limited number release and that is what collectors like to own.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. Lovejoy? An antique expert ‘divvy’ so to speak. I absolutely loved the Lovejoy series with Ian McShane in the lead part. I have all the DVD collection of the series. A ‘divvy’ is a natural expert I believe. Someone who simply has instinctive ability to recognise true provenance through a sixth sense so to speak. And know where it is close by. Judging by the TV series and the strange storylines regarding the Shenanigans within the Antique business world…..I bet you have fantastic stories to tell Friedrich. 😊

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  4. ah, you might be unsure about the harmonies but I think that’s just part of the songwriter’s condition, isn’t it? from this listener’s side, though, I’m totally sure: this is all vibing. it hits immediately and has that unmistakable Gray energy I love.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks cookie. I have been sitting on acoustic guitar writing some new song ideas which I think have promise. And also revisiting past lyrics and melodies from decades ago and liking the vibe of altering the original melodies. And lyrics too. Actually, this song here has roots from the 1980s. A chunk of the melody and lyrics were from back then.

      I don’t listen back to my new home recordings and the progressions often cookie. So, listening to this song’s progress over 24 ongoing processes was interesting musically. The ‘xylophone’ sound took away the whole keyboard dynamic. Harmonising with your own vocal is a strange experience too. You miss little nuances in both and that can make or break a vibe. Cheers cookie for the support. Much appreciated. 💫

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. From Google AI search cookie.

      “Bob’s your uncle” is a British English idiom that means “and there it is,” “and there you have it,” or “it’s done.” It’s typically used to indicate that a task is complete, or a result is achieved, often after providing a few simple instructions. The phrase is a colloquial way of saying that something is easily accomplished.

      I always forget to add explanations in the blogs. Cheers cookie.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      2. You are in no way actually failing when trying to understand the many idioms, nuances, local phrases, etc. that exist in the plethora of Worldwide local cultures. 😊 Even within small localities/vicinities there are many sayings and visual presentations that are unknown to others that live only a few miles away. When learning British Sign Language, here in the UK there are sometimes four or five different signs for one individual word. I had to know them all as I supported many different students from various places.

        Luckily, for myself, we have the internet now. I read blogs that even include single words that I have no idea as to meaning. So need to open up a search tag to find out. And yes, sure as ‘Bob’s your Uncle’ you are smarter for now knowing cookie. 🤗 Cheers.

        Liked by 2 people

  6. I did have an uncle Bob so I suspected you were using a colloquialism, Gray! Ha! Loved your commentary (between you and cookie), as always.
    I’m on the road with my girls and will follow up when I return home in about 4 days. Your songwriting always takes unique and fascinating turns!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. lol, and I’m adding to Sheila’s about … between you and Cookie…

    The title change was interesting, Gray … and I enjoyed listening to all 9 … from 24 you say … lol, not too far from the writing process at times …

    seems like a lengthy but enjoyable (always) process… 🤍

    (even I didn’t know about Bob lol 🤭)

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. I know you must go through many draughts and crossings out when writing a poem Destiny. To get them so right and to put out there for us all to enjoy. I tend to get bogged down with all the recorded instrumental tracks and them being needed to be mixed at certain levels to harmonise properly. Rather like your rhythmic prose/poem needs to give balance and insight.

      Bob? A very nice guy indeed. I don’t have an Uncle Bob. But Bob Mortimer, the comedian and author, would be my very favourite Uncle if he were in the family.

      I do like cookie’s way of thinking and writing in her very poetic style. Rather like yourself and cookie’s exchanges. You are both very thoughtful and kind to each other. ‘Be Kind’ is such an amazing Mantra quality to follow. Kindnesses exchanged are priceless. It makes all the difference in this Mad World doesn’t it.

      All best wishes to you Destiny. 🙏🏽

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. those numerous tries… 😬 but to finally get it as we want it … worth it lol …
        Sometimes I read others here…and think wow… such elegant writing and fancy words … and tell myself to try the next time…but I forget as these words take over and do their own thing lol…🤭

        Be kind – nicely said, Gray … it’s something I also follow… and funny how some of us just click – even through distance.
        Lol, it’s difficult to not hold a soft spot for Cookie …
        You all are amazing 🤍🙏
        thank you, Gray …and best wishes your way too …

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Carry on doing as you do Destiny. The responses in the comments regarding your poems speak volumes. They are perfect and speak to others quite insightfully.

        Being kind is such a positive philosophy. And doing no harm is such a great addition too. You are so right regarding people ‘clicking’. It shows a link of sorts to how we each view the World with similarities shared.

        All the best Destiny and 🙏🏽.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. What happens with each track is that you need to hear if the sound of the song is decent on different listening devices. So earbuds, headphones, speakers, etc. can lose dynamics or sound fine and distinct. You yourself Danny would have the technical ability to get it linked to a transistor radio speaker for example. I listen to the level mix too with, for example, three instruments and drums. A lonesome bass guitar can sound to be lacking punch. But add a couple of other instruments and it can blossom.

      YouTube has some full Beatles albums with just the drums and bass isolated. It is quite insightful. That’s why I send all the different sounds to myself. Bit like a graphic equaliser getting balance. My Beyerdynamic headphones give false positives at times too. They are great quality and you get a sense of false security with how it all sounds.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment