Songcrafters.org

So I was locked in the broom-cupboard, checking out some old songs that need recording.

I'd just picked one and then suddenly this thing came out of nowehere. It started with one of those guitarist doodles that other musicians love so much at rehearsals.

That doodle became the intro to this. I just started singing and before I knew it I had two verses.

I checked it out with Madame La Muse, she liked it, so I wrote the bridge and recorded it.

It was done live with an acoustic but no click. It would have done like that, but I felt it was missing something. I could hear an organ part, mebbe. This isn't it really, but it's as close as I could get... :D

For me, this is very rough around the edges. Some of the vocal performance could be improved, the guitar part isn't set in stone yet, and the organ, well the organ had trouble playing in time with the guitar not figured out! But I like the vibe, and I wouldn't be able to repeat it or improve on it without some weeks of learning/rehearsing.

So as it is, with me fingers crossed, I think this version's good enough for something that didn't exist this morning :)

Holy smokes Andy this is pure class! You have a voice to die for! Loved it, the riff, the emotion, so simple and effective

andy

in the cupboard! in the cupboard! braw tell yer maw!

on my piepod and now i hear the organ, who needs a bloody click tack when you have a body clock like yours

Always listen to your wife Andy, she knows what she's talking about  ;D

Quote from: oldrottenhead on July 08, 2012, 01:44:08 PMwho needs a bloody click tack when you have a body clock like yours

Tell that to the bass-player!! :D

I tried to stick double-bass on this version, but it wasn't possible to "get with" the guitarist (and the organ has trouble in places :D).

Already been discussing it with someone on alonetone - he can hear the arrangement that I've also spotted, cool rhythm, bass, organ and clean-ish blues guitar. Might do a version like that in the future.

Quote from: Hilary on July 08, 2012, 01:52:43 PMAlways listen to your wife Andy, she knows what she's talking about  ;D

Yep, nothing gets posted without her liking it first!

get flash harry in i remember he did some cat herding with me and geir actually added bass and drums after we had done our parts. cat herding was his description of trying to keep time with us.

"Cat herding" - yep, that sums it up nicely :D. I've got several bass-parts recorded on this, none too bad... but what they really do is show up the a-rhythmical guitar part! ::)

The only reason I didn't bail on this version is I love the live vocal/guitar vibe. To do the full thing I'd want to arrange it properly and drop some of the guitar part (and make sure some of the groovy bits are all there and consistent). And if I was doing the vocal separately, I could do a much better one...

Won't happen yet though, there's loads of others need doing - some have been waiting more than 15 years!This one put 5 of the simpler ones back in the box this morning...

you are far too hard on yourself. it is ace.

Don't mess with it Andy - it's just perfect the way it is.

Quote from: Hilary on July 08, 2012, 01:52:43 PMAlways listen to your wife Andy, she knows what she's talking about  ;D

Ah, Now I see the truth.... :)

Brilliant Andy, great vocal.

Quote from: AndyR on July 08, 2012, 01:28:46 PMFor me, this is very rough around the edges. Some of the vocal performance could be improved

Well to me it's a very smooth roughness. Dude I would love to be able to sing and deliver a performance like you have produced here. Leave it as is...there is so much emotion dripping from this gem. Well Done.

Mach

Fab vocals - fine delivery. Love the bare guitar and organ - great stuff.
B.

had this one looping on the piepod on the walk to and the walk back from work today. absolute perfection andy i love all the pluralisation of the wordssss

Yes this is so amazing Andy but everything you do is. So heartfelt emotion on this. I love the blues
and this is right up there with the best for me. Excellent job and song!

Wow..... just wow.... this is some fine freakin music Andy. Got the rain poorin outside my window.... Perfect blues song to go with the natural backer I got goin on up here in AK.... Smashing buddy!!!!

Spectasticular! If this is rough than you have that rough quality that people try all there life to perfect!
Top shelf in every way!
Rock On!

Hi Andy, commented on this on Alonetone but I can play this many times over and still get great enjoyment from it. What else is in your broom cupboard??................Willie

Quote from: Willie Wendon on July 10, 2012, 04:52:39 AM. . . I can play this many times over and still get great enjoyment from it.

me too.

Cheers folks :)

I can't see alonetone at work - I'm longing to know: is it at the top of the "ass-kicking" list? (Not that I pay ANY attention to this sort of thing, at all... no siree! :D)

Well, what's in the broom-cupboard? (apart from too many guitars/etc - sheesh it's getting a bit fraught in there...)

Songs-wise there's a load of stuff, most of it on paper. I have several old things I'd like to treat in the same acoustic sort of way. For example, I was gearing up to play something called "If You Knew" when I wrote this one. This one is the flip-side of the emotions described in "If You Knew". IYK was written in 1994 and is a "Day at the Races" era Freddie Mercury sort of song - I was rehearsing it again last night.

But I'm also begining to think I ought to get rocking again - everyone's gonna think I'm an acoustic artiste!!! I have the entire set from my last band (most of which I would like to record). And then what about the songs they didn't want to do because they didn't understand them?

And then what about the new ones that happen everytime I try to do something old?!!

And also, I want to record ALL of the Bee Gees songs that got me started in '70 or '71. That became kind of pressing in the back of my mind when Robin Gibb died.


So... the broom cupboard is quite full, literally and metaphorically... I do in fact feel very very lucky at the moment - wish I had some more time though! :D

i like my cupboard unner the stairs, everyone should have one.

Mine's kind of over the stairs :D

The cupboard under the stairs has too much decorating cr@p in it and it would be far to small to get anything decent going anyway. However, when we've finished the decorating and have moved the cr@p somewhere, I do recommend that we use it as the guest room...

mine is a bit too small for that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGZWl_RESJw

:D

Seriously good. I mean seriously fucking good. 'Nuff said...

                                                           henwrench

Excellent, great dynamics

Quote from: henwrench on July 10, 2012, 11:37:56 AM Seriously good. I mean seriously fucking good. 'Nuff said...

                                                           henwrench

Many thanks.

You helped in a way - it's not "no reverb", but it's pretty damn close for me. I thought of you as I was trying to make the thing usable (this was before the organ). I tried all sorts of reverbs, none of them gave me the right mood. And then I thought "Henny". I couldn't bring myself to cut the reverb altogether. But I went for a really tight Plate, no early reflections, just a smidgeon. Without the organ you can hear it, but with the organ it's gone.

I might look into this no reverb vibe again!

Quote from: AndyR on July 10, 2012, 12:14:19 PMI might look into this no reverb vibe again!

    Yes. It's the answer. It's the room you're in.  ;)

                                                                  henwrench

I hear what you're saying. And I do like the effect in this case...

But I have two problems I usually face:

One relates to "the room you're in" - what about when you haven't got access to the room you want? I certainly haven't got that at the moment :D. I love the little room for being in there and getting stuff done. But I am not in love with it acoustically - I spend most of my time with a mic trying to exclude as much of the room as possible. The noise this room makes is "he recorded it with a cassette player sat on his bed in his bedsit" - I've been trying to get away from that sound for years!!!

The second is that I've started to use reverb for "mood" - especially on the vocal. I only discovered this the other day. I found that I can use reverb to subtly enhance (or f**k up!) the emotion that I was trying to force in the listener when I sang it. It seems that you can make it seem warmer, colder, whatever...

A third issue ("better put some reverb on... sh1t, can't hear it! Better put some more on..."), I think I'm almost over now! :D

At least I've finally managed to do one that proves to me "less is more". I've been using that notion and reaching for it for some time (together with an equal and opposite "when you really want the listener to hear some reverb - don't p1ss around, PILE it on!!" :D)

Quote from: AndyR on July 11, 2012, 02:12:53 AMI spend most of my time with a mic trying to exclude as much of the room as possible.

Have you thought about one of those screens you can get to fit around the mics - they're about £70 on ebay - cheaper than moving house.

I've actually got the vocal mic situation pretty much sussed now. I did look at those portable screens, but decided to try "other methods" (mainly because the room is hard enough to get into anyway). Now, I occasionally use a DIY method - drape a nice (er, used) soft duster over the back of the big condensor mic :D. Seems to work pretty well for that mic.

It's the mics I'm using for acoustic instruments at the moment. If I sing as well, they pick up the room reverb on the vocal (and quite often a large proportion of the performance itself). What I really need to be able to do is remove my head!! (Vocals in one room, hands and guitar in another).

Incidentally Henny, I'm using SM57s for the guitars at the moment (I picked these because they can handle a resonator's output better than my big condensor) - I get HUGE amounts of hiss when I use two of them on the guitar. I've tracked a lot of it down in signal chains and eliminated it, but there still seems to be much more inherent hiss on an SM57 than the condensor (Rode NT1000). I've never used them before - is this just a natural state of affairs?

Quote from: oldrottenhead on July 08, 2012, 02:17:28 PMyou are far too hard on yourself. it is ace.

Yes, absolutely ace! Big time vocals, just love it!

Beautiful and emotional!! This song has soul!! Liked the interpretation! The organ tone is very warm! Fantastic song!

Kari

This performance is a 10 !!! 

Reminded me a little of Clapton on this ... excellent!!!

kb

Ok I had to come back for more... I don't feel worthy at all.... This is the kinda tune "Legends" write.... seriously... This will stand the test of time!!!

Aw thanks folks :)

Quote from: Rata-tat-tat on July 12, 2012, 11:46:05 AMOk I had to come back for more... I don't feel worthy at all.... This is the kinda tune "Legends" write.... seriously... This will stand the test of time!!!

You folks might not believe it, but I feel exactly the same (not worthy) on listening to it - especially with a bit of distance from the "how can I make this tug as many heart-strings as possible?" process during mixing/mastering. I find I'm left thinking "where on earth did that come from?" and "how the flippin-heck do I top that?!".

I like it myself, obviously. And I did hope it would touch a few folks. And I believe it has touched the person I was speaking to, so it has hit its primary objective (and nothing else really matters much now that it's achieved that objective - it's entirely free for its own life of "take it or leave it" and I'm thinking about the next one).

I am quite surprised at how many people have liked it (here and elsewhere), and not just in a "another nice one Andy" way. I am very prone to "popular opinion" and the effect that a song has on people. So, if a bunch of folks like a thing I make, I tend to re-appraise it and like it a whole lot more.

Still, back in the broom-cupboard, this is still NOWHERE NEAR being on the shortlist for AndyR's favourite AndyR song. My gut feeling is that at least half it's appeal is in the performance captured on this recording, not the song itself. However, I have to admit, distancing myself from it as far as I can, it does indeed look and sound like "the kinda tune "Legends" write..."

That causes me a bit of problem (actually a nice problem to have, but a bit of a conundrum anyway :D).

I want to write songs "like the grown-ups do". Things that could become "standards" with enough exposure. I want to achieve and be recognised like that. It doesn't need to be widespread nor money-making recognition anymore (and in fact the pressure I'm feeling with this one's success makes me wonder how much harder it could get if I was exposed to widespread recognition!). But when I sit down with the rusty guitar and pen and paper I am always reaching for as high as I can go.

And so when this one (a simple message about me, that I needed someone else to hear, whacked off in an hour or so and then recorded quickly because I need them to hear it) goes galloping off where I want them all to go, it makes me wonder what all the effort building the others is about! :D

Apologies if this "soul-searching" doesn't grab some people, but I've got a feeling that a lot of us go through stuff like this - and someone reading it later might think "OK, I'm not daft then".

By the way, I do have the answer on "what all the effort building the others is about" - all that effort is practise and experimentation, so that when you do have something important to say you can say it a lot better and without much effort. Everything you create, good in its own right anyway, is leading up to the special stuff you create or have yet to create. Would be a damn sight easier for us if we could all create the special stuff everytime we try (twould be a bit like having Christmas everyday though :D)

You don't need a sledgehammer to crack a nut Andy - let your talent and passion just shine through and believe it or not, your voice is a huge part of the 'package'. You know my advice but it's not going to be popular with you, make a vid (you playing and singing is fine) and get it on Youtube - share your talent with the masses :)