Kara-Moon Forum

I decided to start a new thread with this as it has morphed very considerably from its starting point!

Here is the complete song with James doing the singing and bass playing - I got the easy part - pootling about with the synth :)

I think James' voice really suits this song.

Comments welcome of course, and I hope you enjoy this.

Will and James, this is excellent!

James’s voice is a perfect fit for the Will’s pads, or visa-versa I suppose.

This is a winner.

Yes ! that's a very good vocal line for such a slow number.
Well done guys

Cheers

Thanks a lot guys. This has been a real challenge both technically and artistically. It's also the very fastest I've seen the development of an idea to a finished work.

A finely crafted song, in every way.

One observation: if a bit of delay and reverb were applied to James' vocal, it would blend more naturally with Will's ZynAddSubFX, creating a better integrated "soundscape".

Will,

Holy s**t Sir,this compostion of yours is the most beautifully ethereal piece of music you've ever done and I mean that sincerely with all my heart.

James also did a wonderful job on this and the overall clarity of this song is absolutely stunning! :o :D

I agree with Oren,that there should be some effetcs added to James's voice and maybe some sort of vocal enhancer as well-like a mid-range boost to make his voice more pronounced perhaps?

Will,I think you've really out-done yourself with this song and this is a classic-quality song that I'll treasure for years to come-a definate keeper! :;

Cheers,

Thom

Very nice composition. The ingredients of this song works well together. I was expected a second voice though, like James's famous flute (?), or perhaps a short instrumental break (just a suggestion... )

Well done !

Moon

Now I'm really happy :-

Strange James is being so quiet - I think we should drag him out to take a bow ;D

@Oren
I deliberately left James' vocal unprocessed so that it would be in front of the synth - maybe it's too far forward. I'll take another look at it in a few days after the dust has settled.

@Thom
It is really great to have our work appreciated this much :;
As I said, I'll have another look at this later to see if I can make any (careful) improvements.

@Moon
On it's first outing all the verses were joined together. I put the 4 chord bridge sections in to give more space (it meant James had to record the bass part again). I did think about a longer instrumental section, and another harmonising voice, but I was afraid of detracting from the song itself.

Thanks for all the positive comments.
I honestly feel like taking a 'back seat' with this one.
It's Will's song. His music. His wonderful lyrics. His arrangement and mix.
I'm just happy to be able to translate his story to the listener.
As for the treatment of the vocal...I did try, in my own mix, a little reverb and other processing, but felt that the lyric itself demanded a rather *plain* treatment. I think Will got it right.
 ;)
James

Lovely work!!  :) It reminds me a bit of Yo La Tengo, and coming from such a big fan of theirs, it's a huge compliment!  :)

I really am pleasantly surprised to see this commented on again. And really honored by your comparison.

Will..this song is so beautiful..a masterfully lovely composition,
and I am so glad to hear you in this one, James. You're a natural
for this.

Bravo, gents.

8)

Wyatt

Well, I seem to be into remixes in a big way lately ::)

In this case Wyatt has done some additional cleanup to James' vocal and added a little reverb.

So what are the opinions?
Better?
As good (but different)?
Worse?

 ;D
Excellent treatment, maestro.  :-*
I have learned a lot, over recent months, about my *elderly* brother's accomplishments with *soundcrafting*.
It transpires that he has the ears of a bat and can hear the slightest sign of a fart from three hundred paces .... then has the knowledge and software to entirely obliterate that fart.
Well done, brother.
I appreciate the difference. (http://bestsmileys.com/clapping/6.gif)
 ;)
James

This version clearly has more dynamic range & better stereo imaging..thanks to Wyatt's tinkering...and the reverb on the vocals was an ideal move. 8)
However though,I'm not clear as to whether or not the Ogg Vorbis makes a noticeable difference,because of the enhancements.

At this point,all I know,is that I've been much happier with the overall sound quality of my recordings,ever since I have been exporting my songs directly from my multi-tracker and using Audacity to convert them.

Simply eliminating my crappy component cd burner & FreeRip from the process,I've improved things dramatically,so it may take me quite a bit of time to tinker around with Ogg Vorbis for me to notice the differences between O.V. & the new & improved MP3 conversion I have with Audacity.

-Thom

Would you like, Maestro, to come across the words of this piece-of-art?

kuguar

@Will:  ..tastefully re-mixed. Smooth. I like how you handled that. The verb
is just enough to help the vox fit better with the bright organ.


@James: ..had a dickens of a time with it..the gnats were farting out on
the east pasture..made a dreadful racket.   :)

Glad you like it brother.

@Thom: ..I have had songs that sounded wounded as .mp3s, but as .oggs they were fine.

8)

Wyatt

Here are the lyrics:

All of my sunrises are shades of grey,
Now that I'm on my own.
There's no laughter,
No joy now,
You left me behind.
Gone where I can not say.
So all of my sunrises are shades of gray,
Now that you've gone away.


All of my sunrises are shades of grey,
You were my only love.
In our springtime,
We'd run through,
The meadows and streams.
Oh how we loved to play.
Now all of my sunrises are shades of grey,
The meadows have all turned to clay.


All of my sunrises are shades of grey.
We loved each other so.
We were honest,
And faithful,
Through trials and pain.
Though we were poor, we stayed.
But all of my sunrises are shades of gray,
No riches would help me today.


All of my sunrises are shades of grey,
I said goodbye in tears.
Though our children,
Are with me,
I know they must go.
They have their own lives too.
So all of my sunrises are shades of grey,
There's nothing for me, without you.

Thanks everyone for your comments. At first, I wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not. When you've heard one mix of a song enough times, it sometimes automatically becomes the 'right' one. Clearly not so this time :)

................. :-........................................

+1

Super song and production here.