Time (for Brenda) - an original by ronws

[ronws]

Guitar, songwriting, and vocals by me. Bass and final mix by a good friend from the Pacific Northwest.

For those who may wonder, Brenda is my wife (together since Dec 19, 1993, married since April 29, 2000)

"Time (for Brenda)" by Ron Stone, copyright 2012

https://www.box.com/s/kk7oiev6nbdqhwscwo7t

[Aaron Meyers]

I like it, then again I did the final mix =p

Thanks though I can not get that damn song out of my head. :lol:

[ronws]

I didn't know you were going to show up. You are usually so busy. Aaron is the one playing bass and did the mix. And talked me out of a problematic guitar solo. It was distracting, not timing well, and the guitar was going out of tune, so I tuned up.

Aaron to the rescue.

[MDEW]

Sounds pretty good Ron. But you ruined my only critique. Could use a solo of sorts. But you scrapped it because it wasn't working. Songs grow over time. There is another guitar part out there somewhere waiting to be matched with your song. ;)

[Keith]

Pretty kewl man. My only critiwue would be to ease off the guitar effects and add some to the vocals. The guitar line starts to turn to mush when you play a couple cords fast. A good rule is if you guitar keeps playing 2 seconds after you stop, it might be too much Very romantic also. I bet your wife was pretty happy to hear it

[Guest]

Very nice Ron. But....and I know you don't like this but, it sounded exactly like the original.

hahahahah....that's a joke....get it? It is the origina...ahhh never mind :D

[napoleonboot]

Nice songwriting. Singing is great also Ron, no criticism except I can hear little stumbles in places where I think you are probably distracted by also having a more difficult guitar chord change, such as at the start of the the "Thank your for.." line.

The recording/mix is a bit over-compressed in places, which is apparent from the level of background hiss going up and down which is a bit nasty.

If you a have a version with a gap where a guitar solo should go then throw it my way, and I'll see what I can do. For my first 30 years in music I played lead guitar, right up to when I discovered I could sing (LOL!)

[Aaron Meyers]

Nice songwriting. Singing is great also Ron, no criticism except I can hear little stumbles in places where I think you are probably distracted by also having a more difficult guitar chord change, such as at the start of the the "Thank your for.." line.

The recording/mix is a bit over-compressed in places, which is apparent from the level of background hiss going up and down which is a bit nasty.

If you a have a version with a gap where a guitar solo should go then throw it my way, and I'll see what I can do. For my first 30 years in music I played lead guitar, right up to when I discovered I could sing (LOL!)

I tried my best to get the best sound out of his original file. There was massive amount of background noise from his low budget recording set up. Then again I am not a trained recording engineer, just try to find what I think sounds the best with what I am working with.

As for the gap for the solo, it is still there at the 1min 19 second mark. He sent me the file for it but because its just a few second I could not get it to line up with the recording when I imported into Cubase 5.

[Adolph Namlik]

EXCELLENT, Ron !!! :cool:

So how can I convince you to do a video and post it on the Social Media Site ?

Looking forward to it.....

Warmest Regards,

Adolph

[ronws]

Thanks, Adolph. First, I need a decent video camera. Then, either re-record it while performing in front of the camera or sync the recording to some thing.

The only other way for me to create a video is to use stills in Windows Movie Maker.

Dang it, Tommy, I was trying not to sound like the original but the urge to mimick was too great.

George, this is one of the few times I did not play guitar and sing at the same time. I recorded the guitar chords separately. Then sang vocals on another track. Then the accursed guitar solo on a third track. Not only was it hard for Aaron to time-shift but i think it was distracting, in retrospect. As short as the bridge is, it might better as it is.

I have thought of doing the solo differently.

Also, when Aaron offered to mix it for me, I had already done effects on the vocal track, such as 2 stages of compression, acoustic eq, and noise removal in a few stages, trying to make the track quieter. At the last I tried bass boost. I was trying to see if there was more lower overtones in my notes but there was not but it had the effect of quieting the track.

Then, Aaron did his stuff. The problem, for me was, the chorus sounded so loud in playback that I was clipping the mic (Sennheiser e835). But it doesn't matter what the mic is, really. It goes through a Guitarface II USB interface and the sound capabilities are whatever is on the motherboard. No fancy soundcard.

Audacity does have a timing problem when adding tracks and I have noticed this. Sometimes, a second guitar track records a lag in the tempo, even though I am playing in time with the previously recorded track. I hope I am allowed to know when I am playing in time. But, I should not be allowed to blame audacity for that. It's latency stinks, so when I record vocals, I pan the backing hard right, take off the left can, for there are reflective surfaces closer to my left than to my right so that I don't get thrown off my room presence. But I should not be allowed to blame that.

The only time I avoid these problems is when I record on one mic and play guitar and sing at the same time, in which case room presence is unavoidable and you can't put effects on just the vocal. The entire track is affected by whatever you choose.

It can't be the recording equipment or software, according to one person, at another time and unrelated to this thread, who told me so. It probably is something I am doing wrong.

[forest_gimp]

I liked it. Catchy melodies (it was stuck in my head after listening to the song) and good vocal signature.

I also agree with Guitargeorges regarding the minor flaws.

Looking forward to see more stuff of your own.

[Adolph Namlik]

Thanks, Adolph. First, I need a decent video camera. Then, either re-record it while performing in front of the camera or sync the recording to some thing.

The only other way for me to create a video is to use stills in Windows Movie Maker.

I hear you, Ron..... I've been wanting to do some videos myself for quite sometime, but a decent video camera is cost prohibitive for me. With all the investments in my ever growing collections of mics, plus PA's, monitors, various stands, other cool equipment, etc., etc., a camera just isn't in my budget at the moment !!! Personally, if I'm going to do a video, I want it to be done professionally, but that's just me.....

Speaking of mics, I'm STILL looking for that Shure Unidyne IV (CM), and have been "striking out" big time

No comment on the minor flaws mentioned >>> I'm not that great with a guitar due to my disability---- permanent nerve damage which prohibits me from "working" the fretboard properly...... Yes, I'm even having problems with the keyboards for the same reason :| NEVER giving up on the vocals, though !!!!!!!!

Nonetheless, I still think you sounded great !!! :cool:

Regards, my Friend,

Adolph

[ronws]

Thanks forest and Adolph. And Forest and Aaron, you give me the hugest compliment when you mention how the melody sticks in your head and it won't go away.

I need to take my own advice and get off my behind and make an album and release it so it can get stuck in other people's minds.

May keep the "unplugged" simple arrangement.

[Adoney]

Man this is good! A very catch original, indeed. Man, your voice is good on it, too; the only thing I can see to improve is the phrasing. Some of the vocals come in a bit early or end too early it seems, but that's about it.

[Jugulator]

The song is very interesting. The voice seems to sound good, too. But the production isn't that good, sorry.

[ronws]

Thanks, guys. I still feel complimented. That my voice is strong, on pitch. Which are my two biggest concerns. Anything after that is gravy or something to be adjusted. As for my timing, you're right Adon but I realize now that I do it on most every song, especially one on guitar or one that I write. It's called playing behind the beat, for example, drummers. My favorite Robert Plant bits are when he sings behind the beat and I probably became too enamored of that as a young person.

And Igor, the sound quality is totally my fault. Even though Aaron mixed it for me and added the echo on the guitar and added the bass guitar, he could only work with what I sent him. I used the Sennheiser e835 to record the guitar, then, later, the vocal. I recorded guitar and vocal separately. Normally, I perform both simultaneously and normally, I record the way I perform. Anyway, I had done some effects on the vocal track to try and get it quiet. And what you hear is quieter than when it started.

But your comments are very important to me, for the teach me things by inference and by deduction, as well. But I did have a funny thought.

There is a commercial advertisement of a person communicating with the talk box on the drive-through of a restaurant. So, the person finishes their order and they drive around to the window to pay and collect their meal. And the person at the window, even with the headset mic off, sounds just as distorted and garbled as they did through the box.

What if that's me? If you could sit with me in the same room and I sounded overcompressed and distortedly loud? Come one, you know you want to laugh ....

But thanks to everyone for your comments.

[mvrasseli]

Nice one. I guess Brenda liked that one.

[ronws]

Nice one. I guess Brenda liked that one.

Yeah, she liked it okay.

I did make her cry, once, when I learned how to do "Leader of the Band" by Dan Fogelberg. I did it well enough to remind her of him and it was only a year after he had passed on from cancer.