Father's Arms

blamm

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Description

I produced this song for a friend of mine. Besides a touch of backing vocals and the string arrangement, this is all him. It was the first time I've recorded a real piano...and I've learned a lot about what not to do, so hopefully next time out won't be so lacking in the bottom end. I'm trying to put the finishing touches on this, and I thought posting it for comments would be a good way to get some inspiration. Also, I'd like some feedback on the category I chose for this song...by the end of the song you'll know why I'm asking...it probably belongs elsewhere, but I didn't want to pigeonhole it before it ever started.

Comments please!

Song by Brian Ward

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Song Stats

Hits: 1271
Comments: 10
Fans: 1
Plays: 174
Downloads: 75
Votes: 6
Uploaded: Jun 29, 2005 - 12:25:44 PM
Last Updated: Jun 29, 2005 - 11:46:13 AM Last Played: Sep 29, 2009 - 05:15:41 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Hardware:

Firewire 410
12" Powerbook
Peavy StudioPro Mic
Baldwin Upright Piano

Software:

Comments

fairy beth	fairy beth said 1606 days ago (June 29th, 2005)
	more.. ...harmonies would be spot on. Nice voice - sometimes needs a little more control, but still very good. Beautiful lyrics. well done. and good production Blamm. Check out my latest song called Message No.1 - David Gwynne

blamm	blamm said 1606 days ago (June 29th, 2005)
	more.. thanks, FB. Appreciate the feedback. --- "Art is never finished, only abandoned." Check out my latest song called Story of Her Life

said 1606 days ago (June 29th, 2005)

At times...
...the vocals could be "centered" for a difference between
verse and chorus (as they are towards the ending, but
sooner in the song). A third harmony, centered could
work, too, to round the harmonies out. The strings are
beckoning to be spread out L-and-R. The piano has a nice
tone to it (have you tried EQing it to add more bottom
end?). I get the impression that the piano is not in the
same room as the singer (and feel they should be brought
closer together). "New Age Acoustic" comes to mind as a
genre for this. The composition has a nice flow to it, and
shows good writing skill.

blamm

blamm said 1606 days ago (June 29th, 2005)

At times...
Thanks, Al. I've tried EQing the piano until I'm blue in the face...there's just
nothing there to work with. I'll try some more. I think I'm going to add a
subtle bassline to compensate.

I'd considered the panning of the strings, but not the centering of the vocals
during the chorus. Love that...will try it. The "more backing vocals" is now 2
for 2 in the suggestion box...I'll look at a third harmony, too. Thanks so much
for the input.

---
"Art is never finished, only abandoned."

Check out my latest song called Story of Her Life

Ed Hannifin

Ed Hannifin said 1593 days ago (July 12th, 2005)

Speaking just as a dad...
...I'm an easy touch on the songs about putting kids to sleep
and loving 'em and wanting to make their fears go
away...had one of those moments with my son tonight, he
being worried about exploding buses in London...

Lovely song. The demoish quality of the piano somehow
helps this, I think. Some folks make their pianos so big and
lush that it actually gets in the way of the tune, sometimes, I
think.

Great vocal.

Check out my latest song called Next Time Around (w/jiguma)

TobinMueller

TobinMueller said 1591 days ago (July 14th, 2005)

Excellent writing! Excellent vocals...
Has an Aimee Mann feel, in all the best ways. An excellent
song, excellent vocals, nice string wash delicately laid in.
The track has a recorded in your living room feel that
includes some intimate feelings yet also some near
distortion and mid-saturation in the piano, and it comes
in and out of the field, with the piano too loud in spots.
The vocals are so good, so real, so well performed, with
just the right touch of reverb; but once they move from
the right to the left in a random way that makes no sense
(on "You need just enough faith to close your eyes" toward
the end), which made me sit up and listen, but it was also
a distraction. Also, the left-piano (mono?) / right-vocals
gets a little ponderous, it would be better to center the
vocals and spread the piano somehow. I'd love you to
redo this so it didn't sound like a demo, but a more
polished track. I can also hear dramatic drumming in the
second half repeats, a power ballad moment. I'd also like
to read the lyrics, which are powerful and moving.
Fantastic writing!!

Check out my latest song called Forge A New Life (MJRF)

kristyjo

kristyjo said 1448 days ago (December 4th, 2005)

Nice feeling
But the piano does get in the way. It's really uneven. Are you micing from
below (grand) or behind (upright) the soundboard? It really does need
more bass. Maybe your mic doesn't have enough range, in which case all
the twiddling of EQ knobs in the world won't make a difference.

I like the lyrics, the strings are nice, too. I think you could bring the
harmony vocal(s?) up a little more.

Check out my latest song called What a Friend We Have in Jesus

annalia	annalia said 1238 days ago (July 2nd, 2006)
	Outstanding Piano Soooooooo Beautiful, almost brought tears to the eyes. The beginning piano got me imediately, the ending piano could not have been more perfect, and everything inbetween was so beautiful. Check out my latest song called freakshow

Nolan	Nolan said 1222 days ago (July 18th, 2006)
	Really nice I wrote a forum post asking for directions to some tracks with real piano...and here I am. This is great. I like it so much better than the software instrument pianos. So real and natural sounding. Great stuff. The singing and the strings are wonderful to. Well done. Check out my latest song called Fine

FEEL

FEEL said 1117 days ago (October 31st, 2006)

Challenging
It seems that it would have been much easier with a midi keyboard with weighted keys to give the operator that piano feel and you would have controlled the sound so much easier. Considering the situation I think the recording came our pretty good. I really like the string section added to the piano, vocals are spot on. Most of all the writing is the best part.

Check out my latest song called Pigs Fly

Fan List

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Artist Info

Name: John Parker

John writes and records in his small corner of the world over the garage in Central Texas. With a head full of music, the only thing keeping him from flooding MacJams with songs is free time, which he finds little of these days. However, the things ... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

Genre Info

More songs in Soft Rock-Adult Contemporary:

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