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Murphy's Law by dolby [Email]
Genre: Acoustic Rock

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SONG STATS:
Hits: 502
Comments: 40
Votes: 11
Plays: 92
Last Played: Oct 03, 2008 - 02:56:10 PM
Downloads: 23
Fans: 32
Uploaded: Jun 25, 2008 - 10:38:54 AM
Last Updated: Jun 26, 2008 - 06:51:54 AM
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Keywords:
Dolby (12), New Song (1), Murphy's Law (1)
Description:
First song for a while. This is a pretty rough mix which I've been sitting on for a while, thinking one day I'm gonna finish it off. Well, maybe that day will never come, so here it is! The vocal is a one-take wonder straight into the MacBook condenser mic (as always) so it's a bit wobbly and outa tune in places, and could well do with being up in the mix in the chorus! Other than that it's just me and the good olde acoustic guitar straight into GB. The gap after the bridge could well do with sorting - so if anyone has any thoughts let me know!

The song is heavily influenced by a tune called "No Aphrodisiac" by an Australian band called The Whitlams. Fellow MacJammer Mishkin said one of my tunes sounded like them (a bit) so I checked 'em out, and they are great. In this song I copied the idea of starting with a Dmin chord on the piano and then going straight into the vocal - I think it works pretty well and becomes 'my own' song after that first chord.

If anyone wants to contribute to this, or do a mix then drop me a line. I'm happy to make GB files available for anyone who wants a shot at production (I'm no engineer & still learning). I will probably re-do the vocals in the near future when I get a proper vocal mic.

Thanks for listening and enjoy the tune!

Lyrics:
Murphy’s Law
(Music & Lyrics by Phil Dolby © 2008)

Ready or not I’m gonna fire anyway
And smoke the heat from the barrel’s core
Unlatch the clip and leave it standing here for days
Await the fate of Murphy’s Law

(chorus)
Because it’s too late to try
Because it’s too late to try

Call off the dogs I will surrender when you say
And make my defence in the old bone yard
In the event I was not part of the delay
The case collapsed like a house of cards

(chorus)
Because it’s too late to try
Because it’s too late to try

(bridge)
With a little bit of luck
We can make the perfect getaway
Find a place to stash the goods
A hideout where we’ll live our days
And wait for the masquerade
To end in a bullet hail

(chorus)
Because it’s too late to try
Because it’s too late to try

Hardware:
Hohner acoustic guitar

Software:
GB
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Great Listen! &mdash 06/25/08 - 10:49:22 AM
Happy to see you back my friend, another great piece of work. Fine vocals, fine melody and an excellent production. I love your stuff and I was checking 3 days ago some of your oldies.. thanks for sharing, enjoyed listening.

Take Care
- Yeman A. Al-Rawi

[ Reply to This ]
Thanks... &mdash 06/27/08 - 03:34:11 AM
...Yeman. It's nice to be back. Thanks for listening, and hope to get some more new stuff up soon. Glad to see you're still hanging out around here!

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Well it &mdash 06/25/08 - 02:02:42 PM
sounds pretty damned good to me!

Very enjoyable with lots going on to keep one interested!

Nicely done! Glad you took the jump and posted it.

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Thanks... &mdash 06/27/08 - 03:35:25 AM
...for stopping by Mark. Glad you liked the tune.

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Murphy's Law &mdash 06/25/08 - 03:08:56 PM
Fabulous ....your singing just supurb ..I m enjoyin
this so ...great drum work ..loved the guitar licks.
I think this is perfect man ... thnx alot for sharin !!!

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Long &mdash 06/25/08 - 03:53:33 PM
time no see LOL. Nice song you've done here and I like your singing too, voice is fine for volume; maybe a tinchy bit of volume needed, but it sounds ok to me. Love your piano and orchestration as well. cheers M

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Hey Maurice &mdash 06/27/08 - 03:37:44 AM
Yep, long time no see. Glad you're still here! Good to hear from you. Gonna be over at your place some time soon to check out what you've been up to! Glad you dropped by!

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Great to see you back &mdash 06/25/08 - 05:26:06 PM
I enjoy quite a few of your songs on my ipod and this is where this one is going too.
Lovely song/vocals and production. I can hear nothing wrong at all.
Cheers
Len



[ Reply to This ]
Thanks Len... &mdash 06/27/08 - 03:39:28 AM
Making it on to someone's iPod is the ultimate compliment, so thanks for that. Glad you called 'round.

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Very much .. &mdash 06/26/08 - 06:40:18 AM
.. like a Tim Freedman song Phil - I love the Whitlams! Your vocal sounds really good on this, and I'm also pretty impressed with the playing overall. Production is superb - you don't need anyone else to help out there, and I can't really hear why you'd want anyone else on the instruments either. This sounds finished (and excellent) from where I'm listening - sit back and enjoy the kudos!
Neil

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Cheers Neil &mdash 06/27/08 - 03:43:49 AM
I've got a lot of respect for the quality of your production/arranging work, so I really appreciate your comments. I agree it's a pretty good 'first mix', I'd just like a bit more dynamism in there, and maybe some harmony vocals in the chorus's. I'm open to other people having a go at any of my stuff, basically because I never have in the past and a 'fresh' pair of ears might be interesting.

Thanks for dropping by.

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Love the Lyric Phil &mdash 06/26/08 - 06:51:20 AM
everything starts there for me... if you've written a proper song, you can get away with quite a bit with me... it doesn't mater that this has an unfinished feel... and with your vocal ability I would say a"proper vocal mic" is warrented... geart story telling, I love how you lead by leaving some of it open to interpretation... a bit of mystery

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Hi Scott &mdash 06/27/08 - 03:48:39 AM
The two words 'proper song' in your review mean a lot to me. I think I've been trying most of my life to write a 'proper song'. Sometimes it's easy to hide your deficiencies behind being experimental, or avant guarde or whatever, so 'proper song' is pretty cool to me.

Yep, the vocal mic is number one on the priority list. Several people have made similar comments over the last year, so I'm finally going to take the plunge. I'm sure it will help the cause :-))

Thanks again for your comments -

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Welcome back &mdash 06/26/08 - 07:36:19 AM
And hey what a nice new song you have post... Love it.
And I take one x of it thanks for sharing.

Take care
---
Kenta

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Hey Kenta &mdash 06/27/08 - 03:50:58 AM
Thanks! It's nice to be back. Glad you liked the tune - you can take as many x as you like :-))

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Very Good &mdash 06/26/08 - 07:40:20 AM
I love listening to one takes always seems to sound the best in my book.
Great song. Good music, Great voice and cool lyrics.
And thanks for your nice comments on my latest. I am just starting out got a long way to go yet. :)

This sounds soo proffesional.

Peace Dee.

[ Reply to This ]
Hey Dee &mdash 06/27/08 - 03:53:11 AM
Thanks for dropping by. No propbs commenting on your last one - enjoying discovering all the new MJers. Thanks for your comments. Glad you liked the tune:-))

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This &mdash 06/26/08 - 04:40:35 PM
is a lovely song and I'm really enjoying this!

Superb vocals and great lyrics!

Great production too and I loved all the instruments, they sound great!


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Thanks Bob &mdash 06/27/08 - 03:54:56 AM
Glad you made it. Appreciate your comments. Looking forward to hearing some more of your stuff soon. Cheers

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cool tune Phil &mdash 06/27/08 - 11:03:15 PM
it's good to hear a new tune from you. Long overdue.

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:) &mdash 07/01/08 - 11:57:31 AM
What mix? this is perfect. I can't believe that the vocals is just one take. I'm actually dreaming of this type of song, but my theme would be: two robbers inside a bank surrounded by police,with million $ in their hands but no way to get out, one wants to surrender thinking of his family and his life, but the other is willing to die for he will definitely die anyway not as a robber but a murderer. I am very entertained.

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nice vox &mdash 07/02/08 - 05:39:27 AM
great chilled song, and some nice guitar playin here and a quality production. Cheers Phil and nice to meet you.

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wow &mdash 07/02/08 - 08:16:51 AM
shame on me, for not pickin up on this sooner. a wonderful ballad. nicely sung and wonderfully orchestrated. All the instruments sound fabulously real time. Very pro sounding mix as well. Beautiful

[ Reply to This ]
Awesome &mdash 07/02/08 - 07:58:23 PM
Great stuff again Phil. I've been away for quite a while - not doing any music at the moment. Lovely melody and I quite like the production. It feels very honest.

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Murphy's Law &mdash 07/03/08 - 06:45:17 AM
A great song and really good lyrics too.
Fantastic production
I really enjoyed listening and you have a really good voice too.
Thank you for sharing.

Peace Dee.

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Wow!! &mdash 07/03/08 - 12:05:25 PM
If this is a rough mix i am certainly gonna check out your others this is some great music. I am impressed you can pull this together using the barest of equipment. Great song!!

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Very Cool &mdash 07/03/08 - 03:19:12 PM
I think this mix is wonderful. Great first chord when you get to the chorus and I like the string melody in the chorus. I also like the crunchy guitar in the bridge.

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Thanks Sean &mdash 07/06/08 - 10:14:58 AM
Glad you liked the song and thanks for stopping bye!

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Well, Phil... &mdash 07/05/08 - 08:23:17 PM
If this is what you can come up with, armed with a MacBook and a Hohner guitar, I've got to stand back and shake my head...

And then there's that scary sense that, someday, you're going to get that real vocal mic, and probably a good mic for the acoustic, and then a better acoustic, and then... I don't know, world domination?...

Another well crafted song, with nice melody, neat vocal delivery, and good lyrics...

As Scott says, when the basic song is strong, you're basically there, and this is a good, strong song...

Plainly, my dolby explorations are just beginning...

Ed

[ Reply to This ]
Thanks very much Ed... &mdash 07/06/08 - 10:19:38 AM
...and I really appreciate your visit. World domination sounds good, as long as I can make it back in time for tea!

I have just purchased a new mic (not the top of the range - but not the bottom) and am looking forward to experimenting with that. Good technicians like Jim Bouchard, RaceRat and Scott have been making the same suggestion for ages, so we'll see what happens. I've also finally got a pair of studio monitors - so I can stop mixing on iPod headphones! That might help as well.

Cheers
Phil

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Tea! &mdash 07/06/08 - 09:13:04 PM
Now we're talking!

I'm a great fan of tea... Glad to know you enjoy it as well... At my work I'm sort of known as 'the tea drinker'...

Good to hear about the new equipment, too.. I'm set up to get notified when you post the next one..

Ed

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Murphy's Law &mdash 07/07/08 - 01:24:48 AM
Great build in this amazing song. I like the clear production and the phenomenal vocals! Superb songwriting and performance - a treat!!

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Danke Schoen... &mdash 07/07/08 - 06:51:11 AM
...Herr Herrmann, und vielen danke fr Ihren Besuch hier! Ich glaube dass mein Musik ist besser als mein Deutch, welches ist eine gute Ding! Ich gehe jetzt und Prfung Ihre Musik.

Freundlich Gruessen,
Phil :-))

[ Reply to This ]
great song &mdash 07/09/08 - 12:14:25 PM
really nice, those strings are perfect in the chorus. amazing drum work too. if i dissect the song, everything is great: lyrics, vox, arrangement, everything. saw your post in the forums about this song, glad I did since I seem to miss so much good music (and I really try to keep up). great job.

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wow.... &mdash 07/09/08 - 12:40:41 PM
great work dolby! that vocal is great not only for being a one-shot take, but also for being recorded through the mac mic. nicely done man! great tune...all the way around. doesn't sound like a scratch version at all, very well done and a very pleasant listen!

thank you!

age

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Great Arrangement &mdash 07/09/08 - 01:28:20 PM
Despite the technical shortcomings of the pinhole mic vocal, this recording reveals a terrific arrangement of this song, which in some respects, reminds me of a soulful Eurythmics tune.

Get yourself a decent condenser mic and plug your vocal into this song. It's a solid album cut. ;)


--- Joe

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well ... &mdash 07/10/08 - 04:44:32 PM
actually the vocals sounded very nice despite your concerns. re read jiguma's comments .... could not have said it better ... kudos indeed!

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what a package &mdash 07/24/08 - 12:08:19 PM
This song has it all, love the strings.. When I saw the title I was thinking of the band Murphys law. Thanks for sharing! Downloaded

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Never too late &mdash 08/09/08 - 12:46:46 PM
Nice lyrics, song structure, vocals, production. Very polished song even though we might not have a final mix. Large diaphragm mics are pretty affordable these days. The mic you are using actually sounds like you have a filter on your voice. I think it sounds cool for this song.

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Nice mate &mdash 10/01/08 - 10:45:54 PM
No Aphrodisiac is one of my favourites! I can definitely hear the influence throughout, not just the first chord. Great strings in this like the Whitlams use in that. And the big drum roll like I lave in that song! Very nice. Looking forward to listening to more of your stuff.

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