Hated to Have to Leave You

[Alison]

This is a song I've been wanting to write for the last 3+ months. The toughest thing about the move we just made (other than clearing out 27 years of garbage and memories, and trying to fix a house needing major repair and maintenance) was leaving our daughter who is still in Las Cruces. That was painful. She has become one of my best friends (young parents have that to look forward to!) and I miss her terribly.
Anyway, she was supposed to come to visit this weekend but had to cancel because she came down with Covid. . .the dreaded monster raises its ugly head. My disappointment inspired this song.

Not sure I like the sound of my guitar here, any suggestions are welcome as I am still navigating the strange new world of Reaper. Been studying videos and going through notes I made with JD. Hopefully, this song shows a tad of improvement.

Hated to Have to Leave You 2 mp3.mp3

Worked on the bassline a bit. . .it's a little less rattly, re-eq'd the piano and guitar a tad. Tightened up the vocals. . . let's see, what else. . . feels like I've put a lot of effort into this, hopefully, this version is better.

Hated to Have to Leave You mp3.mp3

[rayc]

The cello bass flubbs about for the 1st naked moments but sounds better under the rest of the track.
Sad song indeed.
The arrangement is good, that guitar sounds fine to me. The harmony vocals could be tightened against the main a little in terms of timing.
Vocals could also do with some levelling in a few spots - particularly where you do the almost spoke almost spoke "the day that I left" bit.
Lovely stuff.
Have you tested your aids against reference songs you know & love? You may find you need to adjust your listening a bit to get used to what the aids do well & less so.

You may like to experiment with a free VST/plug in called VOLA2 for levelling vocals. It's not a "rider" as such but seems good to me.

[Alison]

The cello bass flubbs about for the 1st naked moments but sounds better under the rest of the track.
Sad song indeed.
The arrangement is good, that guitar sounds fine to me. The harmony vocals could be tightened against the main a little in terms of timing.
Vocals could also do with some levelling in a few spots - particularly where you do the almost spoke almost spoke "the day that I left" bit.
Lovely stuff.
Have you tested your aids against reference songs you know & love? You may find you need to adjust your listening a bit to get used to what the aids do well & less so.

You may like to experiment with a free VST/plug in called VOLA2 for levelling vocals. It's not a "rider" as such but seems good to me.

So, I'm not only up against a new DAW but hearing aids too! I've got a LOT to check out!
The harmonies were difficult as the melody (as you put it) was almost spoken in spots but, yes, I do need to tighten them up. Spent a lot of time today trying to do that. . .I blame it on the hearing aids! I'll definitely check out that plugin.
Thank you so much for your input, it's always appreciated!

[vomitHatSteve]

I like the harmonies on this one.

There's some distortion on the bass cello right at the start. Is that intentional? Mp3 artifacting? Something amiss in your chain?

Left rhythm acoustic sounds a little better-balanced than some other recent mixes. It still feels a little "close" on headphones to my taste, but there's some more distance.

[Alison]

I like the harmonies on this one.

There's some distortion on the bass cello right at the start. Is that intentional? Mp3 artifacting? Something amiss in your chain?

Left rhythm acoustic sounds a little better-balanced than some other recent mixes. It still feels a little "close" on headphones to my taste, but there's some more distance.

Yeah, still having problems with the bass. . . I seriously need a real one. I tried to clear up rattles etc. with compression and eq but couldn't get it cleared up. When I pluck the lower strings on my electric cello, it tends to rattle.
So, maybe a tad more reverb on the rhythm guitar? I do hear what you mean. . .
Thanks very much for listening and commenting!

[TripleM]

The cello bass flubbs about for the 1st naked moments but sounds better under the rest of the track.

I noticed that too.

I think the acoustic guitar on the left sounded pretty nice. It sounds a bit like a harpsicord, but still fit the song well. If you want it to sound more like a natural guitar, I'm not sure what to say. Maybe say how you recorded it - mic/mic position/pick/etc.

Good harmonies. Your vocals, as always, are very clear.

Bass is pretty low-end heavy.

Piano on the right sounds a bit midi.

[Alison]

The cello bass flubbs about for the 1st naked moments but sounds better under the rest of the track.

I noticed that too.

I think the acoustic guitar on the left sounded pretty nice. It sounds a bit like a harpsicord, but still fit the song well. If you want it to sound more like a natural guitar, I'm not sure what to say. Maybe say how you recorded it - mic/mic position/pick/etc.

Good harmonies. Your vocals, as always, are very clear.

Bass is pretty low-end heavy.

Piano on the right sounds a bit midi.

Yeah, I'm not totally happy with the guitar sound. I recorded it with just 1 mic (it's a mic that came with the Presonus interface that I use. It's a Presonus M7. Another thing on my wish list is a better instrument mic!) this time with the mic just slightly up the neck. Normally, I'd have another mic at the bridge but didn't want a stereo sound. Maybe I'll retrack it with a different mic position. . .
Still hoping to get a proper bass so there won't be all the rattling when I use my cello. . .
Still have a lot to learn about Eq-ing piano, of course, I have a lot to learn about PLAYING piano!
Anyway, thanks so much for listening and commenting!

[Armistice]

I'll listen to your song when you tell me you've worked out how not to lose things you create in Reaper...

[Alison]

I'll listen to your song when you tell me you've worked out how not to lose things you create in Reaper...

Well, I successfully saved the project I've been working on. . .and this one!

[Armistice]

I'll listen to your song when you tell me you've worked out how not to lose things you create in Reaper...

Well, I successfully saved the project I've been working on. . .and this one!

Good good. I'll actually listen when I get home. Nothing to listen on down here...

[JD01]

Finally having a listen, Alison - been so busy lately.

Generally, your vocal timing on your lead and harmonies drifts a bit on this an, like a few others have mentioned, same with your timing on the cello/bass - gets a bit jazzy! haha. Nothing wrong with the spokenish bits or pitch - everything just sounds natural. Not wrong.

The left acoustic sounds lovely actually. Bowed cellos sound good as usual. If I were you I'd treat this is as a "scratch" version and gradually replace the takes on it already with tighter ones. There's plenty of people on here, myself included, who'll happily track you the odd bassline until you can afford a half tidy electric bass and cheap bass rig emulator pedal. I'm assuming you want to spend some time really nailing this to send to your daughter.

The whole mix does start to sound a bit boomy and rumbly in places, but don't worry too much about that yet - get your final takes sorted first.

[Alison]

Finally having a listen, Alison - been so busy lately.

Generally, your vocal timing on your lead and harmonies drifts a bit on this an, like a few others have mentioned, same with your timing on the cello/bass - gets a bit jazzy! haha. Nothing wrong with the spokenish bits or pitch - everything just sounds natural. Not wrong.

The left acoustic sounds lovely actually. Bowed cellos sound good as usual. If I were you I'd treat this is as a "scratch" version and gradually replace the takes on it already with tighter ones. There's plenty of people on here, myself included, who'll happily track you the odd bassline until you can afford a half tidy electric bass and cheap bass rig emulator pedal. I'm assuming you want to spend some time really nailing this to send to your daughter.

The whole mix does start to sound a bit boomy and rumbly in places, but don't worry too much about that yet - get your final takes sorted first.

I've been doing more work on this. . .tightened up the vocals, re-tracked the bass, really trying to take my time on this.
This is the first time I've heard of a bass rig emulator pedal. Good to know about it as one of my concerns was where I'd put a bass amp in my already crowded music room! My b-day is coming up and I've created a "wish-list" for my husband, not that he takes hints very well but, one can only hope!

Thanks for your input, JD, it is always appreciated!

[JD01]

Just get a decent Squire bass and a Chinese copy of a SansAmp. I have a Behringer BDI1. It's not gonna change your life, but it works.

[WhiskeyJack]

I haven't got anything further to add @Alison that hasn't already been hit on at this point. I agree that maybe building up off this foundation is a good strategy. I dont even know where to start with addressing the rattles. In fact i don't know that i would. It adds a vibe to it that you can tell a human is driving and not a synth or any other kind of fakery. I vote to just not worry about the rattling. Everything else mentioned though is worth persuing.

very sad song. you really conveyed some emotion and story here too Alison.

Just get a decent Squire bass and a Chinese copy of a SansAmp. I have a Behringer BDI1. It's not gonna change your life, but it works.

Alternately ditch the extra expense of a piece of outboard kit and go for one of these in the daw.

https://musicianshq.com/free-bass-amp-vst-plugins/


And now that i think about it i am 99% sure @liv_rong had a thread all about free bass plugins here somewhere.

[JD01]

Haha, Shan, I think Alison would prefer fiddling with 5 knobs on a pedal than endless menus in a VST

[Alison]

I haven't got anything further to add @Alison that hasn't already been hit on at this point. I agree that maybe building up off this foundation is a good strategy. I dont even know where to start with addressing the rattles. In fact i don't know that i would. It adds a vibe to it that you can tell a human is driving and not a synth or any other kind of fakery. I vote to just not worry about the rattling. Everything else mentioned though is worth persuing.

very sad song. you really conveyed some emotion and story here too Alison.

Just get a decent Squire bass and a Chinese copy of a SansAmp. I have a Behringer BDI1. It's not gonna change your life, but it works.

Alternately ditch the extra expense of a piece of outboard kit and go for one of these in the daw.

https://musicianshq.com/free-bass-amp-vst-plugins/


And now that i think about it i am 99% sure @liv_rong had a thread all about free bass plugins here somewhere.

Thank you for your input, I do appreciate it! I've been doing some re-tracking, re-eqing, re-vamping, and re-mixing on a lot of this. Haven't replaced every track but, I think I have things tightened up much better and sounding better. Ha, ha, I think @JD01 is right, I'd rather have an instrument in hand!
Redo is in the OP!

[rayc]

The rebuild is very cool though the "distortion is still on the first few cello bass notes. You could just cut n past the same sequence of notes from elsewhere in the song if those notes don't cause grief.

[Alison]

The rebuild is very cool though the "distortion is still on the first few cello bass notes. You could just cut n past the same sequence of notes from elsewhere in the song if those notes don't cause grief.

Hmm, heard rattles but not distortions. I will look into that! This is definitely a work in progress. Thanks for your input!

[rayc]

The rebuild is very cool though the "distortion is still on the first few cello bass notes. You could just cut n past the same sequence of notes from elsewhere in the song if those notes don't cause grief.

Hmm, heard rattles but not distortions. I will look into that! This is definitely a work in progress. Thanks for your input!

The wobbles have a distorted sound - it's what they do to speakers I suppose...extra excursion of something...not horrifying just distracting becasue it's at the beginning and naked.

[JD01]

This is much better, Alison. Great vocal on this.
The cello/bass is still a bit clunky.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394492638506 ... R6TAsenUYQ

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/234913268239 ... R97HvunUYQ

That's probably the cheapest you'll ever get a tidy recorded bass tone. Note, the bass will likely need a good clean, some strings and some set up work. Appears to have been around the block more than a few times.