About My Song
Since I looove cliche's, I thought I'd write a song about one. My inspiration from the photo was a guy being kicked out by his girlfriend, so he just starts walking away on a blacktop road with pretty much what he's wearing...and um...a goldfish....listen to the song :-).
This is a demo quality production and could be improved sonically, but, because it's a songwriting competition I'm focusing on well, the songwriting. Truth be told, about 75% through the recording/mixing, I could barely stand to listen to this song (LOL) as I generally write in a more indie style. But I'm a finisher.
It was mentioned that the vocals were a bit buried in the guitars...I like rock mixes with vocals that are very settled into the mix as I feel it gives more energy than if the vocals are sitting on top of the mix ala Pop style. This vocal/guitar balance is perhaps one of the hardest things to get right in a final mix...buried but articulate.
Production Notes
1. The foley footsteps and ambience were created in elevenlabs AI online app. Try it, it's awesome and free.
2. I used one sampled drum loop and some fills. The drum timbre changed in the downbeat section after the solo - I used Waves Retro Fi.
3
. The guitar I played was a Jansen Jazzmaster style guitar > DSM Homboldt Simplifier pedal > into my interface (no amp sims or amps used).
The bass I played was a Fender Squier 70s vibe > Sansamp BDDI > API Tranzformer GTR compressor pedal > my interface (no amp used).
I also played a some simple piano chords through a Korg electric piano to thicken things up a bit in the chorus.
4. The song format follows a fairly standard pop format of A B C A B C D E C.
5. Mix processing was simple - EQ, compression, and reverb/delay.
6. I sung through a Shure SM7b > JLM99v preamp > CL1b compressor > interface.
7. I'm happy to discuss anything else - just ask.
Finally, thanks for the opportunity.
THIS IS THE FINAL VERSION.
Please note that the bold text has been updated with more info about the process.
Lyrics added in the spoiler below
► Show Spoiler
**Verse 1:**
Baby said, "Pack up and hit the road,"
now I’m walkin’ with my heart in overload heart on my sleeve and a broke ego
Now I'm floating around with no place to go.
**Prechorus**
She threw out my stuff, and as i left she gave a shout
“Don’t let the screen door, hit ya on the way out,”
**Chorus:**
I’m a burnt out brotha with no place to go
a loser driftin’ down a gravel road
a loser dude with a worn out soul (sole)
Just a loser headin' down a gravel road
That Black top road
**Verse 2:**
She took the dog, the cat, and the truck,
Left me with a goldfish and a little luck,
Got a broken phone and an empty pack
And damn near having a heart attack
**Prechorus**
**Chorus:**
**Solo**
**Bridge:**
I'm drifting
Down that blacktop road
**Chorus:**
**Outro***
That blacktop road
A friendly reminder:
