Very kind! Not had a chance to listen to any of them yet as I've been at the hospital all morning having my arm put into a cast as I broke it on Friday! Going to make playing guitar very tricky/impossible for the rest of SpinTunes!

You should jump aboard the Discord thing - lots of discussion on there about the competition etc. You should have got an email invite from Micah, but if not, this will probably work: https://discord.gg/WBegn3NA Never created an invite before, so no idea if it will actually work...

Thank you for the great comments on Genocide and Happy Clappy Song, @brisk
Very much appreciated and helpful.

Thanks for your thoughtful and positive comments on both Murderer and Thief and Superhuman. So glad you enjoyed both of these songs. You are correct about the singularity. Both of my lyrics were an outcome from a challenge/contest last month in the Muse forum. AI was the subject and I really enjoyed writing to that prompt.

Thanks for the thoughtful comments, they're very much appreciated and I'm glad you had fun checking out some of my weirdo tunes! It's nice to hear from the folks who are still hanging around here.

Thank you for listening to Like God Does. I love how @jeff9 brought the words to life. I’ve been thinking about how our song and your Whole White Moon with @davidtaro inhabit a similar hard place in the emotions of parenting - standing by not sure what to do.

I had fun listening to You're Not a Maid. I chortled over the question "Will you learn to suffer fools?" Even at 19 my son is still incensed by the imperfections of grown ups. I like your understated way of talking back to the kids' idea that they are too burdened by our requests. And I love how you slip in the "It might not seem like we think the world of you, but we do"

Oh, man--thank you for such kind words about our little duet "Sounds Like a Song To Me" (my non-FAWM collaborator will be thrilled when I share this) and about "Like God Does". I'm so proud of how that turned out with @nancycunning's heartbreaking lyric. That guitar is BIAB, so I'm only the conductor.

Thank you! What a cool idea to let your decide, and aim happy that you enjoyed the song. Yes, it's also one of my faves. The band did such an amazing job that its been a blast to mix.

I'm to blame - oh dear... I apologise in advance if you hate the experience!

I've never managed to work out what makes a good SpinTunes song; often songs (generally speaking, not mine specifically) that I think are good don't do well and those I dismiss do better. Mind you, there have been one or two that I've phoned in that got rightly panned...

I find the feedback from the judges really helpful even if sometimes I don't like what they're saying. The other competitors will often do reviews too (normally posted on the Songfight forums), which I find can be a little blunter, but still coming from a place of encouraging improvement. The feedback in general doesn't tend to come as coated in sugar as it does in FAWM, but then the ethos of FAWM is more nurturing, so that difference is only to be expected...

Hope you get something in - good luck!

Hey man - good to see you've signed up for SpinTunes - good luck! I currently have some chords I like, a bass line I like that doesn't go with the chords and six sides of A4 of hand-written notes, which turn out to be more of a short story than lyrics, and have nothing to do with the prompt... It's going well!

No worries! It was a fun exploration of the word and it will be a fun one to use. Maybe I'll even introduce my song that way.

Thanks for your nice comments on "Loyalty." (Btw, I looked up what a "cracker" means in the UK...thanks for that comment, I'll now use that with friends! I was pretty sure it wasn't the racial epithet that it can mean in the U.S. ) 😀 Yes, I am pretty happy with that song...even played it last week when we were openers for a show. Also, thanks for sharing with me your thoughts about "Choices." I love hearing about songwriter's thoughts. And I think you are on to something....maybe tweak a bit in the verses so that favorite line is less a surprise and more a conclusion. Cool piece of work.

Thanks for your comment on the "Blackout Blues". I'm happy you enjoyed. Appreciate the comparison with sandpaper, I also like that bitey tone of the guitar. I have to rerecord some parts cause my battery ran low and there's noise...

Hi Brisk :)

Thank you for your comments on my songs, which I found both kind and insightful. I'm quite fond of writing with an unplaceable tone, whether by chance or design. For one, I love to see the (often dramatically) different directions a collaborator will take the lyric in; I think a single lyric can hold a thousand songs, and there's still much room for interpretation even when the music adds its own tropes and conventions. For another, I'm ambivalent to some degree about just about everything, and I can scarcely convince myself of how to feel about something most of the time, let alone the listeners.

The very very very angry song began its life as a list of 'x is just angry y', without anything in the way of a story or moral. It evolved organically, and I suppose the tragic element crept in once I started mentioning warheads, as it does.

You're also right about the question mark after Chorus. I'm a poet who is slowly converting to a songwriter thanks to this challenge, and there are some unique aspects to songwriting I still struggle with. If a song has a Chorus-ish, I consider that a success.

Thank you for your kind words on the song "Her Voice in The Machine" :)

The Japanese kishotenketsu structure is something that works for poems, songs, short stories, and novels (as well as anime and manga). I mention it only because there are structures that work for both songwriting as well as fiction.

If you want to improvise a story and still have a solid story when you're done, you don't need to plan the whole novel, but it can be helpful to at least know where you are headed. I like to think of it like a road trip: you don't need to plan every rest stop, but you should know the major thoroughfares you expect to use and which direction to head on each of them. It means that if you were planning a beach vacation in France, you shouldn't find yourself in the highlands of Scotland.

Because I am a completionist: Out Of Air… some almost Queens of the Stone Age energy in those violent bursts of fuzz guitar. Love how the drums sort of echo the riff rhythm, works really well. Nice extended guitar noodles. You’re doing the cutout/massive release of tension thing very effectively too. You rock!

Thanks so much for listening to my songs, “Two Bottles Of Beer” and “Six Months Ago Today” - your comments were right on the money. You said they felt real - and that’s probably because they are both inspired by recent events in my life. And no, she still hasn’t called me. :’-(
But thank you again - your kind words were a real boost! :-)

I am usually really bad at writing back when someone checks out my tunes.. I dunno why.. but I do know I still haven't sent my wedding thank you notes from 12 years ago... so maybe there is a bit of a theme... however, this might be one of the exceptions to this block. thanks for checking out my skirmish tunes cruel shoes and no merryman. i see the potential in cruel shoes... but i don't think i have the patience to develop the little world i've created within the song... so it ended in a blap and might be that way indefinitely.. looking forward to diving into more of your amazing creations asap!

Many thanks for the very kind words about "Gabrielle". What a thrill it is for me to get to work with something as poetic and artistic as an @stephenwordsmith lyric.

Thanks for your detailed audition of "I Never Wanted to Say Goodbye'. It was fun to create music for the lyrics and trying to match the performance to the mood of the words.

I gotta say, I'm a big fan of what @sapient did with my lyric and I am hoping to add it to my own repertoire. Thanks for the kind words!

No worries! I always love a mythological discussion. It's true there are a lot of dark currents in Greek mythology because like all religions it was based in its own messed up culture. I don't mind twisting it into my own interpretation because I know the original is still there. And Zeus was 10x worse than Hades so he holds down that corner of the mythos for me 😆 But it's a very valid point you make, we can lose important meanings in the stories if we try to wash them clean.

Looking forward to having more listening time next year!

Thank you for your thoughtful comments! Re: Hades and Persephone, you're right that Greek myth is full of untoward dealings... There are versions of this myth where Persephone chooses to go to the underworld and I prefer those.

Re: "Jammer Jamito" It's not a guitar, it's an effect-laden uke.

There's a certain bit of overlap between the FAWM folks and the NaNoWriMo folks. I know my focus of "fix everything by going faster" is firmly present for both. In both cases, if I go fast enough my inner critic gets tired and sits down, while my inner muse shows up reliably when I seem to be going head-first toward a wall (because that's when it "gets interesting.").

During FAWM I started doing a "3in10" -- three about 3 minute songs in 10 minutes -- as a way to find the best-of-three during a one-hour song skirmish. When I write, I write exclusively in "word sprints" where I take 20 minutes and write as fast as I can. The first draft is a mess. But, I've used the exact same approach for the second draft and the quality was suddenly much improved.

It seems that if I can speed-write a first draft in a month, I can speed-rewrite the novel on to a blank document in a month.

Manually going through a document in a word processor to "edit" a second revision is a process that was only invented in the 1970s. Prior to that, the second draft was always a total rewrite on to a blank page.

This is to say: You should totally try out NaNoWriMo sometime! I know some people that started with novels but prefer songs, others that started with songs but prefer novels, and still more that do both. There are definitely some cross-over skills, too.

Ooo yes would love to do a 50/90 spot with you, please - that'd be great! My email is bandybum@gmail.com if you need to reach me :)

I owe you some listening. Looking forward to it…

Omg I agree so much lol

Lmao! I’m picturing the darkest timeline universe where my mustachioed evil doppelgänger is posting to evil FAWM lol

Congrats on all the excellent output and random acts of kindness this month! You’re a peach! (Idk if that’s universally a compliment but it is from me…lol)

I very much thank you for your thoughts on "One Lucky Valentine!"

It's been great interacting with you this FAWM. And, thanks so much for the detail critiquing of my work!

I'm listening to "In a Bar, Under the Sea" now. Eclectic is right! And a great time. Inspiring stuff, thanks for the tip.

Thanks for your thoughtful response to Admin, much appreciated. In response to your question, I think more of us should write about our work, it helps expose the craziness of the systems that (most of us) don't have the time to explore.

Hello, thank you for the thoughtful comment on Walking Home! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. The steel drum-ish sound is just some layered synths, one of which was probably mallet based if not steel drum specifically. That comparison isn't far off what I was hearing either when putting it together, I liked the surprising mix of vibes!

I had not heard dEUS but I grew up the nineties listening to alternative rock so those sounds are near and dear to me. On first listen I'm honored by the comparison. I'll be listening to more, thanks!

Thanks so much for your comment on "the rest" I really appreciate your thoughtful feedback!

Thank you for your kind comments! I think I've seen other comics by the artist who did that "Who Will Be Eaten First?" strip, but they never seem to sign their name on them.

Thanks so much for the awesome comment on Kilonova! It took a while to cook it up, using a whole bunch of software instruments I'm not yet very familiar with, so I love that it seems to have worked 😀
That growly bass is just a preset on Cubase's Retrologue synth. I really don't know how to use synths yet... maybe it is just a case of picking patches that sound nice? ;)

Thank you for all your lovely comments! The harmonies do take an awful lot of takes sometimes but I really appreciate the complement :) the Orpheus and Euridyce thing just wasn't that special sadly, I thought of what I needed to do to fix it but it was essentially to re-write the whole thing and I just didn't want to do that :p

i like the flute, and everything you have done musically with the lyric. the song might have seemed less free-moving had you not slowed down the passage at the movies, but i like the way it is resolved, with your wife chiming in at the last word, that i wouldnt want to lose it. i cant recall what i wrote in the original liner notes, maybe some comparison to odyssey and oracle, but listening to it a few times this morning, it sounds closer to blur than the zombies. my main impression is that it is the melody that is all important in the song. it is the melody we follow and the melody that keeps us entranced.

I really appreciate your kind words on The Labyrinth of Naked Dancing. Your way of describing it is balm to the soul of the tortured artist :) Thank you!

In 2011 I attempted NaNoWriMo with a story about zombies that were a fungal infection. I'd long enjoyed the notion of zombies-through-fungus, so I liked that fact about the 2016 film The Girl with All the Gifts.

In my story the fungus could grow on a pile of sticks and walk them around given the right conditions. That said, a weakened immune system due to a chronic illness -- or just lack of sleep -- could cause people to attack and consume others in their sleep.

That story was my first attempt at writing a novel by the seat of my pants. It was a huge failure. I hit 50k words in the middle of the month, realized I wasn't quite at 25% of the story, and grew so depressed I stopped writing it right there.

Most of the fictional zombie diseases forget the important lesson of toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis can be caught by humans. It infects their brains. It alters their behavior. But infecting humans isn't the goal. It can't reproduce if it is inside humans. It doesn't magically transform itself to make sense of being inside a human. Any infection of a human is a dead-end. ... and that's okay. Diseases aren't smart. If evolving comfortably in Niche 1 causes it to also kind of half-work in Niche 2, 4 and 5 that is good enough. Only Niche 1 needs to be viable.

When I reread the lyrics, I started thinking pretty heavily about the kind of extra holes that can be applied using AI-based style transfer. They can be a lot of fun if you're not scared of that kind of thing.

since you plan to rework it and we have no comments yet, i suggest you delete the post and peost on monday. we have 3 days of superskirmish now and it will get lost if it stays up now.

How happy to have stumbled upon you in the recommendation thread. Rock on my friend ❤️

Thank you kindly for your comment on "Reize fluten".
«It sounds urgent but the tone feels positive somehow, albeit tending to mania» - what a perfectly succinct description! That's the feeling I carried while producing it and the feeling I tried to convey. Thanks for putting it in better words than I ever could.

Hi, thank you for your feedback on Rumours :)

ONward... all good. Dropped you another email. David

thanks for the update on your progress with cross exchange. i had nothing in mind for it, except that i knew it would be a difficult lyric and if anybody could make a good song of it, you would be the one to do it. a frank mills type of jazz seems to a promising direction to take.

Ok, so I am a week late here but thanks for the comments on How Do You Do It?

That QotSA influence was there all along but I didn't really hear it until your comment. I can definitely hear some ...Like Clockwork era vibes in there.

BTW, I also just posted a new mix of the song with a slight rework of where the guitar solo is if you care to check it out.

Either way, thanks again for the comments!

Thank you for the extended peek behind the creativity curtain! V interesting, and I never knew that about the Emerald City, 1-0 to the book then.

Thank you for the comment on "Worms Crawl on the Skeletons of the Dead Tyrants"! And thank you also for the compliment on the lyrics!

No worries! Your comments are greatly appreciated as well! I'm sure we can do some kind of job exchange for critical reflections :p

thanks for your kind words on a couple of my songs my fellow sussex'er!

i will listen again with your comments to my comment in mind.

ah yes the ill fated russian campaign - a few have fallen into that trap. funny how everyone wanted his graphic in their profile pictures!

Thank you for your appreciative comment on "Mensch Walter".

Ah yes, you've discovered the Chicken Nuggets Paradox! haha, thanks for commenting on my silly song.

Your massive compliment on Paper Heart made my whole month, thank you! There’s talk of releasing an album, were getting really excited about it.

TIL you don’t need pesticides if you have enough aspic

compost them and all will be sorted in time

if you are up for a collab, i have a rather difficult lyric that i suspect you will know what to do with. let me know whether or not you would like to take it on,

CROSS-EXCHANGE

in the cross-exchange of money
on the bridge
river boats passing beneath
musicians gathered across
on the river banks
a wallet is lifted
from the inside jacket pocket
a gold locket enameled with the breath of life
falls from the bridge
into the river
and two tickets to the movies
are purchased with a counterfeit bill

the boy and girl met on the esplanade
she was waiting for someone
he was looking for someone
now she watches the movie
as he fingers the legal tender
he has received as change
from the counterfeit bill
and both recognize themselves
in the faces on the screen
but do not recognize each other
perhaps because they are now awake

aloft in the cross-exchanges of money
as the trans-national contracts
near expiration
a toll booth stands empty
somebody jumps from the bridge
somebody who was supposed to meet somebody here
somebody who never made it to the meeting place
on the esplanade
where his friends play guitars
in the red and blue glow
of the river boats passing by.

Thanks for all your generous comments - I will return the favour at some point!

Oh my gosh! I totally hear the "I Got a Girl" thing you're talking about! Hopefully this won't require a fifth draft of the tune, haha

Yes, the FakeIt challenge has got a lot of takes this year and MtMelodie's is certainly a great one! Thanks for the kind words about my lyrics.

I mean that's a great line! (The radio announcer bit) I reckon you should use it some time on another song if you're getting rid of it! Fair to say it doesn't necessarily fit the rest of the song though :)

I guess even the pests think British food sucks, heh.

I’m not sure about the agricultural scene in Sussex, but I live in a city surrounded by corn fields and seeing crop dusters flying by over the fields is not uncommon! So it just makes me think of that. But I could certainly see the murderous meaning too! :)

Thanks so much for your very thoughtful comments on my songs. It is so very appreciated to get such meaningful feedback. Thankyou!

Wow! Thanks so much for sitting down and listening to the maddest song I've ever done...
If they gave medals for listening and commenting, you would now get one!

How long did it take? I reckon about 7 hours to get to this point, and it probably needs another 5-10 hours just to get the mix properly right. But my ears had just given up, so I thought, "what the heck, I'm just going to post it as-is" 😀

I think it is a little Motown-y. Motown spans quite a lot I guess! I like that bit too. Wanted to say thanks for the comment on Fading Away, the reference to obscure Brisk/Taro collabs of the past made me feel all warm and fuzzy (and probably thoroughly confused @oddbod 😂).

Thanks for commenting! I saw an update that 1000 volt ghost was adopted last week (yay!) although in the update he was listed as *10,000* volt ghost, so perhaps his name is even more powerful than what I thought it was?! Not sure which is the correct version!

Thanks for the comment.
Gosh, Microdisney. Now there's a band I've never heard anyone else mention before. I played Clock Comes Down The Stairs to death. I loved that album.

thank you very much !

Thanks for checking out Try To Understand and for your kind comments. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your detailed thoughts.

It was! I played it a lot at the time.

hehe that's more fuzzy guitar on the outro to Sleeping Dream but I was definitely pushing the fuzz into comb-and-paper territory 😀

Mew! Not listened in years but i loved Frengers

Thanks for the listen on Will You Get Tired Of Me Someday and the comments too.

Hey thanks for the kind words. I love the flaming lips. I did a cover once online and wayne coyne commented on it! Made my day.

Haha thanks. I was alone in the house on Sunday recording that one, and it felt weirdly cathartic to do all that yelling 😂 felt like a little insight into what primal scream therapy must be like! My throat has actually been feeling a lot better - almost as if singing has helped loosen it a bit, so I’ve put a new note on my profile to say I shall stop boring everyone about it.

Thanks for the comment. I use Spire to do the NES sounds, but anything with capability to do square and triangle waves will work for you. There are even free NES VST plugins if you google around. :)

Wow, thank you for listening to my tunes and all the really kind feedback! I have you on my list for listening when I time this weekend and looking forward to it.

nope you delivered on our 2 agreed collabs :-)

Thanks for the lovely comment on 'Growing a Bean' interesting you should ask about me and @davidtaro as we may have something planned for this year!

Thanks for your positive comments about my silly song, "Taste Buds Rule My World". Question - does liking peanut butter more than the bread make me a gourmand? I hope so!

Thanks so much for the comments! I’m glad to see people are hearing these songs like I hear them.

I had to smile about the #guy_with_pianoroll hashtag. Maybe I should use something similar when I use my DAW!

No worries, I've still got a bunch of your amazing songs to get listening to!

Thanks for the quick comment! I had to reupload it so it should be working now :)

Let’s do it!

Hello! Thank you for your kind comment on Urgent Grain!

Ah yes, York is a great place to spend a year. I love it.
Not too familiar with Sussex, but am right there with you on ABBA Gold's magical powers!
And needy inner voices too :)

I'm really glad that you enjoyed the video and the music for "Fireworks" and your comment means a lot to me. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I think the twinkly keys of which you speak is a Fender Rhodes plugin that Waves make. But you could have any kind of Rhodes/elec piano to get the same effect. I just wanted the twiddly bits to sound vaguely like Billy Preston on One After 909, and I think he had a Rhodes. He also had way more ability, but we'll gloss over that.

Oh yes, I did notice there was another meaning... Hey, and I learned something new. :)

Thanks for the listens and comments.

Thanks for leaving such a nice comment on "Weights" and for sharing your thoughts!

Oh, you know I'm fine with it. I will listen to the other version anyway. David

Thank you so much for the lovely comment on words dig deep! :)

Hahah, yeah, I was going for that effect! And thanks for the compliment on the vocals :) For some reason it has felt very difficult to create my own music this year, so it's good to have other people's tracks to growl over. Of course I'm hoping I can get in a headspace of creating my own material during this FAWM as well.

Thanks for the comment on "Celestial Slime"! As @emplate mentioned, the inspiration for the song came mainly from the 20th century. Brutal Truth wasn't consciously on my mind but it's not like I haven't listened to them a whole lot in my time.

Cheers for the comment on "Celestial Slime"! Yeah, I tripled the vocals in the end to give the last round of chorus more mass, if that's what you meant. It might sound kind of like a delay because the timing's not great, but hey, this is FAWM, so no time for seeking perfection, heheh! 😀

Can't comment for @hmorg, who composed the song, but I feel it's quite old school death metal, so more like late 80s/early 90s than 2000s. I guess it somewhat brings old Cannibal Corpse and Autopsy to my mind, but yeah, @hmorg as the man behind the music can obviously comment on the matter more precisely.

A fair comment regarding labels, and of course the best music is that which cannot be labelled! Not sure if that sentiment holds true in reality, but it sounds plausible enough.

Thanks for your kind comments!

You're most welcome and, yes, you absolutely could have gotten away with it if you hadn't confessed in the liner notes! Never admit to anything, that's the lesson here! Joking aside, I see no problem at all in programming your guitars instead of recording them. Whichever way gets the job done fastest is the right way. That's what FAWM has taught me so far.

Thank you as well for your kind words on 'Flow, My Tears'. My labeling it as Lofi was as much an effort to fit it into a genre box as anything. I don't know if it's the same for you but I often struggle to genre-fy my own music!

Much obliged. Though I wasn't conscious of it, I think "weary" is the perfect word for what I was going for with "Didn't Say Stay." You're right on, too, in saying resignation mixes with the regret. Thank you for sharing your interpretation (and not just because I agree).

Thanks for the comment. And, yes, the drums came out low in the mix now that I listen back, good catch! I can never seem to get the balance right without spending a ton of time in the mix, and I'm committed to sticking to the writing phase as much as possible this month.

Thank you so much for the listen and comments on my song!! Most appreciated!!

I wish I could come at songwriting from a more computer-based angle, though. It definitely doesn't sound like fakery -- and I love how "finished" the sound is, even if you are still tweaking. It sounds "real."

I'm honored that you enjoyed my little worship song. I think that's the beauty of music, is that it can bring everyone together no matter what we may believe. I appreciate your kind words very much, thank you. :)

SP was a little before my time. Zwan came out just when I was getting into rock and roll. Maynard James Keenan is my all-time favorite vocalist. When Paz left A Perfect Circle to join Billy, I became fascinated by this bald man with a strange voice. Courtney Love’s best songs were written by him, or at least co-written, and who would leave APC? I got Siamese Dream from my brother’s friend in his band and used to fall asleep to it. That’s my fav record by them. Silverfuck is so lush and heavy at the same time. Love it. I love Mellon Collie, too. You know Billy is a wrestling fanatic now? Aside from Wilco, SP is Chicago’s star and Midwest rock music ✨Interesting man!!

Always leave your audience wanting more!

And write another song with that bit in it over and over. Please.

Thank you for those nice comments. I have to check out Mwng.

p.s. The minor chords challenge was one of the Daily challenges from Fawm. I get those over on IG. Not sure where they are in the forums.

Thanks for your thoughts on "Fish Baby Birthday" -- yes, even the odd lines mean something to me (sometimes multiple things) but "opaque" is a great word -- I'm okay with them being a little mysterious and meaning something or not to others. ;)

I WISH I could play sax...but the solo was generated by Band In A Box--which is an amazing program all around.

The choirs? I started off with this one, which is free:
https://heavyocity.com/product/emotive-choir/

I added a choir patch on the Korg M3, and then finished with the Spitfire Epic Choir, which is £29 and worth every penny.
https://www.spitfireaudio.com/originals-epic-choir

Professor Trevor Cox has put multiple IRs of the Inchindown tanks on Freesound; they're available for you to drop into your convolution reverb of choice here if you want to join in the fun: https://freesound.org/people/acs272/packs/13598/

Thanks for the comment on The Lynching Tree. The chorus is in half time. It’s a cool little trick to give it a more ‘epic’ feel

Thanks so much for the positive comment on my song! Glad you enjoyed it.

I kind of structured it after a Smashing Pumpkins song... stomping apples.. lol. Thought you might like it. If it doesn't hit you, feel free to let me know.

check it out... stomping apples....
SING TO ME DAVID L GRAHAM

Break out the sadness from your heart
Try to look at where you really are
I dive deep into your lake blue eyes
And scatter hope like a winter sky
But you laugh with a grin
And it’s easy to admit
That I’m too full of myself
So you know me so well
Right here at the beginning (where it begins)
Right here at the beginning (where it begins)
But I can’t sing this song for free
Tell me the words that I might need
If you want healing or revealing
In the harmony, in the harmony (it’s harmony)

Sing the happy parts and sing the sad
Sing the slow train and sing the fast
Sing to me..Sing to me…the harmony
Sing to me

Hold to your madness if you can
In this dark drear it’s part of the plan
I slashed you up with words like sharp steel
And you try to pretend you don’t feel
But you laugh with a grin
And it’s easy to admit
That I’m too full of myself
But now I know you well
Right here at the beginning where it begins
Right here at the beginning where it begins
But I can’t sing this song for free
Tell me the words that I might need
If you want healing or revealing
In the harmony, in the harmony (it’s harmony)

Sing the happy parts and sing the sad
Sing the slow train and sing the fast
Sing to me..Sing to me…the harmony
Sing to me

Lose yourself and I will lose me too
Be yourself and I can too..

Sing the happy parts and sing the sad
Sing the slow train and sing the fast
Sing to me..Sing to me…the harmony
Sing to me

Thanks for the kind comments! Feels good to finally get going! I’ll take a Coxon comparison all day long! Am about to read his book (Verse Chorus Something Something) - it looks v good (o like the cover anyway!)

Thank you so much for listening and for your kind words on Without You. Looking forward to hearing more of your FAWM 2023!

the expanded structure of back and forth seems to me more internal than external, which adheres to the basic verse/chorus alternations. but the structures within those verses and choruses is quite interesting. the berses especially remind me a bit of the freedom of the "strawberry fields forever" structure. and the chorus doesnt stop at its function as a chorus, but blossoms out upon itself to fill expansion. i also liked the reflective coda at the end. thank you for the bonus song

Thank so much for the thoughtful comment on my song! Had to pop over to check out yours.

far from being alienating, your ABCABC structure draws me in and keeps me there. at no point do i tire of the obvious repititions that plague so many songs adhering to generic structures. i think even people who cling to the safety of generic forms tire of the predictabilities therein and shut off somewhere in the third verse.

“Bags of fun”, best comment so far and thank you!

Thanks so much for the lovely comment on "State of Fear!"

My bass signal chain for that track is a JayDee Roadie active bass (with frets) into a Phil Jones Bass Briefcase Ultimate amp; I take the DI out from that into the studio's mixer, routed out to a MOTU M4 audio interface, and thence to Ableton.
In the DAW, there's EQ to roll off the top above 8kHz and the low end below 50Hz, into a compressor set to "brute force"(so the ratio is 12.5:1 or higher), into Waves Bass Rider set to "slow fretless" and Waves MondoMod set to "medium chorus" and that's it.

The chorus is definitely the lynchpin of pop and rock and given this is my background the chorus is important. Thanks for the kind words and I’m going carry on my chorus production line.

Like you say, sometimes specificity adds depth beyond the meaning. Your late Jan burst seems to have tuned your engine and not exhausted you - this is very good news!

I resigned my job today and did absolutely no work in celebration. My workflow is super efficient and quick once an idea comes. I am aiming for soem high quality stuff this year bu6 let’s see how it all pans out.

You are most welcome. The first time I heard that song I listened to it about 12 times in a row. She really is a musical pioneer. There is a recent cover that I enjoyed too which you can probably find. The person who brought me to Imogen Heap was Jacob Collier - who you should check out if you love harmony and well, music!

For Reaper to have a "built-in" autotune is genus. I'll have to see if my DAW has one as well. Thanks!

I will take a Beatles comparison all day every day. Thanks for the kind words.

Thanks for your comment on my first song! Yes I am definitely a Teenage Fanclub fan amongst many many other great bands! I’m looking forward to listening to your tunes…

Impossible…You just try. It will only be more original and unique…

Thanks for checking out Eating and Drinking. I appreciate the listen and your kind comments.

Thanks Brisk! I was nervous posting my first song. The "whoop" is my vocal with a pitch shifter. Happy FAWM! I'll be checking your stuff out, too.

Love that Rorschach comment you gave me on "Warm Blink." I look forward to revisiting your page when you have some tunes up.

Thanks for the kind comments

Ah well, on that note… check out this one: https://write.fawm.org/songs/11750 (Potatoes? No thanks, I don’t…)

awww thank you!!! i'm gonna check out your Preemie tracks 😀 - that song juice just hits at the weirdest times, am i right?!

Hey, thanks for your comment - ambiguous yet specific is quite an achievement, I’ll take that! (And in the end, just what was it that he wouldn’t do?……..)

Thank you for the feedback. I'm very happy with the feeder comparison. May have to give the first album a spin again

Thanks for the kind words

I'll be trying drums with bass soon. Building up to it. 😀

The bass signal was compressor, flanger, boost, interface, BassDeluxe amp sim on clean channel, 4x10 cab sim, then some light EQ. Just adjusted settings 'til it sounded heavy.

Foreboding is my default. Glad you enjoyed it! 😀

Thanks for the message. Look forward to hearing your always interesting and creative contributions. Have a good one.

Ahh I’m so tickled you enjoyed @nadine’s song Angel in Jeans. Singing it was such a treat!

Will do.

Hey, Brisk...

I had not heard of the Kink's Day's until you shared that link. Now, I will always remember it! Good song... Thank you!

Nice vibes in this is all I believe in. :-) Have a good FAWM!

Is it the Kinks that made the song, "Kicks?" Great song and enjoy FAWM!

Hey man! How are you doing? You’re being mighty prolific in the dog days of January! Don’t peak too early!

Thanks for stopping by my introductory song and leaving a nice comment.

Have fun with FAWM!

You're welcome - And thanks for listening! "Angel in Jeans" is quite catchy and I'm happy that @gm7 and @caitlin added their mojo.

Nothing premature about that...You've got me in a trance...

thank you for your message. i will write some lyrics for you once we are underway.

Dauphin is anglicized. I pronounce it Daw-Fin. 😄

Thank for checking out some tracks from my recent release Delay Tactics. Not that it matters, I wanted to mention that that release is my first album that is “generally pleasing electronic noise” rather than my typical ambient string-fuzz/astral funk.

Just saw your “Manitoba Girls” track. FYI, I live in Winnipeg Manitoba, Canada. Small world indeed. 😎

I really enjoyed your song you posted on the Gateway Song thread. Following. Have a great FAWM!

im not sure what part you find interesting but happy to share my midi pattern and the settings i used with sampler

Can’t wait to be hypnotized…Bring it on!

I also often go for morose but catchy, so you're in good company 😁

Hey, thanks for the kind words💚, and I look forward to hear what you'll come up with:) Happy FAWM😄

good to see you again! have a great fawm!

Have a lovely FAWM! I'll be back to check your new stuff!

Hey there! And YES, I am 1/3 of the way through Sapiens with Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century sitting at the top of my book stack. I love this author so much I immediately sent all 3 to my sister-in-law too!

Oh and Thank You so much for your kind words about No One Knows Their Names!!!

Hi, there! Thank you so much for listening to my album Pisces and leaving such a nice comment, I really appreciate it! Have a wonderful FAWM! 🤘🏼

I think you will have plenty of song juice. And yes, I am aware that sounds vaguely rude.

My annual 'Have A Lovely FAWM' message x

good to see you in all your aliases :-)