Lars68

I added some strings played on my iPad to the second and third verses. I think it added some needed atmosphere to the song and also helped with changing the dynamics a bit. Here it is: https://soundcloud.com/lars1968/black-velvet-blanket Lars

Yes, I do. I've tried all kinds of variations in volume level when recording my voice, but I'm still terrible at hearing pitch when singing. Listening back, I hear it very well and can pick out bad spots, that I often thought where okey while singing. I guess I just lack experience... Lars

Stevendv, I too find some of Springsteens stuff overproduced, and I too have Nebraska as one of my all time favorite albums, of any kind by any artist. However, the production bit is only a minor gripe in a catalouge of wonderful music spanning almost forty years, and it probably says more about my inclination towards low-fi than anything else. Springsteen's music has been a constant in my life since about 1980, when I was a twelve year old kid. I still listen to him today. To me, the new album is his best in recent years. As a Swedish saying goes, taste is like our back side - parted. Lars

I'm on this journey right now, and what has helped me enormously is listening back to recordings of my singing. I record on the Garageband app on my iPad, which to me is the quickest, most hassle fee way to record. When doing a song, I listen to tons of attempts, trying to find the best bits of very short snippets. When I fail, I listen for sharp or flat singing to figure out why I'm missing, then I try again. I've also come to the conclusion that if I'm uncertain about a note being off or not, it is ALWAYS off. When getting it just right, there is no uncertainty. I have one oddity yet to figure out. When I sing, I have a hard time hearing the mistakes as they happen, but when I play back the recording I pick it up right away. Don't know why that is. So my advice is to record yourself and listen and compare attempts. Good luck! Lars

I'm across a big ocean, but I can surely relate. Lars

I have no definitive answer, but I have always thought of Dove and Firebird as the same. The Dove is not my cup of tea as far as looks, but I find the Firebird, with its standard shaped bridge and “fiery “ appointments to be super cool! Lars

EA, I understand, and it's a point I need to work on. I was just saying that I find it difficult to play the guitar with dynamics when tracking the recording without singing. I only sing in my head, to give me a sense of timing and rythm for the guitar. It's easier playing the guitar with "emotion" when I sing at the same time. Lars

I appreciate the confirmation about pitch. It's been a loooooong time coming for me. It is a skill I definitely wasn't born with. I've had to work several years to finally be able to put a simple tune like this one together. However, this is such a vital thing for me, since it means if I just work hard enough I can continue to write, play, sing and record simple tunes of my own. That has been my primary goal since I started writing five years ago. EA, I totally agree about the lack of dynamics. I think it's a result of two things. First I don't have much control or freedom within my voice. All efforts are put towards finding the pitch. It's not an instrument at my command. Second, doing multi tracking is harder on dynamics than singing and playing at once. Especially when laying down the starting guitar track, with no vocal timing or intensity to guide it. Thanks for listening! Lars

Thanks, means a lot coming from your keyboard, Sir!! Still can’t sing in one single take. The recording is a mix of lots of takes. I fail a hundred times for each note I get right, but the good thing about recording is that once is enough. So my biggest improvement is not singing better; it’s finding that one time I get it right 😀 Lars

BK, that was beautiful! Lars

Good songwriters react to the world around them, as they see and feel it. It has to eventually involve politics. I can't see how it couldn't. I think all good writers, who want to go beyond “ah do be do be da” work that way. Whether the listener agrees with the writer's view of the world, or not, well that's another story... Great guitar, and beautiful song. Lars

Here is my attempt at a love song, trying not to make it sound generic. I usually don't get very private here on the forum, but when I was younger I had lots of social anxiety and periods with stints of the blues. Hiding from the world was my solution. It was an easy escape but it never made things better. Meeting the mother of my children sixteen years ago changed my life. Had that not happened, who knows where I would be today... This is a song about finding love and finding oneself. https://soundcloud.com/lars1968/black-velvet-blanket Lars BLACK VELVET BLANKET a long black belvet blanket - was hanging over me a long black velvet blanket - as far as I could see It kept me from harm and tears but alone with my doubts and fears can you see me now, can you see me? (x3) a long black velvet blanket - my comfort and my curse a long black velvet blanket - never better, but forever worse with courage stabbed and pierced so far from your arms for years can you hear me now, can you hear me? (x3) my long black velvet blanket - you tore it asunder my long black velvet blanket - you brought me out from down under and your love is my saving grace my beacon for cloudless days and you see me now, and you hear me (x3)

Sal, I´d like to hear you do more original songs. The ones you have posted here have all been fantastic. I especially remember one you wrote for a family who lost their son. Just stunningly good! Why not devote some time to to setting up a good home studio and record those songs of yours? Maybe record an album of all originals? It's a facet of this hobby I would like to investigate more once my kids get older and there hopefully is more free time. Recording is fascinating, and songs like yours should be documented for the future. Lars

I’m in a sort of related spot right now. I have written a song, which I think by my shakey standards has great potential. The chords and melody came to me very, very fast, like within five minutes. The lyrics also came very fast the next day. I’ve now been struggling to realize the song I hear in my head into a decent recording. It’s not happening so far... So it’s like the muse came, dropped off a song and then went away (probably to hover around the Galveston area). Lars

So even the custom Martin D-18 is gone? The CW looks stunning! Lars