Previous Thread
Index
Next Thread
Print Thread
Go To
Page 1 of 2 1 2
User Showcase
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 309
H
Journeyman
OP Offline
Journeyman
H
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 309
I'm a HUGE fan of Tower of Power so after listening to some of their tracks I was inspired to write what I thought would be the type of song you would hear from them. I based the song off of the "Feel" (I'm a huge fan of capturing the "Feel" of a song) from the old soul track "Backfield in Motion". One of my favorites.

https://youtu.be/WG7BXgQZ6xQ

I really had to focus on the "Chord Push" feature in BIAB and the overlapping horn arrangements. Doing horn phrases of this type require a fair amount of manual manipulation. This is not MultiRiff stuff but listening, and cutting and pasting phrases in the DAW that I thought fit. That was the purpose of me creating the tutorial "How I create SOLOs) on my channel. Anyway I think the song came off pretty well. Back in the TOP heyday their lead singer was Lenny Williams (So Very Hard To Go). Hell I ain't no Lenny but I also thought the vocals came across OK. :-) This was just me playing around. It will not be released. It'll go in the can so no point suggesting I remix. I'm done with this one and on to the next. Still constructive comments always welcome.

Style: Monday.STY Slow Swing 8th Blues (of course speeded up almost double the time)

Bass: Electric Blues
Organ: B3
Guitar 1: Acoustic Rhythm
Guitar 2: Resonator Rhythm Blues Muddy
Horns 1: Rhythm Blues Shuffle
Horn 2: Background Blues Shuffle
Piano 1: Acoustic Piano
Drums: Nashville 128
Synth Pad 1: Pop Believe
Synth 2: Rhythm Pep Squad Horns

Equipment: Usual stuff, Shure PG-42, Sonar Producer, Focusrite USB
Vocal Stuff: Antares, iZotope Nectar, AVOX Suite, CLA Vocals

User Showcase
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,751
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,751
Hi Henry,

This is a good song, well sung, mixed and produced.

Congratulations.

Best Regards
Nigel


Nigel Spiers
Christchurch, New Zealand
info@nzacoustics.com
User Showcase
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 720
Journeyman
Offline
Journeyman
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 720
This is awesome!

Great job!


-rob

User Showcase
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 22,521
Veteran
Online Content
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 22,521
Henry, I am another TOP fan and I think you did them justice with this piece. Your vocal is excellent and the horns were arranged perfectly.

This is your best to date IMHO

Loved it.


My dad showed me a 30-minute PowerPoint presentation of why one should always wear a condom during sex. They were all pictures of me!

64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
User Showcase
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 2,259
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Feb 2016
Posts: 2,259
Henry...great tune...I love the arrangement...the vocals are top-notch...everything is so tight...I would love to hear the brass a little more on their emphasis points but still a very cool mix.


www.soundclick.com/firesong
BiaB 2024, Steinberg Cubase Pro 13, Wavelab 11.2, SpetraLayers Pro 10, Audacity, Steinberg UR44 Interface, Yamaha Genos, Roland FP60 and FP10, Windows 10

You are who you are because you do what you do because of what you believe.
User Showcase
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,323
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 2,323
I'm a huge Lenny Williams/TOP fan, also familiar with the Mel and Tim tune from Teen Club dances back in the day. This was closer to Backfield in Motion and had enough of that "Henry Clarke goodness" to satisfy any R&B fan. Great work, Henry.


Windows 10, Intel Core I5 10400, 16 gig ram, Scarlett 6i6, Komplete keyboard, Sony Acid Music Studio 11, BIAB 2020 UltraPlus Pak
User Showcase
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,081
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,081
Fantastic! What a great mix. Your vocals blend in so well with the music. Well written too. The band hums along nicely too. Top notch production.


My music can be heard at: The Cracks
User Showcase
Joined: Oct 2021
Posts: 1,482
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Oct 2021
Posts: 1,482
Hello Henry
Great song
As always excellent sung
great melody and song structure
If you want to know what you can get out of BiaB you just have to listen to your songs ;-)
It was really fun to listen
Many greetings
Andi ;-)

User Showcase
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 197
A
Apprentice
Offline
Apprentice
A
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 197
Great horn arrangements!

User Showcase
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,321
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,321
Smoooooooooooooooth ear candy. Yummy! laugh

Bouncy, catchy, and fun to listen to.

Love it.


-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?
User Showcase
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,133
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,133
I like Tower of Power and I've seen them alive too. You have really captured their sound and their soulful mood is present. Nice and catchy melody, very good arrangement, horns sound good. Excellent vocals.

Janne


Hear My Music:

Soundcloud
YouTube

User Showcase
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,004
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,004
Cool mix.... Listening on my buds this sounds really sweet.

Love the "feel" to this song.

Everything is in it's place and tasty.

The vox sound like they have the slightest touch of AT on them.... while I'm not a fan of blatant AT, this, if that's what I'm hearing, is interesting. Kind of like a teaser. Of course, it could also be artifacts from the streaming or MP3 conversion ..... IDK....

I liked it.


You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
User Showcase
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,369
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,369
I love this Henry.. I am hearing what I think Guitarhacker mentioned in the previous comment about "AT Artifacts"
The track still sounds great to me... Feel good music.


Bandcamp
Soundcloud
Win-11; BiaB-2025 Audiophile
Cakewalk; Melodyne-5; Scaler 2; NI Komplete:
Focusrite Scarlett 18i20



User Showcase
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 309
H
Journeyman
OP Offline
Journeyman
H
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 309
Originally Posted By: bloc-head
I love this Henry.. I am hearing what I think Guitarhacker mentioned in the previous comment about "AT Artifacts"
The track still sounds great to me... Feel good music.


Thanks. You may hear a slight touch of AT since I absolutely hate any flat notes and it does provide a lift but I think it could also sound this way because I usually cut anything around 200 Hz for my vocals to eliminate and floor noise and any booming sounds coming through on the vocal. I could probably have cut a bit of highs in the 13k range. It was a bit difficult competing with the horns :-) Either way I'm not opposed to having a tinge of AT on my vocal to give it a more modern sound. Just my personal preference. Thanks for the kind comments about the track. Cheers folks.

User Showcase
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 5,083
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 5,083
Cool song and love your voice. Backfield is one of my all time favs so I dig the inspiration. I'm just not into the robotic modern stacks or any of what they used to call the Cher/TP autotune vox fx. Don't get me wrong you did a great job on them - I'm just old school. I can't help it. Great job.
Josie

User Showcase
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 878
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 878
Never heard of Tower of Power (and why should I look them up when I can listen to you instead?).
Your productions never disappoint which is probably a testament of your attention to detail. Keep up the good work!

Ghostgum


My music may not set the world on fire but if it causes a glow in just one person's heart, it has all been worthwhile smile
User Showcase
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 309
H
Journeyman
OP Offline
Journeyman
H
Joined: Apr 2020
Posts: 309
Originally Posted By: Sundance
Cool song and love your voice. Backfield is one of my all time favs so I dig the inspiration. I'm just not into the robotic modern stacks or any of what they used to call the Cher/TP autotune vox fx. Don't get me wrong you did a great job on them - I'm just old school. I can't help it. Great job.
Josie


Thanks for the comment. I'm also old school but enjoy all forms of creativity. I think you're in the camp that all autotune is the Cher/TP effect when essence it is not. AT is on almost every recording being released from major studios today. It's just another tool and doesn't have to sound robotic. That's the main misconception. It appears you think my vocal stack is AT when in essence it is not. There's only slight AT on the lead vocal. Nothing else. Here's my opinion on the use of AT or Melodyne https://youtu.be/Hd16ie1gQAw

User Showcase
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 15,035
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 15,035
Man, did that work on the horns ever pay off. They sound great.
And speaking of great you can apply that to your vocals, arrangement and mix.

You really grabbed that TOP vibe ... their early 70's releases were everywhere.
Back when you could hear R&B, blues, soul and country on the same station smile

Well done and enjoyable indeed.

J&B

PS This is the first song we've listened to on the forum with our new monitors. Great way to break em in!


Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more.
If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks!
Our Videos are here on our website.
User Showcase
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,749
Expert
Offline
Expert
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,749
Is that TOP (Tower Of Power) or POC (Power Of Clark)?
Nice job.
Horns rock and vocals come off beautifully.

Smooth as a velvet hammer!

Moto

User Showcase
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 4,109
Veteran
Offline
Veteran
Joined: May 2019
Posts: 4,109
I've heard this song many times since the day you posted it, Henry, so now have a chance to come here and tell you I love it, man. Such a great feel and so well sung and mastered. I've already told you how impressive those horns sound. the whole thing "feels so good to me."


Enjoy whatever happens!
marty

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@babumusic51
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/marty-straub
Band in a Box, Reaper, Cakewalk, Ozone 11
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Go To
Page 1 of 2 1 2

Link Copied to Clipboard
ChatPG

Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.

ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.

PG Music News
Video: Summary of the New Band-in-a-Box® App for iOS®

Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new Band-in-a-Box® app for iOS®! Designed for musicians, singer-songwriters, and educators, this powerful tool lets you create, play, and transfer songs effortlessly on your iPhone® or iPad®—anytime, anywhere.

Band-in-a-Box® for iOS® :Summary video.

Check out the forum post for more information.

Introducing the New Band-in-a-Box iOS App!

We’re excited to introduce the new Band-in-a-Box iOS app, designed to enhance your music creation. The Band-in-a-Box iOS app is the perfect companion to your desktop version, giving you the freedom to sketch out ideas wherever you are and develop them further when you're back at your workstation. Now, you can create, play, generate, and transfer songs seamlessly between your iOS device, and desktop.

Key Features:

- Easily Create and Play Songs – Build and play songs effortlessly on your device.
- MIDI and RealTracks/RealStyles Support – Generate MIDI tracks and RealTracks/RealStyles right on your iPhone or iPad (RealTracks/RealStyles require an internet connection).
- Notation Support – View chord sheets, professional notation, tab, and drum notation for all tracks.
...and more!

Watch the Band-in-a-Box iOS Overview Video.

Visit the Band-in-a-Box for iOS support page for more information and to listen to demos of our RealStyles catalogue.

Download the Band-in-a-Box iOS App from the Apple App Store today!

Update your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows® Today!

If you’ve already purchased Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®, great news—a new update is now available! This update introduces a handy new feature: a vertical cursor in the Tracks window that shows the current location across all tracks, and more.

Discover everything included in this free update and download it now at https://www.pgmusic.com/support_windowsupdates.htm#1124

Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Boot Camp: The AI Lyrics Generator

With Band-in-a-Box 2025® for Windows®, we've introduced an exciting new feature: the AI Lyrics Generator! In this video, Tobin guides you step-by-step on how to make the most of this new tool.

Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Boot Camp: The AI Lyrics Generator video.

Check out the forum post for more information.

Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Using VST3 Plugins

Band-in-a-Box 2025® for Windows® now includes support for VST3 plugins, bringing even more creative possibilities to your music production. Join Simon as he guides you through the process in this easy-to-follow demonstration!

Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Using VST3 Plugins

Join the conversation on our forum.

Video: Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows: Using The BB Stem Splitter!

In this video, Tobin provides a crash course on using the new BB Stem Splitter feature included in Band-in-a-Box 2025® for Windows®. During this process he also uses the Audio Chord Wizard (ACW) and the new Equalize Tempo feature.

Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Windows®: Using the BB Stem Splitter

Check out the forum post for some optional Tips & Tricks!

Congrats to Misha (Rustyspoon)…downloaded/installed a full Audiophile 2025!

Breaking News!

We’re thrilled to announce that Rustyspoon has made PG history as the very first person to successfully complete the download and install of the full Band-in-a-Box 2025 Windows Audiophile Edition (with FLAC files)—a whopping 610GB of data!

A big shoutout to Rustyspoon for stepping up to be our test "elf!"

Thank you for your support, Rustyspoon!

Forum Statistics
Forums58
Topics83,555
Posts767,029
Members39,353
Most Online25,754
Jan 24th, 2025
Newest Members
Adrichmen, Migrena, resco, ruppert, MrBarrysMinistry
39,353 Registered Users
Top Posters(30 Days)
MarioD 217
DC Ron 139
rsdean 95
WaoBand 82
Today's Birthdays
4mrwrkr, Alan59, HELIXT
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5