|
Log in to post
|
Print Thread |
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 12,315
Veteran
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 12,315 |
I married the girl next door. Well, actually, the girl down the street... We met the first day of 8th grade at the bus stop. I had just moved to town. We became best friends... through junior high...until I moved away. Never "dated". Sort of kept in touch. A few years later, I was in Ft. Lauderdale playing in bars. Got a message from her that she wanted to visit over spring break. She never left. We've been married 37 years. THE GIRL NEXT DOOR with two tin cans...some string from my kite we made a telephone and talked half the night when morning would come, she'd be waiting on my front porch my very best friend.....the girl next door the first time we danced... i was scared half to death the whole time she held me, i was holding my breath i knew we were friends...but i was feeling so much more i was falling in love.... with the girl next door as time went on i just fell deeper could she ever feel the same a raging river starts high in the hills from a single drop of rain a little french cafe....soft candlelight i practiced all day to get the words just right when i gave her that ring my heart heard what it'd been waiting for she said, "it looks like i'll no longer be the girl next door" as time goes on i just fall deeper and i know she feels the same a raging river runs deep in our hearts from that single drop of rain we still talk all night... we're still best of friends our daughters have grown like weeds on a fence can't help but laugh when we hear the knocks from our front porch it's every boy on the block.... for our girls next door gotta shake my head...cause i know how it feels to love .... the girl next door Here are the RealTracks used... RealTracks in style: ~518:Bass, Electric, Pop HalfNotes Ev 085 RealTracks in song: ~2051:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking CountryBrent Ev 085 RealTracks in song: ~365:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 085 RealTracks in song: 1422:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm PopCalypso Ev 100 RealTracks in style: 1856:Cello, Background PopCountry Ev 085 RealDrums in style: NashvilleEven8^1-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride I did the vocals. Harmonies are me and the BIABettes. I played the strings (not the violins, of course... a Yamaha P-85) Have at it. floyd
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 2,888
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 2,888 |
Hi Floyd,
you did it again!
What a beautiful declaration of love.
I think I can spare my words on story, vocals,
harmonies, arrangement and mix, I've said that so
often.
I can't get enough of it.
(One nit: there's a pause at the end followed by an ugly crackle. Perhaps you can remove that).
Guenter
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 4,487
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 4,487 |
Hi, Floyd !!
Yes, you really made it this time...
You got me crying....I have an almost
similar history as you, but we only
got 42 years, me and my sweet dear Beni !
I can only hope and pray that your marriage
would last much, much
longer !:))
Cheers
Dani
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2,925
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2,925 |
Now THAT is how to write a love song! What a wonderful tribute Floyd.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,365
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 7,365 |
Nice story, great song, excellent mix and soulful delivery.
There's a lot of solid craftsmanship in the writing.
I liked the way you snuck in the cello, built to full strings, and then thinned out the instruments again. Very effective.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,646
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 2,646 |
Outstanding lyrics and the emotion you put in the vocal brings it to life. Top notch work here, very well produced tune, thanks for sharing and congrats on the marriage. My Music
My TunesPsalm 57:7 My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 7,890
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 7,890 |
Hi Floyd
Beautiful song. What even makes it more special as I was written from a very personal place. Most of my songs while only instrumentals were discovered from a very personal place. This is definitely my favorite song of yours. Well done.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 4,314
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 4,314 |
Hey Floyd, I'll bet this scores some major points at home, with the wife and the daughters too. Another great write, production and vocals. You leave us all in awe with
your work. One very minor thing I would change and as you know mixing is all opinions, the strings are very effective with crescendo as David pointed out, but I
thought they got too loud. Loud enough that they drowned out the other instrumentation. Could just be my compromised hearing too. Great song, one of your best of
which there are many. Tom
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 7,753
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 7,753 |
Floyd,
This is very sweet... Love the sentiment and feel. Great job.
Bob
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 12,315
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 12,315 |
Guenter - thanks for the nice comments - and thanks for the heads up on the ugly crackle - I took care of it.
Dani - never meant to make ya cry, man... hang on to the good memories..
Joanne - thanks for that...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 3,331
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 3,331 |
Almost lost for words.
Even without the message, the song screams out "professional". Wonderful arrangement, great choice of RTs and the usual Radio-Ready mix.
Add in the inspired lyrics, delivered with a beautifully emotional voice and well...
I'm lost for words!
ROG.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,033
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 10,033 |
Good job Floyd.
Yeah, I can relate to that having raised 2 daughters....
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd 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: Feb 2010
Posts: 613
Journeyman
|
|
Journeyman
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 613 |
Hey Floyd, Another outstanding job! Very well crafted and an excellent mix! Your a machine!  My beautiful wife & I will be celebrating 29 years on the 24th of this month.  Well Done! Greg
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,705
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 6,705 |
Well thank you very much Floyd! Because of this wonderful song you may have just ruined it for every married male musician in the world! My bride and I are approaching 50 years and I do have a song ready to go, thinking should I wait out the next five years before I publish it, cause hell in five years I may be in diapers unable to hold a guitar, or bite the bullet and do it now. Anyway I digress, I loved this song. Re: The you ruined it for us part of this reply, I was just kidding, well sort of. Later,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 5,083
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 5,083 |
Floyd,
What a sweet story and song. Love everything about it.
Also congrats on 37 years!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,406
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,406 |
Floyd, Dude, really!!!!
That folks is how it's done!
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini with 16 gig of ram, BiaB 2025, Realband, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 9 32c , Melodyne 5 editor, Presonus Audiobox 1818VSL, Presonus control app.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 12,315
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 12,315 |
Nice story, great song, excellent mix and soulful delivery.
There's a lot of solid craftsmanship in the writing.
I liked the way you snuck in the cello, built to full strings, and then thinned out the instruments again. Very effective. David - Thanks for all that. So.. you do a lot of "string work"... did you feel the levels were a bit high? First time I've added strings and I struggled with them a bit... Outstanding lyrics and the emotion you put in the vocal brings it to life. Top notch work here, very well produced tune, thanks for sharing and congrats on the marriage.
[/url] Robert - thanks. good to see you dropping by. Beautiful song. What even makes it more special as I was written from a very personal place. Most of my songs while only instrumentals were discovered from a very personal place. This is definitely my favorite song of yours. Well done. Scott - every once in a while I still write something "real". Of course, there is a little "license" taken here as well. Thanks for the listen..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 12,315
Veteran
|
|
OP
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 12,315 |
Hey Floyd, I'll bet this scores some major points at home, with the wife and the daughters too. Another great write, production and vocals. You leave us all in awe with
your work. One very minor thing I would change and as you know mixing is all opinions, the strings are very effective with crescendo as David pointed out, but I
thought they got too loud. Loud enough that they drowned out the other instrumentation. Could just be my compromised hearing too. Great song, one of your best of
which there are many. Tom Tom - Thanks. Like I mentioned to David, this is the first time I've added strings - and I played them in one pass - which took about 40 times before I got one without totally flubbing it. Trying to get the level right was surprisingly hard. I did re-mix (again!!!) and brought them down just a smidgen. However... they were intended to "take over" the chorus. Like a full orchestra behind the singer (me). Like Glen Campbell when he would play with an orchestra behind him. Or Neil Diamond. That kind of thing. I would be interested in impressions from anyone who might want to chime in on the subject. If they don't "work", I'd like to know - no need to hold back opinions...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 613
Journeyman
|
|
Journeyman
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 613 |
I think the strings sound good, the level is ok to me. I thought the effect you you were going for (Glen C orchestra, etc) was pretty much achieved... I mean short of actually having a full orchestra.  I'm liking it! Greg
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
User Showcase
|
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,079
Veteran
|
|
Veteran
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 3,079 |
Floyd, That is a wonderful song; the sentiments, the vocal delivery and the arrangement are all top class. Strings are in my opinion notoriously difficult for us "home recordists" to get to sound accurate as there are SO many variables to play with. I just mention attack and decay of the individual instruments as an example. Then there is the arrangement of the notes. If the chord change is G to C, for example, then the movement of the notes are important, as are the inversions of the chords for each section of the orchestra. eg: the notes are G B D to G C E, or G B D to E G C or B G D to C E G, (no passing notes mentioned here) I sometimes use Cakewalk Studio Instruments in my arrangements in my string sections and I try to get the 3 instruments Bass, Cello and Violins,recorded individually, to stay in the range of their real counterparts. Which is <swear word> difficult  to get to sound right as it takes as long to do that as it does to do the writing,singing and recording. So I usually just dial up an orchestra patch in say EMU Proteus Free and play the chords and then add some movement after.....sometimes!! I also use the CHORD track, which can be saved from a BIAB song, for this as all the notes are already displayed as midi and need some judicious transposing which then achieves a simplified version of movement. A few songs I have done have involved many versions of that track, with notes added by me and some notes of the same pitch "glued together". In a 2 bar version of the 1st example above, G B D to G C E, I occasionally glue the G's together and say split the G in the second bar at beat 2. In my DAW, Cubase SX, there is a midi mute tool which I use a lot to try and keep a part to, say, a 2 note chord which moves. Usually done visually by looking at the piano roll with a chorus/verse fitting the screen. Here is an article giving advice on Arranging for Strings which explains it better than I could. BUT the song, The Girl Next Door is still as in my first paragraph. A wonderful listen.Well done, I assume the wife is proud to be the subject of such a wonderful song. Alyn
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Update Your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 to Build 1128 for Windows Today!
Already using Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows®? Download Build 1128 now from our Support Page to enjoy the latest enhancements and improvements from our team.
Stay up to date—get the latest update now!
Update to RealBand® 2025 Build 5 Windows Today!
Already using RealBand® 2025 for Windows®? Download Build 5 now from our Support Page to ensure you have the latest enhancements and improvements from our team.
Get the latest update today!
PowerTracks Pro Audio 2025 for Windows is Here!
PowerTracks Pro Audio 2025 is here! This new version introduces many features, including VST3 support, the ability to load or import a .FLAC file, a reset option for track height in the Tracks window, a taller Timeline on the Notation window toolbar, new freeze buttons in the Tracks window, three toolbar modes (two rows, single row, and none), the improved Select Patch dialog with text-based search and numeric patch display, a new button in the DirectX/VST window to copy an effects group, and more!
First-time packages start at only $49. Already a PowerTracks Pro Audio user? Upgrade for as little as $29!
www.pgmusic.com/powertracks.htm
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forums58
Topics83,721
Posts769,361
Members39,409
| |
Most Online25,754
Jan 24th, 2025
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dansk
Deutsch - Windows
Español
Français - Windows
Italiano - Windows
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Svenskt
русский
Japanese
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Korean