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Recently...Well a few weeks ago, I had a call from and acquaintance. He had a friend who wanted to record an Irish song in reggae style (He is Jamaican) Thinking he would be a musician and a quick enough job (no money offered of course) I said yes, sure I would do it for the experience of working in a style I know little about as a player. Turned out this chap could not sing, could not play and I would have to do everything and try and get some kind of vocal out of him. BiaB of course was my first port of call. Fields of Athenry was the song and a quick hunt of the interwebs found me a midi file that while sounding like the worst home organ in the world was well played and would work as a base for BiaB to pull out the chords and arrangement from. Then to apply a song style...Not finding one that worked for me I went hunting again RealTracks Set 102: Uptempo Reggae (RT102-A) seemed to fit the bill so I bought and downloaded it, after some playing around I got something that seemed to work. Into Logic Pro X it went, some tweaking and FX went on and time to record vocals...First stage took no more than a couple of hours, vocals were going to take a lot longer and work Melodyne to the max. I had to change everything he was doing, the way he was standing in front of the mic, how he was singing, persuade hime to actually learn the song so he could give me three almost identical takes to work with. After several weeks I realised we had got as far as we were going to get, the dude did his best and worked hard but still could not hold a note without wavering or it being actually in tune... Anyway Melodyne worked it's magic, I created harmonies out of the melodies he sang, pulled things as far in tune as I could, smoothed out the vocal wobbles and ended up with something he was delighted with. So I post a link to it, mostly for the great job BiaB did of providing a great backing track, only the guitar was played by me as I wanted a little more movement than the stock guitar provided. It's not a great track, but man it's miles away from where we started thanks to computer trickery from BiaB, Logic and some great plugins and of course that saver of poor vocalists Melodyne. https://soundcloud.com/los-cajones/athenry-final
Mac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9, 40 GB Ram. OS Catalina 10.15.7 Logic Pro 10.6.1 BIAB Everything Pack. A&H QU16. Roland Integra 7.
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Well... given that disclaimer, I wasn't expecting much. Nice surprise awaits those who would venture into the song link. Fairly well done and sounding good.
Still some vocals that could use a touch more of the Melodyne magic.
As you were describing the limitations and road blocks you faced..... I was thinking I would have told the guy "Sorry mon.... no can do"
However... who knows..... you might have the next T-Paine/Bob Marley right there.....
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 04/26/16 06:15 AM.
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.
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Paul, I read your description of the product, and given the obstacles you had to overcome, I wasn't expecting much.. .but when I listened I was blown away! What an authentic sounding Jamaican adaptation of the original song!
All your hard work really paid off in this! You should be very proud of your result! And the guy who put you to all the work for no compensation must certrainly be very happy with what he got in exchange for his bold request!
GREAT job! I'm very impressed with the magic you conjured up here!
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Well... given that disclaimer, I wasn't expecting much. Nice surprise awaits those who would venture into the song link. Fairly well done and sounding good.
Still some vocals that could use a touch more of the Melodyne magic.
As you were describing the limitations and road blocks you faced..... I was thinking I would have told the guy "Sorry mon.... no can do"
However... who knows..... you might have the next T-Paine/Bob Marley right there..... Ha ha no chance, really you should hear the raw files, those points that sound like they needed more melodyne? That was melodyne hitting the limit of what it could do...Or at least my skill level at using it. But many thanks for the compliments folks. It was a challenge maybe the biggest I have ever faced when recording and producing for someone else. The payback was learning an awful lot about making silk purses out of pigs ears and just what my kit will do when backs are against the wall. 
Mac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9, 40 GB Ram. OS Catalina 10.15.7 Logic Pro 10.6.1 BIAB Everything Pack. A&H QU16. Roland Integra 7.
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Now that was an interesting journey. Cool that it all landed in a good place. Fun listen, J&B PS We recently posted a reggae tune...might be the first time two were on the forum on the same page
Last edited by Janice & Bud; 04/26/16 09:04 AM.
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
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Well... given that disclaimer, I wasn't expecting much. Nice surprise awaits those who would venture into the song link. Fairly well done and sounding good.
Still some vocals that could use a touch more of the Melodyne magic.
As you were describing the limitations and road blocks you faced..... I was thinking I would have told the guy "Sorry mon.... no can do"
However... who knows..... you might have the next T-Paine/Bob Marley right there..... Ha ha no chance, really you should hear the raw files, Yes please post some RAW wave files. Just for us to see how great your work really is!! Sounds like a reggae song to me mon.
"When you help somebody else you are really helping yourself"
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Hi Paul, Nice work! You've been very creative My thought on posting raw files.... don't post any unless the person who recorded them is happy for you do so. Personally, I think that it's important to respect dignity and to safeguard any embarrassment that may naturally arise as a consequence of lack of musical experience and musical expertise. I'm sure that the person you worked with did the very best he knew how to. Reading the song's journey was interesting. You've done a great job! All the best, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Hi Paul, Nice work! You've been very creative My thought on posting raw files.... don't post any unless the person who recorded them is happy for you do so. Personally, I think that it's important to respect dignity and to safeguard any embarrassment that may naturally arise as a consequence of lack of musical experience and musical expertise. I'm sure that the person you worked with did the very best he knew how to. Reading the song's journey was interesting. You've done a great job! All the best, Noel Thanks Noel, and your absolutely right, I would not post the raw files it would be most unfair and a breach of trust. He did work hard, and it is a testament to that effort that we got to where I could create that performance.
Last edited by Paul Wickham; 04/28/16 03:34 AM.
Mac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9, 40 GB Ram. OS Catalina 10.15.7 Logic Pro 10.6.1 BIAB Everything Pack. A&H QU16. Roland Integra 7.
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This was really fun to listen to!!
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This was really fun to listen to!! Thanks David, it was fun to do, despite how the introduction story may have made it sound.
Mac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2019)3.6 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9, 40 GB Ram. OS Catalina 10.15.7 Logic Pro 10.6.1 BIAB Everything Pack. A&H QU16. Roland Integra 7.
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Great job Paul!! This is really well put together. Has a great natural vibe. Vocals do get a bit pitchy at times but it feels really natural. Excellent stuff! Enjoyed much!! Take care. Greg
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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.
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You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
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