Song at the bottom. Just click on the white triangle. No need to read this!
I wrote the lyrics 2+ years ago, and did a very rough recording of the chords using a small guitar. I remember I placed the audio recorder too close to the guitar, so the sound was rather rough. Also, the chords came out as they did, so ... well, it sounded terrible.
But I got some encouragement from a friend, who said the song needed some work. He could have said it needed some amnesia, but he didn't. :shrug:
The intro-outro part is very, very old. Don't ask. Old. Very.
Anyway, some time later I recorded it as one track, then two and three. Reversed part of the instrumental-only part in the middle just to see how that sounded. Again, not good except for my all-forgiving ears.
I published an instrumental version on archive.org - so that makes it two tunes I have there so far. Added the lyrics to that post, but it was clear no-one could sing it without a sing-able melody somewhere.
Finally, here's the version where I stop. Not the finished version. Just the version where I stop.
Because I need to do other things. Like, do some personal nanowrimo stuff, writing not one song in 3 years but say 10-15 songs in a month?
It's recorded with Ardour 2. I used Hydrogen with the "tap, tap, tap" keyboard trick to know what the speed is (I'll re-dig it for you if interested; I need it for other songs anyway).
Using a very basic hard-soft-soft-soft rhythm, I added the rhythm chords with a guitarlele, effectively transposing the key by a fifth, which apparently didn't make it less singable by me. I realised later that I had done something strange to the chords when the final third or so begins. I would find it hard to reproduce it, but I think it enriches the song somehow.
It's all first takes, and it always comes out different anyway.
So. Then I added the melody, using the guitarlele again. Would I be able to re-play it like I did? Nope.
Then I (ugh) sung. Not very loud, as there were neighbours around.
Then I muted the hydrogen track, which had sort of served its purpose. I know people who have natural (and trained!) rhythm. Not my case.
Months later, yesterday really, I recorded the bass guitar. Could be trickier if I managed it, but no more patience. I'll see the proper brain-to-tape software yet! Maybe I should just do a song with all tracks hummed.
I had already added some echo stuff to the voice so that it doesn't sound so "me", and some panning. Not professional, but I think it helps you listen to each instrument separately or something.
So, here it is. See (and hear) below.
If you hate it, stop listening. Basically, it's all about protecting yourself. Life's too short to hear crap you can just turn off.
If you like it, good. Hey, even if you don't deeply dislike it, I call that a success!
If you can improve on it somehow, I can share the four tracks so that you may substitute, say, the voice. :-? Or add some proper something. I even have a video of how to play the basic chords, but I'm not publishing that anytime soon I think. (That video is where I took the picture from. Summer 2013.)
Anyway, here it is:
