A TonyD original, adapted by Tadpui - Seems A Shame

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I am not a crook's head
Member Since: Mar 14, 2003

Tony asked me a few weeks ago if I'd like to record one of his songs. After listening to it, I liked the song and thought that it would be a lot of fun to do.

So I asked Tony for some artistic license in my adaptation of the song. He gave me the thumbs up, so I came up with my own arrangement of the song's lyrics, trying to keep Tony's original vision intact. Well, hopefully I have succeeded.

Well, I can never post music here without first making excuses for it, so you'll have to forgive the 2nd verse vocals...they're bound to be redone. I just couldn't wait to post this for Tony and everybody else to hear and critique. It's also a little longer that I'd hoped. 5 minutes for a ballad is pushing it...I just couldn't bear to skip any of the lyrics that Tony provided.

Let me know what I can do to improve it...anything from arrangement to instrumentation to effects to mixing!

Here's Tony's original version:
ches.globalsvcscorp.com/t...seemsashame.mp3

And here's my humble remake:
www.passingafternoon.com/...0-%20master.mp3

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Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003


Jun 26, 2005 06:42 pm

I really like it Tad and it didn't seem 5 minutes long so that in itself says it it's a good song well done.

The only negative listening in my phones, was the acoustic seemed recorded a bit to hot possibly. It wasn't clipped but just sounded a bit overloaded. Maybe to close to the mic?

Excellent job though, love the vocals, you have the perfect voice for this type of song.

Dan

The fat one always watches us.
Member
Since: Nov 08, 2002


Jun 27, 2005 10:55 am

Wow, great job man. Your vox is right on, it fits perfectly. Nuthin like depressing acoustic stuff to light up my day.
the changes you made are good, the timing was a little off in the second verse, but you already knew that.Its got all the sorrow i wrote into it, well captured and excuted my friend. When i do this tune, you can tell its been 5 minutes, but you really have the talent to let it flow. old dog is right, didnt seem too long.
I must say i feel like a proud father...
thumbs up!

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Jun 27, 2005 12:32 pm

listening to the original, man this sounds like it belongs on Floyd's "The Wall".....love the progresson, and the soft dark vocals....

Tad's version....i'm hearin' the organ kinda distorting (in the beginning), not sure if it's supposed to or not. i really like the vocal performance, soft but not all reverbed out and ballady...very tasteful, thanks for not puttin' any percussion in it, i think this song does well without anything....(oOOooh maybe a reverbed out tamborine hit on the 2 and 4 of the chorus's?) bah... man i'm really likin' the acoustic guitar tone too, very natural sounding.

thumbs up from me

Hello!
Member
Since: Jan 12, 2004


Jun 27, 2005 02:18 pm

I also listened and liked this little tune.

I liked Tony's version tae but this one is softer, more in line with the way I heard it in my heid..that said, as I say, I do like Tony's too.

Nice vox and nice acoustic work..a good song all in and a well recorded, mixed and produced effort for sure.

BIG thumbs up fi me man.

Coco.

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003


Jun 27, 2005 03:14 pm

Hey thanks for the listens, everybody.

Tony, glad you like how it's turned out so far. I really got into doing this song. I went back and forth with keys, tempo, lyrics, and I ended up landing pretty close to where your original version was. I agree with WYD that your version sounds very Waters-era Floyd. Matter of fact, I think that I've said that about some of your other songs in the past.

OldDog, can you tell if it's a nylon string (panned a bit left) or a steel string (panned a bit right) that sound overloaded to you? It could be my novice attempts at getting the multiband compressor to work right. I think I bosted the lows and low mids too much with it and that's probably the overloading right there. But there are some pops and clicks in the nylong string intro bit that I didn't notice until I'd already integrated the track into the mix. Doh!

WYD, that's actually a distorted electric guitar with a Leslie plugin applied to it in the intro and the bridge. It does sound similar to an organ with the Leslie on it doesn't it? But at least the distortion is intentional hehehe.

Coco, thanks for the kind words. The ol' ego needs all it can get you know? :)

Member
Since: Jul 02, 2003


Jun 27, 2005 03:23 pm

It's the one on the left. It very well could be a bit too much boost with compressor on the bottom, cause it's mostly when hitting the full chords. Not really that noticiable once the whole song is going though.

Again, great job on the song, 2 very different sounding takes on a song, and both great!

Dan

Ignorance Is Strength
Member
Since: Nov 10, 2002


Jun 28, 2005 05:30 pm

Cool, I did a version of this lighthearted little diddy too. Its amazing how the 3 of us heard this song differently.
My version is just a rough, I got into other projects and never really finished this one. But the main idea and feel are what I was after. My timing is way off in parts of this tune and thats one thing that convinced me to put this one aside.
IMO,since this song is about such lighthearted subjects as slow death, insanity, sleeplessness and ultimately returning to the sea from whence we came, I wanted a lot more going on in this tune than Tadpui or TD. I actually wanted it to not make sense in places. Oh...and I changed the name too, don't remember why.
listen to "To the Sea", headphones definately work best.
www.nowhereradio.com/arti...362&alid=-1

The fat one always watches us.
Member
Since: Nov 08, 2002


Jun 29, 2005 08:06 am

I forgot about this one. Love the backwards guitar- nuthin says going a little crazy like your guitar going backwards. One thing we all did the same was leave out percussion.....


Thanks for the floyd ref daddy! that made my day. Maybe i should call rodger and tell him the wall is not quite finished......

Hows the final version coming in Tad?

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003


Jun 29, 2005 10:27 am

I'm going to redo the vocals, find a more subtle vocal reverb, find a more subtle reverb for the entire mix, and try to do some better premastering work on it...but I'm booked this weekend so it's going to be another week or so before I can even get started.

The fat one always watches us.
Member
Since: Nov 08, 2002


Jul 01, 2007 07:32 pm

my god, i never knew you finished this. bring tears to my eyes... Thanks tad- ive got alot you could play. if you ever run short of music hit me on email
thanks again
tonyd

Hold 'Em Czar
Member
Since: Dec 30, 2004


Jul 01, 2007 07:54 pm

wow almost two years to the day! good timing tony!

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jul 01, 2007 08:51 pm

How did this one slip by me as well. Tadpui, that is killer indeed. I loved it for sure.

Especially love that is digging up another old dead thread. Man were getting good at this.

Czar of Cheese
Member
Since: Jun 09, 2004


Jul 01, 2007 09:01 pm

Of course, I didn't notice the YEAR when I started reading this thread! It's good stuff that I've never heard before! I love HRC covers! Very cool!

Frisco's Most Underrated
Member
Since: Jan 28, 2003


Jul 02, 2007 12:38 pm

man, i didn't notice the year either. I saw the title, and was like, now this I GOTTA hear. And then, as i read, the date struck me, and I was thinking, how the hell did i miss this 2 years ago??? Off to listen to it now...

EDIT: WOW, I really like this!!!

The fat one always watches us.
Member
Since: Nov 08, 2002


Jul 02, 2007 08:26 pm

the flame said once "this is the best song you ever wrote tonyd"
my crew was blown away tad- thanks buddy- you did it the justice it deseved.
tony
my uncle crash did a version of this also, i dont have it on my laptop.
db could you email him his pw,login he seems to have for got it Crash was his user name

I am not a crook's head
Member
Since: Mar 14, 2003


Jul 02, 2007 09:33 pm

Well thanks a bunch Tony for the kind words. And to everybody else as well!

I'd almost like to record this one again since I've learned a thing or two about micing acoustic guitars. But hey I had strong material to work off of so kudos to the songwriter.

I didn't know that Crash was your uncle Tony. I do remember him hanging around when I first joined, but I don't see him much any more.

Czar of Cheese
Member
Since: Jun 09, 2004


Jul 02, 2007 09:58 pm

Tad,

I agree with you. I've been listening to a lot of your stuff lately, and I definitely hear improvements in your acoustic guitar sound over time. In fact, when I first listened to the "Seems a Shame" link above I thought, "Hmmm...the acoustic guitar sounds a lot muddier than on Tad's latest stuff." Then I noticed that the tune was from two years ago and it all made sense!

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