Original Song: Fixed (Stripped Version)

TommyM

Hey hey,

I wasn't sure about posting this as my emotions got in the way of technique a few times during the recording, but on listening back I think it's a fairly good, steady and controlled vocal so I wanted to see what you guys think. It's an original song that I wrote after a close friend of mine died a few years ago so I stripped it back to just a double-tracked and panned guitar and a bare, solo vocal with just a bit of reverb, compression and EQ to balance the mix a bit. As with the "Toy Soldiers" cover, my mic was really noisy so excuse the constant hiss over the high-end of the mix.

Songwriting-wise, what do you make of this one? I haven't posted any of my original stuff on here before but I'm starting to do a lot more writing again now that KTVA has given me a whole new set of vocal tools to experiment with.

https://youtu.be/ZFmxcM_Pf6U

highmtn

Good job of taking a piece of your heart out and crying it as a song. That's not the easiest thing to do. It's an intriguing melody and story. Sad. Compelling.

TommyM

Thanks Bob, I'm so glad that the emotion came across ok and that it didn't sound like some big melodramatic thing. Melody-wise, I tend to use a lot of weird, floaty chord voicings so my melodies usually drift around the same sort of space so I'm really pleased that it stood out on this one.

KaiEllis

bro...

@TommyM Incredible song. Connecting a strong vocal melody to the music is the most important part of a song to me, and this is both haunting and hummable. It's got kind of a Pearl Jam "Black" feel to it, and I mean that as the highest compliment.

TommyM

@KaiEllis Thank you so much mate, that's incredibly high praise. "Black" is the song where I learned to connect emotionally with my vocals for the first time, so it's a really important song to me and that comparison is just mind blowing.

KaiEllis

@TommyM Ha! That's too cool. It's just awesome when your influences show up in a great way.

Furious_Phil

God I wish I had such a velvety baritone voice as you!
Beautiful and haunting, mate... seriously.

[Deleted User]

Sounded good. I really like tunes of that nature. You can really dig into them.

A lot of words as usual ha ha ha. (had to throw that in there), but seriously. it was really good.

Is it going to stay that way? or do you plan to build on it?

Peace, Tony

TommyM

Cheers mate, thanks so much for checking it out and I very much appreciate the joke! I think we get each other a lot more now hahaha!

I'm not sure whether to expand on it production wise. I want to keep it fairly sparse but atmospheric, so maybe some droning pads with some light strings coming in later. I'd like to have it build a bit more in the middle eight, maybe a building harmony part or something and then drop out when the pre-chorus comes back in, just for the added emotional impact.

We shall see, I'll get back to original stuff sooner or later once I get these covers learned and my voice back in order.

[Deleted User]

When I listened to it I heard a piano come in with a bass, and then later to be dramatic I heard drums, and an electric guitar, and by the end everything faded away but the original guitar, and vocals.

That's what I see, and hear in this tune.

Peace, Tony

Diego

Wow.
It's like you can connect with the pain, somehow.
That's what's most important about a song, really connecting those emotions.
I agree with the others.
Beautiful.

Very good job on this one.

-Diego