Causey Mounth

[Guest idol_wild]

I finally got round to properly listening to these.

I think there's a lot of promise in this, Chris, and I think you'll be quick to admit that it isn't quite the finished article in terms of your execution. As I think your brother posted earlier, with a bit of dedicated practice, you could totally nail it. And I think it could then flourish.

You've picked out solid melodies though, and I appreciate the subject matter of the recent song, and the general concept behind what you're doing. I'm totally looking forward to seeing what you do with this.

[Chris]

Thanks Phil!

I can already hear a big difference the more I learn about recording and the more I practice. Up until a year ago I'd never really sung before and had never just sat down and sang a song while playing the guitar, I was always just a guitarist.

So I've got a long way to go to with the vocals but I really appreciate all your comments as it's helping me learn!

[Chris]

I took a break earlier from a new track I'm working on to tweak Make Me A Man a bit. Changed the EQ on the guitars to make them a bit clearer and re-recorded the vocals.

Hopefully you guys will think it's an improvement

[Chris]

I've tried my hand at writing a wee ballad about selkies and the village I grew up in. A lot of traditional ballads feature fantasy creatures and death so I thought I'd give my own one a go. Selkies are seals who take human form on land. Some stories have them seducing people and luring them to their deaths on midsummers day.

There's a large colony of seals that live on an island which connects to the beach at Catterline on low tide. As far as I'm aware no-one has been lured to their death by them although a friend of mine did fall off the cliffs once after his brother did the "saved your life" joke but forgot the most important bit.

Cliffs of Catterline | Causey Mounth

Anyway new song featuring some pretty dodgy ebow playing in the solo. Hope you enjoy it.

[TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH]

Did you play the EBow part dry, or is there any reverb or delay on it? I couldn't really tell.

Anyway, I like the newer "voice" that you used for this one, yr vocals are improving. I liked the song too, the arrangement is strong. Would listen again.

[framheim]

i liked the song but still struggled to make out the words because of the recording (and the delivery at times, you trailed off at the end of some lines or it felt like you ran out of breath and rushed the end of a word in quietly). the ebow came in nicely but then felt a little clumsy in parts, just needs tightened up a bit. i like the lower voice, it's still quite rough in places and it would be good to mix up the vocal melody a bit as i felt myself losing interest as it's all low and long notes.

the lyrics i could make out sounded good, can you put them up? i'm sure we first heard about selkies at school there, as it was always a story i associated with catterline.

good work though, a few tweaks and tightening and that could be a cracking ballad. i'm conscious i've put a lot of critiscm in this post but it's all constructive and overall it was good.

[Chris]

Did you play the EBow part dry, or is there any reverb or delay on it? I couldn't really tell.

Anyway, I like the newer "voice" that you used for this one, yr vocals are improving. I liked the song too, the arrangement is strong. Would listen again.

There was a little delay on the ebow parts.

Does anyone else have a problem hearing the vocals? It sounds fine to me but this is the second song Dave's said he couldn't make them out.

Here's the lyrics:

Under the cliffs of Catterline

Selkies live on an island

I met a girl fair of face

Who took me as a husband

She told me I was hers to have

and this is where my end will be

When the longest day is here

Then to my grave she'll take me

Oh the cliffs of Catterline

It's beach of rock and shingle

Many a man has fallen in love

And fallen to a tale of woe

I ran home to tell my mother

Of the girl's promise

As I ran through the village streets

Her pretty face held me hostage

Weesht Ma said and haud yer tongue

There's nae sic thing as a selkie

Or mermaid to tempt my son

And tak him far away fae me

Oh the cliffs of Catterline

It's beach of rock and shingle

Many a man has fallen in love

And fallen to a tale of woe

For months I dreamt of a girl

Born of the north sea water

When I awoke she'd haunt me still

As the longest day drew closer

On midsummers day I returned to the cliff

Where the girl cursed me

I followed her to my rest

Among the rocks and the north sea

[Adam Easy Wishes]

Does anyone else have a problem hearing the vocals? It sounds fine to me but this is the second song Dave's said he couldn't make them out.

Yeah, I struggle to make them out, but it's perhaps just a production preference more than anything else - I quite like vocals to be prominent in a mix.

The effect on your voice maybe more than anything else means it gets a wee bit lost in amongst the guitar. Too 'verby for my liking also.

[FOX]

I think it's definitely an improvement on your first work. Really like the ebow-type stuff even if it is a tad on the clumsy side, still sounds pretty nice. I think the vocals could perhaps be a little clearer too, but I think the Doric would be hard for me to understand without seeing it written anyway!

All in all, well done, stick at it.

[Adam Easy Wishes]

Yeah, I struggle to make them out, but it's perhaps just a production preference more than anything else - I quite like vocals to be prominent in a mix.

The effect on your voice maybe more than anything else means it gets a wee bit lost in amongst the guitar. Too 'verby for my liking also.

Actually, I've just listened again on headphones and it sounds totally different, can make the vocal out far better. Still could do with a wee boost in volume, but much better than my first listen last night.

[Chris]

Thanks for taking the time to listen and say nice things folks!

[Chris]

I uploaded a new song today - my version of a child ballad called The Daemon Lover

The Daemon Lover | Causey Mounth

If you want to see the Child listing it's here:

The Child Ballads: 243. James Harris, (The Daemon Lover)

[FatHand]

I uploaded a new song today - my version of a child ballad called The Daemon Lover

The Daemon Lover | Causey Mounth

If you want to see the Child listing it's here:

The Child Ballads: 243. James Harris, (The Daemon Lover)

I enjoyed moments throughout the track, got better as the song progressed or perhaps as I got used to your singing style. I reckon it'd be worth working on your pitching though dawg, it was a bit pitchy. Seriously though, it's a kind of vulnerable voice that you have but it was a bit too out of tune for my ears at quite a few points.

Production wise the vocals need some work done on them as they don't sit nicely in the mix.

[Chris]

I enjoyed moments throughout the track, got better as the song progressed or perhaps as I got used to your singing style. I reckon it'd be worth working on your pitching though dawg, it was a bit pitchy. Seriously though, it's a kind of vulnerable voice that you have but it was a bit too out of tune for my ears at quite a few points.

Production wise the vocals need some work done on them as they don't sit nicely in the mix.

Cheers for the comments. I think I must be getting used to the sound of my voice because it doesn't sound so pitchy to me.

I recorded this one slightly differently as I bought another mic so was able to do the guitar and vocal live in one take. It's quite a long song so it was pretty hard to keep the vocal going the whole way through but I'm happy with how much I'm improving since I started this thread!

Anyway that's going to be the last one I post for a while as I need to write and practice some new songs.