Weeklybeats is a 52 week long music project in which artists compose and publicly release 1 song a week for the entire year.
Starting January 1st 2024 GMT each participant will have one week to upload one finished composition. Any style of music or selection of instruments are welcomed and encouraged. Sign up or Login to get started or check our FAQ for any help or questions you may have.

WeeklyBeats.com / Music / jwh's music / the 23 club

the 23 club

By jwh on September 27, 2024 4:36 am

› lyrics

written & recorded on monday. baritone ukulele & vocal, 3 mics, recorded live w/ no overdubs. wanted to challenge myself a little bit to keep this one minimal. it was a little tough to resist adding bass or the harmony i started hearing when i was mixing, but i'm glad i did. it also helped knowing i had a busy weekend coming up and i needed to have this posted early to keep the weekend clear!

big thanks to neon liminal for giving some close listens and mix feedback.

XO

Audio works licensed by author under:
Copyright All rights reserved

love that ukulele

Sounds great and I think the minimalist arrangement works in its favor.  Adding too much more might actually detract from it.  Although I will admit I swore I heard some sort of phantom vocal harmony at one point as well. Nice job pulling it off live as well!

Kind of a statued vibe there, friend. "There are demons making angels in the snow", indeed.

So beautiful. I am a little obsessed with the sense of space you create in your songs, a very physical space I can imagine inhabiting, it adds such magic to the music.... wonderful.


heart

Ohhh, so nice. This ukulele sounds different to the ukuleles I know so far. More like an adult ukulele. Your singing is so emotional and it is an incredible authentic minimalistic performance. I like your style and this track.

Lovely stuff man.  The vocals are performed and captured so nicely.  The sparseness of the track is great.  So much space.

It's the strangest thing but somehow, at the beginning of the track before the vocals came in, the ukulele sounded lonely.  A perfect match to the lyrics.  Really nice work.

Man... Why do you have to make me feel all sorts of things... Hahahaha
Joking aside, this is really beautiful. I think this might be one of my favorites of yours. The quiet introspective vocal delivery and the minimal plucks on the ukelele. Really pretty, awesome work all around.

The sparseness really suits this one. Job well done.

I love those intimate "stripped down" versions.

And yeah I have to agree with others, your performance is spot on.

I probably would like it even more if there was less of that background noise (or is it some tape emulation plugin?) when there is only Ukulele, but when vocals kicks in we don't even feel it anymore and it probably gives it life.

With more intimate, low volume track it is very difficult to get over this if not on a dedicated treated room. Sometimes I do use Izotope rx 7 voice De-noise on instruments that did pick too much noises for me on my acoustic guitars (did pick that when I did get some element bundle when it gets cheap ish).

Excellent!

Oh man, this is just lovely.  The vocal processing is soooooooo nice.  Did you mic the room to get that ambiance, or is it reverb via plugin? If it's just (or even just mostly) room mic... I might need to work with you to get IRs of your recording space, because it sounds AWESOME. 

I don't know how I've missed your songs until now. I gotta go back and listen to the whole year now! I love how the little riff and your voice go together so well to instantly create an emotional atmosphere that's like relaxed but with this unsettled tension at the same time. It's great.

Really great performance, loved the raw and vulnerable approach to this track!

you really know how to crush a minimal tune. Great imagery with the lyrics. I can feel my shoes sticking to the bar floor right now. I know resisting dubs and bass was HAAARD for you lol Great work

Wow.

There is serious talent compressed in this small track. EVERYTHING contributes to make it work. Yes, even the slight noise in the back, which adds texture and life. Call it wabi-sabi. The simple guitar playing and of course the wonderful singing. I wish I could sing like that. What a beautiful track. It's cimininal to be that talented. Stop right now. please. Just kidding.

Lovely! Vocals sound so good, you're a great singer, and great lyrics. The baritone uke sounds good, cool to hear that alone in a song like this vs. standard acoustic guitar. Respect for keeping it minimal, one take, that's hard.

This is dynamite. I love the instrument choice and the live recording just makes it that much more magic. I am so envious of your ability to write lyrics. Everything I write devolves so quickly into schoolyard trash talk its insane.

Beautiful stuff. Love the way the song sounds like it's lingering on the major five chord for so long - feels a little mysterious and very pensive. big_smile

b bro wrote:

love that ukulele

thank you, b bro. i really enjoy playing the baritone uke. this one is special to me as it was a gift from my dear friend and forestlike bandmate. i have it tuned like the top 4 strings of a guitar in standard (i think that's normal for baritones), so it is very familiar - but different enough that it tends to inspire ideas whenever i pick it up  smile

Cosmic Cairns wrote:

Sounds great and I think the minimalist arrangement works in its favor.  Adding too much more might actually detract from it.  Although I will admit I swore I heard some sort of phantom vocal harmony at one point as well. Nice job pulling it off live as well!

thank you so much. and i love that you heard a ghost harmony! that happens to me from time to time.

rplktr wrote:

Kind of a statued vibe there, friend. "There are demons making angels in the snow", indeed.

thank you, rplktr! i wasn't familiar with Adem, that was lovely. reminded me a bit of Will Oldham, really nice melody and recording.

neon liminal wrote:

So beautiful. I am a little obsessed with the sense of space you create in your songs, a very physical space I can imagine inhabiting, it adds such magic to the music.... wonderful.

thank you so much, Friend. that means a lot to me, especially considering the worlds you are able to create in your recordings. and thanks again for your feedback and repeated listens as i obsessively tweaked the mix  smile

emily wrote:


heart

yup heart

Q-Rosh wrote:

Ohhh, so nice. This ukulele sounds different to the ukuleles I know so far. More like an adult ukulele. Your singing is so emotional and it is an incredible authentic minimalistic performance. I like your style and this track.

appreciate that so much, Q-Rosh. and yeah, the baritone has a lot different tone than most ukuleles i've heard or played. i really like it.

rdomain wrote:

Lovely stuff man.  The vocals are performed and captured so nicely.  The sparseness of the track is great.  So much space.

thank you, rdomain

lament.config wrote:

It's the strangest thing but somehow, at the beginning of the track before the vocals came in, the ukulele sounded lonely.  A perfect match to the lyrics.  Really nice work.

i think it was lonely. it called to me last week! thank you

jegasus wrote:

Man... Why do you have to make me feel all sorts of things... Hahahaha
Joking aside, this is really beautiful. I think this might be one of my favorites of yours. The quiet introspective vocal delivery and the minimal plucks on the ukelele. Really pretty, awesome work all around.

oops! gracias, jegasus  heart

ENC_ wrote:

The sparseness really suits this one. Job well done.

thank you, ENC. i'm really trying to listen to what the songs want to me, and i'm glad the spirit came through in this form.

djippy wrote:

I love those intimate "stripped down" versions.

And yeah I have to agree with others, your performance is spot on.

I probably would like it even more if there was less of that background noise (or is it some tape emulation plugin?) when there is only Ukulele, but when vocals kicks in we don't even feel it anymore and it probably gives it life.

With more intimate, low volume track it is very difficult to get over this if not on a dedicated treated room. Sometimes I do use Izotope rx 7 voice De-noise on instruments that did pick too much noises for me on my acoustic guitars (did pick that when I did get some element bundle when it gets cheap ish).

Excellent!

thank you, djippy, i appreciate that. and yeah, there is a lot of noise here at our home so it is difficult for that not to come through in quieter songs with a lot of space. i've learned to accept it as the reality of the moment, but i understand that some people might find it distracting. my hope is that it pulls the listener into the experience, but i know it doesn't always work that way. 
i've played around a little bit with a version of De-Noise, and actually did use it a little bit on the ukulele track. but i had to back it off because it started to sound unnatural and was losing the sparkle. my main priority is the emotion and performance coming through, so sometimes i just have to be ok with my noise.  smile

Napear wrote:

Oh man, this is just lovely.  The vocal processing is soooooooo nice.  Did you mic the room to get that ambiance, or is it reverb via plugin? If it's just (or even just mostly) room mic... I might need to work with you to get IRs of your recording space, because it sounds AWESOME.

thanks, Napear! i worked hard to get the vocal dialed in since there was nowhere to hide with this one.
so this was kind of a combination - in addition to the close mics on my vocal and uke, i had a KSM44A set up as a room mic probably 6 to 8 ft away. but all 3 tracks went through a convolution reverb. it looks like i landed on a Bricasti M7 IR.
i'm guessing the BM7 is what you are hearing (happy to share the IR), but i can render a solo'd version with just the room mic without reverb if you'd like to hear it. just lmk!

SteveSkiano wrote:

I don't know how I've missed your songs until now. I gotta go back and listen to the whole year now! I love how the little riff and your voice go together so well to instantly create an emotional atmosphere that's like relaxed but with this unsettled tension at the same time. It's great.

oh, that's funny - i had the exact same thought when i landed on your song! i'm looking forward to going back and listening through your earlier weeks. thanks so much for listening and for your kind feedback, Steve  smile

mzunguko wrote:

Really great performance, loved the raw and vulnerable approach to this track!

thank youuuuu!

SQF wrote:

you really know how to crush a minimal tune. Great imagery with the lyrics. I can feel my shoes sticking to the bar floor right now. I know resisting dubs and bass was HAAARD for you lol Great work

i wonder how many flip-flops have been lost to sticky bar floors... also, who would put CARPET in a dive bar. ewwwww
thanks for listening, SQF!

Kedbreak136 wrote:

Wow.

There is serious talent compressed in this small track. EVERYTHING contributes to make it work. Yes, even the slight noise in the back, which adds texture and life. Call it wabi-sabi. The simple guitar playing and of course the wonderful singing. I wish I could sing like that. What a beautiful track. It's cimininal to be that talented. Stop right now. please. Just kidding.

goodness, thank you! and yes, very much into the concept of wabi-sabi  heart

miraclemiles wrote:

Lovely! Vocals sound so good, you're a great singer, and great lyrics. The baritone uke sounds good, cool to hear that alone in a song like this vs. standard acoustic guitar. Respect for keeping it minimal, one take, that's hard.

appreciate that, mm!!

BarristerPlong wrote:

This is dynamite. I love the instrument choice and the live recording just makes it that much more magic. I am so envious of your ability to write lyrics. Everything I write devolves so quickly into schoolyard trash talk its insane.

well you know, eating trash always leads to talking trash...
thank you for listening, and i'm glad you liked this one!

levelcapybara wrote:

Beautiful stuff. Love the way the song sounds like it's lingering on the major five chord for so long - feels a little mysterious and very pensive. big_smile

it was definitely an exercise in patience and vulnerability working on this one. i'm happy to hear it resonated with you, thank you  heart

You need to login to leave a comment.
Login Sign-up