"Better Days" 2017 remake-instrumental rock

I recorded my first original piece in my current home studio on new year’s eve 2009. That piece began as me just wanting some music to play to to record clips of lead guitar through various amps, pedals, mics and preamps so I could determine which combination I liked best for the lead tone that I was after. After a couple of hours I thought “Why not make it a song, add an acoustic guitar intro and some wordless vocals?”.
I also hit upon the idea of recording a fretless bass solo, and using the piece to start finding what settings on the bass and bass amp I liked best.

When I hear those recordings of mine from 2009 and 2010 I realize my studio, my playing, my recording and mixing skills, and the gear and software I have on hand to record and mix music have all come a long way.

My most recent gear addition is a new Skreddy 1971 pedal. As the original version of “Better Days” was the first recording I made with my new Way Huge Swollen Pickle pedal on guitar, so this new version is the first recording I made with the 1971 pedal on guitar.
It’s one of a few pieces I’ve finished since finally getting a new studio computer in late summer 2016. So this new version uses several plugins and instruments I’ve just gotten since then including Waves Kramer Master Tape and J37 analog tape simulation, Waves TG12345 channel strip, Waves NLS, Waves API 2500 compressor on the drum submix, Waves RS56 EQ, Toontrack EZ Drummer 2, Arturia V Collection 4, and Native Instruments Komplete 11 (the acoustic piano is The Grandeur).

So drums, bass, lead and rhythm guitars, and MIDI piano and synths were redone. I kept the vocal and acoustic guitar tracks from 2009.

Nice piece of work, thanks for posting. Takes me back to my prog youth.

It’s been awhile since I visited and to come back and hear this track was really cool. I like the premise of the track - better days indeed! The guitar work is clean and well phrased. Not so sure about the wordless vocals - although well recorded, they seem to be more of a filler than a feature. Are there any words?

In any case, I like the track and feel it could turn out really well.

Jonathan

Thanks!

It’s a matter of opinion, isn’t it? And I’ve read some pretty interesting opinions in the years I’ve been posting my songs here.
The only word in the vocal part in this song is “la”. If you were not able to make that out on the system you were listening on, it’s possible you missed other details in the recording. I sort of thought the listener would be quite interested in how the vocals start with a more distant and dreamy ambience, then another harmony joins, and then another, then when the instruments join in, the vocals are doubled and a closer, tighter ambience is used. I found it very interesting to record and mix and hope the listener finds it just as interesting to hear.

On the other hand, if you define any wordless vocals as “filler”, then these fit that description, as would sections of favorite songs of mine like “Aqualung”, “South Side of the Sky”, “Saucerful of Secrets”, “2/1” and “1/2”, “Lightplay”, ”A Circular Ceremony”, “A Day in the Life” and others. Perhaps the Brian Eno pieces were composed with the intention of being “filler”, but I’ve never thought of them as such.

Thanks for listening!

I apologise if I offended you with the filler remark. The tracks you cited are also among my favourites and, you’re right, I don’t think of them as filler either.

All the best

Jonathan