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I Was Happy Here (version 1)
by jiguma

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Submitted on: Jun 27, 2005 - 03:50:29 PM
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Description Another new one. My family and I lived for a year in the north of England and returned 18 years later in 2004 to fall in love with it again.
This is not really finished yet - just wanted to get some feedback!
Hard to pick a genre here.
GB is a hoot!
Lyrics I Was Happy Here
© 2005 - jiguma

I was happy here,
I was happy when the sun came out
Happiest still at the evening shout
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you

I was happy here
I was happy in a northern town
Thought about turning those years around
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you

Chorus:
I jumped out of bed in the morning
I couldn’t get to sleep at night
Every day was a big surprise
Didn’t matter what we did was right
We were living from day to day
Living from hand to mouth
And there wasn’t a thing that I would change
We were living from north to south

I was happy here
I was happy in the springtime rain
Watching the trees turn green again
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you

I was happy here
Going for walks on ancient grounds
Lonely hills, lonely sounds
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you

I was happy here
I was happy with the ice and snow
Coming home to afterglow
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you

I was happy here,
I was happy when the sun came out
Happiest still at the evening shout
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you
Happiest here with you

Chorus:
I jumped out of bed in the morning
I couldn’t get to sleep at night
Every day was a big surprise
Didn’t matter what we did was right
We were living from day to day
Living from hand to mouth
And there wasn’t a thing that I would change
We were living from north to south

Hardware Seagull S6 guitar
Fender Precision Bass
Shure DM1000D mic
iMac G4
Software: Drum/percussion loops
Guitar solo loop (seriously tampered with!)
GB
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blamm said 1253 days ago
nice.
I like your guitar work...but I have to say you play a mean bass. Good stuff. I like the groove of this song alot. I'd like to hear the vocals a little more upfront, but overall I'm diggin it.

jiguma said 1253 days ago
nice.
It has some work to be done on it - lifting the vocals is first, but also fixing
the fret buzz. Thanks for leaving a comment!

said 1253 days ago
Fret buzz
The fret slide is NOT annoying, it is the way you are
playing/recording this. Some musicians try to manipulate
fret noise as part of the compostion. The guitar may be up
a little too much in the mix, so try bringing it down a bit.

This song has a nice flow to it. Performances are solid.
Both playing and singing. The low vocal is a tad too loud,
the higher unison vocal could come up a bit as the "lead".
The thing I would like to hear, is after the chorus, maybe a
key change, or a totally different chord structured
"bridge". Some full harmonies could add a nice touch, too.
Great job!

jiguma said 1252 days ago
Fret buzz
Alimar, thanks for the comments. I'm in the process of doing a revision, and
will look at your suggestions - agree on the vocals, and I'm beginning to
accept the buzz. Have some ideas about adding some interest with vocals -
will try some other things also.

I really appreciate your suggestions!

thetiler said 1253 days ago
nice
like your voice, like the drive of the tune. When you mix
you might want to set the eq a little more less trebly and
put on medium gauge strings instead of light guage. I
think you might be using light guaged. and use two mics.

If you do this three thing you well be amazed at your
production quality of the acoustical guitar.

1. Medium guage strings (I was a light guage fan but
changed)
2. 2 mics -condenser ( my points went up when i started
to do that)
2. eq bassier - not so trebly

I know you where concered in your post in regards to
youur string buzz. That is a sign of light guaged strings.
But I can't say 100%



jiguma said 1252 days ago
nice
Hi Bill, and thanks for the advice and comments.

The strings are still those on the guitar when I bought it last week. I think
Seagulls ship with .012 guage strings, so that could be a problem. I guess
that might make them light guage?

The guitar is miked by 2 internal mics - one saddle transducer and the other
an electret on a boom under the strings. I have some experimenting to do
with the mix of these (and the phasing, which I don't quite understand yet).

I'm beginning to think it's also the effects I put on via GB that's causing the
buzz (which is now becoming less noticeable to me the more I play the song).

The overall treble sound I think comes from my high frequency hearing loss
after years of playing live - will try some adjustments.

Always appreciate your comments!

Macaudion said 1252 days ago
diggin it
diggen the 'tar work/nice vocals/nice lyrics/like the
melody/i'm beatin skins in my mind (sorry -- it's a
habbit)/like the 'tar solo LOTS!/diggin all the guitar
work

Congrats

jiguma said 1252 days ago
diggin it
Thanks Cydniko,
Appreciate your comment. I'm really having a great time with MJ. It gives you
a lot of artistic freedom (and is a hell of a lot less stressful than playing live).

snowdragon said 1252 days ago
Not an intrusion at all
Honestly, I wouldn't worry about "fret buzz" as it sounds
like a technique thing more than a technical issue. And it
didn't bother me either. D'Arco Lights start at .012 for
what it's worth. I have D'Arco Extra Lights (.010) on a
couple of my acoustics. If it turns into one of those things
that just keeps driving you nuts, I suspect just lowering
the volume of the offending track will go a long way
towards making a happier jguma. But more important on
this one, I think, would be to seriously consider Alimar's
suggestion. Some sort of middle 8 sounds like just the
thing to take this tune to the next level.
And BTW, that's one of the best bass lines on the site.


jiguma said 1251 days ago
Not an intrusion at all
Thanks for the comments Snow - they are always appreciated. I guess a
middle 8 should happen if I spend some hours on the guitar. The whole MJ
thing has totally rekindled my urge to play, so that won't be too much of a
trial.

Thanks for the bass comment - I guess it is my main instrument - the new
version will have a much meatier bass sound, and possibly a bit better
syncopation.

Cheers,

Artist Profile
jiguma photo
jiguma

Artist Bio The Jiguma Is Up - Blog by Tobin Mueller - click here Find this artist in drop-down: -- MY FAVORITES -- "Jiguma" (pronounced with a short "u" - as in "up", NOT jigOOOOma!) is the local Aboriginal name for where I live on the "Deep South Coast" of ...[more]
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