Maybe I Should Stay
Whitewolf
A lot of work went into this. Using Sonar and Ozone and RX for the first time (learning curve is unbelievable, thank goodness for ChatGPT for step-by-step guides).
Calling Sister Midnight’s vocals needed a lot of cleaning up (while the squeaky chair added character, it didn’t work for me. Ozone RX made a huge difference, but changed the tonality of her vocals some).
To compensate some, I turned it into a midi file, removed as much of the “wandering notes” as I could without completely losing her warmth, loaded it into Synthesizer V to add her lyrics back, and “cloned” her voice right back over top the midi. While I was at it, I added a slight autotune and a bit of flourishing touches (breath control, lilt, etc.) to stay on track for my initial bassline and underpinning keyboards.
I reinterpreted her acoustic guitar in my midi controller and built up the percussion, bass, electric and rhythm guitars using a plethora of samples from my library (and FL Studio to create the odd-time signature drum beats from scratch), carefully cutting and arranging them to become something coherent that followed closely to her vocals and phrasing as possible and still sound fresh.
A final polish through Ozone 11’s AI assisted Mastering suite and here’s my final result.
I hope her warmth and singing character came through despite my heavy-handed revisions. This was an absolute joy to spend many months of off-and-on work (and frustration lol) creating. This song was truly a labour of love.
Maybe I Should Stay
Spring snows have drifted into April
They say it might snow into May
There’s nothing left to keep me hanging round — still
you’ve got me thinking maybe I should stay
Your letters lie folded on the table
My clothes lie folded on the chair
I’m usually gone by now but I’m not able
To forget the smell of moonlight in your hair.
Chorus:
And if you’re willing, for your part
And if you want me to stay
And if you’ll take this old wounded heart
and if you say I can stay — I’ll stay
A white mist has risen from the river
and all the birds have taken to the sky
I have no urgent message to deliver
I have no reasons — only alibis
The moonlight has left us both in ribbons
I wonder if I’m really worth the fight
I ‘fess up, I surrender, I lay down on
your bed of roses — give up for the night
Chorus:
Fire is burning on the hill side
A fever is breaking over snow
I’m losing things I’ve taken pains to hide — still
you’ve got me thinking maybe I won’t go
I’ve really nothing left to give you
the best was gone so long ago
I can’t forget the reason I still love you
Even though I’ve never told you so.
Chorus:
You’ve got me thinking maybe I should stay (repeat)
Calling Sister Midnight’s vocals needed a lot of cleaning up (while the squeaky chair added character, it didn’t work for me. Ozone RX made a huge difference, but changed the tonality of her vocals some).
To compensate some, I turned it into a midi file, removed as much of the “wandering notes” as I could without completely losing her warmth, loaded it into Synthesizer V to add her lyrics back, and “cloned” her voice right back over top the midi. While I was at it, I added a slight autotune and a bit of flourishing touches (breath control, lilt, etc.) to stay on track for my initial bassline and underpinning keyboards.
I reinterpreted her acoustic guitar in my midi controller and built up the percussion, bass, electric and rhythm guitars using a plethora of samples from my library (and FL Studio to create the odd-time signature drum beats from scratch), carefully cutting and arranging them to become something coherent that followed closely to her vocals and phrasing as possible and still sound fresh.
A final polish through Ozone 11’s AI assisted Mastering suite and here’s my final result.
I hope her warmth and singing character came through despite my heavy-handed revisions. This was an absolute joy to spend many months of off-and-on work (and frustration lol) creating. This song was truly a labour of love.
Maybe I Should Stay
Spring snows have drifted into April
They say it might snow into May
There’s nothing left to keep me hanging round — still
you’ve got me thinking maybe I should stay
Your letters lie folded on the table
My clothes lie folded on the chair
I’m usually gone by now but I’m not able
To forget the smell of moonlight in your hair.
Chorus:
And if you’re willing, for your part
And if you want me to stay
And if you’ll take this old wounded heart
and if you say I can stay — I’ll stay
A white mist has risen from the river
and all the birds have taken to the sky
I have no urgent message to deliver
I have no reasons — only alibis
The moonlight has left us both in ribbons
I wonder if I’m really worth the fight
I ‘fess up, I surrender, I lay down on
your bed of roses — give up for the night
Chorus:
Fire is burning on the hill side
A fever is breaking over snow
I’m losing things I’ve taken pains to hide — still
you’ve got me thinking maybe I won’t go
I’ve really nothing left to give you
the best was gone so long ago
I can’t forget the reason I still love you
Even though I’ve never told you so.
Chorus:
You’ve got me thinking maybe I should stay (repeat)