Never Feel Alone

[Joanna]

I had a tough time getting this song to worl because of my paltry amount of RAM (I need to buy RAM. As soon as I get some spare dollars together, it's top on my list). It kept quitting on me, saying "It's too hard! Wah!" By the time I got it to work (by muting almost all of the loops) my voice was shot from re-recording. So today, I tried again, and managed to lay down the vocals. The new version is up now.

Never Feel Alone

I wrote it for a friend. Hope you like it.

-- Joanna

[rcandrews]

joanna. i luv you. i can not say it any better. damn girl. you got it goin on. period.

tween you and leo. im wrecked. damn. ugh

[Joanna]

Thank you, Robert. I finally decided to get bold and not just stretch a loop out for the length of a song. I know I'm taking baby steps, but I'll get there eventually.

Btw, is wrecked good?

--Joanna

[Fosco]

When a song is put up I always read the lyrics if they are provided before me spins the tune... Sometimes I'm stoked by how a person is able to get the words synchronized with the music... This song is a good example of that kind of talent... A most enjoyable song! Your cover page says "To anyone who listens to my songs: Thank you!"

Me says: "Thanks Be to You for all you contributions to MacIDOL!"

[Joanna]

Thank you so much, Fosco. It's exciting to hear that you pay attention to the lyrics. Makes me heart go pitty-pat, it does.

-- Joanna

[rcandrews]

Thank you, Robert. I finally decided to get bold and not just stretch a loop out for the length of a song. I know I'm taking baby steps, but I'll get there eventually.

Btw, is wrecked good?

--Joanna

yes wrecked is good.

[Joanna]

yes wrecked is good.

Phew! Thanks again, Robert. You are such a supportive guy. Very admirable.

-- Joanna

[rcandrews]

yes wrecked is good.

Phew! Thanks again, Robert. You are such a supportive guy. Very admirable.

-- Joanna

shoot, when ya got it, ya got it. and the way i hear it, ya got it good !

glad you found sometime to put another tune down

[Joanna]

I really liked your Allah-walla song. Love the chorus.

[rcandrews]

cool. thanks i wanted to "sing" more but my throat has been killin me. fell asleep with the fan blowin directly on me the other night. ugh.

still have to tweak a few things.

thanks again.

[Joanna]

I finally figured out what I didn't like about this song. I have been experimenting with different keys, and I originally recorded this one in D. I just re-recorded it in A# and to my ear it sounds much better now.

Truth is, for a long time, I was just doing everything in the default key of C. It's only recently that I've been branching out, and it's fun to see the different loops available for the different base keys. I just have to make sure I pick a key that works for the song I have in mind.

-- Joanna

[toots]

I listened to the first version when you first put it up and granted it was a little weaker, but the newer one is really really nice. Worthwhile keeping at it. The piano parts are really well arranged, and the vocal is smoove . I hope you keep finding time to write song after song, because almost everything you come up with is a gem.

[clanger]

I hope you keep finding time to write song after song, because almost everything you come up with is a gem.

Agreed and what a unique voice. I hear a melodic motif that seems to run through most of your songs. This song has a superb clarity and the overall arrangement works really well. A truly professional sounding song. Glad you got the key right in the end and hope that you leave work early a lot more often.

[kilroydegeek]

I have to say, Joanna, you should be introduced formally as "The Lyrical Joanna Sandsmark" because that's what you bring, for sure.

[Joanna]

Wow, thank you, Toots, Clanger, and Kilroy! I might have to print this thread for my scrapbook!

Let me tell you a little story. In January 2001, I lost my voice. I don't mean "got a little hoarse" or something. I mean lost it completely. Not a sound, other than a very weak, soft whisper. And even the whisper hurt. I had a constant cough (strong enough to dislocate a rib at one point), and had trouble breathing.

I went to the doctor, and he didn't have a clue. My HMO decided I didn't need any expensive tests, so I continued to live in silence. This went on for several months (several months without being able to say a word to anyone) until finally the HMO let me see a specialist. I got catscans and MRIs, and eventually had exploratory surgery, looking for the cause. The only thing he found out was that the throat tissue was so swollen, it was sitting on my vocal chords. That's why I kept coughing, why I had difficulty breathing, and why I could only make the barest whisper.

But as to why this had happened? He didn't know. So I continued to live in silence. Finally, after nearly a year of this (and the utter destruction of my voice-over career, of course), I figured out what was wrong (yes me, not the docs). It was the blood pressure medication that my doc had prescribed at the end of Dec. 2000. For a year, I had been poisoning myself daily by taking a pill that I was seriously allergic to. None of the docs ever thought to check my meds. (I found it out through research. I had gotten seriously depressed, and to fight that horrible, dark emptiness, I decided to throw myself into trying to find out what was wrong).

When I switched to a new BP pill, I began to regain my voice. It was slow progress. There was so much damage, it took a long time to recover. The last thing to come back was my singing voice. And although I've never been anything close to a professional singer, I've always enjoyed singing around the house. Man, I missed being able to sing. I was grateful to have a speaking voice again, of course, but there's something about singing that heals the soul.

Some time in 2004, I realized that I could sing again. My upper register is still weak, and I have no falsetto, but the lower register is strong again (hence the key change so that I could sing "Never Feel Alone" in a stronger, lower register, rather than my still weak upper register).

I think that's why I was so excited to discover GarageBand. I could celebrate the return of something that had been dear to my heart. The joy of opening my mouth, and having sound come out -- sound that I could finally shape and control again after 3 long years.

All of your kind comments about my songs and my singing mean so much to me, because not that long ago, it would've been impossible for me to do. And how thrilling for me that, not only can I sing again, but that I can sing for others. I'm so grateful.

-- Joanna