One of my musical aims for Autumn / Winter 2025 is to finally do a full recording including vocals of my original song ‘Out Of Order‘.
The song was written in 2017, inspired by my late sister Michelle’s battle with cancer, performed live twice (poorly), once as a duo and once solo.
To-date I have only recorded the instrumental version. So today I re-visited the guitar introduction, that I now plan to vary slightly, as I start to prepare for re-recording later in the year.
Since 2017 I have continued developing as a guitarist. I recently bought my Jet JS400 which comes with a tremolo arm, a new experience for me. Some kind advice on usage came from Kirklees Guitar School‘s James and George after sharing my video of the intro with them. James also suggested looking at the use of Vibrato, especially for phrase end notes, so I shall investigate that too.
Category: Music
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Out of order Revisited
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Sing Pop – Backing Vocals
At Sing Pop work continues on preparing for our July showcase event. We will each be singing covers of four songs, two as lead and two providing backing vocals:
1. Our own solo choice from the ‘functions band’ list ~ for me the original version of Valerie by the The Zutons;
2. A requested song from fellow students ~ for me that’s I’m a Believer as performed by The Monkees but written be Neil Diamond. For this song I’m joined by my lovely backing singers to form, for one performance only, Deembe and The Chimpettes!😁 ;
3. Backing vocals 1 ~ Young Hearts Run Free by Candi Staton, a soul classic that is also features in The Soul Choir repertoire;
4. Backing vocals 2 ~ The already overblown and funny cover of Wonderwall by Mike Flowers Pops given added Sing Pop attitude to boost the stereotype beyond a cliché!
I won’t reveal the other students song choices other than the above two, where I’m contributing to the backing.
We’re now rehearsing these and other songs both as lead and backing singers. With the backing singer role comes the challenge of learning some basic movements … awkward!
If standing at the mic alone doesn’t deliver enough of an out-of-comfort zone adrenaline kick then doing it with choreographed synchronised moves will deliver an overdose! Think Gladys Night and The Pips or Diana Ross and The Supremes! -
Guitar Setup
Having plugged the new Jet JS400 guitar into the amp I noticed the string buzz which led me down the rabbit hole of truss rod adjustment to increase the neck relief. Having watched a couple of videos I set about trying to achieve a 2mm gap at the 7th fret of the 6th string (low E) by adjusting the rod with a Capo on the first fret and holding down at the 17th (the body) fret and inserting a feeler gauge over the fret. After a coupe of small adjustments the gap was set and when retuned the buzz had gone.
With this success in place I turned my attention to the PRS SE 245 where I needed to decrease the neck relief a little to bring it in line with PRS recommendations.
Perhaps I shall venture into action / intonation checking & adjustment soon too! -
Light Music…
PRS SE 245 
Peavey Raptor I Jet JS-400
When I started learning guitar I never imagined that one day the key criteria for a new instrument would be its weight. Well that time has arrived. In order to keep playing and learning I need to be able to overcome the effects of aging. My neck, back and hands all struggle at times with the weight of my PRS SE 245. It’s a great guitar, I love playing it but it is really heavy, like most Les Paul related styles.
I have relied upon on old Peavey Raptor to provide a lighter alternative. My son left that budget, paint splatted, guitar behind when he moved out. When the nut failed over the 6th string I took that string off and re-tuned the guitar to Open G and used it to learn some Keith Richard’s (Rolling Stones) and Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge) progressions. Sadly this further failed with first fret fretboard delamintion and wasn’t worth repairing.
So I have purchased a new guitar, with weight and low cost being as high on my list of requirements as the instruments look and souuds. I chose a Jet JS-400 model to regain that ‘strat’ like experience on a budget. This has turned out to be a brilliant choice, Jet guitars are an absolute bargain!
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Sing Pop – On The Mic
Sing Pop Student Showcase
The arrival of the flyer for our second performance makes the event feel even closer and us thinking that much remains to be worked upon.
I’m now feeling that another few weeks will make the lyrics feel secure and hopefully most of the performance notes will have been addressed for my two songs.
There are also two songs to familiarise with that I’m providing backing vocals for. Candi Staton’s ‘Young Hearts Run Free’ is quite well known as this is another Soul Choir song. The Mike Flowers Pops version of the Oasis song ‘Wonderwall’ less so. These songs come with the added challenge of including some (basic) choreography for the backing vocalists.
Looking forward to returning to The Blind Pig, a smashing little music bar that made us amateurs feel very welcome last December. -
Learning Lyrics
The Drifter
Learning lyrics is always something that I find challenging. What seems to work for me is approaching the learning in varied ways; singing along alone jsut doesn’t work for me. Currently I am learning four songs and for each I am adopting a learning by doing (active learning) approach that includes;
- listening and writing out by hand – then look up lyrics online and correct;
- singing whilst playing along on guitar;
- sing along to varied YouTube performances including covers;
- breaking into chunks whilst singing along to backing tracks paying attention to dynamics, vowels and note length
- transcribing / transposing (if applicable) when changing key to match my Bass register. Then paying attention to pitch.
Currently applying this approach to Ray Pollard’s ‘The Drifter’, a new Soul Choir song but also one that I noted when learning ‘The Night’ sung by Darrel Smith at the Northern Soul Proms performance at the Royal Alber Hall
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HCS Voices Workshop
Free Singing Workshop
HCS Voices are hosting a singing workshop in June. Although I no longer sing with HCS Voices I had some great times and good experiences whilst singing with them. The workshops were especially good experiences with expert vocal coaching.
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/hcs-voicesHCS Voices say …
Discover the joy of singing at our free workshop!
HCS Voices, supported by the Stada Community Catalyst Fund, invites you to an exciting singing workshop. Whether you’re an experienced singer or just love to hum along in the shower, this event is for anyone aged 18 and over across Kirklees—especially for those who might feel isolated or excluded.
Why Join Us?
Experience the uplifting power of singing together.
Improve your mental and physical wellbeing.
Find encouragement to join a local choir.
No need to read music or have prior singing experience
What’s in Store?Led by our inspiring music director, Laura Bailie, and supported by expert professional vocal coaching, you’ll experience the joy of singing alongside members of HCS Voices. Together, we’ll create an uplifting musical experience.
Event Details:Date: Sunday, 8 June
Time: 2pm to 5pm
Venue:
Moldgreen URC
Old Wakefield Rd,
Moldgreen,
Huddersfield,
West Yorkshire
HD5 8AA
Free to Attend! Pre-registration is required at: ticketsource.co.uk/hcs-voicesCome and join us to celebrate the joy of music and the power of community. Together, let’s raise our voices and create something extraordinary!
Supported by the Stada Community Catalyst Fund.
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Ripon Theatre Festival
Ripon Cathederal Soul Choir on Tour!
After the first concert of 2025 at Marsden Cuckoo Festival the Soul Choir are set to sing at Honley Show in June and then take the Soul vibes to North Yorkshire in July with an appearance at Ripon Theatre Festival.
I’m really looking forward to singing outdoors again, it has been quite some time. -
Marsden Cuckoo Festival
The Soul Choir performed in St Bartholomew’s Church as part of the annual Marsden Cuckoo Festival, held to celebrate the arrival of Spring.
We had a nine song soul set for our 40 minute slot but the audience wanted more so we performed two encores.
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I’m a Believer
The Mona Lisa Twins Cover The Monkees ‘I’m a Believer Learning the Guitar and Vocals I had already begun work on the intended target of my Guitar Tone exercise, my cover of The Monkees ~ ‘I’m a Believer’. I have been using the Justin Sandercoe video lesson and Kirklees Guitar School‘s video / PDF, which had recently been shared with spooky serendipity!
With the guitar and vocal practice of the song I’ve also been transcribing an arrangement of the song, to match the Paris Music commercial backing track that I obtained for a forthcoming Sing Pop student showcase performance in July.
For the guitar I’m using a Capo on the 5th fret to transpose the arrangement from the Key of C to F. Dropping two semitones and singing in my bass register makes the high notes at the bottom of the treble clef just about achievable if my voice is warmed up. The transcription is being progressed in Musescore Studio.
This exercise again exposed me to the Mixolydian mode, given the presence in key of F of that lovely crunchy Eb. I have been aware of modes for some time but never really explored them. In this case I decided to familiarise with the F Mixolydian scale whilst transcribing the song in that key.
Whilst learning a new song I seek Youtube live performances of it, including covers, to help get the feel. This often leads to discovering gems on YouTube like the brilliant live cover by The Mona Lisa twins in the renowned Cavern Club, Liverpool. It was viewing this video, and a live performance by The Monkees, that led to the related investigation of Vox AC30 like guitar tones over the Easter holiday too. -
open Learn Music Theory
In 2017 I completed the Open Learn course ‘An Introduction to Music Theory’. This course covered core concepts as found in ABRSM grades 1 to 3. I found this really helpful when reading sheet music with the CSI:Halifax Community Choir.
Recently I decided to check back for further bite size learning opportunities and discovered more short courses were available so I enrolled for the Discovering Music: The Blues course.
I can readily recommend these interesting short courses. I understand that they draw materials from the Open University’s regular modules that underpin certificate / diploma and degree courses of study.
I shall certainly be enrolling for some of the others too! -
Marsden Cuckoo Festival
Looking forward to my third gig with the Soul Choir on Saturday 26th April when we will perform a ten or more song set at St Bartholomew’s Church as part of the Marsden Cuckoo Festival.
It’s going to be huge with over 70 singers delivering soul / reggae classics from artists like Tina Turner, Bob Marley, Nina Simone, Otis Reading and Aretha Franklin.
A personal and Soul Choir Northern Soul favourite, ‘The Night’ (Original by Franki Valli & The Four Seasons), gets a surprise inclusion in the programme as we welcome our new Soul Sisters and Brothers from Wakefield Soul Choir. This was one of the two songs that I performed solo at The Blind Pig back in December at a Sing Pop student showcase event.
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Guitar Tone
PRS SE 245 
Blackstar Core ID10 
Blackstar Patch 
Zoom G3Xn Effects Pedal Over the Easter Weekend I have been experimenting with guitar tone, inspired by learning The Monkees (Neil Diamond) song ‘I’m a Believer’.
I was looking for early British clean sounds for use in practice and future recording. I tried three approaches:- Using stock / community patches for my Blackstar ID Core 10 amplifier
- Using my Zoom G3Xn multi-effects pedal with a bespoke effect.
- Using Cockos Reaper DAW with Toontrack EZMix3 Guitar Presets
As I had not used patches for quite some time I first took the opportunity to apply updates to the Blackstar Architect software (the amps firmware was up-to-date) and the Zoom G3Xn firmware.
That done I tested several Blackstar patches and then settled on a community patch that modeled a Britsh Amp with tape delay and spring reverb.
I then moved on to creating a bespoke patch for the Zoom G3Xn effects pedal. As I had only previously created one patch from new I used that as a template and again created a patch that modeled a VOX AC30 with EL84 tubes like amp coupled with 2 * 12 Cabinet, Tape Delay and Spring Reverb. I tested this via the Blackstar Amp with its effects switched off and also via direct input to the PC and out to my studio monitors.
I then moved on to explore the Toontrack EZMix3 plugin in the Cockos Reaper DAW. Here it was a case of choosing effects / stacking effects and adjusting parameters.
The EZMix sound that I liked the best was ‘Thin Twin Amp Ambience’ but there was a rich set of tones that could easily have fulfilled the role.
In conclusion I chose the Zoom G3Xn patch as my favourite and will use this to practice the song and if I do record a cover version with Guitar then I will use this. -
Music on the Go!
When we visit our static caravan I sometimes make use of the poorer days to squeeze in some practice, either learning piano or practicing songs.
We have a small portable Roland Go Piano in the spare bedroom for our practice and fun.
For Piano learning I’m using John Thompsons’s Adult Beginners Course but progress is very slow as I’m prioritising other activities, especially Guitar & Vocals.
This week though I was just playing the chords for The Monkees – ‘I’m a Believer’, in my revised key of F (Mixylodian), to help memorise the song.
I rarely sing at the caravan, to spare the neighbours, except when we are alone. -
Swollen Ranks, big Sound!
This weeks session attracted members over from the Slaithwaite group, as Dan couldn’t run that scheduled session as he was swanning off to London, being a rock star in a recording studio.🤘😁
The full hall produced a glorious sound as we progressed through the set-list for the forthcoming concert.
As usual, lots of good songs, good humour and good company. It really is a worthy social event in itself.
We ended with a pretty good rendition of Gloria Jones / Soft Cell’s Tainted Love from memory, although I did cheat and sneakily viewed the lyrics on the Smartphone.
No Candi Staton, ‘Young Hearts Run Free’ at Soul Choir this week, (not on the set-list). Will be singing backing vocals for that with the Sing Pop group this summer. It really helps when rehearsing the same song for two performances ~ I like a two for one! -
Practice recording
Today I turned my attention to getting comfortable with the change of key of my backing track for a performance of ‘I’m a Believer’.
Having determined that, as a Bass, I didn’t want to sing higher than D4 I lowered the pitch by 2 semitones to make the key F (Mixolydian).
I did a warm up and then a few run throughs before making a rough test recording. That turned out better than it felt to sing to be honest. I was pretty much managing to reach the D with the occasional duff note even going to Eb.
Listening to that rough recording left me with some performance notes referencing our Sing Pop learning, mainly around timbre and onsets.
Transpired that I was not capturing the melody correctly, especially around the flattened 7th in the verse and the high notes in the chorus. -
Backing Vocals with Actions
Singing and Movement?!
Back to Halifax for another Sing Pop active learning lesson session on Backing Vocals.
We chose two of our tracks to work on and first identified the nature of the backing vocals and where they fit.
Then we turned attention to performance and what movements to introduce to accompany the vocals. This is of course well out of our comfort zone but it generated quite a few laughs. We will not be a metaphoric Pips to Gladys Night but I can see how synchronized movement from us backing vocalists will add to the entertainment!
Two of us sang our lead parts as the backing vocalists practiced and then we swapped roles, sang the backing and threw some shapes!
Quite looking forward to trying backing vocals. I think that I have had a minor backing role once with Olivia’s students but cannot recall the detail. -
Concert Rehearsals
The antidote to the madness in today’s world is getting together and singing some Soul classics with like minded folk.
This week we turned attention to the set-list for our forthcoming concert at Marsden in April.
First up though we acknowledged the birthday of of Soul legend, Aretha Franklin by singing ‘Do Right Woman, Do Right Man’ and ‘I Say a Little Prayer’.
Another fun, music and laughter filled evening led by Dan Price, his guitar and Peter Kay like tales! -
Backing Vocals
After our December Sing Pop student showcase performances, at The Blind Pig in Sowerby Bridge, we were set the challenge of picking two songs from a function band set-list. One to sing ourselves and suggestion(s) for our fellow singers. I chose the original version of ‘Valerie’ by the Zutons and accepted the challenge of ‘I’m a Believer’ by The Monkees.
We have been using those songs to test various techniques that we have been learning in 2025.
We have now moved on to learning about backing vocals and again using the chosen songs to explore the opportunities to add them.
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Song practice
When learning a song, even if I’m going to be singing it to a backing track as in this case, I like to explore the song on guitar and occasionally on keyboard. Besides adding interest, I find that approaching the song from different perspectives helps with memorising the structure, lyrics and helps to cement a chosen performance style.
For The Monkees ‘I’m a Believer’ cover, that I working on for Sing Pop, I’m transposing from the key of G to F for my vocal so also practicing the accompaniment on guitar in F.
I started learning the song using Justin Sandercoe’s video, one of my regular go to resources.
This time though I am also using the excellent, local to me, Kirklees Guitar School‘s video / PDF which had recently been shared with somewhat spooky serendipity! -
Deembe Music Website
This WordPress website is now live having replaced the Google Sites version.
This will now be used to record all new musical adventures from March 2025 onwards.
This version is enabling a chronological news blog to sit alongside the less changeable scrapbook content.
This is the fourth (and last!) incarnation of my musical adventures scrapbook. It started out when I maintained a parallel scrapbook on Pinterest for CSI:Halifax Choir. I then progressed to use Adobe Portfolio, as I had a Community Cloud subscription for photography. When I cancelled that I moved the scrapbook to Google Sites and from there on to here using WordPress.
