FAWM: "Song For Parsnip"

Song For Parsnip

Liner Notes

At long last, another song! This one came from this week's Blockbuster's prompt in the lovely Thinking Outside The Blocks community: "Explore a story, memory, or relationship that embodies Non-Romantic Love." So naturally, my song is about my beloved #dog. Parsnip is a #bassethound, and I hope this song captures his laid back, lazy nature.

Just a #12string and some vocal takes. Oh and bass too.

Recorded entirely on the #zoomr4. I'm trying to figure out what's causing the clipping because the R4 has no adjustment for input gain. It's supposed to have 32 bit float which magically avoids clipping. So not sure what happened here. (If anyone has any ideas?)

UPDATE: I figured out the clipping issue and have re-uploaded a much cleaner, clearer version.

Technical answer: The zoom r4 has 32 bit float, so nothing was clipping on the device. However, I was just taking the Bounced WAV (which is still in 32 bit) and converting it to MP3 and uploading here. Welcome to clipping-town. Population: me. What I NEEDED to do after the bounce was Export the file on the Zoom as an MP3 or WAV with Normalization turned on. OR I could have brought that 32 BIT WAV into a DAW (making sure to tell it that the file was 32 bit) and exported from there. Whew!

Lyrics

You sat there wagging on the table on a dreary spring day Your puppy skin was just clinging to your bones Leaving slobber on my sleeve

You steal but I still love you You stink but I still snuggle And every walk that takes 30 minutes just to circle the block But I still love you

When you wake up on my pillow You sneeze and scratch and start to wiggle Top of the stairs with that look upon your face You give my nose and ears a nibble

You steal but I still love you You stink but I still snuggle And every walk that takes 30 minutes just to circle the block But I still love you

You're sleeping backwards on the couch You're middle aged A half a decade and I don't regret a day You got so lazy but you don't care what you weigh So I pick you up like a bundle of logs

You steal but I still love you You stink but I still snuggle You steal but I still love you You stink but I still snuggle And every walk that takes 30 minutes just to circle the block But I still love you

Comments

@coolparadisoMod 16h

2 dog family here so of course this was a must listen! excellent i recognise all of this so well and delivered in a really pleasant way, the guitar really holds it all so well!

@richaaaay 1d

I love dogs. This is an endearing song. Some great harmonies. I like when the bass comes in.

Do you ever use the Zoom in audio interface mode? If you have a laptop, or maybe even an iPad, you'd retain the portability but also have a little more friendly interface and the ability to control clipping a little better. Just a thought...

@vermuffin 1d

I haven't used it in audio interface mode yet! I have a different interface set up at my desk so haven't needed it on the go in this way. I find the computer-based DAWs to be very distracting and time consuming. I haven't really gotten a good grasp on Logic so the idea of the R4 for me is that it's a very simple device that I can quickly multitrack with. I have some ideas about the clipping- I think I had the track set too high when I bounced them, so even though the original recordings aren't clipped, the bounce does clip. User error.

@markipp 1d

The shoe-gaze vibe of the production complements perfectly the sweet but not cloying lyric. Love the doo-wop vocals and the bass brings a heft to the whole affair. Look forward to hearing more.

@vermuffin 1d

Thank you Mark! Hadn't thought of the song as shoe-gaze or do-wop but it fits! I like it more now :)

@vince_link 2d

I like the sound of 12string acoustic guitars. It is a nice elevation when the bass sets in. The backing vocals are very well done. Even though I have no dog myself (but I know some people who have) it is very relatable. Well done!

Did you post songs that have a violin this FAWM? May I ask if you want to collab and give me some melody or a solo an violin? Or write something together? (That would be very great! My FAWM songs are rather short but I love a lot of old school prog bands that have flute or violin. Try?)

Thanks a lot for commenting on my "Awakening". Normally I don't play much single notes on guitar, being more the chord guy. But this came very natural. I loved and kept it.

@vermuffin 1d

Thank you! It's funny now that you mention it, but there isn't any violin stuff so far for FAWM 2026. I'd love to collaborate on something! Do you have a song you'd like some violin tracks on? Also happy to try to connect to cowrite something. I'll send you an email.