3 03 - I’ve Been Here Before

Words and music by Devaki Sokaris

I’ve Been Here Before - as performed by DevaKnighT, is a folky and chill-out dreamy-feel song that will leave you feeling relaxed. Released 2013-10-30.

Agh! Don't you just hate it when you have to keep learning the same lesson over and over again. We often keep revisiting the same situations in life. Although it might be dressed in different clothing, the lesson is the same. When we finally learn from it, we move on to the next one. It’s just part of life.

Credits

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Basically, it’s all us!

The various roles were performed by:
a	Copyright owner (Video, audio and website)	©2013 Devaki Sokaris
b	Audio and video producers	Devaki and Patanjali Sokaris
c	Performers	Devaki Sokaris - vocals, fingerstyle guitar Patanjali Sokaris - lead guitar
d	Audio recording, mixing and mastering	Patanjali Sokaris
e	Video recording and editing	Patanjali Sokaris
f	Website and graphic design	Patanjali Sokaris

From the songwriter

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I wrote I've Been Here Before in early March 2012, around the time that Patanjali had not long started playing guitar. He was out of work at the time, which was to become 6 months.

It occurred to me how stupid we humans can be because it often takes us several times to recognize the patterns we keep repeating just because we think it’s different this time. When writing this song, it was clear to me that this was one of those stripped-back intimate in-your-face-in-a-gentle-way folk songs with a message, but not to stress about it. Just take it in your stride as part of life, 'cause we're not here for a picnic.

Well, this is our third YouTube, and we are starting to get the hang of things. Shame about the performance anxiety we wish would go away. Sorry if we look like stunned mullets sometimes. (Just Kidding!). This was another one of those songs we didn’t want to mess with too much for the final recording, so we decided to keep it simple. Our intention was to make the recording feel almost meditative and relaxing, with an intimate touch. We believe the end result is just that.

Lyrics

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I take a breath wondering why I’m here
The decisions and choices have been the same
The faces in the crowd are all too familiar
There must be something more to reclaim

I’ve seen these walls and walked these streets
But there’s something new in the air tonight
I’ve talked this talk and heard these stories
But I don’t view them in the same light
I’m closing doors and never looking back
Cause I know I’ve been here before

I’ve been young and I’ve been old
And I’ve been here many times before
One thing's for sure, love has been shared
Whether I’ve been rich or I’ve been poor

Making of

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Here's what went into making I've Been Here Before.

The instruments we used were:

a.Fingerstyle guitar (Devaki) - Taylor 812ce-LTD Fall 2010.
b.Lead guitar (Patanjali) - Martin OMCPA4.

The microphones we used were:

a.Vocals - Neumann U87Ai.
b.Guitars - pair Jeanne Audio JA-251.
c.All in figure-8 mode to isolate from each other, as suggested on page 43 of Mixing with your mind by Michael Stavrou.

The camera used was a Panasonic HDC-HS700 camcorder.

The software we used for recording and processing was:

a.Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) - Steinberg Cubase 7.
b.Audio clean up - iZotope RX3 Advanced.
c.Vocal compression - UAD Fairchild® 670 Compressor plugin.
d.Guitar compression - UAD Teletronix® LA-2A Classic Leveling Amplifier plugin.
e.Vocal reverb - UAD EMT® 140 plugin, using the level-dependent technique described on page 171 of Mixing with your mind by Michael Stavrou.
f.Harmonies - iZotope Nectar 2 plugin suite.
g.Room reverb - REVerence (in Cubase) - LA Studio preset.
h.Ambience - UAD K-Stereo plugin.
i.Maximising & dithering - iZotope Ozone 5 Maximizer plugin.
j.Video editing - Corel VideoStudio Pro X6.

All audio was recorded and processed at 192k, 24bit, and finalised at:

a.Audio - 44.1k, 16bit.
b.Video - 48k, 16bit.

All video was recorded and edited at 1920x1080, 50fps, and finalised at 1920x1080, 25fps.