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We'll Be There

I posted this a while back (at least an earlier production of it) but pulled it after a 36 hour bout with a sick kid and a bit of exhausted self-pity. This has a lyric (more or less) but there is no way I can sing it. I've never been a good singer, but these days I can barely hold a tune. But more importantly, what flows out of these rusty pipes is most assuredly NOT POP!

I make this stuff so I can enjoy it, and I am beyond certain that I would not/could not "enjoy" listening to me try to sing this. I may one day be able to demo it for a true vocalist, but there are hazards, I've learned, in dealing with singers--especially on sites like Fiverr. It's very difficult to "explain" what can't be proficiently demo'ed.

So, for now and maybe forever, this is what it is. I don't post these things to show off ME. I've got better songs than any I've posted here so far. I post HERE to show off BIAB, and this is a prime example of what someone can rather easily accomplish with a bit of planning, listening to the band, and engaging that "producer" ear.

But for those who want words, here's the tagline and the reason for the piece.

All you crazy cats will be back, and we'll be there.

And the middle section:

Show up, tune up, get up, act up
make us proud, make it loud, make it love to the crowd
Feed us. You need us to feed it back to you everywhere
You crazy cats'll be back, and we'll be there


And the chorus (in one iteration).

Play LIVE, work LIVE, act LIVE, be LIVE


And it's dedicated to musicians and other performers aching to get back in front of a live audience, as well as for all of us who are aching to see/hear that happen.

And now, a repeat of the song notes.

------------------------------------------------

I got away from harmony and mode explorations with this little number and decided to focus on rhythm. Indeed, I just went with the ubiquitous four-chord pop loop.--I V vi IV. I'm hardly an expert in pop production, but I hope I at least lean against it here. The end is a bit "harmony" experimental, however.

This was created out of two instances of the main "style". While I kept that funk ONE strong, I alternated the other three beats in the main sections with different iterations of 1/8 and 1/16 pushes (^ and ^^) and then brought them together in DAW. This juxtaposition is most apparent when the guitars come in, panned wide L&R, but it's there in some of the piano, and all of the synth lines. As experiments go, this one was a lot of fun.

I used a lot of more modern mix/production techniques and lots of cuts and sliding. For example, the chorus is mainly delineated by the addition of the main synth line.

The "mix" is uneven to my ears, but I was playing with so many new tools, it's not likely I can make modest changes without massive effort.

This whole effort is inspired by a comment I left on a YouTube video a while back to the effect that all you crazy live-playing cats will be back, and we'll be there. I hope that optimism rings through and proves true.

Enjoy, if possible.

****** Song Summary *************
Key=C , Tempo 90, Length (m:s)=1:14
No intro. 8 bar chorus, from bar 1 to bar 8. Repeat x3 choruses
Style is _KPFUNKY.STY (Modern Funky K-Pop)

RealTracks in style: 2325:Bass, Synth, Rhythm JazzFunkFat Ev 110
RealTracks in style: ~~1638:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm JazzFunkBreezyMuted Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 2282:Synth, Rhythm DiscoSynthGuitDelaySync Ev 120
RealTracks in style: ~~1639:Piano, Electric, Rhythm JazzFunkBreezy Ev16 075
RealTracks in song: ~1642:Sax, Tenor, Soloist JazzFunkBreezy Ev16 075
RealDrums [in style:SynthDrumsDanceRock^1-a: Bass and Snare , b: Snare and Bass

*******************

Second Style (for middle 8)
****** Song Summary *************
Style is _PINKGIN.STY (Pink Gin Lounge Funk with Loop)
RealTracks in style: ~1636:Bass, Electric, JazzFunkBreezy Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: ~1639:Piano, Electric, Rhythm JazzFunkBreezy Ev16 075
RealTracks in style: 3329:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm LoungeFunkSwells Ev16 080
RealTracks in style: ~1638:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm JazzFunkBreezyMuted Ev16 075
Loop in Song: Loops PAK 2\Funk\Drums, Acoustic, FunkBreakA-B Ev16 080.wav
*******************

Mixed in Reaper with PG reverbs and a lot of Izotope plugins.

Tangmo,

Sounds good. A good mix. A "modern" sound overall.
Could be offered up as a topline-track for those who are wanting to try that type writing...

fj

Excellent tune. I love the rhythm of this track. Sort of hits you right in the chest. Well done

I really like this. I enjoyed your mixture of the two styles (and I just love all of BIAB funk styles).

It struck a special chord with me because I've been getting Ideas today about trying my hand at a rhythm pop style song.

Much enjoyed!

I liked it a lot, Tangmo. It is a very good composition. I hope you will succeed in getting a good singer to do this for you... the track has a lot of potential!

Best wishes,
Will

Pretty cool mixture of instruments, and nice groove. I really like the change of mood at :58, worked well.

Has potential I think!

Tangmo,
The intro grabs as it should and I like the way you got those pushes working for the rhythm. Its fun,upbeat pop as is and would be tantalising for a singer with talent to play with.

Robert

I see nothing wrong with that.... it has a funky sort of groove that is quite infectious.

Nice work

Tangmo,

Really fun!
I also enjoyed your mixture of the two styles.
It has a Latin scent.
I think that the simple chord progression fits very well in both styles and is very useful.
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Made our collective heads spin reading about how you put this together.
Quite above our production paygrade.

Sans vocal it sounds as though it would well fit with film credits or in an advertising situation.

The mix sounds excellent on our monitors.

Nice experiment!

J&B

A catchy pop tune with some nice funk and soul flavor, a good sounding bass and an effective rhythm. And a story mentioning cats can't go wrong I hope to hear the final song with vocals one day.

Janne

jannesan took the adjectives I was going to use: "catchy pop". Short and sweet.

Fun listen.

I hear you on vocals. Maybe someone on the board can jump in? One of the reasons I'm using Synthesizer V is so I can stay in songwriter/producer mode. That's especially helpful at times when allergies are going full bore. The downside is it's yet another layer of software to learn, so it may not be a good match for you.

Anyway, I enjoyed the piece, thanks for reposting!

Tangmo,
fun piece! A lot going on here. Sounds modern, yet injected with a good dose of vintage funk. Drums are little busy for my taste, but I understand they do work well with this composition. Good mix.

P.S. Here is a "recycled" & modded suggestion. I took couple of master classes with a jazz singer/teacher a few years back. One of most valuable lesson points she made was to "find your voice". She understood that I am doing music things for fun, as a hobby (not stage) and suggested not to stick to specific tone or vocal character. I was doing it all along, but not consciously. When she put it in "words" it became much more clearer and I try to remember that every time I try to sing something. Now the modded part. If it was me, I would try to sing it anyway, even if it has to be near whisper or even if you do not hit certain notes, just to sketch it out. Maybe you will like it. If not, it could be a good guideline/map for a future vocalist or even with Vocal synth as David above suggested.

Misha.

Hi Tangmo,

I find your composition very pleasant. The arrangement is great. Lots of variation and I enjoyed the sax. It's very catchy at the rhythmic level. Well done.

Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

A very well constructed and arranged piece.

Enjoyed the listen.

Peter

Fun, energetic, and catchy music!!! Love the band you've put together!! A really enjoyable listen!! Take care. Greg

Hi Tangmo,

This is really uplifting to sit back and listen to. It finished playing about 10 minutes ago and I can still hear it popping away in my mind! It's super-catchy.

The production sat really comfortably in my headphones. I didn't anything that was out of place.

Using the two complementary styles was an excellent touch. It's not something I do in my productions but, after hearing this, I'm definitely going to try it!

Thanks for a great listen and thanks for giving me ideas!

All the best,
Noel