Folk/rock song in "A" (drum machine, keys, guitar, bass)

ButchA

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Tascam DP-03SD
I had an idea from the first YouTube video, where I had this spark of inspiration, and HAD TO do whatever possible to record my ideas, so I sat down at my full size Yamaha keyboard and had my acoustic guitar in my lap. Somehow, someway, like the saying "capturing lightning in a bottle" it all hit me, and I made a recording of it.

Then, I got out my Tascam DP-03SD and slowly, laid down each track. No vocals yet, as I have no idea what to say in the song. I am a horrible lyricist and can't put words to music for nothing... :(

Here's the original concept, with me figuring things out, live right then and there, as it happened....

Here's the recording with the Tascam DP-03SD, with it plugged into my Boss Katana amp (I know... I know... way too much midrange out of the guitar amp. But, I had to use it so people could hear the rough mix).

Lastly... if anyone wants to collaborate on this with me, please let me know:
A, Bm, E, A, (6 times) --- the main lyrics.
C#m, D, C#m, D, C#m, F#m, Bm, E, --- a chorus section or a bridge section, I don't know.
Yamaha keyboard built-in drum machine was set at a 4/4 tempo of 92 bpm.
 
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Hey Butch...thanks for sharing!
Although I'm terribly disappointed. It doesn't sound like RUSH at ALL!!! (juuust kidding!!!).

As I listened to your meanderings, all sorts of things occurred to me. So I'll put my $0.02 in:
  • Play with the "arrangement" - what instruments used in different parts of songs; use the arrangement and the dynamics to build the song the way you want it.
  • DEFinitely use the multi-tracks and the virtual-track capability (assuming the DP-03 has it) to record lots of different stuff, and see what fits together/sounds good together, to get the feel you want.
  • I also recall you're a notable multi-instrumentalist - I could TOTally imagine horn parts in this, even if just to accent where/when you want/need it.
  • And vary the drum-track to vary the feel of the song, to go along with the above-mentioned dynamics changes. I use a variety of ZOOM machines, and even the sequencer built into my Roland JD-Xi, for drum parts.
Shows great promise, and would be a fun project.

BTW: I feel yo' payne re: lyrics. I've written a number of songs I thought were great instrumentals - or were written with the INTENT of having lyrics - but the lyrics I came up with were SO BAD that I couldn't bear to pollute decent recordings with them. My SoundClick page is full of that kind of stuff.

So have fun, experiment, and see where it goes. I'll be watching!
 
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Thanks.... This was one of those bizarre moments when a song idea hit me so hard, I had to completely stop what I was doing, and focus on arranging the song, work out ideas, practice the parts, and experiment on this or that, until I could get it roughed out.

Horns could be added, as I have my trumpet, cornet, trombone, and tenor sax, here in my music room. But then again, I have another idea of adding a violin melody over the C#m, D, section. That part (bridge/chorus section) is softer and more mellow, and a violin part over the chord structure would be kind of cool, and would make my grandmother proud, to know her heirloom violin is still being used by me. :cool:
 
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Nice, original music is where it's at . Love how your song grew organically from an idea in your head. Well captured. Must be nice to be a multi instrumentalist, I'm just a bassist and hack drummer lol .
 
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I miss these types of composing sessions I used to have with my publisher. Nice way to come up with new songs.

I kept wanting to hear that phrase begin on the Bm, go to E and then to A, probably because I listen to a lot of Thai music phrasing. The tones on the recording are nice. Don't leave us hanging though, we'll need regular followups, hehe.
 
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