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

[ButchA]

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.

 

[shredd]

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!

 

[ButchA]

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.

 

[BazzBass]

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 .

 

[-mjk-]

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.