UPS n DOWNS with Stratmonkey

[rayc]

Here's a piece that took a while. The backing was done ages ago but I couldn't write a set of lyrics that fitted. Eventually I winged it and came up with stuff on the run.
BIAB drums & organ.
Gene - lead guitar the rest is my fault.
Lots of vocoderish vocal effect applied with the tuning software.

Ups n Downs

Frencman's gift
Beans ground sniffed
Cuts of cane
Toke back down again.
Rhythms clocked by pain

Nicotine
Caffeine
Sucrose
Cannabis
Put the mind in order

Smoke guillotine
Drink routine
Poison we chose
Oblivion knows
DNA predsposed

Nicotine
Caffeine
Sucrose
Cannabis
Mind upon the border

solo

Nicotine
Caffeine
Sucrose
Cannabis
Experience re-order

Take you up
Loving cup
Called your own
Personal touchstone.
Needs must is chaperone

Nicotine
Caffeine
Sucrose
Cannabis

[vomitHatSteve]

That mostly sounded good.

But right at 4:17 that hi-hat fill out got way louder than the rest of the mix. It's like the reverb was suddenly turned off and we got the dry sound for the last 3 beats.

[rayc]

That mostly sounded good.

But right at 4:17 that hi-hat fill out got way louder than the rest of the mix. It's like the reverb was suddenly turned off and we got the dry sound for the last 3 beats.

Thanks Steve,
That'd be the BIG delay that starts suddenly...an added wake up.

[TripleM]

Nice full mix. Guitars sound good. I like the jangly one on the left. Vocals seem to have a nice tone - but they're buried.

Little "fwip: or something at :30.

Bass is a bit muddy and overpowering. At least in spots.

Guitar solo sounded nice.

Nice kick and snare sound. Hats seem just a bit loud. Yeah and the hats got real loud for a few sseconds starting at 4:17.

I liked that outro stuff - or whatever you call the part that happened after the song ended.

[CeeBee]

Nice one, a trip back in time.

[rayc]

Nice full mix. Guitars sound good. I like the jangly one on the left. Vocals seem to have a nice tone - but they're buried.
Little "fwip: or something at :30.
Bass is a bit muddy and overpowering. At least in spots.
Guitar solo sounded nice.
Nice kick and snare sound. Hats seem just a bit loud. Yeah and the hats got real loud for a few sseconds starting at 4:17.
I liked that outro stuff - or whatever you call the part that happened after the song ended.

Thanks MMM,
Pity those things weren't noted before mastering...I'll have to live with them.
As mentioned the jump in hats is due to a large dose of delay across the last couple of bars.

[rayc]

Nice one, a trip back in time.

Thanks Chris,
time travel at 65 - it can happen.

[Armistice]

It's very difficult to do meaningful guitar noodling against your constant drifting key changes ray, and I'm not sure those lines are quite working with the rest of the song as well they good. They seem a bit atonal in places, for my ears anyway. The basic structure of the song gives it this sort of spacey 70s dreamy experimental vibe and I'm just not loving the lead guitar work against it in some spots.

I'd have preferred to hear some sort of repeated guitar motif in particular spots to give the tune a little more focus. Personal taste though.

Nice to see you exploring the upper reaches of your voice, you'll be doing doing 4 part harmony acapella versions in no time.

Mix sounds good.

[Armistice]

It's very difficult to do meaningful guitar noodling against your constant drifting key changes ray, and I'm not sure those lines are quite working with the rest of the song as well they could. They seem a bit atonal in places, for my ears anyway. The basic structure of the song gives it this sort of spacey 70s dreamy experimental vibe and I'm just not loving the lead guitar work against it in some spots.

I'd have preferred to hear some sort of repeated guitar motif in particular spots to give the tune a little more focus. Personal taste though.

Nice to see you exploring the upper reaches of your voice, you'll be doing doing 4 part harmony acapella versions in no time.

Mix sounds good.

[rayc]

It's very difficult to do meaningful guitar noodling against your constant drifting key changes ray, and I'm not sure those lines are quite working with the rest of the song as well they good. They seem a bit atonal in places, for my ears anyway. The basic structure of the song gives it this sort of spacey 70s dreamy experimental vibe and I'm just not loving the lead guitar work against it in some spots.
I'd have preferred to hear some sort of repeated guitar motif in particular spots to give the tune a little more focus. Personal taste though.
Nice to see you exploring the upper reaches of your voice, you'll be doing doing 4 part harmony acapella versions in no time.
Mix sounds good.

Sorry David,
I've only just seen this response.
The intro is nominally C/Am with a sneaky Bb to end it oddly.
The verses are G/Em mainly
and
The choruses are back to C/Am with the occasional borrowing from Bm to make it less obvious.

Ups n Downs.png

Being that I don't/can't play lead I don't think in terms of a key to base improvisations on..I build the bass lines and stunted melodies from the chord tones.

[Armistice]

It was just an observation - because of your complex song structures, chord-wise, I don't often hear people nailing "it" with a solo. I don't even think your tunes necessarily lend themselves to guitar solos as such, generally, at least as we understand them, but I think there's definitely space for instrumental things to fit there, just not necessarily someone trying to rip a solo...

Just my $0.02.

And you could definitely work them out and play them yourself, I'm sure. They don't necessarily have to be difficult. Food for thought, perhaps...

[rayc]

It was just an observation - because of your complex song structures, chord-wise, I don't often hear people nailing "it" with a solo. I don't even think your tunes necessarily lend themselves to guitar solos as such, generally, at least as we understand them, but I think there's definitely space for instrumental things to fit there, just not necessarily someone trying to rip a solo...
Just my $0.02.
And you could definitely work them out and play them yourself, I'm sure. They don't necessarily have to be difficult. Food for thought, perhaps...

I agree...like I wrote, as I don't play any melody I don't think in terms of key - just chords that I like the sound of when they slide or rub against another.
The YOUTUBE face n bad jokes Henning Pauly went spare at one of my recent songs, We, because of the chords and their failure to have traditional relationships. I assume he likes his ingrained expectations met.
When Gene played on the previous one we settled it into motifs for changes etc. and it worked well - as you suggest. With this one I let him decide.
It'd be even harder with my current song - the "solo" has only four bars though it's simple at F to G x2. The same four bars at the beginning of each chorus where something changes and one of those will be a guitar coming forward with something, somehow.
I did "work something out" for this current one but I have no expression in my playing so it doesn't end well unless I go faux baritone with tremolo & spring reverb...& that's just papering over like a distortion pedal for a new player.