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The breakthrough song posted earlier is now done. I kept working on it on weekends, which seems like a very doable schedule. I think I've found a great time to work on songs without sacrificing social life and jazz practices.

The title sounds like I got a baby or something but it's about this song giving me a new starting point. My musical mind was in flux since I went to miami. Not sure if it was related to confidence, or just that my musical direction was messed up by the environment, but I stopped writing anything serious for quite a while.

After coming to NY and starting jazz lessons, I enjoyed practicing, and had trouble internalizing it. As in, linking it to whatever it is I had in my head at the time. After a year of that (now), I did the fashion show tunes, but those relied heavily on my old world ideas and techniques. It's only recently that I've finally started digesting some of what I've learned, and it's opening new doors to different approaches to line writing and harmonizing. I think I can pick my musical self off the ground again, and continue with writing, growing, and learning. So this song is like my personal little seed. I'm going to nourish it, and start again from here. You can already tell from this song that the new approach is highly personalized and eclipses my own musical ideals.

Anyway, I was having trouble the with the second chorus and later, because the ABChorus structure seems to finish fairly quickly at this tempo, especially with only 8 measure units. So I added a new arrangement after the second chorus, and repeated chorus a few more times with a little beef up. Could have used more variation on the repeats, but oh well, I guess sometimes repetition is good to keep with a theme.

I hope you especially enjoy all the interesting lines and thick voicings in there. See if you can pick out the influences that came out at different parts. For starts, the middle calm section that's got the parallel minor 7ths following the chorus's bass line in the key of Fmin is definitely house.

Master channel put through usual:
eq->psyq->vinco->Shroom's tube filter (for a bit of ecc83 love)

How's about posting the finished version?

oops, uploaded the wrong file. I got the final one up there now.

you've a long career ahead Ken, don't worry!

i've always held that you have talent. this piece is a step forward for you i'd say. it's still very commercial, but somehow it seems much less "stock standard" and derivative. in fact, it's rather fresh. i could see you selling this melody and arrangement for TV quite easily.

personally, i wouldn't do anything like this myself(it's not even something that i'm capable of), and it's not a style that i would put on the player, but i can't help but appreciate and respect the hard work and the execution. it's an UP vibe, eh?

thanks gary, your words mean a great deal to me. It's that feeling of having harnessed something I couldn't these past few years. It was very hard for me loosing it.. like having my heart ripped out.

This one has a very strong commercial intent (for a vocalist friend persuing a commercial career), but in general application, I hope I can internalize this inspiration and apply it more freely in my own projects.

I do have some projects lined up that are commercial but are more of artistic nature that I'm still working on a base concept for. So I'd like to keep this flow going into that project. The track you played for me in vegas proved a very important point to me about inspiration living in a tune that doesn't require all the bells and whistles, and that sort of straight forward-ness is definitely something I want to achieve at some point in my personal career. (as opposed to writing stuff for other people)

I think this song proved to me that I really don't have to use a canned solution to make something work. I mean, sure an original solution may work, but most of the times it ends up sounding very homebrew (or too far from what's out there), but this one I think retains enough comercial-ness / familiarity, and also a part of the freshness that homebrew solutions tend to have. I think I'm done with trying to find pre-fab styles that suite what i want to do, because the bottom line is, there isn't any. It's probably that technically I just passed critical mass to be able to start blending my own. I have been trying to all this time, but perhaps my technical execution hasn't been up to par.

Why is it that NY, Tokyo, Vegas, LA, Chile (that's you Nestor), and Montreal (is that where you're at Paul?) are so far apart. It'd be so nice to be able to get together some day. You all are such a great inspiration to me.

Very Nice.

Who knowa Ken, maybe another gathering of the " Founding Fathers ". Paul could be the 4th head on Mt. Rushmore.

But Vegas has been conquered for the 3rd time, and I grow weary of the lack of battle.

Maybe we can enjoy each others company next year in Lake Tahoe.

That's where I re-emerge this Fall.

W/ Gigastudio 4 and XITE-1, I'll run through there like Grant took Richmond.




You mixes and arrangements are very fresh.

By the next time we get together I hope I can have something as good to share.

Great work indeed.

Ken,

Absolutely fantastic!

Hope you don't mind but I've nabbed it for some fusion guitar lead practice - sometimes I need something inspirational to just let loose on after bashing over ii-V's for hours - this definately qualifies!

Simon

no problem at all! enjoy!