Tubular.net :: Mike Oldfield Forums Discussion, news, reviews, fan music, and more.
	Search :: Members :: Help :: Guidelines

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Moz Group: Musicians Posts: 600 Joined: July 2005 Posted: Aug. 21 2006, 18:25 "Prosperity": the 8th track I've completed (to the point where you can listen to it, anyway) for my third album. http://www.lyricless.com/file_view?id=58 I'm in a bit of a situation.  I have written lyrics for this track, but I don't think much of my singing, and I don't have a microphone even if I wanted to give it a try.  Worse still, I am trying to promote it on "lyricless.com", where lyrics are not permitted! OK, so that last point isn't really my biggest worry... As usual, I'm interested to hear feedback, but I'm also curious to know if anyone would be willing to try singing the track for me.  I'd love to hear how it could sound with vocals, and possibly even include one of you as the "final" singer.  That would be pretty cool. Thanks for listening... -------------- Twitter: @benbarden Back to top

Wayfarer Group: Members Posts: 308 Joined: June 2002 Posted: Aug. 21 2006, 19:25 I'm downloading it right now. In the meanwhile... Maybe could you post the lyrics somewhere? ;-) -- Wayfarer -------------- My homepage - www.thewayfarer.info My search - www.cannotbefound.com My community - www.taurusiv.net My luthier - www.artluthier.com Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Aug. 21 2006, 20:14 I would like to candidate myself as possible singer. ["Candidate"... is that a correct verb in English? ] It wouldn't be the very first time I'd sing a song I've not written - I've recently released a CD where I sing an original song written by a friend of mine. [This CD also includes an instrumental piece, but more about this will be posted in another topic... maybe!] About the track... it's very interesting and very good as usual... with the cross-rhythms, the intro being completely different from the song itself, and that plucked guitar in the background sounding very folky - and very unusual for you. But... are you saying that this track is supposed to have a sung melody, right? Well, as the track is right now, I'm afraid I can't really hear what the sung melody is!! OK, I'm hearing the piano... but, because of the way it's intertwined with the other instruments, it sounds very complicated - I can't find anything that could sound, at least to my ears, like a "singable" melody [mistreating the English language again, am I? ] That said, I'd suggest you do one of these things, or maybe both... 1) Re-play the track and use a different sound for the melody that's supposed to be sung - e.g. something like a flute. 2) As Wayfarer justly commented: post the lyrics. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Moz Group: Musicians Posts: 600 Joined: July 2005 Posted: Aug. 22 2006, 12:16 Thanks for the feedback, guys. Lyrics: http://www.benbarden.com/view_article?id=416 Sheet music - Sorry I didn't label the tracks properly.  Track 1 is piano/vocals, track 2 is bass, track 3 is acoustic guitar. http://www.benbarden.com/file_view?id=104 (21 pages) http://www.benbarden.com/file_view?id=105 (4 pages but it's very small) On the sheet music, you can see how the lyrics are set to the melody.  The lyrics are also on my web site if you want to read them properly. Ugo - I think the word you're looking for is "volunteer"  And thanks for the offer.  I'd be interested to hear you singing this track - and if you can provide a WAV file of just the vocals, even better Edit: One more thing - has anyone spotted where the intro comes from?  You might want to listen back to a couple of my other recent tracks... -------------- Twitter: @benbarden Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Aug. 22 2006, 19:38 I still haven't spotted where does the intro come from because I ain't got all of your recent tracks here on the laptop. But I'll surely check 'em out when I get back home, as now I am on vacation... Back on topic: after several repeated listenings, always with the sheet music in front of me on the screen, I have to say that I have some perplexities. I'll try listing them to avoid confusion in this post, and in my mind... 1) The 'development' of the song sounds a bit weird to me. The verse (if it is a verse...) goes up, quite high (up to a G), while the chorus (if it is a chorus...) is very low, and somehow it also sounds very understated. This is something I've never heard before in songs. Usually, when the melody comes to the chorus, its pitch (or its intensity, or its power) is either raised or stays more or less the same. But this is the very first time I'm hearing a song whose chorus plunges down in some kind of deep place, especially after a verse which sounded like it was about to fly... 2) Again on the chorus [if it is a chorus... ]: where it says "Everybody sees the world in very different ways" (to quote just the first one) the melody is still unclear to me, in spite of me trying to play it on its own - the piano tinkles, the guitar (?) under it tinkles as well... the layering, as I said before, is very nice as music on its own, but it doesn't help to understand, in a clear-cut way, what is supposed to be sung. At least, it doesn't help me. 3) The lyrics, as written on their own in your webpage, don't match what's on the sheet music. While the absence of elongated words (such as "pray-e-yay-ers") is pretty obvious, I think you should at least include the repeated phrases, such as "thinking aloud, thinking aloud", or "shouting aloud, I'm shouting aloud", or "transformed life, transformed life" at the end. 4) Are the parts marked with a long line after "here at last" and "end of the game" supposed to be sung? I think they are so good as they are, as piano solo parts... Regarding my possible role as guest singer, I can't really do anything right now. When I get home, I'll try sticking a microphone into my very old SoundBlaster [why would you need a decent soundcard on your PC when you don't use your PC to make music? ] and I'll see what happens... P.S. Do the lyrics talk about the regret of having misunderstood someone you love, and the fact that the one you love is now gone (or far from you, or however absent)? Or is there some other meaning? P.P.S. If the meaning of the song is what I'm hypotizing, why is it called "Prosperity" ? -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Wayfarer Group: Members Posts: 308 Joined: June 2002 Posted: Aug. 22 2006, 20:09 Quote (Moz @ Aug. 22 2006, 18:16) Sheet music - Sorry I didn't label the tracks properly.  Track 1 is piano/vocals, track 2 is bass, track 3 is acoustic guitar. http://www.benbarden.com/file_view?id=104 (21 pages) http://www.benbarden.com/file_view?id=105 (4 pages but it's very small) Hi there, I'm getting an error when I try to get the sheet music, as follows: Quote Error You do not have sufficient access to view this page. Strange indeed, It seems that Ugo hassn't got any problem. Ben, I can give the lyrics a try, but it'd be better to me if you could send me the midi file, as in that way I can fully synchronize the voice to the midi clock. Regards, -- Wayfarer -------------- My homepage - www.thewayfarer.info My search - www.cannotbefound.com My community - www.taurusiv.net My luthier - www.artluthier.com Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Aug. 23 2006, 10:04 Quote (Wayfarer @ Aug. 23 2006, 02:09) Strange indeed, It seems that Ugo hasn't got any problem. May it be because I'm registered to Ben's site and you're not? However, I think it's better that you (Wayfarer) should take on the  task of doing the vocal, instead of me. You don't seem to be making any fuss about it, while I most certainly am. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Moz Group: Musicians Posts: 600 Joined: July 2005 Posted: Aug. 23 2006, 17:26 Lots of things to answer!  Here goes: 1) The 'development' of the song sounds a bit weird to me. The verse (if it is a verse...) goes up, quite high (up to a G), while the chorus (if it is a chorus...) is very low, and somehow it also sounds very understated. This is something I've never heard before in songs. Interesting comment.  Would it be helpful to rethink the melody for this section?  Is it "singable" as it is now? 2) Again on the chorus [if it is a chorus... ]: where it says "Everybody sees the world in very different ways" (to quote just the first one) the melody is still unclear to me, in spite of me trying to play it on its own Apart from what I said in response to point #1, I think this part is more of a "middle bit" than a chorus.  Would the piece benefit from a chorus and possibly some additional development elsewhere? 3) The lyrics, as written on their own in your webpage, don't match what's on the sheet music. Fair comment.  If you look at the lyrics again, you'll see that they are now correct. 4) Are the parts marked with a long line after "here at last" and "end of the game" supposed to be sung? I think they are so good as they are, as piano solo parts... No... that's just a quirk with the sheet music.  I am not sure if it's possible to fix this or not.  I couldn't see anything obvious when I was last editing the music. P.S. Do the lyrics talk about the regret of having misunderstood someone you love, and the fact that the one you love is now gone (or far from you, or however absent)? Or is there some other meaning? P.P.S. If the meaning of the song is what I'm hypotizing, why is it called "Prosperity" ? To cover both points - it's a reflection on how I used to act a few years ago (all of the bad feelings relate to that period of my life) and the way I feel now, i.e. I feel that I can live and prosper having learned from my experiences, and moved on. I'm getting an error when I try to get the sheet music, as follows: Sorry about that.  It was restricted to admins only, so it's odd that Ugo could see it!  I have made it public, and will look into fixing the underlying problem with admin access as that obviously isn't working as expected. Ben, I can give the lyrics a try, but it'd be better to me if you could send me the midi file, as in that way I can fully synchronize the voice to the midi clock. I'll do this for you, Wayfarer, but it'll probably have to wait until tomorrow (Thursday). However, I think it's better that you (Wayfarer) should take on the  task of doing the vocal, instead of me. You don't seem to be making any fuss about it, while I most certainly am. Feedback is good And it would be good to hear you both, perhaps you could be double-tracked! Thanks for all the comments! -------------- Twitter: @benbarden Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Aug. 23 2006, 18:58 Quote (Moz @ Aug. 23 2006, 23:26) Interesting comment.  Would it be helpful to rethink the melody for this section?  Is it "singable" as it is now? If you refer to (what I call) the verse, yes, it's very "singable" and very catchy too. If you refer to what you call the "middle bit", and I call the chorus , I think I find it still unclear. Maybe the best thing you could do with the melody is re-play it with a different sound, like a flute or an oboe. Quote Would the piece benefit from a chorus and possibly some additional development elsewhere? If you think you have the ability and/or the space to put a chorus into it, then go ahead. But I think it would be interesting for the pitches of the various sections not to be too distant from each other, i.e. doing something different from what I was mentioning before, a high-pitched verse with a low-pitched chorus - or whatever it is. Quote It was restricted to admins only, so it's odd that Ugo could see it! I thought it was a matter of registration... I got the same error page that Wayfarer got, then I registered on benbarden.com...  et voilà, the error was gone. I had no idea that it had to do with admins... Regarding my singing (again): I'm making a fuss about it [or at least I think I am!] because I never recorded anything into the computer, so I don't know what will happen. But I'll try. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Wayfarer Group: Members Posts: 308 Joined: June 2002 Posted: Aug. 24 2006, 15:22 Quote (Moz @ Aug. 23 2006, 23:26) And it would be good to hear you both, perhaps you could be double-tracked! Ugo is italian... I'm spanish... If Ugo speaks english the same way I do (I mean, with a strong mediterranean accent), double-tracking that can make a really weird effect :P -- Wayfarer -------------- My homepage - www.thewayfarer.info My search - www.cannotbefound.com My community - www.taurusiv.net My luthier - www.artluthier.com Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Aug. 24 2006, 19:26 Wayfarer is right - I have a very noticeable Italian accent, even when I sing in English trying to make it sound like English. But I don't think that the effect of overlaying two voices with similar accents would sound too weird... -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Moz Group: Musicians Posts: 600 Joined: July 2005 Posted: Aug. 25 2006, 04:37 OK, I'm going to have a look at the track over the weekend.  I would suggest that you don't try to record vocals yet, as I will be posting an updated version of the track soon.  Thanks for your comments! -------------- Twitter: @benbarden Back to top

[ Track this topic :: Email this topic :: Print this topic ]

Forums | Links | Instruments | Discography | Tours | Articles | FAQ | Artwork | Wallpapers
Biography | Gallery | Videos | MIDI / Ringtones | Tabs | Lyrics | Books | Sitemap | Contact


Mike Oldfield Tubular.net