Composition Challenge #9 - Voting

Antique_Guitars · July 2015

Hi Everyone,

This is the combined Voting and Discussion thread.

Thanks to all that entered the competition.

Please use this thread to cast your votes for your favourite entries to Fretboard Challenge #9.
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Voting System - voters can pick their top 3 favourite entries.

First choice gets 5 points - Second choice gets 3 points - Third choice gets 1 point

Entry with the most points wins.

Simply post in this thread your top three choices for winner in order, 1st choice first etc etc.

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(Note for Entrants of the competition: Self Voting is NOT Allowed)

The winner will be announced just before midnight on the 31st July, voting will close at 11.30pm on that day.

(you can edit your vote up to the time voting closes)

A reminder of the competition Guidlines:

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They said it couldn't and shouldn't be done, but to save the world you must compose the ultimate funky folk mash up song!

Go forth and ruin music forever good people!

I'm sure there are plenty of example out there to melt your ears already!

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Please see all the entries uploaded on SoundCloud below.

steamabacus · July 2015

I shall give these a listen later. I'm a little embarrassed at basically having to pick one of two .... I love you both.
:-*

As I got my dates confused on this one, I finished with weeks to spare which allowed me the time to write up some 'sleevenotes' on how my track came into being. I'll go and find the Word file.

steamabacus · July 2015

Right, found them ...

Free Your Ass … And Your Cart Will Follow - ‘sleeve notes’

My initial idea was the track title - ‘funky’ invariably leads me towards Funkadelic as a benchmark and I remembered their superbly titled track ‘Free Your Mind … And Your Ass Will Follow’. So I flipped that around and replaced ‘cart’ for ‘mind’ - what could be more ‘folky’ than a donkey cart?

With the title decided, I thought ‘trad. arr. SteamAbacus’ would be highly appropriate for a folk tune and so I went hunting for any traditional folk tunes about donkeys. What do you know? There was one called ’Donkey Riding’. And what’s more, when I listened to a couple of versions on YouTube I recognised the tune (if not the words)!

A bit of research uncovered that this tune was performed on the old kids TV favourite ‘Play School’ and was even included on an LP - just look at that cover! George Clinton would approve.

I so wanted to believe I had heard this tune in my childhood performed by psychedelically-attired BBC children’s TV presenters.

However, a bit more research turned up that it was based on an old Scottish folk tune usually called ‘Highland Laddie’ (or ‘Hielan Laddie’) after the Robert Burns poem that was put to the melody.‘Highland Laddie’ became the standardised regimental march of all British army highland regiments and it is probably from this that I recognised it - played by a marching band of massed pipers.

So that was the tune but the words of ‘Donkey Riding’ weren’t really about cute little members of the horse family either (although the presenters of Play School might beg to differ). The song is an old sea shanty about transporting lumber from various ports around the world and the ‘donkey’ of the title is probably referring to the ‘steam donkey’ - a rudimentary steam engine used in the logging, mining and maritime industries in the 19th century….

Given my username (and reliance on antiquated steam-powered computational devices to record this stuff), this synchronicity was too good to pass up - ‘Donkey Riding’ would become the basis for my entry!

So I came up with a simplified version of the melody and found a fairly ‘straight’ drum beat (Addictive Drums) to go with it. I then brought in the funkiness with the bass line which seemed to work pretty well with the melody. The main tune is in a major key but I decided to switch to something with a more minor feel for where the guitar solo ‘gets down’ in the middle section. There is a semitone up modulation right at the end - that just kind of happened accidentally when I was trying to work out the chords using a different guitar tuned to D Standard with a capo. I think it works quite well.

I decided to build up the arrangement using quite a few different guitars, including some of my more unusual instruments that don’t come out to play very often….

L-R : Ibanez Blazer, Stagg 'minicaster', Washburn Festival series electro acoustic, Squier Precision P/J bass, balalaika, Ibanez Artist

The rhythm guitars (and underlying melody) on the beginning and end sections were played on the Artist (coil split, bridge pickup mainly). The middle ‘funky’ section and solo were the Blazer (neck pickup on the solo).

The intro (and continuing doubling of the melody alongside the Artist) is the balalaika which is really more of a tourist piece than a proper instrument. But with doubling the part and adding a drone strummed part underneath as well, then mixing the three tracks carefully, I think it sounds pretty good. That little balalaika always sounds much better recorded than it really should.

The call and answer sections of the main tune were layered up using the Stagg ‘minicaster’ with a touch of drive (‘call’ sections) and a combination of the minicaster and the Washburn acoustic (‘answer’ sections).

Finally, I thought I’d better put some vocals on there. As I’m not a great singer, I layered up several parts in an attempt to get that ‘sea shanty’ vibe - I was trying to sing the parts as different ‘characters’, I think there’s four parts at the beginning and a whole six at the end. It was then a case of trying to mix these together to sound as reasonable as possible (which meant mixing some of the more ‘unusual characters’ fairly low!).

Finally, I found YouTube is an absolute treasure trove for donkey recordings and felt I had to get some of these in as well.

Chuffola · July 2015

I need a few listens to decide but @steamabacus, I've a few Gentle Giant albums that your track would fit right into! Brilliant!

horse · July 2015

I've not listened yet, but that is one hell of a backstory @steamabacus!

At first I was going to 'funk up' a leonard cohen track for contrast. Then I thought about the controversy when dylan went electric, and what it would have been like if he went from folk to funk instead.

Wasn't sure if funk would work in 3/4, but played a guide track in on piano (which you can hear towards the end of the 1st verse) then put the rest over the top. Would have liked to have got a better tone on the lead guitar at the end but didn't have time to mic an amp at the time, so it is from an old pod.

All done in reaper - first full track I've recorded in there. Learnt a fair bit about production during the process but would particularly appreciate any feedback or tips in that area if anybody in the know has any - not that I'll be recording any more folk funk...

Fretwired · July 2015

I've had a quick listen and will have a listen again ...

I can't claim anything as impressive as @steamabacus and time was my enemy. Produced on the last afternoon it took about 2 hours. An old Yamaha APX4 electro acoustic for all the guitar and the drum (just me hitting the guitar) and a GR-enabled Strat through a GR-55 for the violin.

Back in the 70s I used to go to the Goat Inn in St Albans and they'd often be a folk music evening - local musos would come and play and as the ale flowed and the evening wore on it would descent into a jam with people dancing .. the beer dance happened when all the shy guys had drunk enough ale that they were prepared to make fools of themselves chasing the girls and leaping around like a demented Ian Anderson .. the musos were also inebriated so the timing was out .. that's my excuse anyway .. ;-)

horse · July 2015

Having had a coiple of listens, my votes are:

5 points to @steamabacus - great idea, catchy as hell, nice details and variation, sounds particularly good when the folk rock comes in and the simulated gang vocals are very convincing - actually reminded me a little of one of my favourite albums 'love is simple' by akron family. Folk sections were stronger than the funk for me - the funk section could maybe have benefited from some rapping as well as the solo(!)? I have got the chorus stuck in my head a bit after just a couple of listens - can imagine it was very hard to get it out of your head after working on the track?

3 points to @fretwired - some nice improvised playing, and I hadn't picked that the bass drum wasn't actually a drum sound, but the main thing which stood out to me was how well the violin tone worked in the mix. I tend to find keyboard violin tones don't sound very convincing, but this is a good example of how well they can work in amongst other sounds

steamabacus · July 2015

horse said:

I have got the chorus stuck in my head a bit after just a couple of listens - can imagine it was very hard to get it out of your head after working on the track?

You're not wrong! It was going round and round my head for a couple of weeks!
8-}

Voting for these things is never easy and this one had me thinking 'what exactly constitutes a traditional song', 'where's the line between 'trad. arr.' and 'cover version', 'can a song be a traditional song if the writer is still alive?'. 'Is Dylan accually still alive? Does he smell funky' Haha. Can of worms really.

So, taking the long list of entries one by one....

@Fretwired ; 'Beer Dance'
Enjoyed learning the origin of the Beer Dance - do those old pub sessions still exist? The few I've encounted in recent years have all been a bit lifeless and contrived.
I managed to suss that the 'drum' was an acoustic guitar (I've done a fair bit of acoustic thumping myself) - it works really well, gives a livelier sound than a sample (I had thought of putting some recorded percussion on my track but ended up deciding to leave that experiment for another day). It actually doesn't sound too far from an old Tabor (or whatever those baggy old folk 'toms' are called). The 'violin' is a triumph. I was hearing something other than a straight keyboard - I think you can hear it's a 'string' instrument in how it's played.

@horse ; 'Funkadylan'
Notwithstanding whether it's 'traditional' or 'cover', I really enjoyed this. Great vocal and the squeezebox (sampled?) is inspired. Some nice touches in the arrangement as well. And kudos for trying 'funky-waltz' time! When I first listened through, it never occurred to me it was in 3/4 so it must be a success. The production is really good. I could maybe have wanted the vocal a bit more forward and the drums slightly back - but then again, I often feel that with modern mixes. I might just be getting old.

So, after much discussion amongst the panel, the South London votes are in.....

1st @horse 5 points

2nd @Fretwired 3 points

3rd @Norway ; nil points

horse · July 2015

Thanks mate. The accordion is the real thing - been my main gigging instrument for the last couple of years, but I don't usually get to play the 'bass / chords' side of it in a band context so am a bit rusty

bingefeller · July 2015

1st @Steamabacus

2nd @horse

3rd @Fretwired

all entries were great but I really enjoyed the vocal tracks.

Fretwired · July 2015

A tough one to call but:

5 points to @steamabacus - the sheer scale, ambition and invention are worth 5 points alone. The back story was well worth a read.

3 points to @horse - I loved this track .. better than Dylan's original effort IMHO. A real foot tapper .. love the bass line, the vocal and the loose anarchic feel.

Chuffola · July 2015

1st @Steamabacus

2nd @horse

3rd @Fretwired

Vocals ftw!

hobbio · July 2015

I'll have a proper listen and vote tonight.

TTony · July 2015

What a great range of tracks.

I am envious of those who manage to find the time, and have the talents, for creating entries for this challenge each month. As others have said, it almost feels "wrong" voting for winners.

I'd happily pay money to buy (I know the kids don't "buy" music anymore, but I'm not a kids) the first 2 of these.

1st place, 5pts @SteamAbacus. Brilliant track and I loved the explanatory story too. Genius work. Pro standard (IMHO).

2nd place, 3pts @Horse. Another brilliant track. And more genius work.

3rd place 1pt @Fretwired. I feel bad putting this third, because I also really liked this track. But compared to the other two ...

steamabacus · July 2015

Thanks @TTony (although I'm not sure I'm anywhere near 'genius')

Finding the time, I reckon, comes from making the commitment - like the old cliché of novellists having to just sit down and write every day, whether they're inspired or not, and eventually the words will come.

Having committed to entering these challenges (and sometimes I've struggled to find the motivation to get them done in time) as a way of forcing myself to get more familiar with my computer software, it's become easier and easier to get the computer to do what I want. I sat down last night and listened to all my entries from Challenges #1 to #9 and could hear a real progression and improvement in the production - #1 was just a guitar and a looper pedal (which had been the limit of my recording for quite a few years).

As I've said elsewhere, it's like a muscle - the more you use that compositional muscle, the stronger it gets.