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kevinwhitect 13 January 2019

This isn't actually done yet -- but it has a curious backstory.

Monday morning I had a dream, and a song came to me -- w/ basically the verse and a tag line: She's a brown haired ordinary looking girl.

I got out of bed and just sang what I remembered from the dream into a mic.

Band arrived the following night -- and after working on playing gig material out -- we decided to hold a creative session, and I pulled out the basic recording I'd sorted the morning the day before -- telling the guys: "This is going to be a groove song ... so you formulate the groove between the guitar, bass, and drums, and remember to hit the punches -- and then I'll simply layer in my organ, and sing over the top."

The chatter in the background of this was me providing a vocal guide while tracking in for the other 3 to follow.

It's kind of interesting how they took what I heard in a dream, and ran with it -- as I formulated the structure and punches.

This isn't done -- it's more song direction than finished product ... but it shows what can be done in a quick session of creative burst. I've included Soundcloud and direct MP3 for review purpose.

[MEDIA=soundcloud]whowearegroup/brown-haired-girl[/MEDIA]

http://recording.or…

Attached files Brown Haired Girl.mp3 (7.6 MB) 

Comments

kevinwhitect Thu, 01/17/2019 - 06:31

pcrecord, post: 460210, member: 46460 wrote: Nice one Kevin, it's a bit too lively for my taste but it suites your still well.
Like the second version better !

Thanks Marco!

I came in w/ the rough draft from my dream, and said to the bass, guitarist, and drummer, "This song is going to be defined by its groove, so you guys figure that out." -- I told them only what chords to play, and fashioned the song structure, words, and melody.

The result, to me, wound up sounding a little power trio-ish (think Cream) from the 60s ... but I can tell you, the guys unleashed on it -- they were dancing and fingers were flying.

I like the current (2nd) mix better also. I was way too aggressive with compression the first time, and sucked some of the life out of the drums. I also had to be reminded to stop pinning the meters on them ... which is a bad inattentive habit of mine. Pulling the faders down opened them up to a more natural, rhythmic feel.

Still have harmony vocals to do on the chorus -- as I was only laying down a dummy vocal they could follow when the music bed was recorded. I'd had no words or really even a precise melody at that point.

pcrecord Thu, 01/17/2019 - 06:58

kevinwhitect, post: 460211, member: 11453 wrote: I came in w/ the rough draft from my dream, and said to the bass, guitarist, and drummer, "This song is going to be defined by its groove, so you guys figure that out." -- I told them only what chords to play, and fashioned the song structure, words, and melody.

These are great experiences, seeing your song grow with the inspiration of others.

kevinwhitect Thu, 01/17/2019 - 08:30

pcrecord, post: 460213, member: 46460 wrote: These are great experiences, seeing your song grow with the inspiration of others.

First time we've done it as a band. Previously, we've worked of sketchpad studio templates that I'd created. This tune was the first "something out of nothing, together" piece we have done.

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