Does this "Gospel" instrumental come close?

[aldicicco]

Hi everyone,This is a three year old project that I'm considering revamping for the following listing. I'm not certain whether it's a wise investment of time, and would appreciate your advice on my questions below.SOFT INSTRUMENTALS OF GOSPEL SONGS are wanted by an Austrian Production Company with Major Distribution, for a comp CD that will be marketed and distributed to European Wellness Hotels. You can send in original work or cover pieces or both. Compositions should have simple structure and instrumentation but also need to be a full arrangement, they definitely do not want solo pieces. They are suggesting that acoustic guitar or piano be the main instruments in the piece and they do not want any heavy drums or loud, disturbing effects. Suggested accompaniments are soft flutes or soft saxophones. They don't want to hear violins or tin whistles or trumpets. This is from my pre-DAW days, so be forewarned there is a lot of MIDI-ness to it.The primary questions I have are:1. Is it too jazzy, non-Gospel and not soft enough?2. Is there another place to take this song that might be more suitable for the listing?3. Are organ, bass, and drums sufficient - as opposed to soft flute or sax? The synth strings would be eliminated for this listing.4. Should I save this song for some other future listing? No harm, no foul...www.taxi.com/aldiciccoOh, my soul!Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions!Best wishes,Al

[teleblaster]

I love this piano part. I think you're real close on this. I do think the drums need to be re-worked. It sounds a bit like you turned a drum machine on and played over one groove, whereas the piano motif ebbs and flows nicely. Check out :50sec to about 1:17 to see (hear) what I mean -- the piano plays this very rythmic motif, but the drums keep playing the same basic beat. I also think the piano might be a bit hot relative to the other tracks.Get your drums sequenced to follow the piano motif, work a bit on levels and I think you've got a winner here. This is for a wellness clinic. I can picture myself in a mud bath drinking herbal tea, overlooking some picturesque landscape and groovin' to this!Great work,Erich

[ceedub]

This arrangement is certainly MIDIriffic, but I think it's a good song. If I had to guess, I'd guess it's not "soft enough", to answer your question. Maybe percussion instead of drum set? Or sidestick instead of open snare hits?I don't think the string part (part, not sound) is a problem, and I like the organ part.Once a producer said to me, "OK, Chris, that was a great take. Now let's try another take with the exact same feel, but half as many notes." I love that advice. Maybe a slightly simpler and more legato piano part at a slightly slower tempo with a killer piano sound would help this track fit the listing.Cheers.

[aldicicco]

Thanks Guys! I really appreciate your comments and am encouraged to take on this project.Erich - "Groovin, in a mud bath with an herbal tea!" That's quite an image. Didn't the Young Rascals record that song? Thanks for your comments on the drums. There's certainly a better way to support the piano and tie the parts together. I also agree about the piano being too hot in the mix.Chris - Yes - there are places where less can be more. The piano theme already is strong enough that it doesn't need to be continually presented in the same fashion. I also can get more legato phrasing opportunities this way. EWQL Pianos should help me get a softer and more realistic piano tone. On meter, this song acted real funny. I struggled with it in both directions. Every time I took it up/down one or two BPM, it just didn't seem to act the same way...Thanks again for the listen and for the great feedback!Best wishes,Al

[deantaylor]

Al,I like the song, but think it might be too jazzy, non-Gospel and not soft enough. Also, consider if you think that the Comp CD will bring you enough money to warrant working on this or is your time better spent on something else. Dean

[aldicicco]

Hey Dean,That's an excellent point you made regarding the economics and ROI. I believe I could mold the piece into something suitable, but the payback may not warrant the effort. You picked up the other vibe this song has- jazzy, etc. Thanks for sharing your impressions of the song. I'd still like to spruce it up some day. I'll keep fishing for a good reason to do so. Best wishes,Al

[suzdoyle]

Hey Al;I really like the piano part of this! Very tasty -- a bit more towards jazzy than gospel, but effective. However, with more R&B style drums, a heavier bass and MORE hammond organ, it could definitely come across more gospel-ish. Also, more left hand bass parts in the piano would anchor it more into a gospel feel. In my view, gospel is all about the heavy bass runs accented with the right hand parts, while jazz tends to stay higher on the keyboard with the bass being less important on the piano itself.Awesome piano work!Suz

[aldicicco]

Hi Suz!My first P2P review from you - OOH! Obviously you must have spent time listening to or pondering Gospel music. I appreciate your comments on this tune. Stylistically, it needs something else to garner its Gospel bona fides... Yes - I love when people say MORE HAMMOND!!!I enjoy this tune a lot and admit it probably warrants a full re-recording. The good news is that it's always easy to play keyboard parts I've constructed for myself. Occasionally I play something on steroids, but this tune is in the sweet spot!Thanks again for your reply!Best wishes,Al

[ideascapes]

Hey Al, I enjoyed listening. You're getting a good piano sound, so if it's pre-DAW, congrats! And the performance is really good.Right now the organ sounds like an afterthought. It'd be cool to hear it swelling in and out of prominence in the mix. I wanted the drums to be more interactive too, but that could work against the "soft" requirement. My guess is this won't work for this listing, although it is well done. Don't let me discourage you from submitting, though!Vince

[aldicicco]

Hey Vince!Thanks for your reply and suggestions. Astute observation. I have an older version of the song on my iPod. I noticed that most of the organ parts were not yet recorded on a "nearly complete" song. I like the idea of having the organ swell and sync up better with the phrases. Gonna take out my volume pedal and give it a shot!It's a bit of a challenge for me on drums. I have plenty of MIDI sounds and loops on the DAW, but it seems like an endless hunt to get an acceptable fit. I think I'll construct custom drum sequences and save the canned stuff for fills and accents. Thanks again for your input. I'm glad you liked the piano! At least one of my pre-DAW synth samples came close...Best wishes,Al