Collab between BigBlueBarry and Audiorayne

[bigbluebarry]

One of the best things about going to the Rally this year was getting to meet so many of my fellow forum members, aka the "dots." I had no idea how much greater the sense of family and community was going to be at the Rally than it is here online. It truly was a great experience.Being at the Rally also lead to some opportunities for co-writing with other forum members. My first one was with Logan aka Audiorayne. I've had some good co-writing experiences and I've had some bad ones, really, really bad ones. This one was one of the most enjoyable ones I've ever had. Logan was great to work with and I just love his voice. We're still gonna tweak it just a tad more over the weekend, but for the most part, the song is finished. We submitted it for the following listings:CURRENT AND COMMERCIAL HARD ROCK SONGS AND INSTRUMENTALS are sought after by an established Music Publishing Company that has had great success placing songs with companies such as Sony, Warner Bros., Disney, Lions Gate, ESPN, FOX, ABC, MTV, Paramount, MGM, Artisan, New Line Cinema, Miramax, etc.... just to name a few. You can think in the stylistic range of Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, Papa Roach, P.O.D., System Of A Down, Slipknot, etc. Be sure your performances sound excellent and have NO profanity at all! All tempos will be considered for this one, and you'll want to remember that these are tracks for Film/TV placement opportunities - make sure the lyrics are universal enough as to apply to many different scenarios. If instrumentals are submitted, be sure they can stand alone without vocals/lyrics - they should be interesting and exciting. Recordings must be broadcast quality, though great home recordings should be okay. Please submit 2-3 songs online or per CD. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received no later than December 16, 2008. TAXI #S081216HRCOMMERCIAL, CURRENT HARD ROCK SONGS WITH VOCALS in the range of Evanescence, P.O.D., Deftones, Tool, Nine Inch Nails, A Perfect Circle, etc. are wanted by an established Music Publisher in L.A. who has secured TONS of Film/TV placements for many TAXI members. Lyrically, be sure there is no profanity and the tone should be universal enough as to apply to many different placement opportunities. Songs that are progressive but not TOO hard might get the most attention - all approaches will be considered, but a focused melodic structure might allow for a wider range of opportunities. Male or female vocals are just fine for this one. Broadcast Quality is necessary (excellent home recordings should be okay). They offer a non-exclusive, 50/50 split deal - you keep your original copyrights. Please submit one to three songs online or per CD. All submissions will be screened and critiqued by TAXI and must be received no later than December 17, 2008. TAXI #S081217RKWon't Go Back AgainVERSE 1That day you rode a rollercoaster All the way down the aisleThey said it was a beautiful dayWho knew it would turn so grayNow you're all alone and looking backYou wonder if you'll ever get back on trackBut don't you give in to despairJust rememberCHORUSLife won't always be as coldAs it feels inside youTomorrow scares you to the bone'Cause you're all aloneBut there's a light on insideI can see it in your eyesLeave your fears, all your doubtCome on, stand up and shoutI know this is where my life beginsAnd I wont' go back againI won't go back againVERSE 2I wish it could have been the way you plannedSomething real, unbreakableThey judge you 'cause they don't understandYour love was a wastelandBut I know it's gonna be okIf only you could see it every dayLife never happens in the pastSo don't surrender© 2008 Barry French and Logan Pepper.UPDATE: In case anyone reads this, just wanted to let you know that we've done some tweaking to the song since this was originally posted. We're still in the middle of doing some re-writes for the lyrics but in the meantime, the link now represents the updated version of the song, which includes a trimmed down arrangement and bigger drums. Once we finish the lyrical re-writes we'll make another post about this. In the meantime here's a link to the revised version of the song:http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... trueAnyone interested in hearing the original version can do so at this link: - http://www.bigbluebarry.com/player.aspxWe'd love to hear any feedback you guys have.Rock on!- Big Blue

[hummingbird]

Wow, great work you two. Great playing, fabulous singing (of course). I don't have enough knowledge of the genre to comment on the production or lyrics, but sounds pretty good to me. Personally I'd prefer the lead vocal to be a notch forward in the mix cause I really want to hear that voice

[zoom]

Blue and AR!Holy crap.... why don't you just knock one outta the park? Superb piece for the most part, just a couple of thoughts... I thought that lyrically it's really strong, but the melody isn't as strong as it could be IMO... It's good, don't get me wrong... but I think it has more to do with prosody and phrasing than anything else -- and this is mainly about the verses, as the chorus is pretty frickin' HUGE. And with Logan's voice... look out!I'm not sure if the breakdown really fits with the rest of the track, as everything else in this piece is so polished. You may want to try out some other treatments for the guits(I might go to a tinny sound rather than the heavy mids). But it's only a suggestion as the production and playing is excellent throughout.It seems like a pretty fantastic first effort from a co-writing team, and (from what I know of you both) a great fit for you as your style and talents seem to mesh well together. I look forward to hearing more from you guys!

[Casey H]

Wow! If it came on the radio I would have thought it was Nickelback's latest release! This is freakin' awesome!! Can I dope a pint of each of your blood?Slam dunk as far as I can tell! Casey

[devin]

Really great tune you two....love it!Were you collabing in the same room at this point, or over the internet? Kudos either way...that's a cool vox AR, and a great treatment (mixed at your house Blue?).Fingers crossed for this one...even if you don't need it!

[bigbluebarry]

Hummingbird... thank you!zoom... thanks man! We're still trying to iron out a couple of spots. I think we're close but we're not 100% finished yet, but close.Casey... thank you! I completely re-wrote the bridge last night to go more Nickelback and less Linkin Park (think the bridge from "One Step Closer"). I think the new one really gave the song an extra lift. But really, it's Logan's vocals that do the heavy lifting. He rocks!Devin... thanks bro! This collab was done completely online. I had sent him a different track originally, more like a POD song, but the track just wasn't good enough (My wife says I've moved to the "good enough is not good enough anymore, it must be great" stage). So I played around with another idea. Sent him the new track. He re-arranged some pieces, did some subtractions and additions and sent it back to me. Then I made a couple changes and sent it back to him. Repeated the process a couple of times. I contributed a few of the lyrics, but Logan did the majority of them. Overall, it felt like it a truly collaborative effort. Very fun!I did all the instruments at my place. He did the vocals at his place. He sent me one stereo file of all the vocals (he did the editing, panning, vocal processing) and I just plopped it into my session file and adjusted the volume fader. Then I finished the mix at "The Big Blue Studio." He really put a lot of work into this. He was up late last night making some last minute changes when he should have been packing for his trip back to Canada! He even took a mic with him so he can make more changes if needed. That's dedication baby!thanks again everyone!- Big Blue

[marcblack30]

WOW, this is excellent! this should be in the Hall of Fame for TAXI collabs.nice work to you both!

[billg]

Daggone guys, I think this is the BEST thing I've heard from anyone since I've been a member. You guys need to work together more, I think you have THE magic combination.

[ontariolightning]

nice you two, sounds like some songs on the radio, i mean the soundlyrics are okay, very wood but I don't think they fit the listings for the bands aboveI hope they do though cause it was killer

[feaker]

blueThis is as good as it gets here.paul