Italian Songs

[foglyte]

Work in progress for the following listing. I recruited my friend Chris Roda for the vocals, the instrumentation is all mine. I tried to stay out the the way to let the vocal be really what this arrangement is all about. The song is on my artist page http://www.taxi.com/lunaumbra Santa LuciaAny comments, suggestions... very much appreciated.ORIGINAL OR PUBLIC DOMAIN ITALIAN SONGS AND INSTRUMENTALS, from Traditional to Contemporary, are needed by an Independent Record Label with established distribution. This company has partnered with a formidable corporation who is in need of Italian music for a number of distribution markets and will be their exclusive provider for music of this type. They'll be looking for songs and instrumentals that could be heard in the background at an Italian restaurant or in an Italian Film or TV show. They're open to Classical or "old country" sounds as well as more contemporary "pop-opera" approaches - and everything in between. If the songs have vocals, Italian lyrics would be preferable but they'll also consider a tasteful blend of English and Italian. Lyrics should be light and romantic - nothing too heavy, serious or dark for this one. Male or female vocals will be just fine. Performances need to be solid & obviously Italian in influence/origin. Recordings must be Broadcast/Master quality in order to be considered. TAXI # Y081128ITThanks.FoglyteEdit: The song posted is what I submitted (and returned). Thanks to all for the input.Edit 2: This song was forwarded to listing Y081218IT (not the above listing). My first forward as a taxi member

[geo]

Cool.... this is what I love about this place.... chance to hear stuff like this.....Love the singer... I can smell the marinara simmering on the stove, red and white checkered table cloth .... really cool....I thought I heard a little pitchyness in the first chorus.... right around 1:00...Side from that great job!!!Peace, Geo

[foglyte]

Thanks Geo, I appreciate the comments. Chris is a wonderful singer and deserving of recognition. This genre is outside what I have ever done, or really listen to, but I thought since I know someone who can sing in Italian with some credibilty, it's worth investing some time in.I like the image you paint... I have concerns about the music/arrangement not sounding Italian enough, whatever that may sound like. The off pitch... I will check it out. Foglyte

[aldicicco]

Hi Foglyte,Good selection for a public domain Italian tune. I had forgotten about Santa Lucia. It's a classic for sure.Your vocalist carries this off convincingly.I'm trying to put my finger on what I would like to hear. I believe the most convincing part, apart from the vocal is the soft guitar in the background.You may wish to try solo guitar with the voice alone. This may make the song far more personal and give it a greater sensitivity. I also suggest that you have the guitar provide a rhythm accompaniment through each verse, then perform some instrumental variation of the Santa Lucia phrase in between verses.One man's opinion for what its worth.I enjoyed your work nonetheless. Thank you for sharing!Good luck!Al

[foglyte]

Thanks Al.I'm still in the "wrapping it up" stage, and your suggestions are good. Fog

[mojobone]

First, some great singing and vocal presentation, here; your singer has got the goods. A fine job of recording the vocal ; I would suggest some light compression to even out the vocal levels, though. The vocal reverb is well-chosen. Now the bad news; the tempo feels rushed and mechanical and the instruments sound like an inexpensive general MIDI module, particularly the accordion. The harp/gut string seems to be out of tune, too. Might be time to upgrade. Meantime, try bussing a small amount of the backing track through the vocal reverb to get them into the same "room" as your singer. 80%

[georginasaint]

Foglyte, I just had a listen. Wonderful singer - wow! Where dya get him? My feeling was that the accompaniment didn't quite fit, to be honest. To my mind, this song needs a really strong 3/4 feel - and the accompaniment was vauge time-wise. It's not bad, the way it's done here, but because it's so well known and always has a strong 3/4 feel, I wonder if that might hurt your chances. (Or maybe because it's different, it'll help... dunno!) Enjoyed it though. Georgie

[ideascapes]

Very cool, foglyte--I commend you for taking this on! The singer does a great job, but it does sound as though he's in a different room from the backing instruments. I do think a simpler instrumental backing with a stronger waltz feel would serve the song well for your purposes. Maybe just guitar and accordion.Overall, this could work for a film/TV cue, but honestly...it would be a pro singer being backed by an amateurish band the way it is. That's mainly driven by the rhythmic ambiguity and out-of-tune guitar or accordion. I hope you re-visit it as I think it's a worthy goal and it sounds like you have a great start.Vince

[foglyte]

Thanks to all, this is what makes the forums very worthwhile.Mojobone; I have since dropped the accordion after hearing Al's (see above) playing like it should be played on his possible submission. I like the idea of it there, but you are correct, weak midi. Real guitar though. georgie; Poor timing will kill any chance of a forward, I will revisit that, thank you.Vince; Still working on the overall mix, hopefully I can "blend" everything. This is a song with "pro" singer backed by an amateurish band (me.. oh no!). I told Chris upfront if this gets returned it won't be because of him. He deserves better backing, there's no doubt about that. I may have bitten off more than I should have, but Chris' singing is wonderful. I am just trying to do a light arrangement behind him, not make the music stand out... but still be audible. My rhythm/timing seems to be a trend with the comments, I'll definitely re-visit this and hopefully correct. Chris says thanks, and is very appreciative of the compliments. Fog

[mojobone]

I've worked with dozens of rock drummers that can't play a waltz to save their collective lives. No shame in it, if you're below a certain age; it's becoming a bit of a lost art. Maybe take a class and learn the actual dance, the rhythm has some pauses built into it that you just have to feel and there's no better way to connect to this than while in the arms of a smokin' hot young dance instructor. Or so I hear.