Catherine's BALCONY

[HectorRContreras]

Hello everyone,

We can see here in the Forum the importance of the Music Libraries, yes ? Especially in the case of a sudden good Dispatch from TAXI, ... and we do not have that much time.
I agree.
Thank God for Music Libraries. I use them too.
I mean by Libraries, the well played short Instrumentals that we can use at times. They are very short.

Next, when we are not so pressured, there comes a time when a Music Composition can be completely original. Nothing is borrowed. It is all done by us alone.

Do you want to hear one of those Music Compositions ?

Hector and myself we were TOGETHER this time ! For real.

We are Fiançés, it is absolutely true. But it is also true that an entire Continent and an entire Ocean separate us.
There is also something else that separate us from getting married. Something to do with the very severe and expensive Visa requirements for Marriage.

Anyway, in May 2011, we were together, in England.

Hector loved the view from my Balcony. See the Photo below. The Music expresses the many changes of the view from "Catherine's Balcony", due to the Weather, the Seasons, the Birds, etc...

And we composed this Instrumental, called : "Catherine's BALCONY". It is all done by us. Hector plays the Virtuoso Piano, and I do the Strings and the different Flutes. And I do the Piano at the beginning and at the end.

You may like it. The Tempo sounds very slow at first. But nothing is boring after that. Trust me.
http://www.taxi.com/E-2013-1844

We submitted this Instrumental recently for a Children Music Listing.

So, ... how do you like it ?

Catherine's BALCONY

Catherine's BALCONY.JPG (44.05 KiB) Viewed 1940 times

[HectorRContreras]

B U M P !

[HectorRContreras]

We wrote this : " B U M P !" because we would love to have Feedbacks, pretty please,

[rdance]

lovely story of your life and romance...lovely picture. enjoyed 'catherine's balcony'...such a pretty melody. i could not feel the meter the first :22. i first wondered if it was a latin clave' of some kind. but then i felt it, once the rhythm started to roll.

not sure if this first section which seems free of time is working from a larger audience point of view... very intelligent and abstract, but wondering how well it will cross over the the typical listener...in my humble opinion of course.

in the larger view, you both write beautiful music!

[HectorRContreras]

Hello dear Richard,

So lovely to have your Visit and your Appreciation. Thank you.

Ah yes, the little Piano at the Beginning and at the End, ... a wee bit unusual, and yes commercially speaking, it could mislead.
As I have heard that the first 10 seconds are paramount and all this. Smile.

Perhaps it could work for a Children Music Listing eventually.

Anyway, thank you for listening to it. It is just about our differences. Isn't it so good and lovely to be all different in our Genres and approach ?

[rdance]

ABSOLUTELY good for each of us to come from different angles. my review was not a criticism, only a comment. unity in diversity.

[HectorRContreras]

Y E S ! Dear Richard.

[kclements]

Hello -

After listening to Catherine's Balcony, here are a few of my thoughts:

- I think you have a very nice theme. But as the track progresses it seems to get lost in the layers. I think with this track, less would be more.

- I hear a lot of timing issues going on. Not to say that it needs to be so quantized that the life is removed, but I think there are places you can tighten up a bit and make the track stronger.

- I don't know what you are using for samples, but the sound very dated to me. Especially the piano and the strings. Also, it sounds as if you are playing chords on a string patch - it might be more effective to play each string section on it's own track (Violins I, Violins II, Violas...) with each section getting one or maybe two notes. Also, try and use a individual string section patches rather than a full string orchestra patch.

- I think overall, the track could use some verb to help place it in a nice hall and soften things up a bit,.

- The initial theme starts out just lovely. When the strings come in, you kind of go to another variation. Maybe you could restate the first theme again with different orchestration? How about an oboe or flute.? Then, go into the second variation?

- at around 1:14, you have a funky kind of synth coming in. I'm not sure what that is, but it takes me out of the mood.

- Also, have you thought about bringing back the first theme at the end, what might that sound like?

On another note, I really enjoyed Hector's Flute Solo, and Flowers of Brazil

cheers -
kc

[HectorRContreras]

Oh dear Kayle,

We are so grateful for your Generosity. We thank you for your Time here with us. We appreciate your Visit.

We are reading carefully what you wrote. Ok, Hector and I, we recorded this on my MAC, using Garage Band. My MAC dates from 2008.

- Lot of Layers : yep. I usually take two to three Layers for the Piano, and two to three Layers for the Cello, or Strings or Flutes or Organs etc ... that way I can play a part, and next move on, and catch it up in the next Layer, and so and so forth. It helps Inspiration. And also, then I do not have to record a whole sentence at once, which is a bit difficult to do.

- Timing issues : yep. Hector and myself Catherine, we improvised, we were a wee bit care free. We were so happy to be together. Smile. It took us only two days to do it.

- There are no SAMPLES borrowed in this Instrumental. We played everything ourselves. I know, Hector is such a Virtuoso on the Piano, that it is difficult to believe I guess ! When he was in England, Hector played the Piano in a superb Piano shop, and the Manager came to us and said : "So nice to hear someone who plays so well". And Hector played also in a luxury Hotel, ... and attracted much attention to say the least. They would not have him stop ! Smile.

- Ah ... I do not have an individual Violin at Garage Band. I know it sounds Orchestral all the time. I have a nice Nylon Acoustic Guitar though !

- Ah, to place the Track in a nice hall, lovely idea. We did not use Reverb at the time, I think.

- "The initial theme starts out just lovely. When the strings come in, you kind of go to another variation. Maybe you could restate the first theme again with different orchestration? How about an oboe or flute.? Then, go into the second variation?" That is an excellent idea, we shall keep this in mind for "Catherine's Balcony Version two" !

- Oh I see, ... at 1.14, it must have been a Synth Organ, I think. So, may be more of a Flute there, or Piano, or a gentle Oboe, instead yes ?

- Ah, ... yes, the first theme, when I played the Piano like a little Child would do. To repeat the first theme at the end instead of inventing another one, ok.

Ah all this is so lovely. We have work to do ! Slight problem though, if we change/improve "Catherine's Balcony" and then transfer it at iTune, the first Version will be lost for ever. Well, not exactly because we shall keep the first Version at iTune, of course, but it will be lost at Garage Band, or ... am I mistaken. Can I use some kind of "Duplicate" ?

I shall say to Hector how much you like "Hector Flute Solo" and "Flowers of Brazil", as soon as possible, Hector will be so very pleased. "Flowers of Brazil" were one of the Songs that Hector composed for Fabiana Passoni, her CD is called : "Naturalmente".

Hector is currently driving to Santa Monica for two days of important affairs.

Hector suddenly deleted a lot of its Songs at TAXI, because we reached the number 50. I could download more of my Songs back after that, (for the sake of the Forum, as we do not have Soundcloud), but I could not do so for Hector's best Songs because I do not have them.