To Duet or not to Duet..Update the song was just signed

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To Duet or not to Duet..Update the song was just signed

Post by JohnnyP » Fri Oct 29, 2021 3:39 pm

Question for the TAXI fam.

I just wrote this song that I think may work well as a duet. Thing is I've never intentionally written a duet type song before and I'm wondering if I'm missing something with my proposed arrangement.

I'm thinking female vocal singing a light harmony in C1 to introduce her voice. And then singing lead in verse 2 and C2 and splitting lines in the breakdown.

This is an unmastered ruff. Thanks in advance for your help! I had to take down the old link coz I ran out of space on SC.
---------------------------------------------------
here is the mastered final that was just signed an hour ago to a very TAXI friendly library that pitches to Y and R. Thanks all for the suggestions, and Cass I tried your bass idea and some of your other ideas. Thanks!, Hopefully it sounds better :)!

https://soundcloud.com/jp-pearson-1/lov ... 6a92741e59
Last edited by JohnnyP on Fri Nov 12, 2021 4:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: To Duet or not to Duet..

Post by funsongs » Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:11 pm

JohnnyP wrote:
Fri Oct 29, 2021 3:39 pm
Question for the TAXI fam.

I just wrote this song that I think may work well as a duet. Thing is I've never intentionally written a duet type song before and I'm wondering if I'm missing something with my proposed arrangement.

I'm thinking female vocal singing a light harmony in C1 to introduce her voice. And then singing lead in verse 2 and C2 and splitting lines in the breakdown.

This is an unmastered ruff. Thanks in advance for your help!

https://soundcloud.com/jp-pearson-1/lov ... 0d7dc715a2
My .02 - I've done some trade-parts duets, and I think they are very effective and work well when the pronoun is "we" - and there are his & her perspectives to contribute to the story.
I like the idea, and have another one of them in development... funny you should ask. :? 8-) :P
I'd say - "Go for it; see how it works."
(the bar was set pretty high with Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt...)
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Re: To Duet or not to Duet..

Post by JohnnyP » Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:23 pm

funsongs wrote:
Fri Oct 29, 2021 4:11 pm
JohnnyP wrote:
Fri Oct 29, 2021 3:39 pm
Question for the TAXI fam.

I just wrote this song that I think may work well as a duet. Thing is I've never intentionally written a duet type song before and I'm wondering if I'm missing something with my proposed arrangement.

I'm thinking female vocal singing a light harmony in C1 to introduce her voice. And then singing lead in verse 2 and C2 and splitting lines in the breakdown.

This is an unmastered ruff. Thanks in advance for your help!

https://soundcloud.com/jp-pearson-1/lov ... 0d7dc715a2
My .02 - I've done some trade-parts duets, and I think they are very effective and work well when the pronoun is "we" - and there are his & her perspectives to contribute to the story.
I like the idea, and have another one of them in development... funny you should ask. :? 8-) :P
I'd say - "Go for it; see how it works."
(the bar was set pretty high with Aaron Neville and Linda Ronstadt...)
Thanks for the input Peter. Yeah Aaron and Linda were not too shabby ;)
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Re: UPDATED w duet vocals..(To Duet or not to Duet..)

Post by JohnnyP » Wed Nov 03, 2021 7:40 am

JohnnyP wrote:
Fri Oct 29, 2021 3:39 pm

orig post.

Question for the TAXI fam.

I just wrote this song that I think may work well as a duet. Thing is I've never intentionally written a duet type song before and I'm wondering if I'm missing something with my proposed arrangement.

I'm thinking female vocal singing a light harmony in C1 to introduce her voice. And then singing lead in verse 2 and C2 and splitting lines in the breakdown.

This is an unmastered ruff. Thanks in advance for your help!

updated post below
___________________________________________________________________
Here is a ruff mix of the duet vocals. I had to change the melody of the female vocals in verse 2 coz the song just wasn't working with the original vocals. Btw I've redone the guitars since this mix ;)

https://soundcloud.com/jp-pearson-1/ltw ... 4cf4fa4734
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Re: To Duet or not to Duet..

Post by funsongs » Wed Nov 03, 2021 10:15 am

Meaning to be helpful, and not too-brutally critical: all the "I" pronoun/perspective in the beginning of the song
fails to 'grab me'... and entice me in to want to hear the story.
How might you flip those lyrics to be first about 'you'... or, at least 'you & me'...?
Very similar to the example of Jai Josef's VRR prequel class example yesterday about 'our dream' re-write.

2 cents from The Peanut Gallery.
HTH.
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Re: To Duet or not to Duet..

Post by cassmcentee » Wed Nov 03, 2021 11:54 am

Beautiful song JP!
Thoughts from between my ears:
No female voice/harmony in the first verse... let the conversation just be from the Male side of things
(As it is now, in a pshycological sense it would mean that she's not listening to what he has to say)
That way the second verse we get to hear her response...
From there we begin to learn that they are in agreement together and can sing unified

3 things that I was hoping to hear:
1). Each 2nd "The way we used to" my ears wanted it to not be a repeat but have the melody ascend a bit
2.) Let the Female be the Lead for the line at 2:27 "I would be with you tonight" Just mix her a bit forward
It would be a nice back and forth response for the couple
3.) From one bass player to another (don't shoot me) I hear a lot of notes resting before the next, seems to put a touch of disjointedness
Everything is so fluid in this song that the bass should flow as well...

Couple grains of salt from my kitchen to yours!
Cheers JP
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Re: To Duet or not to Duet..

Post by feaker66 » Wed Nov 03, 2021 12:39 pm

Hi I see the tracks has been taken down at SC. I bet you are making repairs and will post it again. It is better IMHO to leave it up so we can hear the original and then maybe the changes. Just a thought. bummer
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Re: To Duet or not to Duet..

Post by funsongs » Wed Nov 03, 2021 1:26 pm

feaker66 wrote:
Wed Nov 03, 2021 12:39 pm
Hi I see the tracks has been taken down at SC. I bet you are making repairs and will post it again. It is better IMHO to leave it up so we can hear the original and then maybe the changes. Just a thought. bummer
The 2nd version is still up as of the time I'm writing this...
look for JP's re-post comment.
post594840.html#p594826
HTH
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Re: To Duet or not to Duet..

Post by JohnnyP » Wed Nov 03, 2021 2:32 pm

funsongs wrote:
Wed Nov 03, 2021 10:15 am
Meaning to be helpful, and not too-brutally critical: all the "I" pronoun/perspective in the beginning of the song
fails to 'grab me'... and entice me in to want to hear the story.
How might you flip those lyrics to be first about 'you'... or, at least 'you & me'...?
Very similar to the example of Jai Josef's VRR prequel class example yesterday about 'our dream' re-write.

2 cents from The Peanut Gallery.
HTH.
Thanks Peter.

I guess I need to learn how to write my posts better ;). I was looking to get feedback on the arrangement of the vocals. The lyrics are already baked and approved by the pub.

But to your point, if I removed the songs I have signed that have "I" or "me" several times before the chorus my catalog would be cut in half. My most placed song has "I" and "me" 5 times before the C. IMHO our job is not to "grab" the listener, that's what the visual on the screen is doing. Our job is to support and not distract from the visual.
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Re: To Duet or not to Duet..

Post by funsongs » Wed Nov 03, 2021 2:46 pm

JohnnyP wrote:
Wed Nov 03, 2021 2:32 pm
funsongs wrote:
Wed Nov 03, 2021 10:15 am
Meaning to be helpful, and not too-brutally critical: all the "I" pronoun/perspective in the beginning of the song
fails to 'grab me'... and entice me in to want to hear the story.
How might you flip those lyrics to be first about 'you'... or, at least 'you & me'...?
Very similar to the example of Jai Josef's VRR prequel class example yesterday about 'our dream' re-write.

2 cents from The Peanut Gallery.
HTH.
Thanks Peter.

I guess I need to learn how to write my posts better ;). I was looking to get feedback on the arrangement of the vocals. The lyrics are already baked and approved by the pub.

But to your point, if I removed the songs I have signed that have "I" or "me" several times before the chorus my catalog would be cut in half. My most placed song has "I" and "me" 5 times before the C. IMHO our job is not to "grab" the listener, that's what the visual on the screen is doing. Our job is to support and not distract from the visual.
Point taken.
Peter Rahill - aka "funsongs"
NOW, back on YouTube (2022)
https://www.youtube.com/@peterrahill9263/featured
https://soundcloud.com/funsongs-1
https://peterrahill.bandcamp.com/

“The future aint what it use to be.” - Yogi Berra

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