Hello everyone,

We just got back from a week in London.
Truly crowded over there! But it sure gave us some new inspiration.

I based this week's song on Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" (Peer Gynt Suite).

Dance of the Mountain King video


Style is _EURDNC3.STY (EuroDance w. Offbeat Bass[120RS])

RealTracks in style: 901:Synth, Bass, EuroDance ChorusBassOffBeat Ev16 120
RealTracks in style: 1941:Synth, Rhythm, EuroDance ChorusHousePiano Ev16 120
RealTracks in style: 1935:Synth, Rhythm, EuroDance EnergyStab Ev16 120
RealTracks in style: 1943:Synth, Rhythm, EuroDance Strings Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 1856:Cello, Background PopCountry Ev 085
RealDrums in style: EuroDance^1-a:Bass, Clap , b:Bass, Snare

Rob played the lead on his Fender Squier.
Additional drum's: Fruity Loops

We hope you like it, because I think this is very different from our other songs (your sons and daughters may like this more than yourselves )
As always comments are welcome.

Regards,
Anne-Marie

This is really good! My foot was tapping all the time.

You two harmonize superbly! Rob very good guitar leads!

Two thumbs up!

hi r&am plus +10 well done thanks for sharing eric

This is a different sound from you, excellent work, thanks for sharing!

Definitely different and definitely well done!! There is a touch of an 80's vibe in it, although it is certainly unique. Very nice job!! Take care. Greg

Rob and Anne Marie,

That sounded like something ABBA would have done...but better!!

Good vocals and guitar solo.
Enjoyed that.

Alyn

Anne-Marie & Rob...

Well done. Cool that you are introducing new elements to the production. A very tight mix. Excellent vocals/harmonies (as always!).

This is somewhere between an 80's dance song and a theatrical production. Loved the "ha-ha-ha-ha-ha"!

The guitar was also a nice addition. Tasty.

Enjoyable - and fun.

floyd

Hi Rob & Anne-Marie ...

We always enjoy it when someone steps out of the box and does something a little different. This quite different!

Love the Euro-Tech sound you have here. The guitar was a real nice surprise! Nice mix and fabulous vocals! Thanks for a real nice listen! We're big fans of you guys!

Alan & Di

Hi, Rob and Anne-Marie !:))


The Norwegian part of me
mellows out when I hear
good music especially
regarding my favourite
fairy tale characters
namely trolls !!!:))
If you do travel in Norway
(almost anywhere)you can see
trolls everywhere (with a little
fantasy) !!!!:))

I echo what has been said by
previous commentators !
Impressive !!!

Cheers
Dani

I enjoyed this and seems to be one of those songs that you just keep having fun and never tire of singing or listening to. Good write, mix and production. Mr. Bauer did some fantastic illustrations for your video.

Charlie

Hi Mario,

Thank you!
Nice your foot was tapping, it is Dance music after all (although no "tap dance" music )

Regards,
Anne-Marie

Thanks Eric!

Thanks Robert!

Thanks Greg!
It has an 80's vibe indeed.

Hi Alyn,

Like ABBA.... wow! Quite a compliment. Thank you!

Anne-Marie

Thanks Floyd,
It really is a challenge trying to do something different from time to time. Glad you liked this one.
Anne-Marie

Hi Alan and Di,
I like to try different styles, glad you like this one (and glad to see you back on the forum)
Anne-Marie

Thanks Dani,
I've always liked Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite, especially "In the Hall of the Mountain King" because I saw the trolls in my fantasy.
I've never been to Norway, would like to see them, but who knows.....
Anne-Marie

Hi Charlie,
Thank you so much!
And yes... aren't John Bauer's creatures lovely?
Anne-Marie

Hello Anne-Marie and Rob.

Like all the others before, I enjoyed the listen immensely. The song is incredibly well created from whichever angle I look at it. Performing, arranging, mixing, writing - you name it, it's all been done expertly.

It's great that you've used a classical piece of music for your inspiration. There are some really wonderful melodies (and harmonic progressions) out there in the classic world that are copyright-free and can be used by anyone. As you've shown us, it's a terrific resource.

Listening to your song caused me to reflect on some of the highly successful songs that have been based on classical themes. The ones that spring to mind as I type are ...

A Lover's Concerto - based on 'Minuet in G' from the Anna Magdalena's notebook (Anna was J.S. Bach's second wife)

This Night - by Billy Joel; the incredibly powerful chorus is based on the 'Pathetique Sonata'

Midnight Blue - also based on Beethoven's 'Pathetique Sonata'

If I Had Words - based on Saint Saens' Symphony #3

In An 18th Century Drawing Room - based on a Mozart's Sonata K545

Regards,
Noel

Hi Rob and Anne-Marie,

very creative and perfectly performed.
You complement each other very nicely.

Guenter

Well you two managed to get this old guy to listen all the way through his first euro-tech song!

And he discovered some great harmony and fine guitar along the way.

Gotta love the ha-ha-ha's

And a classical piece as the inspiration? How cool is that? VERY

Breaking rules and breaking out from norms is fun!! Great work.

Bud

Hi R & AM,

Nice children's song. With all the repetition I could imagine younger kids having great fun singing along.

Josie

Hi Noel,

Thanks for your nice comments and the links.
I know most of these songs, but only knew of some that they had a classical basis.
By the way, Yvonne Keeley is Dutch. She used to sing with her sister Patricia Paay, who is still a tv personality here.

I don't know if you listened to our "3 Minute Waltz", for which I used Chopin's Minute Waltz. It was one of the first songs we posted on this forum. In case you missed it, this is the link:
http://youtu.be/nnA57mnBUvk

At the moment I'm busy with more compositions of Grieg and Chopin.
It takes more time though, than let BiaB do the work. But the result is something else than the traditional verse, verse, chorus, solo, verse, chorus.
And there's a lot of classical music I like, so why not use it?
Thanks again for your encouraging words!

Anne-Marie

Hi Guenter,

Thanks a lot, very much appreciated!

Anne-Marie

Hi Josie,

Yes, as we stated in our post, it might be a song that is appreciated more by younger people. I would like to hear children sing it, maybe in a school musical. In our country that is the way to end primary school. The children that leave primary school to go on with their education, perform a "self made (mostly by the teachers) musical", for which well known songs are used.

Regards,
Anne-Marie

Hi Bud and Janice,

Well... that's quite a compliment!
So it's not only the young ones who like this song! Or should I say "young at heart" in this case?
As I like some classical music very much, I'll go on using it for our songs.
Thanks for your kind words.

Anne-Marie

I too made the connection to ABBA and Eurotech.... neither of which are on my list of favorite things.

I appreciate the work you put into this.

Good job.

Hi Herb,
Well.... actually I think ABBA's voices are nice, but I must admit, I don't have any of their records.
And as for the Eurotech sound... I think it suited the original best, but I don't have any of that type of music either.
So next time I'll compose a song that's more like my other stuff, I promise

Anne-Marie

Could you do anything with Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance"?

Hi 90 dB,
As a matter of fact.... I've tried. But the Sabre Dance consists of an enormous amount of the same chords. It is the very fast way in which they are played, which makes the melody so exciting.
However, I am busy with 2 classical pieces (Chopin and Grieg), so if you like classical music.....
But there are people who hate classical music to be turned into modern music!

Regards,
Anne-Marie