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Posted By: Kemmrich Cottonwood Tree - 02/05/15 07:20 PM
For this FAWM I was Assigned a cottonwood tree by donna in the tree challenge -- and, of course I went a'googling. I found this reference for The Cottonwood Tree: An American Champion, By Kathleen Cain. I read it and said, that is mighty poetic. I changed things around for rhyming and brevity, but if it was a school assignment, I might be sent to the plagiarizer's tent! I found Kathleen Cain on facebook and sent her a message -- I wonder if she will ever see it!

I bought a ukulele for this FAWM and I have used it on every song so far! This tune is the only one that use BIAB, though. Never could quite figure out where it would end -- you would think I would know how to count!

EDIT: I started with the demo for the selected style (_HRNPIPE.STY) and really only made a few minor chord changes.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Cottonwood Tree: An American Champion, By Kathleen Cain
(c) Emmrich 2015

grass covered limb
traces remain
carved by wood-working skills
of sun wind and rain

blackened limbs
struck by lightening
weathered branches
graying then whitening

a sculptor would take pride
in nature's fine work
down by the riverside

but leaves sprouted in the farthest reaches
yes the tree found a way
to send out new life
on this mighty fine spring day

chickadees, wrens, finches, crows
blood calls of territory and lust
blue heron nests, stick magpie roosts
this cottonwood tree seduced

a story teller would take pride
in the work that God did
down by the riverside

Kevin: ukulele, acoustic guitar, vocals, tambourine, handclaps
BIAB: Style is _HRNPIPE.STY (Celtic Hornpipe Swing 8ths[70RS]), 1411:Bass, Acoustic, CelticHornpipe Sw16 070, 1412:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm CelticHornpipe Sw16 070, BodhranCelticHornpipe^2-a,b:Brushes
Posted By: Greg Johnson Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/05/15 08:53 PM
Always enjoy your stuff Kevin!! There is a fantastic organic and relaxed feel to your music. Kind of reminds me of the Dead. Very cool tune. Much enjoyed!! Take care. Greg
Posted By: Charlie Fogle Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/05/15 10:39 PM
Very nice tune and I enjoyed listening. I found the lyrics and music matched well together which is something I sometimes find hard to do when I try to merge music with an existing poem that was never intended to be set to music. Good job.

Charlie
Posted By: AudioTrack Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/05/15 11:54 PM
Kevin
The Ukelele really works interestingly well for the intro, and nice lyrics. Maybe the balance of instrument levels could be tweaked. Overall, quite OK.
Posted By: boehm Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/06/15 12:15 PM
Hi Kevin,

nice tune. Interesting arrangement.
You did a good job in transforming the text into lyrics.

Guenter
Posted By: Janice & Bud Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/06/15 12:20 PM
Nice, very nice. Definitely has a
Working Man's Dead/American Beauty
feel. And in our book that's a very
cool thing.

You did a really fine job on the transformation.
I trust she will be pleased. We certainly
are.

J&B
Posted By: floyd jane Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/06/15 03:11 PM
A good Americana sound going on that, Kevin...

Enjoyed it.

floyd
Posted By: Rob4580 Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/06/15 03:54 PM
Do I hear a touch of Neil Young in there?
Well done.
Rob
Posted By: gruverider Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/06/15 07:08 PM
really love the sound you got out of your mandolin!

much enjoyed!
Posted By: RnAM Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/06/15 08:30 PM
Hi Kevin,

Very nice song, especially the mandolin!

Rob and Anne-Marie
Posted By: 90 dB Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/07/15 11:23 AM
Love this one Kevin. That Uke sounds sweet!


Regards,

Bob
Posted By: JoanneCooper Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/07/15 12:33 PM
Hi Kevin. I really love the laid back feel of your songs. Love the uke. I let your SC profile run while I was busy doing other things on my computer. I enjoyed! Good luck with FAWM and looking forward to hearing more of your entries.

Edited to add the home I was born in in Zimbabwe was called "Cottonwood"
Posted By: tommyad Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/07/15 06:38 PM
Kevin, Interesting use of that uke. It really adds to the loose vibe. Nice use of the real tracks and of course very well sung. I enjoyed it. Tom
Posted By: Jim Fogle Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/07/15 10:49 PM
Kevin,

I like the way you expanded the song by adding tamborine, handclaps, etc. Those fills add depth to your production.

Who is the un-credited female singer in this song and some of your other songs?
Posted By: Kemmrich Re: Cottonwood Tree - 02/09/15 08:18 AM
LOL, I tried to get on all day yesterday (10+ times) and I kept getting this error:
Originally Posted By: 404 Error
Not Found
The requested URL /ubbthreads/postlist.php was not found on this server.
Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.


This morning it was still down, but then I went through the home PGM page to the forums and voila, I'm in -- was the address changed?

OK, I had time yesterday to comment back and listen to other tunes, this morning I don't! Thanks to all that listened to the tune and commented, I'll come back later this week.

1.) Uke vs Mandolin. Some commented on the "mandolin" -- it's a concert ukulele, but I am sort of using it as a mandolin. Maybe after FAWM, I will look at more traditional ukulele playing styles (probably not, through -- that would involve practicing!).

2.) "un-credited female singer": ha, ha -- that's me doing harmonies. Now, I almost always use melodyne on my harmonies, not to change the notes, but only correct them within the pitch I am trying to hit. I slam the melodyne pretty hard, so that might change the timbre of the voice also.

3.) I did work a bit on remixing (it is still a bit ramshackle, though!).
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