Here is a recent arrangement called Safe In The Storm


Backstory
Yesterday I was noodling around on the keyboard exploring and I played a C major cord and wondered what would happen if I flattened the E; it sounded pretty good. I searched it and found it was a C minor (C-Eb-G). Then it was natural to wonder what if I sharpened the E; that also sounded good and I learned that was a C sus4 (C-F-G). So as a progression I played C major, C minor, C sus4 and C major . . . a song was born after I confirmed this worked with other root notes.

For you music experts, I know this is childs play but for me it was an eye opener and first departure from hunting and pecking for chords in BiaB that work. For you novices like me, if you don’t have a physical keyboard, consider buying one. Even a $25 model at Walmart will allow you to see and hear chords.

The funny thing is that I’ve used minor and suspended chords before in BiaB but never understood how they are made. The Korg keyboard allowed that understanding.

BiaB Technicals: _SJCOOLP.STY Smooth Jazz Cool Slow Piano, 90 BPM
1. 1995 Acoustic Piano
2. RealDrums
3. 2819 Guitar
4. 2406 Synth
5. 906 Electric Piano

My Contributions:
6. Fender Bass (took about 5 takes)
7. Korg: Big Band Brass (took about 10 takes to get the chords, individual notes and timing down)
8. Korg: DW8000 Lead
9. Korg: Noisy Riser & Drop

Mixed and rendered in Studio One. Also, this is my first attempt at panning. Comments welcome.

Ain't music theory cool stuff? The more you mess around and experiment, the more you can learn. Take the time as you did to figure out what you did.

Cool jam.

Very nice progression...makes a great jam...throw in a 7th on your Cm and you'll get some butter with that jam

Hello BT ...

I like it a lot. I'm pretty good with chords but short on musical theory. I just eventually figured out what to do and then what to do with it. It
took a while. I made my first dollar (actually $8.00) in August of 1963. Been doing it ever since. Made real good living doing something I truly loved.

I enjoyed this listen a lot. Cool song and easy to listen to. Nicely done! Keep experimenting and learning!

Alan

Nothing quite as good as discovery learning.
I'm impressed by the bass tone.

Nice progression and a really cool song.

Another fun progression you may want to experiment with - c, cmaj7, fmaj7
it works well with keys.


Charlie

Bass Thumper - I liked it! It was a fun, jam-a-long song. I really liked the bass playing throughout the song, though at times I thought it may have been a little loud in the mix (but that's just me.) It really did give the song a solid platform though. I also liked your panning. I understand the difficulty in this stuff, I'm just learning it all too - good job and nice listen.

Hey Hacker, you bet. This theory stuff is cool indeed.

I still will be hunting and pecking for the next chord for some time to come, but my toolbox is slowly accumulating useful tools.

Thanks for the listen Firesong.

My keyboard skills are very basic, and my bass skills not much better. If throwing in a 7th means adding an additional note, that could be challenging. Moving from one 3-note cord to another for the brass section took several attempts to get right; not sure if a 4th finger would decide to cooperate

Although, I always wanted to play piano as a kid; but we never had the money.

1963? Yikes that's almost 60 years, my music "career" is coming up on 7 years old and I'm looking forward to being a teenager someday . . . wooo hooo

Thanks for the uplift, coming from a seasoned pro like you means a lot.

With midi there are various ways of adding note upon note to create interesting chords. Sometimes I use programs such as Musescore or Guitar Pro to write the notation. Then I save them as midi files before assigning various instruments to play and record them. That way you can be confident of perfect timing (and you never run out of fingers).

Nice track, by the way.

I agree. At some level we are all explorers.
Glad you like the tone. My signal chain from the flatwound strings to Studio One and everything in between is serving me well.

Bass Thumper,
Neat progression and bass playing. Good musical exercise.
Misha.

Appreciate your sentiments Charlie.

I checked out your progression and it is smoother than smooth

Thanks Brad. Yeah, my bass is a bit hot in this mix. So many details to consider when putting a song together.

Thanks for the feedback.

love your bass playing and the progression.


nice sound picture changes.lots of subtleties.

if you dont me saying i hear this as a tv show backing.
maybe a cop show.

best

om

Ghostgum, I have this self-conflicting view regarding MIDI. On the one hand if I were to become proficient with it my songs would be much cleaner and on the money. But on the other hand I'm just having too much fun and satisfaction not dealing with MIDI.

Even though my creations are bit rough around the edges I really enjoy my fingers on a real physical keyboard and pressing down a real physical bass guitar string. I'm probably in a minority in this regard but whenever I can, I try to use a physical instrument.

Glad you liked the track, thanks.

Thanks om.

Hmmmm a cop show? That would be my only musical claim to fame. Sign me up !!!

Wow, the coolest thing you said was that it was an eye-opener for you, Steve. Man, I remember that feeling so many times. It's one of those magnificent hurdles that, once cleared, opens up a whole new field to explore. Excellent chops and a good feel. The Mathematics Of Music --write it, man.

Very nice instrumental!

This would have fitted right in with TV shows like Starsky and Hutch, Baretta or M*A*S*H.

Rob and Anne-Marie

Awesome song.
Outstanding bass playing. Aren't flatwounds fantastic!
Super mix and panning.

Two thumbs up.

PS - You did it the right way and the way I taught my students. Do not let music theory dictate what you play. Just play then use theory to see what you played.

You talked about eye openers. I have used those chords in many songs but I never would have thought to put them in that order - brilliant.

Hey Marty, you are another music giant I admire here. Many thanks for the kind words.
"The Mathematics Of Music", how appropriate and a great name for a song title or book or even college course title.

I think the reason the keyboard is such a fundamental instrument is that it is so visual.

Regarding my new found chords, one light bulb moment down, ten thousand more to go

Thanks Rob and Anne-Marie.
I've watched M*A*S*H a few times and I have to say, the writers of that show must be amoung the smartest in the industry. I can't keep up with how clever and witty their jokes and dialogs are.

Thanks Mario, you are another musical giant here, so these words mean a lot.

I love my flatwounds. And I'm beginning to see how useful the keyboard can be in song writing if you know (or can discover) chords. What a fundamental instrument!

Hi Bass Thumper,

Nice progression in the orchestration of the different instruments. The musical instruments are well chosen. The whole is very pleasant.

Kindly regard
Derochette
alias JaniJackFlash

Nah, your first experience with panning was the first time you saw a live band

Cool groove and very nice tone on your bass and it well set the vibe.

Learning is good. You are already way, way ahead of us ole four chord bluegrassers!

Enjoyed it.

J&B

Derochette and J&B,
Many thanks for the positive feedback.
Sometimes for me it's 2 steps forward, 2 steps back.
Other times it's 2 steps forward, 1 step back.

Either way, the journey is fun and it's comforting to know that making music is a good Alzheimer buster

BT,

Sounds good. Good "exploration".

The Bass sounds great.

Discovering chords on a keyboard is eye-opening - especially for a guitarist.
The patterns get easier and easier to see over time. WAY easier than guitar...
Keep it up.

fj