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Dear Forum Friends Greetings all! Perhaps a little late for spring but at least it's still May. Here's the link to our new song "Cherry Blossom Spring" http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=13134769http://soundclick.com/dcspacedog It's all about the coming of spring in Washington DC and the spectacular cherry trees surrounding the Tidal Basin on the National Mall. Each year, the National Cherry Blossom Festival commemorates the 1912 gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo to the city of Washington, DC. The gift and annual celebration honor the lasting friendship between the United States and Japan and the continued close relationship between the two countries. Since the cherry trees were a gift from Japan, we wanted to use a touch of Japanese culture in the song. The verses are in classic Haiku form and the lead is played on a Koto synth. The key elements of Haiku poetry are the 5-7-5 syllable lines, the reference to nature and time and the inclusion of contrast of the third line compared to first two lines. Here are the BB technicals: Style is M_NEWAGK.STY (NewAgeBossa with KotoSynth[110MS) GuitarCustom Synth is Hi-Q 108 01 Koto, Acoustic SampleTank.tgs Style MIDI Instruments are : Koto (108), RealTracks in style: ~921:Bass, Acoustic, Bossa Ev 110 RealTracks in style: ~2263:Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm 80sPopMedium Ev 120 MIDI SuperTracks in style: 2332:Koto, Synth, Rhythm NewAge Ev 110 I substituted Jazz Drum Brush #1 for the Latin drum kit in the style. I'll likely repost after a few tweaks so I welcome your comments. Enjoy!
Last edited by SpaceDog; 05/30/15 04:34 AM.
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Excuse me, I can't find the link to your song
BIAB USER SINCE 2010
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Excuse me, I can't find the link to your song Me either
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I really liked the chord progression and melody for this one. Nice performance.
Charlie
BIAB 2026:RB 2026, Latest builds: Dell Optiplex 7040 Desktop; Windows-10-64 bit, Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz CPU and 16 GB Ram Memory.
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Some nice stuff here SD! I really like the organic sound of the solo instrument and the cello works very well. I would put some reverb on the vocal. Nice job!! Take care. Greg
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Hi sd. What a pretty tune!
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SD, I really like the idea of the koto. The chorus has a really nice progression and melody. I thoroughly enjoyed it! Tom
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A very pretty melody, SD - especially the chorus.
The use of the Koto really works. Adding in the cello on the last chorus really filled it out to an excellent grouping of instruments.
floyd
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Hi SpaceDog,
I like the Haiku idea. Nice melody and arrangement. Enjoyable listen.
Guenter
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Charlie, Thanks for listening. It's not that I try to come up with different chord progressions, they seem to happen. Glad you liked it.
Greg, I have to give credit to the wizards at PG for the that Koto - Cello combo. It's in the M_NEWAGK.STY style. Thanks for commenting.
Josie, Thanks for listening. I'm one of those who feel the melody is the most important part of a song although I try write the best lyrics I can. Thankfully, my wife helps fix my mediocre first drafts.
Tommy, Thanks. I'm you liked it. I watched videos of people playing the koto to make sure the solo I inserted didn't violate the nature or capability of the instrument. Easy to do when working with midi.
Floyd, Thanks. The thin high pitch Koto and the deep low pitch of the Cello really fuse east and west. When I heard it in the style I knew it was a keeper. So glad you enjoyed it,
Guenter, Thanks for note yesterday. I had my coffee before posting this morning! I'm glad you liked the haiku idea. You should have seen the look I got when I suggested using it. It was a challenge to mix the Asian rhythm with a western style. That drove some of the instances of two notes to a sylable and the back-heavy delay of the last line of the verse.
Last edited by SpaceDog; 05/31/15 02:52 PM.
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Hi SD,
A very pretty song, one of your best we think. The Koto is very well chosen! Keep up the good work.
Rob and Anne-Marie
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Very nice using the Haiku poetry motif. I've always been fascinated by that but have never attempted one.
We enjoyed this!
J&B
Our albums and singles are on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, Pandora and more. If interested search on Janice Merritt. Thanks! Our Videos
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Rob and Anne-Marie, I'm so glad you liked it. I always love to hear someone say, "this is your best yet." It means a lot. Thanks.
Janice and Bud, Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Hiaku poetry is pretty easy. I remember they taught it to us in high school.
SpaceDog
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Hi, SD !:))
How nice a tune from you ! I liked it very much ! ...and such special instruments in the background also :))
Cheers Dani
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Very nice presentation. I am glad you shared the inspiration for it. Wonderful melody.
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Very nice, SD! I agree, I think this is one of your best. Nice choice of instrumentation, and the mix works well. I do think your vocals could use just a tad of reverb.
Steve
Steve Young Music"In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of." - Robert Schumann
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Nice work - it's one thing to come up with some clever ideas for a song, like the haiku and instrumentation.
But it's quite another to have all the elements actually come together, and work as well as they do here.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Dani, Thanks for listening. Glad you liked it.
Patrick, I appreciate your kind comments. I always like to hear the back-story behind a song so I always try to share the inspiration with you all.
Steve, Thanks. I tweaked the vocal in the new mix: a bit louder and a bit more reverb. Glad you enjoyed it.
David, That's a very nice comment. I think that's what sets this forum part. People here can take an idea from inspiration to end product. Thaks so much.
I'll be reposting a new version really soon incorporating everyone's great suggestions. Thanks!
SD
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