Alright, Pat Marr is a special case requiring the special ministrations that only I can provide. This also addresses the point made by Floyd - impressive, the ears on you two.

Pat, Josie made a slight error when she said I had to down-pitch the entire arrangement by a half step. It was by a whole step, from the original key Dionne sang it in (F) to Eb. I originally had a RealTracks trumpet solo laboriously cut and pasted together. There's a very strange feeling I get doing this. I know I'm working with Ron King's ideas, but I'm re-configuring them as though I were playing the horn, picking the melodic lines I like, altering others, etc. In other words, the final output comes from - what should I call it? - a hybrid brain. That's pretty weird all by itself, no?

Down-pitching ruined the trumpet solo, but luckily I know a few horn players and got one to play the solo, note for note in Eb, but on flugel.

More importantly, the backing vocals were also down-pitched a whole step. Singing voices can't tolerate that and the BGVs barely held up. You, Floyd and others could sense something wrong but possibly not be able to finger it exactly. Moreover, I did them using a TC Helicon stomp box which I only learned how to use correctly today. It's a nice toy that works in tandem with your guitar, but it has a devilish little design flaw, easily corrected as it turns out. Without the correction, the guitar gets processed as well as the voice. A distorted, "harmonized" guitar sound gurgles loudly into the vocals. Before I learned the simple fix (from Sweetwater Tech Support) I used a bad workaround to piece the BGVs together.

Like any human production it has its flaws. If I had an ounce of juice left in me, I would have re-done the BGVs in the new key, but, man, this arrangement got so big, as long as Josie liked it the juice just wern't worth the squeeze . I'm just the dumb arranger. Josie gives the orders and I keep my mouth shut. That's my philosophy of being a sideman and arranger.

But to you, Floyd and all the Forum members who have responded so generously, the dumb arranger gives you his deepest bow. Thank you.

Dean Clark (aka Aleck Rand)