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So with the heat, and the corona..... beer of course.... and just how I think.... Here's a song that is a bit of a play on words about the corona.... beer of course....

I just had fun with this...

Roll up some of your favorite herbal cure, get a case of the corona....beer of course, and have a listen

Tropical Sky

There was over 20 tracks in this but I put several of them into isolation before I quarantined them to the dust bin of digital oblivion. So, here's the 17 that were left in.

The Band

Bass 3464 Island Groove
Drums Island groove 16 with percussion
Steel drums 3522 Island groove
Djembe even 8
B3 2619 Funk groove

Vocals are 3 tracks of lead & doubling
BGV are 3 tracks of harmony and utter nonsense

Guitars in 6 tracks.... are 2 tracks of acoustic guitar for stereo bed, 2 tracks of rhythm chunky funky island feel, thin bright groove, and 2 tracks of bright, cleanish lead tracks.... all played by me.


EdiT: New Mix new mix has the following changes. both acoustic guitars are dropped out. This cleaned up the sound nicely. Better enveloping on the steel drums for volume. B3 is up a bit. Dejembe is gone. It was as useless as, well, it's gone. Vocals rounded off related to EQ and reverb on the electric. Realized I had no verb and they were dry as an empty corona bottle on a tropical beach.

Last edited by Guitarhacker; 07/27/20 04:04 PM.

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Hi Guitarhacker,

That is some song! I liked it very much, starting with the intro (and outro) talks. You really had some corona holiday!
The lyrics are very funny ('She got the corona, I got the lime. We're gonna get it together and have a real hot time.').
Yes man, a few(?) bottles of Corona can do wonders these days and your band played very well on it!

Have a nice day,
Hans


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Excellent groove - clever write, and a lot of fun! laugh


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Wow, that track just made my day... such a happy and fun tone... very nicely done!

I think we all need more music and songs like this in these challenging times. Yes, let us remember that Corona is actually a beer we can drink and that it still will be possible to have fun in the future... we just have to be patient with this god damn virus. smile

Thanks for sharing,
Will

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Sheer brilliance. So much fun goin on in this song. What's NOT to love about it. From the first to the last bar I was grinning from ear to ear. One of the best fun songs for a long time !

Last edited by furry; 07/27/20 03:38 AM.
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I needed this !!
Everything is so damn depressing lately and suddenly your song turns up and all is well again.
Loved it.

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Originally Posted By: Birchwood
Hi Guitarhacker,

That is some song! I liked it very much, starting with the intro (and outro) talks. You really had some corona holiday!
The lyrics are very funny ('She got the corona, I got the lime. We're gonna get it together and have a real hot time.').
Yes man, a few(?) bottles of Corona can do wonders these days and your band played very well on it!

Have a nice day,
Hans


After I recorded the vast majority of the tracks, I was working on the BGV tracks and for some reason.... might have been the heat, or the corona, (beer of course) I just started throwing in a few ad-libs and it sounded good so I decided to make this sound like a bunch of guys in the studio... or on the beach.... with some herbals and corona.... beer of course in a sort of live jam session that happened to get recorded. All is well here in the woods of NC.... thanks for listening and commenting. Glad you liked it.


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Originally Posted By: dcuny
Excellent groove - clever write, and a lot of fun! laugh


And again, this was one of those songs that had been percolating in the back of my mind since this whole C-19 thing started. It took a while for it to mellow out.... it started with some radical ideas.... time cures a lot of things... including the corona stuff... so I finally started working on it. Yes, it was a lot of fun writing and recording.

Sounds like you liked it.


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Herb,

A fun song. The chorus flows well.

You've assembled the right BAND for it. Nice to see someone use the BIAB steel drums (just seen a couple of songs on the Showcase use 'em). That bass is certainly nice.

The guitars are mixed kind of hot and high (eq) and on my speakers they dominate the mix, not allowing the other elements of your well-chosen band share the spotlight. The vocal (well sung) is slightly higher-eq, as well. The steel drums and the organ get a bit lost. Not sure I ever heard the Djembe. It might not matter on cheap speakers, I suppose. I listened several times (trying to pick out the instruments) and my ears got fatigued quickly from the high-end.

Nice to see a good-natured song come out of the chaos of corona. A good, positive use of the situation.

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Originally Posted By: Will Josef
Wow, that track just made my day... such a happy and fun tone... very nicely done!

I think we all need more music and songs like this in these challenging times. Yes, let us remember that Corona is actually a beer we can drink and that it still will be possible to have fun in the future... we just have to be patient with this god damn virus. smile

Thanks for sharing,
Will


I agree, we need more happy songs in this day and time. I am so glad to hear you say that this track made your day. I generally like dark beers, and when I saw Corona Dark.... I had to try it. Not bad.

Glad it made you happy

Thanks


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www.herbhartley.com
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Fantastic cut. Well played and well done. This is one you could hear on the radio. Good one.


My music can be heard at: The Cracks
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Originally Posted By: dcuny
Excellent groove - clever write, and a lot of fun! laugh


HI Herb ...

David nailed it for me ... almost a congruent thought to his as I listened. And having fun with your music is one of the best feelings. And this one gave me a a good vibe ... Lots of fun and carefree attitude.

Loved it! Cool song and delivery. Maybe a slight bit strong on the higher vocal EQ? Probably just these old ears.

wishing you the best. Be safe ...

Alan

Last edited by Al-David; 07/27/20 08:44 PM.

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It's impossible not to smile listening to this song.
The infectious beat, clever lyrics, mischievous vocals, "ad lib" asides and the great "band" and production (new mix) combine to lift spirits and give a new (old?) meaning to "a case of Corona".
Great work Herb.
Cheers,
Mike


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Hi Herb,

You seem to be on a creative roll at the moment.

What can I say about this one, except that it's simply great fun.
I'm guessing that you had as much fun putting this together as I've
had listening to it.

It's a bit cool and cloudy for July, here in England, so it was great
to get transported to somewhere nice and sunny.

Great track.

ROG.

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Originally Posted By: furry
Sheer brilliance. So much fun goin on in this song. What's NOT to love about it. From the first to the last bar I was grinning from ear to ear. One of the best fun songs for a long time !


Sheer brilliance.... It didn't seem that way when I was writing it. Thank you for such kind words.

Glad you enjoyed it.


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Originally Posted By: floyd jane
Herb,

A fun song. The chorus flows well.

You've assembled the right BAND for it. Nice to see someone use the BIAB steel drums (just seen a couple of songs on the Showcase use 'em). That bass is certainly nice.

The guitars are mixed kind of hot and high (eq) and on my speakers they dominate the mix, not allowing the other elements of your well-chosen band share the spotlight. The vocal (well sung) is slightly higher-eq, as well. The steel drums and the organ get a bit lost. Not sure I ever heard the Djembe. It might not matter on cheap speakers, I suppose. I listened several times (trying to pick out the instruments) and my ears got fatigued quickly from the high-end.

Nice to see a good-natured song come out of the chaos of corona. A good, positive use of the situation.




NEW MIX


So... I realized it when I listened a few times on the cloud.... And... yep, I rushed it a bit to get it out the door.

I went back...dropped out the acoustic guitars to clean it up, removed the less than useless Dejimbe, pulled the EQ down a bit..... enveloped the steel drums, bumped the B3, flattened the curve and dropped the highs a bit on the guitars.... and fixed a few vocal things .....

Yep... it was fun putting this together. Regarding the bass.... I had a bass player ask me ... Man, who is playing that Bass? It's pretty dang hot huh? Give me your take on the new mix. And thanks as always for listening and your sharp ears on the mix. As usual, you hit it on the head just about every time. Thanks


You can find my music at:
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Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
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We've only heard this mix and it sure works for us.

An island groove mashup with enough of that reggae touch to make it all the more fun.

The guitars are cool especially adding that overlay of what seems like a TexMex feel.

And the vocals...all of them are creative and obviously well done.

FUN!

J&B


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Herb, this is a fine summer song. Well written and performed. Loved the twinned leads. Lotsa fun, Tom

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Originally Posted By: Guitarhacker
Originally Posted By: floyd jane
Herb,

A fun song. The chorus flows well.

You've assembled the right BAND for it. Nice to see someone use the BIAB steel drums (just seen a couple of songs on the Showcase use 'em). That bass is certainly nice.

The guitars are mixed kind of hot and high (eq) and on my speakers they dominate the mix, not allowing the other elements of your well-chosen band share the spotlight. The vocal (well sung) is slightly higher-eq, as well. The steel drums and the organ get a bit lost. Not sure I ever heard the Djembe. It might not matter on cheap speakers, I suppose. I listened several times (trying to pick out the instruments) and my ears got fatigued quickly from the high-end.

Nice to see a good-natured song come out of the chaos of corona. A good, positive use of the situation.




NEW MIX


So... I realized it when I listened a few times on the cloud.... And... yep, I rushed it a bit to get it out the door.

I went back...dropped out the acoustic guitars to clean it up, removed the less than useless Dejimbe, pulled the EQ down a bit..... enveloped the steel drums, bumped the B3, flattened the curve and dropped the highs a bit on the guitars.... and fixed a few vocal things .....

Yep... it was fun putting this together. Regarding the bass.... I had a bass player ask me ... Man, who is playing that Bass? It's pretty dang hot huh? Give me your take on the new mix. And thanks as always for listening and your sharp ears on the mix. As usual, you hit it on the head just about every time. Thanks


That is significantly better. Your vocal is much warmer and the instruments are "getting their space" - the steel drums are getting the attention they deserve... the guitars aren't pushing everyone else out of the way. Good job with the re-do.

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Great job, Herb! The chattering and background vocals really work well on this. Great groove, and mix. Like Floyd said, you picked the right band.

Fun song!

Steve


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