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Trying my hand at a funk thing here. From a lyrical point of view, quite easy to write about one-dimensional character types. No negotiating from our protagonist in this one. For PGMusic fans, there is the drum track still left in from the b-i-a-b v 7.d original guide. Other work done on PTPA 11. Everything else has been played either in audio or (non- GM!) MIDI. Hope you enjoy it. And, as always, I look forward to receiving your comments, pointers and critiques.
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Marc, great song. It flowed perfectly and had that super funk feel to it. You did a super job on the vocal and harmonies. Also super chops on everything else. I only have one constructive criticism and that is the mix. I would bring up the guitarist as they seam buried in the mix. (Hey, I’m a guitarist – what would you expect me to say  ). I would put the bass, drums and guitar volumes pretty close together with the drums and bass centered and the guitarist separated left and right, then put your vox and organ parts over the top. But again this may be just me; other may disagree. Either way this is a super song.
My wife had her driving test today.
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Great concept. Although you label it as funk, I am strongly reminded of Alan Parsons.
Totally agree with the comments on the instrumental mix. Everything needs to be as punchy as the bass and drums. Pan things out to give a sense of space.
Standard comments about the vox. Stand up! Breathe! Take care of pitch issues (sometimes caused, in part, by improper breathing) and the part is on par with the rest. Or are you out of your range? Maybe sing it an octave down and pitch shift it up?
This one is worth a little reworking. I look forward to hearing the remix.
R.
"My primary musical instrument is the personal computer."
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I agree with the comments above, Marc. Also:
- I'd pan the bass dead centre. I know panning bass in the centre is a rule and rules are made to be broken, but I don't think there's anything gained here by breaking the rule.
- For urban funk the main components are the bass and drums so they should be more prominent in the mix than anything else and both panned centre to maximise their energy. You need to bring the drums WAY up in the mix so the kick drum syncs audibly wih the bass slapping.
- E.g. when the organ comes in (which is cool) it's the loudest thing in the mix, which doesn't feel right.
- Guitar: I didn't realise there was any guitar in there until the third play! Needs to come up a lot.
- The overall mix needs judicious use of some limiting and compression to get the loudness and energy of the track up.
It's got the basis of an excellent song but the mix needs a lot of attention. I'd love to remix it if you want! PM me if that's of interest.
John
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THanks so much John - have PMed you.
THanks Mario and Ryszard for your observations.
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Hi Marc, I loved the feel of the song. You've done an excellent job putting this one together. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. I agree with Mario's comments. I know nothing about funk so I'm not quite sure what the "sound" should be like. All I can say is that your song worked for me  Keep on writing, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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You played all that except for the drums?? I'm impressed! Reminded me of the BeeGees in their disco years! My foot was tapping immediately.. very catchy.
There was a spot around 1:20 where you started a swell with the synth... but until it became evident what you were doing, I felt a sense of discomfort.. as though the momentum of the song had stalled or something.
Your voice is very quiet.. even with the doubling you've added. I'm not sure what options are good for that. I know TCHelicon makes vocal processors that have vocal modelling, which can add characteristics that the voice does not naturally have. But, vocal processors with voice modelling are quite pricey. You seem to like gear. I think you'd enjoy exploring the possibilities that a good vocal processor adds to the equation.
All in all, a very catchy tune! Thanks for posting!
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Marc,
I liked the overall concept - you have the makings of a good tune. The above suggestions on the mix will bring this one around.
Good Luck - Thanks for sharing
The Powderman
Learning something new everyday
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John (Skyline) was kind enough to offer me a hand with this track. The new version – accessible here – has an entirely new drum track, and has been substantially re-mixed and given a new production feel. As the writer, I am delighted with the result. Hope you also think it’s an improvement on the original version. Marc
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Hi marc, I remember this song. It's sure changed a heap since I last heard it! The groove is excellent.The mix is excellent. It sounds like you're really enjoying singing against this backing. You and Skyline have my hearty applause on this one All the best, Noel
MY SONGS...Audiophile BIAB 2026
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Hi Marc, This is a great song, I enjoyed listening to it. Keep 'em coming.
Cheers
Superbron
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Marc - Kudos to both you and John on this track.
I think this is the first time I've really heard your voice this clearly against the backing tracks.
Even though the drums are forward in the mix and I'd like to hear a touch more bass on my system, your voice is front and centre and has a feeling of power that suits the track very well.
Good job - Ian
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sounds good to me Marc!
I'm curious to know exactly what changed
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I really liked this song. I didn't think I would like "funk" but it seems I do Thank you for amending my music likes. Best regards michee
Windows 11 64 bit, Biab 2024 1111, Realband 2024
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Quote:
I'm curious to know exactly what changed
John, care to take us through it?
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I'm glad everyone seems to like it; I had some fun collaborating on this one. You asked for it so here are some of the secrets! 1. Marc sent me his audio and midi tracks. I didn't want to make this a full-on collaboration, e.g. with me adding vocals or guitar parts, as the main ingredients were pretty well all in there, and I wanted it to stay Marc’s song. 2. I imported the tracks into Sonar, lined them up with Marc’s opening clicks, snipping and moving some parts which didn’t seem to be totally in the right places all they way through. 3. Drums: There's one overriding ingredient with a 'funk' track - drum groove. Marc said he was looking for the highly infectious groove in 'Why Did You Do It' by Stretch, a UK 1970s band. I love that hit also so googled for a midi file so I could see how the drum part worked. It's a very simple part but needs to be just right. I then copy and pasted a couple of the bars across the whole song, used Sonar's superb built-in drum plugin, Session Drummer 3, and that was almost that. I added short fills and cymbal crashes in the right places (pre-verse, etc). Funk drummers don't go 'all round the kit' for their fills. 4. Bass: the second most important funk ingredient. This was on one of Marc’s midi tracks and had some great lines so all I did was tighten it up a bit with the kick drum (not 100% though) using Sonar's quantize function. (Did you play that bass part in Marc? If so, it was first class.) 5. Vocals: Marc had recorded four different vocal tracks to make layers, although one or two would have been fine with some EQ here and there. (Marc's voice is better than he thinks it is...) I used Melodyne plugin to correct some of the pitchiness on one or two notes, and as the vocal tracks were all the same melody I used two to make artificial harmonies by pulling some of their notes around in Melodyne to thirds or sevenths, etc. 6. Brass: I thought the second half of the song needed a bit more interest so I used my Fantom X6 synth to play in three midi tracks of trombone, trumpet and high trumpet playing the same licks. In one of those eureka moments I suddenly knew that these licks had to start the song, as well as coming in later, so copy, paste, done! 7. Synth solo: Marc played in an excellent solo which he’d used an organ sound for. I left the (midi) notes as they were but used a lead synth sound instead, which comes in now with more impact. 8. Pad: Marc had an audio track of a pad sound right before the synth solo and I just used Sonar’s envelope automation to make the held chord pan rapidly across the soundscape. Ear candy! 9. Tambourine: added in the second part of the synth solo. If I was playing this live, that’s where I’d pick up a tambourine and give it some! 10. I then did a few total remixes, making sure the drums always stayed proud, then applied Sonar’s ‘Boost11’ tool to squash things and bring up the loudness on the final product. All of the above actually took about three days in terms of worked hours, as I've left out all the dead ends and experiments that failed, etc! But every minute was fun.  John
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thanks for the detailed response, John!
I really like the end result of this collaboration. Marcs original song was a very good composition to begin with, and the production changes you added made a noticeable difference. I DO like funk, and this is a really catchy tune. You should both be totally proud of it. And yeah, adding the horns was a crowning touch!
Collaboration is a wonderful thing to behold. We all bring different strengths to the equation, and it is amazing to watch how cooperation makes that which is already good even better.
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THat's pretty well what I figured happened John. Thanks again for taking so much time and devoting so much thought and effort to this track.
THe drum track is just superb - maybe you should be up on the drum stool at the back of the stage at your band's next booking!
I did play the bass part (on my keyboard).
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You're welcome, Marc. It was fun.
Nah, drumming's not for me; I couldn't take all the jokes... !
BTW, I looked up the band Stretch on tinternet and was surprised to see it was originally put together by Clifford Davis, Fleetwood Mac's ex-manager, to do that notorious 'bogus Fleetwood Mac' tour of the US in the 70s to fulfil bookings he had fixed for the real Fleetwood Mac whom he was no longer representing. The singer was Elmer Gantry of Velvet Opera fame. The drummer was supposed to have been Mick Fleetwood, in order than one member was actually ex-Fleetwood Mac! Mick Fleetwood recalls it differently. The tour was cancelled amid audience hostility and bad press about a 'con'. The band members retreated back to the UK, renamed themselves 'Stretch' and had a hit with "Why Did You Do It", the lyrics of which were directed at Mick Fleetwood!
John
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Marc,
Wow what a difference the remix made! I listened a few days ago but was too busy to comment at that time so I made a note to get back here and post my thoughts. Well, in a nutshell the first mix just did not work for me at all, BUT this one is right on (although to me it is more disco than funk) really structured and arranged the way it should be.
Later,
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