Here's my submission for the XTRA Styles Pak 3 contest. When I started putting words and music together, I ended up finding myself in "Tin Pan Alley" mode. This is where the journey took me...

• I Like Walking Beside You

What I like about this particular style is the span of genres found in the instruments and drums. The person who created it has done a superb job in finding these tracks. While I didn't end up using the Brent Mason soloist guitar (RT 2816), and I added some strings, the rest of the style is _UNWIND.STY.

Regards,
Noel



Band In A Box Ensemble
Style is _UNWIND.STY from XTRA Styles PAK 3 (in the Jazz category)

RT 711: Bass, Acoustic, Bossa Ev 085
RT 1103: Guitar, Nylon, Rhythm BossaGrooveComp Ev 085
RT 624: Fiddle, Soloist George Ev 085
RT 2261: Piano, Acoustic, Rhythm BossaSlowKenny Ev 085
(I ended up using the MIDI Supertracks version of this Realtrack; that is, MST 2340)

RealDrums in style: JazzFunkGroovin^1-a:HHSdStk, b:HHSnr
Loop: Pop-Soul-RnB\R n B - sweet_75_a drums ev16.wav

MIDI Strings: Miroslav Philharmonic
MIDI Piano: Miroslav Philharmonic + Dimension Pro


Lyrics

I like walking beside you
Did you know
You’re the get up and go
That begins my every day?

Oh I like walking beside you
As if we’re sailing the seas
With life as our breeze
We travel through come what may

And when the day spins upside down
And smile swings to frown
You always seem to find a happy song
We can sing and then thing’s are okay

Oh I like walking beside you
This journey’s the best
I know I’ve been blessed
Travelling with you day by day

[Instrumental]

And when the day spins upside down
And smile swings to frown
You always seem to find a happy song
We can sing and then thing’s are okay

Oh I like walking beside you
This journey’s the best
I know I’ve been blessed
Travelling with you day by day

On this enjoyable quest
It’s a journey with zest
Travelling with you day by day
Travelling with you day by day

©2017 Noel Adams, words and music, all rights reserved.

Very nice Noel!

Good luck on the contest!!

Hello, Noel

Very Lovely song! Nice Melody!
The lyrics are simple and beautiful.
As Tom said, your uplifting attitude is perfect for this style.
The phrase of the semitone-moving strings coming at the bridge is wonderful.
The subdominant cliché "Ab - Ab(#5) - Ab6 - Ab7" is also very effective.
Your vocal is very pleasant as usual
Enjoyed my listen a lot.

Good luck on the contest!
Best regards.

Shigeki Adachi

Dear "Noel96"...

"I Like Walking Beside You" is such a simple title that one easily could overlook the pure, child-like wonderfulness of it!

You consistently (and seemingly quite effortlessly) produce songs with the most exuberantly optimistic lyrics describing both the sublime and the more overt pleasures of being in loving relationships with others. In a metaphorical way I regard them as little fists of hope being shaken defiantly and directly in the face of bitter cynicism, apathy, and lack of faith in our collective ability to make this world a much, much better place than it sometimes seems to be. God bless you for offering up to us such serene musical visions of the elements of true happiness!

The addition of a fiddle solo atop the lush and sophisticated-sounding bossa nova rhythm I think was a startling and novel musical move that caught me so off-guard that I could only shake my head and smile at the sheer, creative inspiration of it.

I'm super-glad I gave it a listen. Good luck to you, sir.

LOREN

What a nice song, and what a voice!!! Perfect arrangement too. It sounds like a classic, it really does. Just beautiful.

Noel, your material is always great, and just keeps getting better.

This is fantastic.

Best luck with the contest. You've delivered excellence, once again.

Trev

Thanks David! Hope you do well too!

Hello Shigeki Adachi,

Thank you! I appreciate that you had time to have a listen. The progression of IV-IVaug-IV6-IV7 is sometimes found in the music from Tin Pan Alley.

The last time that I was aware of hearing a version of this progression in pop music was when Whitney Houston sang "The Greatest Love Of All". The I-Iaug-I6-I7 progression found in the verses got caught in my mind at that point in time. It's such a great sequence of sound.

I wish you good luck with the competition, too!

Regards,
Noel

Gosh, Loren... I don't know what to say after reading your comments! Thanks so very much for taking the time to have a listen and then to write such uplifting words. I'll remember these for a long, long time!

None of what I do would be possible without Band In A Box. I absolutely love that I can enter a chord progression and then write in any style. This is something that I could never do with just me and a piano. BIAB opens so very many songwriting doors for me.

Finding that the country fiddle worked against the bossanova was luck! I like playing around with mixing genres. BIAB often surprises in this regard (just like the XTRA Styles Paks show).

All the best,
Noel

Dear "Noel96"...

Your praise of "Band-in-a-Box" software resonates deeply with me.

I "came into" songwriting rather late in my life, which I feel strongly was a gift from Our Creator that was second only to me being lucky enough to have been born. But trying to wring the music I heard in my head out of cheesy MIDI sounds nearly caused me to drop the whole thing.

And then I stumbled upon BIAB and for the first time felt as though as I was really and truly making music, at last.

Now that some of my songs seem to sound good to some of the people I allow to listen to them, I've come up against a problem that BIAB has caused.

The problem is, when people ask me if I performed on all the instruments that BIAB actually generates, of course I tell them, "Hell, no! I only input chords, do a little arranging, and the software does the rest."

Their reaction to being told this I believe diminishes their appreciation of the finished product, because I suspect that in their minds they regard the software as the true author of my compositions -- which for all intents and purposes is probably correct!

Anyway, I sure hope the software technicians/programmers at PG Music never incorporate a reasonably advanced and autonomous AI model to manage BIAB's functions, because one day it just might object to me signing myself off as the composer!

Best wishes to you, "Noel96".

Sincerely,

LOREN

Hi Jon,

Thank you for taking the time to have a listen and to put your thoughts down. I appreciate it. Band in a Box makes making music so easy and a lot a fun. Quite honestly, I don't know where I'd be without it!

Good luck in the contest!
Noel

Hey Trev,

Hope all is travelling well for you! I think the muse worked co-operatively with me when this one came together Thanks for giving the song a listen and for commenting. It's always good to see you.

All the best,
Noel

You should move this to a new thread. It would be good to discuss...