Any Other Day - Remix


This is a remix of one I posted about 6 years ago. I've always liked this one. It was one we wrote just because we wanted to. We thought it would be a good track to feature as the credits rolled at the end of a film/video project.

I didn't do a lot on the remix, basically just this:

1. Bumped up the bass a wee bit at 70hz and 90hz
2. Added a small amount of upper-mids to the trumpet
3. Increased the reverb on the trumpet from 45 to 50 in the BIAB chord entry sheet mixer. It seemed to give the sound a little more "character".

I didn't touch the piano. I thought it sounded decent as is. Same thing for the other backing tracks.


All the insider info:

File:Any Other Day.MGU

Key=Eb , Tempo 89, Length (m:s)=4:40


Style is C_CLOUDS.STY (Clouds - Top 40 Country R&B)

Style MIDI Instruments are : Fretless Elec. Bass (36), Slow Strings (50),
RealTracks in song: ~~365:Guitar, Acoustic, Fingerpicking Ev 085
RealTracks in song: 1409:Piano, SynthLayer, Rhythm Soul70sSteady Ev16 100
RealTracks in song: ~~1069:Trumpet, Soloist SmoothJazzCool Sw16 100 (Bluesy)
MIDI Drums :41 Brushes Kit (41)

RealDrums substituted :NashvilleEven16^1-a:Sidestick, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride (I actually kept the original midi drum kit and layered this BIAB RD track over it.

Thanks in advance for any listens and comments.

Alan

You are gifted in many styles, Alan. That trumpet sounds so good, and you give it the perfect bed to lay down such a good solo. Nice feel, and the strings are a nice touch to add dimension. Man, you know a lot of great players. Thatr piano is super. Do you spend a lot of time fashioning those solos. They're so good. Cool trill ending.

Beautiful.
Piano sounds Great! (everything does)
Your attention to detail is stunning.
Cool ending....

fj

Hi Al,

I think songs you one just make because you want to can become great songs...
This one is no exception to that! Very 'driving' song with that very good sounding trumpet (I like how it ends the song).
And I have the same question as Marty about it's solo and your creativity.
For me the piano also sounds very good, bright.

Thanks!
Hans

HI Marty,

Thanks for the listen and the really nice comments. My answers to most questions about my music are relatively basic/kinda simple, as that's how I approach music. I try not to overthink. If something sounds good to my ears, then I consider as good. I don't let numbers, such as hz/frequency measurements lead me. I let my ears lead me. Then I take note of those settings, numbers, etc., so I can pass them on if anyone is interested.

As far as how long it took me to settle on a particular iteration of the piano and trumpet, I did four regenerations of each. I kept the very first iteration of the piano and the second iteration of the trumpet. I did very little shaping as the indigenous tracks sounded fine to me.

I kept the piano bright because the trumpet is bright. I decide on each song when I have a left and right track that either plays some variation of a call and response or one lead track follows the other, if I want opposing sounds or similar sounds (tone-wise). In this case, I kept the timbre similar - bright. Softening other of those tracks would have left an imbalanced sound and lose some of the drive. I have no "secret" for making that decision - just what my ears tell me.

I'm not a perfectionist. If my music had a reasonable chance of ending up in film or on the air, perhaps I would reconsider that to some degree, but probably not a lot. It's the same as my guitar playing - if I play a song 15 times and it gets no better, I've probably done the best I'm capable of doing. And I'm good with that.

The original production of this song took about three hours. The remix took less than half an hour.

I hope that ramble gives you a bit of an idea to my approach to putting a song together.

Take care, my friend.

Alan

Alan, this is so good it is scary!
Loved that piano and trumpet.
The backing tracks are spot on.
Great use of those RTs.

Alan, a really GREAT sounding track. In addition to the superb trumpet and piano, love the string or synth pad gluing that cool chord sequence together. Enjoyed reading your detailed description of your process. The "let my ears lead me" part is the real magic though. You've got tremendous musical sensibility, and I really enjoy listening to your stuff.

Alan,

This song is so beautifully mixed... Everything has a place & purpose and is clearly defined.

The trumpet is outstanding - it sounds like you tracked Herb Alpert for the session.

Outstanding!

Bob

Thank you very much, Floyd. And yeah, that ending with the trumpet was a real gift. BIAB coming through again!

I appreciate your constant support.

Best to you,

Alan

Hi Hans

It's always nice to hear from you.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not a perfectionist. Rather than striving for perfection, I strive to do the best that I'm capable of doing. I don't need the ulcer and distraction of striving for something that's near impossible. And perfection is near impossible. So, I'm happy when I do my best.

Thank you for the always-nice comments!

Best to you,

Alan

Good evening, Mario,

That is so kind of you to say. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I do the best I can and hope it turns out well. Sometimes it does!. So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks again!

Take care,

Alan

Hi Ron,

I appreciate all that - thank you very much! I need to use that synth pad more often - to my ears, it sounds as good as a nice string section. Thanks for mentioning it and reminding me!

I particularly enjoyed your musical sensibility comment. I try not to overthink - just work within my skill set and polish it to the best of my ability.

Wishing you well,

Alan

Good late evening, Bob,

Thank you very much. I tried to get Mr. Albert for the trumpet, but I guess he was busy. But BIAB did an equally terrific job for me - and cheaper, too!

I truly appreciate your constant support and encouragement.

Alan

Very nice work Alan!
The strings really caught my attention here-brought in and out with delicate precision!
This has a sort of smooth jazz feel that is really a pleasure to listen to!
You've done it again with this one showing how skilled you are at arranging a beautiful composition in BIAB! You are one of the best!
Thanks, TB

Hi Torrey,

Thank you very much. I enjoy almost all genres of music and dabble in almost all of them at one time or another. As I've mentioned in previous replies, my skillset depends greatly on my ears.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for all the nice comments!

Wishing you well,

Alan

Alan, your understanding of chord progression and seat of your pants theory is what makes your compositions so good. This is another well mixed and arranged piece. You really are very good at this,Tom

Hi Tom,

Sorry for the slow reply - catching up on rest after a hectic week of medical appointments for Di.

Those are very nice comments, and I appreciate them very much.

As far as my understanding of chord progressions, they just kind of fall in place for me in many instances. And Band In A Box has helped a lot, too. I'll explain:

I'll pull up a band style that has a somewhat unusual (at least to me unusual) chord progression. I'll then keep the chord progression on the input sheet, but I'll then assign a different genre to it. And when it works (sounds decent to my ear as compatible) I'll study that progression and then compose 5 o6 6 "dummy songs" with it, sometimes altering the progression a bit when the need is obvious. I'll then study how the chords transition from one to another, looking for the commonalities that make them work together. Two examples of that are:

When going from C to Am, most often the composer will use a C - Em or E7 - Am progression (with the bass playing a B note for either of the E chords). What I found is that a terrific variation of that is C - Bm11 - E7- Am . The Bm11 and E7 split a 4-beat measure into 2 beats each. I find this to be very effective in Smooth Jazz and Pop Rock.

Another example is resolving a Dm9 back to a tonic C. It's common to use a Dm9-G7-C (or Cmaj7/Cmaj9). I often use this progression: Dm9 - C#7#9/G# - G13 - C or Cmaj7 or Cmaj9. The The C#7#9/G# and G13 split a 4 beat measure.

I learned that, either directly or indirectly, from Band In A Box, back in 2012 or thereabouts. Those alternate variations can change the whole complexion of a song.

Again, many thanks for the kind words!

My first version was BIAB 2011.

Hope that wasn't boring. But I wanted to let you know one way in which BIAB has helped me. There are multiple other examples, but I think those two are good, relatively simple, examples.

Best to you,

Alan

The piano suits this piece perfectly, but a real trumpeter would have done a much better job than the sample. That's one limitation with BiaB as you can't tell the musician to not use a particularly phrase or to repeat a good one, etc.

Hi Chay,

Thanks for the listen and the comments. I appreciate both.

I kinda like the trumpet. That's one of the cool things about music - how various people listening to the same composition can have such divergent thoughts about it. And it's all good.

Never hesitate to offer your thoughts - I'm good with it.

Again, thanks for your coments.I always appreciate them!

Best to you,

Alan

Well done remix!

The solo instruments are outstanding as, per always, is your selection of tracks.

Just wondering ... do you have any compression on the mix (not per track).
I mention it only because it seems a wee bit less "airy" than many of your mixes.
Nothing negative ... just techy curiosity.

Enjoyed it,

Bud

I like that.
And, as you said, it would work well for the end credits of a movie.
Do you sometimes write songs that you do NOT want to write?

Hi, Alan.

Since I've got the memory of a goldfish* , this is all new to me.

A lovely bit of music!

--
* Reports of goldfish's lack of memory are greatly overstated, but I'm sticking with the metaphor anyway. You can't teach an old dog new similes!

Hi Bud,

First, thanks for the nice words.

And to answer your question - no, there's no compression on this anywhere. Although I doubt this is the answer to the difference, it "might" be the difference in Audacity now vs from 2018 - there have been multiple upgrades. Just a wild guess. Also, I didn't apply quite as much reverb on the tracks this time. All that's just a guess and probably not likely. But, maybe. Who knows!

Take care,

Alan

Hi David,

Well, my expertise in goldfish has waned over the years! They're gold, and swimming in water is about as technical as I can get.

Glad you liked it, though! Thanks!

Take care,

Alan

Really nice Alan. Beautiful wide clear mix. Awesome instrumentation. Well done

Alan, I didn't hear the original, but I like this. The piano and bass stood out to me with good support from the strings.
The trumpet is also well done.
An enjoyable listen.

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for telling me.

Do I sometimes write songs that I do not like? My answer is I sometimes write songs I'm not particularly fond of. That's usually when someone is giving me money write it. I've written quite a bit of spec music over the years - not all of them were songs I liked. But I did like the check when it cleared the bank!

Best to you,

Alan

Hi Scott,

I appreciate that! The intent was to make it big and wide. I guess I did!

Thanks again. Best to you,

Alan

Hi Steve,

Thanks so much for the listen and kind comments. I appreciate it very much.

Take care,

Alan