Hi all,

Brenda and I wrote "Dancing and Dreaming" a few years ago. When I listened to the original version again recently, I thought it needed a bit of polishing. So I got out BIAB, Realband and Reaper, and set to work.

If you get a chance to have a listen, all thoughts are welcome about any aspect of the work.

...link to song on Vimeo (video/audio)


Regards,
Noel (and Brenda)

PREVIOUS SONG: ...link to "I Can See Tomorrow"


BIAB DETAILS

RT 587 Sax, Tenor
RT 938, Guitar
RT 920, Piano
RT 921, Bass

Strings: Dimension Pro (1st violins + 2nd violins 8va)

Realdrums: BossaRock Percussion

LYRICS

Dancing And Dreaming
© 2013 Noel Adams & Brenda Smith. All rights reserved.

Dancing and dreaming
In gentle arms
Dancing and dreaming
The music charms
I don't care what tomorrow brings
Right now it's springtime

Dancing and dreaming
I'm like a fire
Dancing and dreaming
And burning higher
This is all I want to do
Dreaming and dancing with you

Can this be love?
I'm spinning around
Can this be love?
I'm floating way above the ground

Dancing and dreaming
Tonight's divine
Dancing and dreaming
My valentine
It's a really spectacular view
Dreaming and dancing with you

[TAG]
A really spectacular view
The night, the music, and you
And you

Noel, nice work. You are one(two) talented dude/mate/buddy/pal/bloke/cowboy/friend/amigo/com padre/kemo therapy/ad infinitum. More please?

Hi, Noel & Brenda !

What a sweet song !
I enjoyed it very much !:)


Cheers
Dani

Hey Noel!

Now it's my turn - I'm blown away! A terrific song. Nice, compact lines. People (meaning writers) often overlook the power of short, tight phrases. You (and Brenda) have done that so very well all the way through. This is my all-time 2nd favorite of yours (ha! - as Kevin would say...)

The production/instrumentation is PERFECT. The strings are tasteful and perfectly placed - used to full advantage. It all fit the song to a t.

The tag is delightful!

But let's talk about that vocal. OMG!!! It's spectacular!!! You need to write in that range all the time! When you started singing the verse you were immediately dressed in a tuxedo a drink in one hand the other hand resting on the grand piano - a wink to your piano player.... Who knew??? I've always thought you could sing. Now I know you can REALLY sing!!

Blown away.

floyd

Noel:

I really enjoyed this one. Nice tight lyrics and the music fit it mood very well. Good Job.

How did you do the graphics for the video?

John

Floyd's comment about the tuxedo resonates here too... the song is just so dang CLASSY, and you pulled it off like a pro!

I can easily see this song being licensed for a movie!

The backing track sounds very natural too.. you did a great job of selecting the most appropriate RT snippets for each part of the song.

And, is that an original chord progression? Very nice, and appropriate to the mood of the song.

<rubber stamp>
     another winner from Noel...no Surprise
</rubber stamp>

I remember this one - sounds great Noel. Cool graphics on the video too.

Noel,

It's all been said, I like everything about this production.

Later,

Michael B eat your heart out - great tune Noel, well vocalised, well written and well produced. Methinks you do hide you light under a bushel . Post more of these.

Dennis

Hi Don,

Thank you for having a listen and thank you, too, for the kind words. I can see Brenda smiling when she reads them. Also, it's great to see you back on deck. You really are an inspiration, you know. Not just because you're oirish, either

May good things come your way!
Noel

Hi Dani,

It's always good to see your thoughtful looking avatar pop up in a thread. Thank you for having a listen. Appreciate it. I'm glad you liked it!

All the best,
Noel

Howdy Floyd,

I'm not quite sure what to say! Your comments have taken me by surprise.

Firstly, I'm not so sure that I'm really a singer. Unlike you, I still need to manually tune an odd note here and there. I guess that rules out taking my show on the road! I'd better keep the day job

The thing is that if I want to get my songs out and about, I need to sing them. Since people judge a song by its singer, I also need to sound ok - enter ReaTune (a Reaper plugin) and Nectar. I don't use these plugins to drastically modify my voice, just to polish it up a bit. I guess it's the ladies' equivalent of putting on make-up to go out. What really, really gets me enthusiastic is the writing, the arranging and the mixing!

It's interesting that you mention the range. Surprisingly, the range is not so different from what I usually sing; it's just that it's got more black notes in it than usual. The key is Eb. I have to say that I like this key because my voice definitely feels comfortable in it. Maybe that's what it is! It probably comes from being a piano player. I've found that the key of Eb sits nicely under the fingers and it's one of my favourites to play in.

Thank you for your uplifting comments. Who knows, I might be a singer yet!!!

All the best,
Noel

P.S. Brenda will be over the moon when she reads your thoughts! We actually chose to keep the word limit down in these lyrics. It seemed to work better with the style we were chasing.

P.P.S. I don't know if you've ever read Philip Furia's book, "Poets of Tin Pan Alley". If not, it's worth reading. While it covers some music, the book mostly looks at the major lyricists of this genre and gives a valuable insight into their creativity.

Hi John,

Thank you for having a watch and a listen. Your comments are much appreciated!

In relation to the video ...

I'm always searching the 'net and looking for royalty free graphics (images and video clips). When I find something, I save it for later use.

The video was assembled using Open Shot - a Linux-based, multitrack video editor (it's opensource freeware). I used it to put some video clips together and simply dissolved from one clip into the next. So that the clips would be the right length for the song section, I had to slow most of them down to 1/2 or 1/3 speed.

I'm a firm believe in Freeware I'm not sure what free video editors are around for Windows but if you are looking for one, make sure that it is non-linear and that it has multiple video tracks.

Hope this helps,
Noel

Hi Pat,

Once again, "Thank you!"

Maybe after all these years of 'trying' to be a singer, things are starting to happen!!! I'm not quite sure that I'm ready to do away with the odd spot of manually tuning my vocals here and there yet, though. One day, maybe.

This song was started with a chord progression from a BIAB demo song for the midi-based style BosaNew.sty. In this case, the style's tempo was also used. I modified the progression to suit the song as it developed. Have a look at the graphics below and you'll see where and how I changed the progression. (You'll also see that I prefer to use a 1-chorus, linear approach to songwriting rather than BIAB's '3x Chorus' default. I mention this in case any new users are reading this post.)


Fig 1: Initial chord progression - obtained from the demo for BosaNew.sty



Fig 2: Final chord progression.

Once I had the chords in place, I changed to another style (as you can see) to get a sonic basis for the song that included some realtracks. I then played around with many different realtracks before I settled on those listed.

Hope this helps give some insight into the songwriting process used! I have to say that BIAB's demo songs can be a great starting place . They're a real asset for a songwriter when inspiration is needed.

Regards,
Noel

Hi Josie,

Thanks for commenting on the song again! That's going above and beyond the call of duty.

I'm finding that musically I'm in a very different place these days and when I listen to some of my older work, I often hear room for improvement - hence these "new productions" that are popping up

All the best,
Noel

Hi Danny,

Once again I thank you! I know that if Brenda was a member of these forums, she'd also be thanking you. Your visits are always appreciated. Drop in anytime!

All the best,
Noel

Hey Dennis,

Good to see you. Thank you for the positive comments. This is a period in music history that really appeals to me. It was an incredibly defining time in popular music development. If you ever get the chance to read "Poets of Tin Pan Alley" (see the PPS in my reply to Floyd), you'll get an amazing insight into the lyric genius that helped to create this genre.

Best regards,
Noel

Hey Noel, yvw. The comments were well deserved

Yes I will try and find that title and have a read. Those stories always have lots to tell.

Cheers

Dennis

I can't fault the song, production etc etc.
It is nice to see, in the later post, that you work as I do...but we don't half get different results!!!!

The writers of Tin Pan Alley were my musical diet as I grew up, with a side order of Rock and Roll, as my Dad's cousin was a guitarist in a Big Band and he gave me some lessons and some sheet music. I failed many exams thanks to the sheet music

enjoyed the song, Did Brenda write the words??

Alyn

Hi Noel,

It's all been said. I like everything about this song.

Guenter

Hi Alyn,

It's great to see you up and about again! Thanks for dropping by. Your diet of Tin Pan Alley sounds interesting! I'm with you with the sheet music. My classical training, while useful, didn't do much to encourage creativity. I had to wait a few years for that to fall into place.

When Brenda and I write, we sit down at the computer and run BIAB. We find a rhythm we like, adjust the tempo, I add some chords and we just keep playing the backing over and over and over. Sooner or later, a phrase pops into the head of one us. That then becomes the springboard for more phrases. Eventually, a verse or chorus develops and we're off

The melody usually falls into place as we try and sing the phrases. Overall, our compositions are definitely a team effort with neither one of us being solely responsible for either words or music. (Fortunately, Brenda grew up on Tin Pan Alley, too.)

Thanks for listening. I appreciate your comments. I know Brenda will too.

Best wishes,
Noel

Hi Guenter,

Thank you

All the best,
Noel

Standing Ovation! Applause, Applause, Excellent writing, performance and production. Thanks for sharing!

Hey Noel.

Once again I'm late getting to the party, but I'm SO glad I didn't let this one slip past.

Not many people know this, but I'm a great fan of the old Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers movies and as soon as this track started I could see Fred and Ginger dancing to it.

Everything about this song is period-perfect. The quality of the of the production, the mix and the vocals is just superb. I think you've excelled yourself this time!

All the best, ROG.

HI Noel. Great work. As has been said I enjoyed the "sparse" lyrics (and I mean that as a compliment!)

Very nice. Taut lines that don't run on. Great vocals, lyrics, graphics and production. I got so transfixed by waiting to see if the the intro/outro graphic was gonna morph into a double helix that I had to listen again - just to the audio. looking forward to Janice hearing this one.

Noel,

We alredy talked in the hallway.
"Especially" with your lyrics and vocals it makes a great production.

Thanks for the sharing!

Noel,

We already talked in the hallway.
"Especially" with your lyrics and vocals it makes a great production.

Thanks for the sharing!

Hey Robert,

Thank you for that standing ovation!!! I've never had one of those before. Brenda will be delighted, too! Glad you liked the song.

May everything good come your way!
Noel

Hi ROG,

Thanks for dropping by. It's interesting you mentioned Astaire and Rogers because I tried really hard to find some copyright-free clips of theirs that I could use to make the video. No luck with that, though. I have to say that Fred Astaire was an amazing dancer!

Under Aussie copyright law, I could have used stills from pre-1953 movies but since the electronic location of the clip was in the US, I thought I'd better play it safe.

Thanks for your comments about production. That means a great deal given your experience and expertise. Luck was on my side this second time around, I think!

All the best,
Noel

Hi Joanne,

Thank you for taking time to have a listen. These days, after writing lyrics that I think are good enough to call "done", I always go through them with a razor and see if I can reduce the word count by 10%. I got this idea from something Pat Pattison once said at a seminar. The reason I do this is because it's amazing how often the reduction of the word count can really tighten up the overall song.

One thing I keep in mind, though, when cutting words is that some of the seemingly unnecessary words are often required to keep the melody identifiably intact from verse to verse. I ALWAYS let melody be the final judge with my editing decisions because research shows that, for most listeners, melody is the bus-driver of the song and lyrics are a VIP passenger.

I guess what I'm trying to say is "That's how the lyrics became sparse for Brenda and me!"

Once again, thank you.
Noel

Hi Bud,

Thanks for having a listen. After reading your comment about the graphics, I find myself wondering if maybe I unconsciously chose something mesmerising just to distract people!!!! I should have added a subliminal message Oh well ... another missed opportunity.

Just between you and me, the only reason I chose those graphics was because I spent hours looking for suitable Astaire/Rogers clips. I couldn't find any that were public domain and somehow every alternative idea I had simply didn't measure up to the Astaire/Rogers concept. In the end, I thought I'd just use a visualisation.

Glad the music and lyrics worked for you!

All the best,
Noel

Hi Frank,

It's great to see you jumping into this forum in a big way!!! Good on ya! Also, thank you for taking time to listen to "Dancing and Dreaming". Much appreciated

All the best,
Noel

wow, the mix and production are so rich... it really filled my headphones, and there was a sort of effortless joy in the vocal and lyric.

I really enjoyed it

Noel, another keeper. Its all been said. I really liked your vocals on this one.

If Rod Stewart can make money TRYING to sing standards like this then YOU should be the main show in Las Vegas!

Many well deserved accolades so far.

Will not repeat what everyone else has said but I can joyfully say listening to "Dancing and Dreaming" was as smooth and refreshing as a fresh and chilly cold glass of water first tasted under the shade of an oak tree while taking a break during the hottest day of the year.

Every time I hear a song this well written, sang and produced my jaw drops in amazement. I can't help it, the song just sounds sooo good!

Very nice indeed. Congratulations!

Mike B.

Hi gruverider,

Thanks for popping in having a listen. I appreciate it. Thank you for the comments about "filled my headphones". It's good to know that my reading about mixing and mastering is taking me to the right places.

All the best,
Noel

Hi Mario,

Thanks for dropping by! When you said ...


... well it made me smile lots! Thanks for that

Hope you have a brilliant day!
Noel

Hi Jim,

Thank you

When I read ...


... the first thought that popped into my head was "Why can't I think of great lines like that!" You have an excellent way with words.

In relation to the sound, well, PG Music is the star of that show. Apart from my singing and midi strings, everything else is courtesy of Band In A Box. Every time I create something with the program, I'm blown away at just what it does!

I appreciate your kind comments and I know that Brenda will be grinning from ear to ear when she reads them.

Best regards,
Noel

Hi Mike,

Thank you for taking time to have a listen. Appreciated

All the best,
Noel