PG Music Home
Posted By: MarioD Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/01/16 09:35 PM
Alex Rand has lost his mind and become a rapper. I have lost mine also as I played on a rap song. Alex has asked me to post this collaboration.

There is a strange story about this song. Alex asked me to add some guitar and bass to this. Well as luck would have it I got a deep paper cut on the index finger of my fretting hand. Thus I couldn't play any lead guitar parts but I thought that I could play the bass. After the first verse I looked down and my bass fret board had a lot of blood on it. So clean off the bass and finger, put on a Band-Aid and continued. I looked down at my fret board after the second verse and repeated the above clean up process. This time I put two Band-Aids on and finished the bass line. So some blood, sweat, and tears went into this one. Due to this Alex got another friend to add some guitar and a few additional bass parts.

Alex sends you his best and hopes to have some more of his material posted at a later date.

We hope you like this.

Who's the Survivor-Mind Over Matter
Posted By: Greg Johnson Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/01/16 11:02 PM
WOW!! I have to admit I have never been a rap and hip-hop fan, UNTIL NOW!! Leave it to our forum virtuosos to turn me around. This is COOL!! I have to admit, I need to listen several more times to take it all in, but that will be a pleasure!! Wonderful job guys!! Take care. Greg
Posted By: dani48 Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/02/16 04:48 AM
Hi, Mario and Dean !:))


This is absolutely superbly great !
This must be one of the best collabs
I´ve experienced on this forum !

One just can´t do anything but
love this....and it is really
so professionally done as it
could be !

Great to hear that you are still
kickin´and kickin´hard, brother Dean !

Cheers
Dani
Posted By: tommyad Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/02/16 10:03 AM
The Mathematician meets Mad Mario. Great collab. Soldiers as numbers and war as madness. Pretty cool rant. Good job guys. Dean. I hope you've healed up well and Mario take care of that paper cut. Tom
Posted By: floyd jane Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/02/16 03:03 PM
A good listen, guys. A fun collaboration... hope you are both healing..fj
Posted By: David Snyder Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/02/16 03:40 PM
Funny!!
Posted By: Scott C Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/02/16 04:12 PM
Very cool Dean and Mario. Loved it
Posted By: RnAM Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/02/16 04:53 PM
Very cool and definitely unique on this forum!
Perfect rap in a very interesting story indeed Alex.
Nice work on the bass Mario.

Rob & Anne-Marie
Posted By: Robertkc Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/02/16 11:18 PM
You guys are a shoo-in for the BiaB rapsong contest..very well done!
I usually tune out this genre but you kept me listening & trying to decipher the very clever lyrics (I`m worried I have a number on my back!). The " mind over matter" instrumental breaks are really cool too and those deep vocals reminded me of Captain Beefheart.

Robert
Posted By: gibson Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/03/16 03:17 AM
Mario and Dean,

RAP, hmm. Not today's style of rap, thankfully, but this leans towards "Gangstas Paradise" by Coolio from '95 or even "Stan" by Eminem and I liked those 2 a lot.

The words also highlight Dean's intelligence cool

Interesting listen, tho. My room had an eerie silence after that track ended, in a good way grin

send my regards to Dean

Alyn

ps paper-cuts hmmm! They certainly cause chaos for something so seemingly minor
Posted By: Charlie Fogle Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/03/16 12:05 PM
Top notch production. Good to see Alex is back too.

Enjoyed this.

Charlie
Posted By: Will B - PG Music Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/03/16 01:00 PM
This is awesome! Super catchy. What an energetic tune to wake up the office with on a Monday morning smile smile
Posted By: Anthony - PG Music Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/03/16 01:09 PM
I have to agree with Will, this is awesome and made my Monday morning great! I love the vocals, the delivery on them reminds me of an old Blowfly song or a George Clinton rap vocal! Great song! Keep it Up!
Posted By: Steve Young Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/03/16 06:08 PM
Very cool, guys! Very well produced, and performed. One of most creative collabs I have seen here. Hope both of you are doing well!

Steve
Posted By: Callie - PG Music Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/04/16 11:10 AM
Well - this sure is a change from what we usually hear posted to our User Showcase Forum! I listened to this song yesterday morning with Will and Anthony - we all really enjoyed it!

It's gotta be our "Hot Forum Topic" for today... smile

~Callie
Posted By: Janice & Bud Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/04/16 11:19 AM
This is what this forum is all about! Since coming on board 5 years ago we have listened to more of a variety of music than we would ever have sans this board.

Talk about busting genres -- sheesh guys, this is over the top different and fun to listen to. I could skip my coffee after this smile

Thanks for the demo on just how cool talented collaborators and Biab can be.

J&B
Posted By: receder Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 05:20 AM
Wow! Super cool song Mario and Aleck.

Great vocal and I love your bass playing Mario.

Very enjoyable.

Cheers
Rec
Posted By: DIOECHOOTO Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 09:07 AM
Great production! The pacing, phrasing and vocal treatment, and indeed the whole sardonic vibe reminds me of Frank Zappa's "I Am The Slime". The fast bass,brass runs at the end reinforce a Zappa-esque feel...good stuff!


I'd very much like to see the lyrics presented but that's always my preference being hard of hearing.

Very fun!
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 03:10 PM
Greg,

First I want to thank Super Mario for helping me beat the censors in this new place I'm staying. Weird fashion sense they got here: White seems to be the only available color and where did they come up with these shirts where the sleeves knot in the back? Makes it hard to play certain keyboard voicings.

Otherwise, everyone is very nice but only so long as they don't get wind of the rap tune me and Mario smuggled out. Greg, they tell me I'll be leaving soon. I've missed all of you guys and hope to bring along some new stuff soon.

Dean
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 03:25 PM
Tommy,

It's great to be back. And, against all odds, even after a 4 month post-op appointment that showed not just failure to improve, but backwards motion (more muscle wasting, my little finger sticking out into left field like a flagpole that wouldn't move even with effort that might have caused a brain vessel to burst). Several weeks ago my little finger began moving for the first time. The spread between my middle three fingers began getting unmistakable larger. I watched all this in total disbelief because, earlier, two surgeons independently told me that this was the end of the road for me. The ulnar is a huge nerve that runs from the tips of your fingers to behind your neck. It can regenerate, but at the rate of 1 mm per day. Or it might not. I don't want to say more than this, but I'm beginning to play guitar again.

Dean
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 03:44 PM
Charlie -

It is great to back and I want to thank you for getting my name right "Aleck" not "Alex." But Forum members can call me anything they like, within reason of course.

I feel sort of like the second most famous Rolling Stone, Keith Richard, although he's not called that anymore. After years of being call Keith Richards, he legally changed his name from Richard to Rihards. I've known several people with the last name Wood who are always called Woods.

So Alex it is, I guess. And I'm really glad that you liked this rap. Read my reply to Tommy for late-breaking info.

Dean aka Aleck (Rand)
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 03:47 PM
Floyd,

Thanks for your comment and kind wishes. Yeah, something incredible is going on that only developed within the last few weeks. Read my reply to Tommy. I had completely given up hope but this isn't my imagination playing tricks on me ...

It's great to see that your energy to create is as strong as ever.

Dean
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 03:56 PM
David,

Thank you. I figure if Queen Latifah (aka Dana Owens, a phenomenal jazz singer - don't believe it? Just search her name on YouTube) can do rap, there's no reason why I couldn't do it. Like everything else, it can be good, bad or ugly. The unique thing about this one is that it asks a question of the listener. One to which I'm still waiting for an answer. Can you help me out?

Dean Clark (aka Aleck Rand aka Alex Rand)
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 04:00 PM
Janice and Bud, my dear friends

It is so great to be here replying to you in appreciation of your kind remarks. I'm not surprised to see the two of you still here with your inexhaustible creative force. Now, for really good news, see the late-breaking developments in my reply to Tommy. I fear putting on the jinx, but what the hell ...

Dean (aka Aleck Rand and now aka Alex Rand)
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 04:11 PM
Dani,

I can't tell you how great it is to be writing once again to you and the gang here at the Forum. Please read my reply to Tommy for late-breaking info. Wow, this venue has really stepped up in the world with hundreds, not dozens, of viewers at at a time, PG radio (I even see myself in the Jazz category along with other fabulous players, like Super Mario who helped me so much on this one).

And I'm glad you liked our collaboration. At the risk of repeating myself, I figure if Queen Latifah (aka Dana Owens, a phenomenal jazz singer - don't believe it? Just search her name on YouTube) can do rap, there's no reason why I couldn't do it.

Now, please, who's the survivor? Still waiting for my first answer and I think my chances are better here, where the intelligentsia hangs out, than SoundCloud. What about it Gannon? Come on, man, trivial ...

Dean
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 04:17 PM
Robert,

Wow! Really thrilled at your reaction to this. You know, they once asked Ray Charles what he thought of Rap and he laughed and, said, "Rap? Now what can I possibly learn from that?" It says a lot about Ray and a lot about Rap. But, even though I've repeated this in several replies, I figure if Queen Latifah (aka Dana Owens, a phenomenal jazz singer - don't believe it? Just search her name on YouTube) can do rap, there's no reason why I couldn't do it. But this heah is RandRap, not Saran Wrap.

Thank you.

Dean Clark (aka Aleck Rand aka Alex Rand)
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 04:53 PM
Alyn!

Who is that grim-faced rocker that I see looking at me with mild suspicion? Is that you today or in the recent past? Anyway, I like it - communicates a certain gravitas.

I think you'll find the info in my reply to Tommy Adams of how the complicated nerve transposition surgery I had on my left arm at first appeared to be a quite convincing failure and then, months later, some strange things began to happen ...

It is great to be back replying to kind comments like yours. I say again, as I've said in other replies, if Queen Latifah (aka Dana Owens, a phenomenal jazz singer - don't believe it? Just search her name on YouTube) can do rap, there's no reason why I couldn't do it. Like everything else that is words + music, it can be good, bad or ugly. Regrettably, most of this stuff, which I used to regard simply as laughable nonsense, has turned quite ugly. It's good to know that it doesn't have to be this way.

I'm looking forward to being here more often - as a guitar player!

Dean (aka Aleck Rand aka Alex Rand)
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 05:12 PM
Will? Anthony? Callie? Forum moderators and tech support whizzes??

Wow! I am honored. Not only are your kind remarks appreciated, but you guys have access to the top so I'm throwing down the gauntlet and asking that you throw it, in turn, right at:

Peter Gannon. That's right Peter, I'm talkin' to you. I'm not expecting an answer on SoundClound, but here where the intelligentsia hangs out, things are different. The rap song I composed and was kindly submitted to the Forum by my collaborator Mario, asks a question of the listener. Who is the unique survivor, identified by position number among the N soldiers, N larger than 2. In this neighborhood, if anyone can answer this question it would be you. Not that others couldn't, but in your case a guarantee comes with it.

In any event, it's great to be back and what big, expansive improvements here. Very impressed.

Dean Clark (aka Aleck Rand aka Alex Rand)
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 05:22 PM
Steve,

Thanks so much for your kind remarks. Rap gets - and deserves - much of the scorn it receives in many quarters: When asked what he thought of Rap, no less than Ray Charles guffawed, and said, "Rap? Now what could I possibly learn from that?" Before it turned really ugly, I dismissed it as merely laughable nonsense. But check my remark about Queen Latifah in my other replies.

I thought it was time for a change.

Dean (aka Aleck Rand aka Alex Rand)
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 05:31 PM
Rec,

Your comments are very much appreciated. I pretty much talked myself silly about my changing attitudes toward Rap in other replies, so I won't repeat myself here. Just accept my thanks for some very encouraging words.

Dean Clark (aka Aleck Rand aka Alex Rand)
Posted By: PeterGannon Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 05:32 PM
Aleck and Mario,

I really enjoyed the song, great production and performances. Well done!
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 05:42 PM
Peter,

I wasn't expecting to hear from you this quickly - I just asked Callie, Anthony and Will to throw down the gauntlet about the question posed by this Rap. The so-far unresolved matter of the unique survivor. I'm not expecting an answer on SoundCloud but here there is someone who can edify us. I'm talking to him now.

Of course, thank you for your kind remarks and I hope the moderators communicated my wide-eyed reaction to all the new, expansive changes at the Forum.

Dean
Posted By: Sundance Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/05/16 10:23 PM
So glad to read you are doing better and able to be playing some again.

The King of Cool remains - who else could dream up and rap a hip hop song ala math quiz that is so well done and enjoyable! LOL!

Well done Dean and Mario! Great collab by you two.
Posted By: PeterF Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/06/16 10:55 PM
Aleck (Alex) & Mario

It's probably all been said so I'll just say well done.

Peter
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/07/16 12:02 PM
So great to see you again Josie.

Being called the King of Kool just made my day, but unfortunately there must have been a mixup because my official, registered title has always been The Klutz of Kool. You can look it up! I shouldn't have let that slip ... well, too late.

Your kind words are so appreciated. Thank you.

Dean
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/07/16 12:22 PM
Peter,

Maybe, but nevertheless, the positive reaction is appreciated. Thank you.

Dean (aka Aleck aka Alex)
Posted By: DIOECHOOTO Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/07/16 12:44 PM
"I shouldn't have let that slip" ...Klutz...I see what you did there! smile
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/08/16 08:44 PM
DIOECHOOTO haaaaaaaaaaaa!

Klutz ... slip ... brilliant! It took me a second, but I get it.

Dean Clark (aka Aleck/Alex Rand
Posted By: MarioD Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/08/16 10:46 PM
First I want to thank Aleck (sorry Dean, that was a bad typo on my initial post) for the honor of playing on his song. Also I am super glad that things are starting to work out for you.

Second I want to thank all of my forum friends who listened and left those very kind comments. This was my first and probably my last time I play on a rap song.

Thanx all.
Posted By: Noel96 Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/09/16 03:50 PM
Mario and Dean,

I don't think that the forum has ever experienced a song like this before! I enjoyed it. Congratulations to both of you on a terrific collaboration. I hope that all continues well for you both.

Best regards,
Noel
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/10/16 03:54 PM
Mari-O!

On the Alex thing, it happens more often than people get it right. Like with Keith Richard(s). I'm grateful to you for posting this with a perfect story that includes you too! And listen, my friend, never say "never." I'll take almost surely never another rap tune, and I feel the same way. I think I had exactly one of those inside me that could get up to that level and it took a tremendous amount of work. You did a great job listening to the lyrics and making the bass fit with the right kind of propulsion. Adding the horns and background vocals took it up another notch. A complete success, except for one thing. Hope for anyone supplying a solution is fading rapidly. When Peter Gannon commented, I thought "Ah! Now I've got him where I want him!" And I threw down the gauntlet. Nada. It may be a lot trickier than I thought. If we can't collaborate on another rap tune, maybe on something else. Who knows?

So, Mario, thank you and remember, you couldn't have done it without me.

Dean
Posted By: aleck rand Re: Collaboration with Alex Rand - 10/10/16 04:34 PM
Noel,

Your message had something that made my eyes bug out even before getting to the message. The slick avatar. Oooh, graph theory!! Yummm! There's a field in mathematics, (my previous life's work although to say "previous" is completely wrong - it's something that doesn't stop) - is called combinatorial mathematics. Practical problems include things like:

The most fuel efficient way for an airline to route its planes

How Google minimizes the time used to complete your search

Establishing the 6 degrees of freedom idea - that it's a near certainly that you know someone who knows someone who ... knows the Prime Minister of Australia. And the number of someones need not be greater than 6.

What got my attention about your avatar is that "Nashville Notation" can be described by a "directed network." In fact, I know nothing at all about Nashville Notation but that one one picture looks like it contains a thousand words.

If you could drop a few words about Nashville Notation, if you use it, I think all of us would appreciate it. I certainly would, as I did your kind remarks about the rap tune.

Dean
© PG Music Forums