Howdy all….

https://soundcloud.com/chulaivet1966/tranquility_ken-lasine-on-lead-guitar
https://www.soundclick.com/music/songInfo.cfm?songID=14262513

Well…(3) songs and (1) composition in (2) months is a record for me. I don't know where this spurt of creative energy came from.
I'm not complaining though, I must say. Hope I’m not creatively spent for the next decade.

Surprise...it's not a '4onthefloor' rock tune .
This is a breezy, semi-jazzy composition....another one that is a bit out of my comfort zone.

I came up with the progression and sent it off to Ken Lasaine for his thoughts and guitar work. The stand up bass just wasn’t working for me at all and I could find no viable replacement.
But, I know recording a clear, cut through the mix stand up bass is not an easy task.

The line up:
Drums/piano–BIAB
Lead Guitar-Ken
Guiro-Ken
Organ bed-me
Bass-me
Cabasa-me
Congas-me

Thanks to any/all that stop by and give a listen.
Hope you find it worthy of your time.
Have a great day.

_B140_BD.STY Latin Brazilian Bossa (140 RS) All RealTracks! Bossa rhythm section with Acoustic Piano, Acoustic Bass & BossaTerryClarke^6-Blstix,Stks RealDrums. (Ac.Bass, Ac.Piano, Drums=BossaTerryClarke^6-Blstix,Stks)

Getting out of your comfort zone certainly pays off to our ears!

That is a sophisticated and well performed tune indeed. Y'all's performances are very nice.

The choice of tracks, the melody, the arrangement and the mix sound great.

Well done,

J&B

PS: As an upright bass player over the years I never ended the struggle
with recording it. My best choice always seem to be wrapping a good
mic in foam rubber and stuffing it under the bridge

Pretty thick arrangement.

moto

Wayne,
nice tune with a Latin flavor. Does not feel "out of comfort zone" at all, pretty laid back to my ears. Liked everything, especially your own percussion with exception of brushy RD... I think it is a little too "brushy". You have cabasa and guiro, that takes care of most higher pitched percussion spectrum, I think brushed RD is a bit of an overkill. I have no clue how Latin rock fusion drums supposed to sound, this is just opinion that came to mind, so don't take it too seriously. Overall, considering all instrumentals that both of you did, its a strong original tune hands down. Thank you for sharing.

Misha.

Like it a lot, I'm a fan of Ken's playing. Bass wasn't an issue for me, though I do like the sound of an upright in jazz. Good work!

Gooood mornin'....

Howdy J&B....
I glad you found it worthy and I appreciate the very generous comments.
Ha....agreed.
I've never recorded an upright bass but you confirmed my perceptions about getting a good recording and have it cut through the mix.
I could find no good replacement so I did it myself.

Howdy moto....
Yes....mixing it was a bit tricky.
But....IMO...the genre requires some percussion to be there to support of the overall vibe.
Hence, it can be 'thick'.

Howdy misha....
I couldn't find any appropriate trap set either with this 'style' I started with.
So, I have to live the the brush work which I find works fine.
Again....mixing was a challenge.
At some point we have to make a preferential judgment call or we'd never finish anything.

Howdy Tunemonger....
Yes....Ken is a very fine musician and I'm fortunate to have him collaborate on my efforts.
I did bass because the original just wasn't working for me.

Thank you all very much for giving it a spin and taking the time comments
Have a great weekend everyone.

Breezy to be sure. Also quite relaxing and entertaining. Again you sound quite comfortable out of your comfort range, chulaivet. Ken really took the progression and played some cool guitars. At first I thought the cymbals sounded like ocean waves. Was that intentional or just where this dreamy music took me? Either way, a fun ride. Perfect for a hammock and a red Stripe.

Howdy Marty....
Yes....they are not cymbals.
The beginning and end is a seashore/beach waves .wav file.
I suppose I could have made them a but louder.
Agreed, Ken's guitar work enhances that 'Steely Dan at the beach' vibe.

I thank you for checking it out and the kind comments.
Have a great weekend.

(hmmmm....where's my coffee)

The bass supports the guitar as it should...tone wise...well, it's a difficult thing to do..a buzz pick up combined with a close mic CAN work but with a bull it depends a lot on the room. You have the thud in the right places so it works for me.

Breezy is right. Peppy, yet strangely relaxing. I like!

Howdy Rayc....

The original stand up bass was mushy and didn't cut through any mix or compliment the trap set.
So....I did what I had to do.
I'm glad the bass didn't make you stop playing it.

Ghostgum....how's things.

"Breezy", easy listening beach music....that about describes it to me.
Glad you found it worthy of a spin.

Thanks very much gents for stopping by giving a listen.

Have a great evenin'...

A very nice track to unwind to...

G'day mate....

I thank you for stopping by, giving a listen and the kind comment.

Have a great day....supposed to be 102 degrees here!

Very cool tune. Loved the guitar. Excellent backtrack. Well done

Very nice playing and a good solid composition.

Nice work all round.

Peter

Howdy Scott C....PeterF....

I thank you sirs for taking the time to give a listen and the kind comments.

As it turns out, this composition is the last one to complete the collaboration project that Ken Lasaine and I have completed.

I'll be making a video with all (8) of them to upload to YT.
It will contain pics related to the song subject along with the lyrics.
I'm no Spielberg or Lucas so I'm sure it will be the perfect opportunity to embarrass myself.

Thanks again....have a great day. (104 degrees again today in the heartland)

Nice song!! Has a breezy, driving through the city at sunset kind of feel!! Well played!! Enjoyed it a bunch!! Take care. Greg

Different from a lot that I've listened to here, but good and enjoyable.

Uplifting and a bit of a stroll along the shore.

Hi Chulaivet,

What is your comfort zone?
If you make music with a lot of passion and pleasure it must be inside that zone.
This song definitely feels this way.

The 'breeziness' is certainly there! I was only waiting for a rum and coke to be served...

But, have you only used BiaB for the piano (RT)? And no Style?
I read you and Ken did all the other instruments yourself.
I got questionmarks on that. How did you do that?

Hans

Howdy gents....

Greg...
"Breezy" seems to fit this one appropriately.

Ezekiel....
Well....I'd guess most of my material might fall into the "different" from the norm here.
But...that's the beauty of BIAB....it allows us to go outside our box.....so to speak.

Hans....(ha....the 'rum & coke' comment was quite fitting )
"What is your comfort zone"?
Valid question: I'm just a simple, rock/roll kind of guy/writer.


As I mentioned....I only kept the trap set and piano on this one for specific reasons.
I exported those (2) as wave files and imported those (2) tracks into Cakewalk.
I then played the bass line using my Roland MBD-1 (bass/drum module)
I then put a cabasa percussion track also using the MBD-1.
I then tracked an organ bedding track using my Proteus FX (also a sound module).
I made a rough mix MP3 and sent it to Ken to import into this DAW.
He added his guitar & quiro track and then sent those MP3's to me.
I imported in Cakewalk and worked on the mix from there....we both arrive at a consensus for the final mix.

The above is how we also did my other (7) originals.
(I'm in the heartland and Ken is in Los Angeles)

I hope I understood your question accurately and answered to your expectations.
Any further questions I'll be happy to answer.

This is the style I worked from: (on the first page)
_B140_BD.STY Latin Brazilian Bossa (140 RS) All RealTracks! Bossa rhythm section with Acoustic Piano, Acoustic Bass & BossaTerryClarke^6-Blstix,Stks RealDrums. (Ac.Bass, Ac.Piano, Drums=BossaTerryClarke^6-Blstix,Stks)

Thank you sirs for giving a listen and taking the time to comment favorably.

Have a great weekend!

This sounds good to me. Ken and your playing really make this song. Great leads and rhythms.

To nit pick I think the ending could have been a little smoother, but this is just me.

Excellent work.

Dear 'chulaivet1966'...

Your composition, 'Tranquility', was fun to listen to. My first impression was that it sounded like a source music number composed for a nightclub scene in a 60's beach movie, maybe an Elvis flick, even!

Mr. Lasaine's excellent electric guitar performance was twangy, bluesy, and dreamy, all at the same time. Your instrumental/percussion accompaniments added a fresh musical presence to the Real Tracks.

If you were out of your comfort zone, then you just reinvented yourself musically, which must be a wonderful discovery!

Hey Mario....

I listened to the end per your comment and nothing jumped out at me.
Sounded smooth enough....but, I've been wrong in the past.
Unless you felt the fade didn't begin soon enough?

Howdy bluage....

That's a very kind review bluage.
It definitely has the 'beach' vibe to it.
Well....I'm generally a r/roll kind of guy so I did have a slight confidence level issue with this one.

I thank you sirs for checking it out and taking the time to comment so favorably.

Last night I finished a video of our (7) songs, (1) composition collaborations.
It's just over 30 minutes, includes the lyrics, several pics and I incorporated a personal aspect (which was difficult for me decide upon) to it so any viewers could attach names and faces with the total effort.
I will by uploading to YT should anyone be remotely interested.

Have a great day everyone....and thanks again to all that gave it a spin.

Hi Chulaivet,

Thanks for your so detailed answer about 'the making of' your song. Appreciated it very much!
And I asked about your comfort zone because you told us this was out of that zone. So I was wondering what you think that zone is. But you described it wonderful!

Hans

Great Latin feel to everything here.

Nice axe work which gives lift to the song.

G'day VideoTrack....

I thank you for giving it a spin and kind comment.

This song writing stuff sure isn't easy.

Have a great day....