REWIND ME
(Lyric video - an audio only link is provided at the bottom of this post)

Hi folks, this is our first J&B post in a couple of months. Having big fun with collabs and going through several different versions of this tune has taken most of our music time of late.

I recently bought Janice a cajon and talked her into introducing her playing on this reggae tune. Yep, reggae is definitely an interesting rhythm to learn percussion on! Janice has always played rock solid rhythm guitar and I’ve noticed and heard her tapping out rhythms for years so I figured why not play some real percussion?

I wrote this admittedly simple 12 bar blues lyric for her to experiment with - vocally and with the cajon. The production started much more bluesy, then became an acoustic version and finally settled with this funky wah wah version thanks to PeterF. Peter and Janice were working on a blues collab and he graciously played some lead and rhythm guitar on this song. So it has become, I suppose, reggabluesfunk

I took the reggae RD track and removed all of the kick drum and most of the snare leaving primarily the ride and timbale. Janice then filled in with the cajon “kick,” “snare” and other sounds. She is certainly a novice and I’m new at attempting to mic and mix the thing but it was interesting project. BTW, we added the handclaps to emphasize that important reggae third beat. I certainly don't mean to imply that we know much about reggae but we had fun.

Thanks to all who take their time to listen and comment. We greatly appreciate you!

Janice: vocal and percussion
PeterF: lead and rhythm guitars
Bud: audio and video things
Stuff used: Biab, Logic Pro X, Alloy 2, Ozone 6, Waves TruVerb, Nectar 2,
Rodes mic, MXL mic and Focusrite interface

Percussion: Meinl Cajon (mics front/rear to separate tracks)
Bass: RT 1157 Reggae sw
Drums: RD Reggae sw (all kick and most snare removed)
Organ: 1159 Reggae sw
Piano: 1160 Reggae sw
Handclaps: Bud, Janice and loops - thanks fj (6 tracks)

And a big thanks to the several forum members who offered me guidance on this project!

Bud

https://soundcloud.com/mootsman/rewind-me

First Janice and Bud in a few months?? Man, that trend needs to CHANGE! They should be... um... weekly? Yeah, I'd like that!

So many things to say:

1) Did you take the picture of the cassette that's on the YouTube page? If so, I like the fact that the tape that's pulled out has been kinked into a heart (I'm guessing that was intentional)

2) I like the way you developed the metaphor of a cassette tape as compared to a relationship... that thought wouldn't have crossed my mind in a million years! And beyond the idea itself, your application of each aspect of tape to the relationship really holds up! Clever lyrics all around!

3) I thought the use of video to present the lyrics was a great idea, and I'm kind of surprised we don't see a lot more of that

4) I really liked Janice's delivery on this .. the way she played with the timing added interest above and beyond the interest contained in the words

5) VERY impressed by Janice's first percussion track(s)! Apparently she's one of those people who can do anything she sets her mind to. Gotta respect the willingness to try new things and the talent to pull it off the first time!

6) Of course I though the rewind snippet at the end was a clever way to conclude the tape... especially because I listened to it multiple times, and every one of them left me feeling like I was actually rewinding a tape! ;-)

7) PeterF, man, it didn't take you long on the forum before you started collaborating with the heavy hitters! And I must say it was a collaboration that worked out well for everybody! Your guitar playing added a very appropriate groove for the song, and I liked the wah effect!

Hats off to everybody involved with this project!

AWESOME!!!! Janice that was some Incredible Sangin!!!!! Very Nicely Mixed!!!!

1. All the photos are public domain mostly from pixabay. Having an idea of what photo might represent a lyric image is the easiest part. The difficulty is finding a PD image that is high enough resolution to be cropped to 16:9 and still look good. I don't use any that don't fit these two self imposed criteria. After finding the photos I then use various editors to give them a somewhat similar look in hue and texture. And for some of our vids I have shot my own photos when unable to find them in the PD. I used two of mine in Mystic Chords and one in Ways of Forgetting.

2. Glad you liked the lyric. The ONLY style of lyric that comes to me with some relative ease is the 12 bar blues format which is almost invariably nothing profound and requires less rhyming

3. The lyric video is a good way to get a song on YouTube when, if like me, one is unwilling to venture into the land of video clips or not talented enough to create your style of videos.

4. Janice thanks you. I just hand her a lyric and she riffs away.

5. For 35 years I've noticed her tapping out little rhythms while listening to music...don't think she's even aware of it. So I decided to tap into it...awful pun, yep.

6. The snippet was Peter's idea and a good one!

7. Yep, the wah wah finally gave a direction and feel to the song after much experimenting with other approaches.

Thanks Pat, as always, for taking your time to listen and make such thoughtful remarks. We cherish them!

J&B

Hi Janice & Bud and Peter,

so interesting and entertaining!
Great vocals and guitar. The percussion is unique (including the claps).
I liked the video and the ending.
Great collab altogether!

Guenter

Thanks Tommy!

J&B

This is great!!!

Keep watching this over and over and over again.

Yeah! Me too! It's like I got caught in the "LATHER - RINSE - REPEAT" loop and I can't break out!

(Except its the "LISTEN - REWIND - LISTEN" loop...

;-)

(When Janice is singin' that's easy to do anyway...)

Really a good Blues/Reggae combination u have here Janice and Bud ! Very well arranged and performed... I usually don't like reggae very much, but this one was enjoyable for me to listen to....

Thanks Guenter! It was interesting learning a little about reggae percussion. There is a name for the reggae third beat emphasis (the claps) that I forget.

J&B

GREAT loved EVERYTHING about it!!
Love the Cajon, used one in my last song - way to go in actually going out and getting one instead of settling for a loop - some user tracks perhaps??? How did you record/mic it?
One of your best mixes and videos to date Bud.
Janice and Peter excellent performances as well.

Hi, Bud & Janice & Peter !:))


This is just AWSOME !
and Janice´s vocal is
as sweet as ever !
One of your best for sure !:))

Cheers
Dani

Blues meets reggae. Nice combination.
A+ as usual.
Rob

Thanks David. We appreciate it.

J&B

Well said Tommy C!! AMAZING vocals!! Really fun idea. As great as digital is, cassettes, magnetic tape, and LPs will always hold a special place in my heart. This is really a clever and fun write, and delicious presentation of reggae blues. Peter F pretty much knocked the cover off the ball with that guitar playing. Wonderful job by all!!! Take care. Greg

well this surely is something else!
a very nice reggae blend with top-notch vocals and guitar.
And the videos are getting better all the time ;-)

Thanks!! If you are doing that then mission accomplished!

J&B

Thanks Pat
Certainly was an enjoyable project - great to be asked to join in.

Well done, hats off to all! Silky and a great genre blend!