Beautiful Star


Hi folks, apologies for not commenting lately but we've been on the fly - big time. Recently a friend asked if Janice and I could put together a couple of tunes for his young daughter to sing along with at her uncle's church. Beautiful star is listed as PD or traditional by many sources while others credit it to a couple of writers who never received credit for it. It seems to be one of the typical songs songs that has significantly earlier roots than once thought.

We were somewhat limited in our production given the small number of 3/4 time Bluegrass realtracks available. So we were compelled to cut and paste rhythm tracks to try and create a "lead" feel in places. Additionally the 3/4 Bluegrass bass realtrack was, well, odd. It rarely played on the first beat and had none of the lilting feel of waltz time -- there was also a lot of odd syncopation. Good for jazz - not good for Bluegrass. As a bass player, I ended up cutting out the notes I wanted and creating my own track for the bass part FWIW.

My friend's just turned 10 year old daughter sings the lead and Janice sings counter point and harmony. BTW, this is an amazing kid. I saw her last night blowing everybody away at a piano recital with her own arrangement of the song from the Star Wars barroom scene. Music teacher said he wants to © the arrangement! And, she rode two 100 mile bicycle rides last month. She's got some proud parents for sure.

Blue USB mic: vocals
All other tracks: PG Music Realtracks
Mixing and effects: Garageband

Last edited by Mootsman; 12/15/12 01:55 PM.
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