Rock 'n' Roll

Hi Mark,
Wow! What a blast working with Sherry on Saxophone Rock! She's sharper than 3 tacks. To give you a little history on this, I wrote the song from scratch at age 16 (51 years ago). It is about 80% true. I have been married to "my little mamma" for 47 years and actually "stole" her from my drummer. I had a band called "The Crystals" at that time, but never played the song in the band (obvious reasons). I burried it and it stayed burried all that time. Strangely, I found it a few months ago nestled among my old Schillinger Jazz books. I hope Schillinger never finds out! Sherry can tell you more about what part BIAB played in the song. I did the solos on my keyboard (that's the reason it took so long) and I was never happy with them, somehow it just "ain't the same" as playing a sax. I liked the piano part too, and I had a big problem adding sax to the rest of the song because I didn't want to encroach on the flavor. I finally got the idea to use the bass part and edit it a little to fit the sax. It turned out to be the right thing to do. Sherry is doing the vocal also. We're equal partners in crime. It would have been great to have had you join in the fun, but I can only imagine how busy you've been.
Fred

Howdy,

I heard my name? ;) Fred, with flattery like that, it's no wonder you "stole" your little mama from the drummer ;)

Fred had recorded a rough melody line, and a short sax part to get us going. I took his melody line and my guitar, and sat down one night and came up with the chord progression - Fred's "three chords and a cloud of dust" approach Based on what Fred had told me about the song and his sax days, I had a "feel" going through my head, and I sat down with Biab and entered the song chords. I then listened to various iterations via the different styles that Biab has, until I found one that was pretty close to what I had going on in my head. I recorded that accompaniment and did a rough vocal for Fred to listen to and see what he thought. He must have been sending me pretty hefty brain waves, because he said that was pretty well exactly the song as he'd imagined it, too. We've used that as the foundation for the song, along with a number of changes that have gone on since then. Fred has done nearly all of the honest musical changes. I've just been along for the ride

I'm going to be recording a rough of the "final" version for Fred's review, using some soundfonts that I have for the audio recording.

Which reminds me Fred, since you've got recording working with Audacity, should I just record the accompaniment and let you do the vocals? That's not a problem at all. It is an awful fun song... Maybe Mark wants to do vocals .... ;)
Or you could make it a karaoke song

ttfn,
Sherry "I'll be quiet now" Crann

Hello Fred and Sherry,

This is a remarkable collaborative effort you two have done, congratulations!

This sort of collaborative composing has been going on in the Internet for years, but I haven't taken a close look at what people have come up with. The end result of your joint effort, the music, is quite admirable. But also, the way you worked together is quite admirable.

I hope we'll see more of this kind of collaborative music making in this forum.

Please do post the music here when you're ready.

Cheers
-- Mark

Hi Sherry,
Nah! I can't do the vocal. I wouldn't mind having a karaoke type file for it, but my voice isn't made for rock & roll. My experience in that arena was limited to " doo wap, doo wap" and "sha na na na". I would love an MP3 of the final product. I think you are elected for the vocal. It might also be a lot of fun to have everybody who wants to have some fun chime in and sing it, too. I know Tim can do it. His "Baby, I really got to go" cracks me up.
If I had known 50 years ago that this thing would be on something called the "Internet" I would have added a 4th chord.
Have fun!!!!
Fred

Hi Mark,
Thanks for the compliments. Sherry and I did put in a lot of time, and had a lot of fun doing it. I also learned a lot from the experience. I think working with others adds motivation. Working with Sherry made the whole thing really interesting. I agree with you, it would be great to have more of this type of collaboration on the forum. I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to work with someone with so much skill. I welcome any chance to do it again.
Fred

Howdy Fred,

How about this - when we finalize the accompaniment, I'll record it and save it as a separate file. I'll also record a vocal track, and make a mix for "publication" purposes. But I can send you both files, and that way you'll have just the accompaniment (a karaoke version) and a "finished" version.

I'm emailing you an mp3 of the accompaniment for you to listen and tell me what you think of relative instrument levels. I had to change a few of the levels because the soundfonts vary in level from the GS wavetable. Let me know what you think, and we'll get this baby going

ttfn,
Sherry

Hello Sherry,
Wow! You Da Lady!!!!!!!!!! How, in the name of Herbie Hancock, did you come up with that growl in the sax? What a Master! The sax level is perfect. I would raise the volume slightly on the piano and a tiny bit on the bass. The drum and organ volume is perfect, too.
It would be great to have both a karaoke version and a finished version. It probably would be a good idea to have a midi version of the accompaniment, too. Great job! Thanks again!
Fred

Howdy Fred,

I'm glad you liked it I'll make the adjustments that you suggested, and send you another mp3.

As for the growl, YOU da man I did nothing except find a soundfont that seemed to have a good growl to it when played in your song! It's the Roland Super Tenor Sax soundfont. I can't remember where I got it, and it's not the Hammersound or SF2MIDI site (I just checked). However, if you want it I can email it to you.

ttfn,
Sherry

Hi Sherry,
You once sent me the Roland Super Tenor soundfont, but it was a .rar file and I coulnd't find a way to use it. I can download a trial version of WinRar, but the file is not the typical .zip file. The icon is the windows icon that denotes the file can't be opened without knowing which program created it. I'm not sure if I actually unzipped an original zip file or not to get the .rar file. If it is available as an SF2 file, I can use it. I'll have to check that all out. Thanks.
BTW I also found that Roland file on some web site but I don't remember which one either.
Fred

Howdy Fred,

I'm sending you a couple of mp3s. One is just the accompaniment with the levels tweaked a bit per my interpretation of your instructions above The other is a rough mix of a vocal track with this same accompaniment, with a bit of reverb added. This is the first I've been able to work on the song today, and since everyone else is in bed right now, I had to tone down the vocals a bit. We'll rock a bit more on the final version

Again, let me know what you think, and if any other levels need adjusting to your ear.

ttfn,
Sherry

Hi Sherry,
Everything sounds good to me! I really like the reverb, too. That's cool! Ain't we got fun?

Freddie The Rocker (don't tell Peabody)

Howdy Fred,

Okey dokey. I'll try to get a final cut done asap, one with and one without vocals. Are the reverb levels good for you? I'm using the reverb in my Creative Wave Studio. I tried the one in Audacity, but not being familiar with that one, it didn't sound as good, and I'm already familiar with my CW Studio, so I went that route. I can easily change the settings if you want.

I guess I should also try to get the pitches corrected for the lyric part. I don't know if that's a big deal for folks who might want to try their hand at a karaoke version. How good are you, Fred, at playing in a melody line like that into Composer? Anything is better than me If you don't want to do that, I'll try and go through and fix them.

And now I'll show my ignorance - why shouldn't we tell Peabody?

ttfn,
Sherry

Hi Sherry,
Oh No, the reverb is perfect! I like it.

I can do the melody line if you like. E is not my key, but it will give me some needed practice. Anybody that wants to sing it will do their own thing anyway.

Peabody? I don't know about today, but back then there sure were not any rock and roll classes. Would you believe that my entire band consisted of nothing but serious classical and jazz musicians from Peabody and Juliard? At least most of us used stage names. (Mine was Freddie Brent).You couldn't make a dime then playing jazz, all the money was in rock and roll. We did upgrade when we went on the road and did mostly Chicago, Blood Sweat And Tears, Three Dog Night, etc. We also had a 40 minute show with nothing but the Beatles. And we all wore long wigs. It was a panic! Oh well, back to the present day. I have to run down to North Carolina now, but I'll work on the melody line when I get back.

Fred

Howdy Fred,

If you don't mind putting in the melody line, that'd be great. All we want it for is if someone is just listening to the midi or .not file without hearing the audio recording, so you can change it to whatever key you want

And thanks for the explanation about Peabody. Juillard I'm familiar with, but I didn't know about Peabody.

I would give a lot to see a picture of you in a long wig - you could use that for your "song pic" that goes with this song on SoundClick

ttfn,
Sherry

p.s. I have a tshirt that Mahala made for me (she drew the picture and wrote the words) that has me playing bass, and she wrote "See Mom Rock!" I may have to scan that and put it up on my SoundClick site

Howdy Fred,

Ok, you asked for it I've got a proposed final mix, and I'll send you the mp3 of it. If you want anything changed, just let me know. I have all iterations of files through the process

I'm going to let you post it on your SoundClick site, and that way you can see how many folks listen to it and enjoy it. After all, it's your song - I'm just the hired vocals (well, a little tweaking of bass and drums, too)

If you want a copy of the wav files for the accompaniment and the full mix, just let me know and I can send you a CD with those files on them. They are a bit large to try and email, and I don't have a webpage that I can post a download on for those. I'll need your snail mail (you can email me privately with that) to get you that.

ttfn,
Sherry

Hi Sherry and Everybody!!

Sherry, you did a great job! Thanks again for all the fun!I think the song is fine the way it is. I wouldn't change anything.

I am posting the karaoke files below. I used Vibraphone for the lyrics because it cuts through nicely. Now we are ready for a bunch of
vocals from all you guys.

Mark, We need a Little Richard and an Elvis 'Thank ya...Thank ya, very much' Presley version. Which one can we put you down for?

Fred
<center><table border=1><tr><td>Saxophone Rock_karaoke (used Composer 1.09)
Saxophone Rock_Karaoke.not (353.8 k)</td></tr></table></center>

<center><table border=1><tr><td>Saxophone Rock_Karaoke
Saxophone Rock_Karaoke.mid (39.8 k)</td></tr></table></center>

Hello Fred and Sherry,

Congratulations on finishing this song. It sounds great!

Are you going to publish an MP3 of this on the 'net somewhere, such as at soundclick.com? Lots of folk need to hear it.

Cheers
-- Mark

Hi Sherry,

If you are sending me a CD of the wav files, if there is room form some of the sound fonts on the same CD that would be great. My dial-up connection is ssslllloooowwww. Thanks again!

Fred

Hi Mark,

Thank you!! Saxophone Rock MP3 is now published on my soundclick web site. You can hear it at:

www.soundclick.com/fredwinterling

Fred

It's a hot summer night in 1955 and we're in the White Hut, less for the fries dripping grease, than the juke box, which is never silent because the supply of quarters is virtually endless. Louis inserts a thumb and forefinger into a small pocket in his black leather jacket and they emerge with one of those between them. To please our girls, he plays two by Elvis, but the third is a new one, called "Saxophone Rock."

Cool sound and nice memories, you guys.

best,
mgj

Thanks MG,
I remember my black leather jacket, too. Would you believe I still have enough hair left in the back to comb it into a D.A.? Those were the days!
Fred

Howdy,

I'm glad folks are enjoying it - it's been a blast to work with Fred on it!

I'm also posting it on my SoundClick site, not to compete with Fred, but because I might get listeners who don't know about Fred yet and should hear his song

www.soundclick.com/beanfield_castle

ttfn,
Sherry

Hi Sherry,
Thanks! Good idea!

Fred

Hi Everybody,

Thanks for your support of Saxophone Rock on the soundclick web site! After only one day, it is #68 out of 853 songs in the Rock &amp; Roll category, and it is being downloaded. Not only that, but my other songs are also being downloaded for the first time. If you haven't heard it, go to my web site or Sherry's and help us push it higher. Thanks again!
Fred

www.soundclick.com/fredwinterling