Saturday 27 April 2013

The concept album concept

Ken Davenport made a post on his blog about bringing back the concept of the concept album.

Thanks Ken. He gives Andrew Lloyd Webber as examples of using this concept. i am sure there must be many more. If you know of others, please mention it in the comments below.

I was not even aware that he concept of a concept album needed any bringing back! My ignorance aside, this is a brilliant idea and one of the most basic tools to the disposal of the writer / composer of musicals.

I have gone the concept album route for The exile. I have not done it with the hope of making lots of money from it, but rather as part of the development process. To add to Ken's post, let me list the reasons why you may want to do a concept album.

  • Firstly and most importantly, it serves as a basic tool to help you sell your musical to an interested producer. Without the concept album recording, the best you can do to sell your musical is to lie, beg or plea to producers to believe in a script, with empty promises that the music will be brilliant. Maybe you can bring your own piano and sing some of the songs. Unless you are Bon Jovi, you are more likely to bore or scare the producer. People are much more likely to take you serious if you have a professionally recorded CD. You may even leave a CD with interested people, and yes, it will give your ego a huge boost if somebody phone or contact you afterwards to tell you which song is his or her favourite! Which brings us to the next point.
  • It gives you a chance to get feedback from people. Very valuable feedback. This is free feedback you can use to invest back into your show. I have received lots of feedback from people on my concept album. Most people told they just loved "that blues song". I had some requests from people interested in licencing and recording "that love song". Others told me how that song about democracy had them in stitches. Knowing what the crowd favourite is, gives you a heads up on what you can use to sell your show to the next producer you talk to.
  • The concept album is just that, i.e. a concept album. It is a development tool. It gives you a chance to try things out and change these things. I had some people making suggestions on how to improve the show. The most common idea is to add another big company sing-a-long somewhere in the middle. My show opens with a company number and close with a reprise of something on the same theme. People would love to have a break in the story somewhere in the middle as well, similar to Les Mis did with Master of the house. During the recording process I could pick up when a song just does not work. This gives me the chance to re-write that song.
  • It serves as a milestone. It gives you something to hold and treasure. It gives the feeling that you have achieved something major. Your show have moved on from just paper to something concrete.

Recording a concept album is not cheap. It is much cheaper than in the 70's when ALW did Superstar, but it still requires some investment. In the next few months I will touch on the behind-the-scene process of producing a concept album. So, untill then. Leave some comments below about what you want me to talk about, and tell me which song did you enjoy the most from my concept album recording. You just might be able to say some day that you gave some significant input into the next hit on Broadway;)

 

Wednesday 24 April 2013

I am free

Today we want to look at the final song of this musical. This is the song that brings everything to a close. This is what this whole play is about. This is what the Odyssey is about. Just like Telemachus has set himself free from the suitors who ransacked his home by bringing his father back, Tyler has set his home free from Anthony, the suitor, by doing the same. Hugo is now free by returning home, free from the spell of Cathy - just like Ulysses who was set free from Calypso's spell. Even Anthony is now free to so what he wants. He can now go out and drink every night, play pool, and pass out wherever he wants.

 

In the background of this tale is also the story of a whole nation that was set free. We have seen how the country was struggling under an apartheid regime, and how the things have changed.

Nothing is however perfect as in the forever-after-land fairy tales. Democracy has its problems. Hugo and Pamela still have a long way to go before life can really be normal again.

Track: I am Free

 

HUGO

(1A)

I AM STANDING HERE AS A FREE MAN

TO TELL YOU MY TALE

I REMEMBER THOSE WHO HELPED

TO SET ME FREE

 

TYLER

(2A)

I AM STANDING HERE AS A FREE MAN

ON THIS JOYFUL DAY

MY HOUSE IS NOW FREE

ON THIS GLORIOUS DAY

 

HUGO

(3B)

I AM FREE. FREE TO GO

I AM FREE TO LIVE AGAIN

HERE I STAND AS A MAN LIBERATED

SO I'LL REMAIN, HAPPY AND FREE

 

PAMELA

(4D)

THIS IS THE STORY OF MY HERO

WHO TRAVELED SO FAR AND WIDE

I ALLOWED HIM TO ESCAPED THAT NIGHT

NOW HE IS BACK AGAIN

 

CATHY

(5D)

MANY CITIES DID YOU VISIT

MANY PEOPLE DID YOU KNOW

AND MANY TIMES HAVE YOU SUFFERED

SO YOU'D BE FREE AGAIN

 

ENSEMBLE (WOMEN)

(6B)

HE IS FREE. FREE TO GO

HE IS FREE TO LIVE AGAIN

HERE HE STAND AS A MAN LIBERATED

SO HE'LL REMAIN, HAPPY AND FREE

 

ANTHONY

(7B)

I AM FREE. FREE TO GO

I AM FREE FROM THIS DREADED PLACE

HERE I STAND WITH NO SHACKLES TO RESTRAIN ME

SO I'LL REMAIN, HAPPY AND FREE

 

ENSEMBLE

(8B)

WE ARE FREE. FREE TO GO

WE ARE FREE AND LIVE AS ONE

NOW WE STAND AS A NATION UNITED

SO WE'LL REMAIN, UNITED AND FREE

 

Saturday 13 April 2013

Vocaloid: This is how the economic sorcery works

Today we look at another simple lesson in confusing economics. Yamaha's vocaloid software has been around for 10 years now. If you do not know what it is, you have not missed much. Vocaloid is Yamaha's attempt to emulate the human singing voice on a computer. They have been successful in emulating the voice, but has not been able to do it convinsimgly enough to make people run out in the millions to buy the software. The vocaloid voices does not sound realistic enough to be used in any serious commercial release in the place of a human singing.

They have been very successful in the Japanese market, where vocaloid achieved cult status amongst a very small group of kids who like to play with this sort of thing.

Zero-G developed the voices, while Yamaha developed the editor software to enable you to use the voice. Up to version 2 of vocaloid, the editor was included in the package. That means, when you buy a singer voice library, you get the software to operate it as well. Zero-G used to sell the libraries, including the software, for $99. Most of the time you just had to wait a little bit, and the package would become available on some special for $69.

Now, with version 3, Yamaha realised that they are not breaking into the mass market, so they decided to rather try to make more money. Previously they had to share the money with Zero-G who developed the voices. They are now selling the software seperate from the voices. This means that, when you buy the voice from Zero-G you can not use it. You have to buy the editor from Yamaha as well. You get a watered down demo version of the eitor with the voice from Zero-G, but that version is almost useless.

On their web site Yamaha states that they have taken this step so you have to buy the software only once, "so the price is cheaper". Ok, so Zero-G now sells the voice for $99 and you buy the editor software from Yamaha for $129. That is a total of $229. That is much cheaper than the $99 I used to pay. Well, I actually never paid $99. I always waited for the 2 for the price of one specials came out and paid only $50 for a voice, including the editor, but let's for now ignore the specials and work on the list price. Fact is that you now pay $229 for the same productvthat previously cosr $99. But, you should be happy, for Yamaha said that is now much cheaper.

Yamaha say that you have to buy the editor only once, and you can then use it with every voice that you buy from Zero-G. Well, how does that differ from the past? With version 2 you got the software inluded on the package, but when you install a second voice package, it will be combined with the previously installed voice, which enable you to use all voices in the same editor. With the version 3, you can buy a second voice one day and install it and use both voices in the same editor. See how this is different? Ha! Well spotted. There are no sevond voices available, which means you can use only one voice in the editor! Clever hey?

Maybe one day a second voice will become available somthen you will be able to buy the second voice for $99 and install it and use it in the same editor. Much cheaper then?

So, how does the economics work? At least now Zero-G keeps the $99 they make for themselves and Yamaha keeps the $129 they make for themselves. Previously these two companies had to share the $99 you used to pay. Now I can see how this is much cheaper for Yamaha.

Not really much cheaper for the buyer, but why should they care about that?

 

Wednesday 10 April 2013

Final confrontation

From the title of this song it is not hard to figure out what this song is all about. This is an conversation between Hugo and Anthony. It is not exactly a leasurely friendly conversation.

In the previous scene, Pamela told Anthony what she wants his to do if he wants to marry her. Now, Hugo is simply reminding him of what the challenge is. If he accepts, Hugo will take off and leave them to be. If he forego the challenge, he must leave and never bother Pamela again.

The song follows a simple variation of the AABA song form (more like AAAB AABA B). Most of the song is a question and resonse type song. The two character alternates to sing a verse each at a time.

At the end, Anthony decides that what Pamela is asking of him does not suit his lifestyle. In his view, he will have to give up his freedom and be her slave. Finally, Hugo tells him to take off and never returns.

Track: Final confrontation

(Click song name to listen on soundcloud)

Album: The Exile, concept album recording

Words and music: Eric Swardt

 

HUGO

(1A)

ANTHONY

PAMELA LAID DOWN HER CHALLENGE FOR YOU

IF YOU STILL WISH TO HAVE THE HAND OF THIS WOMAN

YOU WILL KNOW WHAT TO DO

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR WAYS

TAKE ON THIS CHALLENGE

OR GET ON YOUR WAY

STOP YOUR DRINKING, GET A JOB

DO AS SHE SAYS AND STOP ACTING LIKE A SLOB

 

ANTHONY

(2A)

WRETCHED CREATURE

YOU HAVE NOT MUCH OF A GRAIN OF SENSE IN YOU

REGARD YOURSELF LUCKY TO BE ALLOWED IN HERE

AS FOR ALL THESE YEARS YOU ABANDONED YOUR FAMILY

WHILE FOR THOSE YEARS I PROVIDED FOR THEM

 

HUGO

(3A)

MARRY THIS WOMAN AND START TO BEHAVE

JUST LIKE A REAL HUSBAND TO HER OUGHT TO BEHAVE

MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL

SHOW HER THAT YOU REALLY LOVE HER

AND YOU DO NOT NEED HER TO BE YOUR SLAVE

 

ANTHONY

(4B)

WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO MAKE A CLAIM TO MY LIFE

DO NOT QUARREL WITH A MAN WHO IS HALF OF YOUR AGE

GET OUT OF THIS PLACE RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN

I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU ANY MORE

 

HUGO

(5A')

SO, ANTHONY

ARE YOU MEETING THE CHALLENGE LAID BEFORE YOU

IF SO I WILL LEAVE THIS PLACE

I WON'T STAND IN YOUR WAY

I'LL ACCEPT MY DEFEAT GRACEFULLY

AND YOU WILL NEVER HEAR FROM ME AGAIN

 

(6A)

MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL

IF YOU DON'T ACCEPT

LEAVE THIS PLACE WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY

TELL US WHAT SHALL IT BE

TELL US IF YOU ACCEPT

STATE YOUR INTENT WITH NO AMBIGUITY

 

ANTHONY

(7B)

I GRIEVE THAT I HAVE TO FORGO OF THIS DARE

WHAT IS ASKED OF ME NO MAN CAN ACCEPT

YOU ASK ME LEAVE MY OWN FREE WILL

I WILL GO NOW AND NEVER RETURN

 

ANTHONY

(8A)

PAMELA LAID DOWN HER CHALLENGE FOR ME

IF I STILL WISH TO HAVE THE HAND OF THIS WOMAN

YOU NOW KNOW WHAT TO DO

I CAN'T CHANGE MY WAYS

I WILL NOT TAKE THIS CHALLENGE

OR BE ON MY WAY

STOP MY DRINKING, GET A JOB

DO AS SHE SAYS TAKE ORDERS OR BE A SLAVE

 

HUGO

(9B)

I SAY THAT YOU HAVE TO FORGO OF THIS DARE

WHAT IS ASKED OF YOU YOU DO NOT ACCEPT

YOU ASK YOU TO LEAVE YOUR EVIL WAYS

YOU MUST GO NOW AND NEVER RETURN

 

Saturday 6 April 2013

Ghost town - the radio mix

Remember the song Ghost town. Well, I thought it was a great song. But, not everybody thought so. I've sent it in for evaluation and guess what the comments was? They thought it is a great song, but it is too long....and the arrangements, sounded "unfinished", whatever that may mean.

So, here is the revised mix.

Ghost town the radio mix.

I did away with all the guitar and sax solos for starters. Then I did away with the second bridge. Two bridges are just too much. And then I did away with one verse and one chorus. What we have now is a song about two and a half minutes shorter than the original song, but still about four minutes long.

By doing away with the extra chorusses and the instrumental parts, the story and the message did not change at all. I thought that the sax solo especially did add to the atmosphere, but in the name of time constraints, that had to suffer.

Doing away with a verse takes a little bit away from the story. I had to decide which part of the story to cut down, so I took away the second last verse. The song still makes up a full story and makes sense from start to finish. Just a bit of storyline now simply does not get told. By doing away with the second bridge, I had to let the message suffer. In the first bridge, the singer realise the real meaning of it all. I can not take that away without loosing the whole meaning of the song. In the second bridge the singer resigns to her fate, knowing that her position is not that special and unique. Even though this is an important message, the song still works without it.

Listen to the two versions and let me know in the comments below if you think I did the song damage.

 

Wednesday 3 April 2013

When a song just does not work

I am not a big fan of song recipes. There is no magic formula that you can follow to guarantee a hit song. However, sometimes it is obvious that a song just does not work, but you can not put your finger on it. That is a good time to refer to those recipes and try to figure out what is wrong with the song.

Here is an example. This is a take-out from The exile concept album recordings. The song is Long long time.

Listening to the song, it is obvious that something is just not working in that song.

Gary Ewer has a nice checklist on his blog you can use to identify problems with a song. Let's try it out.

Before we go into the checklist, just a few comments. This checklist is clearly aimed at a verse-chorus-bridge song form. In this ormat, the chorus is often repeated. the bridge section is rarely repeated. Not all songs are written in this form and other forms very often work just as well. My song, Long long time uses the AABA song form in an extended form. If we look at the song closely we'll find a AAB AABA form. The melody of the B section in this song is repeated. The lyrics are not repeated at all as in a chorus. This song highlights one problem with the AABA format. As soon as the B section is repeated, it does the same job as a chorus in some way. As we go through Gary's checklist, this will become clear.

Let's go.

Melody

Gary: My melody shows good contour, with a distinctive shape.

Me: No. The melody for this song seems to wander aimlessly.

Gary: I can identify a moment in the verse that would serve as a climactic point for that melody.

Me: No. The highest point in the melody is the 3rd bar of the verse, and wander around for the rest of the song.

Gary: I can identify a moment in the chorus that would serve as a climactic point for the song.

Me: The song does not have an identifyable chorus. The B section does not have a clear climax, with the highest point in the melody on the 2nd note and the melody moving in a downwards contour from there on.

Gary: My verse melody works its way upward, and connects somewhat seamlessly to the chorus. (If it doesn't, it uses a pre-chorus do make the connection)

Me: No. It starts high and work its way down. The B section does basically the same.

Gary: My chorus melody resides a bit higher than the verse melody, and features the tonic (key) note more than in the verse.

Me: The B section is barely higher (average one note) higher than the A section. The chorus features the tonic only 2 times on strong beats and once more on a weak beat. The verse starts offmon the tonic and thereafter features the tonic on the highest note, where it is repeated. Overall this gives the tonic more importance in the A section than in the B section. Generally, the tonic note is not strong enough to give the song a definite feeling of which key it belongs to.

Gary: My bridge brings in a 3rd melody, accompanied by chords that include altered chords, or explores the opposite mode (i.e., major key songs move into the minor).

Me: In this sense, the B section is much more like a bridge than a chorus. It however introduce only a second melody, not a 3rd. This section seems to have an identity crisis.

Chords

Gary: I use more "strong" progressions in the chorus, with more interesting "fragile" progressions in the verse.

Me: No. The chord progression is:

  • A section: C,,Am,,F,,G,D.
  • B section: Em,G,Am,C,Dm,F,G Em,D C

The B section has a mch more fragile progression than the A section

Gary: I use more vocal harmonies in the chorus than I do in the verse.

Me: There are no vocal harmonies at all.

Gary: I start the bridge, or any other "miscellaneous" section of my song on a chord other than the tonic chord.

Me: Yes. The B section starts on Em. Only problem is that the B section tries to be both chorus and bridge.

Gary: The majority of progressions throughout the song feel like a complete musical journey, and any complex progressions eventually feel resolved by progressions in the chorus.

Me: the verse ends on a D. It needs to end on a C to give resolution. The B section ends on C, but the D leading up to the C avoids the C to sound like a resolution.

Lyrics

Gary: I use relatively plain, everyday language that connects with average people.

Me: Yes

Gary: Despite my use of plain language, I find opportunities to say or describe things, events, people, etc., with an occasionally clever turn of phrase.

Me: No. The whole song just keeps going in an almost conversational manner, becoming boring and uninteresting

Gary: I ensure that my verse lyrics primarily describe events, people and situations, while my chorus lyrics primarily describe reactions and emotions.

Me: No. There is no emotional conclusion at any point. It just keeps going on and on.

Gary: I try to find concise ways to say things, and avoid being unnecessarily wordy.

Me: Yes.

Miscellaneous:

 My song shows, even in a small degree, something innovative that sets it apart from other songs I've written, and other songs of the same genre that listeners would know.

 I've tried to incorporate something unique regarding instrumentation (fiddle, acoustic guitar, acoustic orchestral instrument, etc.).

 The song's intro is, even in just some small measure, interesting, and is likely to pull a listener into the rest of the song.

 I've varied the overall loudness of the song so that the basic dynamic level shows an interesting and compelling contour.

To save time and space, I will answer these 4 questions with one resounding NO. The arangement is generally borng.

In conclusion, this song scores 3 out of 18. No wonder the song sucks. No song have to score 100% in this checklist to work, but it takes no genius to figure out that such a low score is just not good enough.

 

Monday 1 April 2013

PDCA - So, how much have we done?

Remember our plan? Let's remind you. We had the problem with so much to do in so little time. Then we drew up the big plan.

 

First, let us remind you of the basic principles of planning: Plan, Do, Check, Action (PDCA). No plan (Plan) is worth anything if you do not do (Do) anything. After you have done something it is worth your while to check how you have done against the plan (Check), and then take corrective action (Action) if you are not achieving the plan.

 

We now got to the end of the month of March. So, what did we plan to do?

 

To summarize, we planned to have 3 songs written for Rock fable, of which we wanted 2 recorded with vocals. For The exile we planned to have 2 songs vocals recorded plus 2 songs back tracks recorded. For Wake not the dead we wanted 2 songs back tracks recorded. That is a total of 9 songs backtracks, of which wanted 4 vocals recorded.

 

What have we done?

 

For Rock fable we have 2 written, with backtracks recorded. no vocals.

 

For The exile we recorded 4 backtracks, no vocals.

 

For Wake not the dead we recorded 2 backtracks, no vocals.

 

Yup, that is a little bit behind schedule, is it not? Rock fable is behind with the writing of one song. For the rest, we achieved plan on the backtracks, but when it comes to vocals, we are sadly nowhere. That is 4 songs behind.

 

What is the problem? As we have discussed before, the problem is to find singers.

For Rock fable I have a singer, she is just not ready yet. I will see her tomorrow, maybe we can discuss it and work out some plan of action.

For The exile, I uploaded all the backtracks, with lyrics and scores to indaba, but no success yet. If we hired professional singers we probably would have been on schedule.

 

Now I will have to make some decisions. Throwing money at it might solve it, while, on the other hand, the problem may get solved if we work a little harder at it.

 

Fact is, let's admit, I have not worked hard enough at getting singers. Just uploading songs to indaba and hope for the best is just not going to cut it. My countermeasure must be to actively seek singers on indaba, network more, and invite more singers to my projects.

 

My strategy for April will be to invite at least one new singer to each project per week. Once I have built up some momentum, I can ask singers who participated in one song to contribute to the other projects too. This way I just might get at least something done.

If you are interested, or know somebody who would be, just contact me.

Hold thumbs and let's hope we make better progress next month.

And b.t.w. in the meanwhile I am spending much more time than what I planned for with Protea Stage Productions. That definitely contributed to my falling behind schedule, but the experience gained there is worth it, therefore I will continue spending time with them.