Strength to carry on

When you go through life, you have to find inspiration from many places. Sometimes that inspiration may come from other people. Sometimes that inspiration comes from a song. Sometimes that song may even be your own song,

Sometimes it may be all of the above.

This time, I found my inspiration from a song from my musical, The exile - Strength to carry on. (Listen to the song on the link to Soundcloud)

Thank you for my wonderful family, who are always there. This all would be nothing without you and your strength to help me carry on.

 

We don't know what the future will hold, but we'll give it a chance

Track: Give it a chance

Album: The Exile, the musical - out-takes

Here is a bonus track for the fans. It's an out-take from the Exile concept album recordings. It is the second to last song from the musical, called, Give it a chance.

Click the link above to give it a listen on Soundcloud.

I gave it a bit of a remix and re-orchestration. Hope you like it.

Vocals recorded by Studio Pros.

 

Talk about democracy - more story boarding

We talked about the concept album. Now we are looking at the concept design.

Since at least hundred years ago, it is fairly common for writers to make simple simple pencil drawings to illustrate ideas or stage designs and stage backdrops for each scene. It is up to the directors to take these drawings further and create those wonderful stage sets we see in musicals. As technology moved on, new ways has emerged to make it even easier for writers to bring their ideas across.

One of the very recent developments is the "animated drawings", which has taken youtube by storm, especially with educational videos. The video here by Minute Earth is an excelent example of how this technique can be used very effectively for science education.

This technology can also be used with great effect in theater. Here is my second video using this idea to illustrate a scene for the musical, The exile.

Talk about democracy, act 1, scene 2.

In this scene, Tyler returns home after an unsuccessful search for a job. At home, he is met by people celebrating freedom day. Tony, who enjoys the free beer on offer, challenges Tyler and complains in general about the lack of progress since the first democratic elections.

If you enjoy these videos, please subscirbe to my channel, like it or share it on youtube, twitter, or facebook.

Set designs and backdrops

This weekend promises to be very busy. Tomorrow will start off with Anne recording in my studio, before we will take the kids of the Aladdin cast to see the Wizard of Oz. This is a fantastic production, starring our own Michael Brownhill as the scarecrow.

For the set, Startimers uses a very clever idea. The backdrop is made up with a huge "book" that fills the whole stage back. During scene changes, the book's pages are simply flipped behind closed curtains. It is very quick and allows for a large number of different scenes, each with a different backdrop.

The day after tomorrow (Sunday) we are getting together at the warehouse to start planning the set for Aladdin. Aladdin will also require a fair number of different scenes, and we may consider the same idea. Alternatively, we may go for the more traditions idea of a large canvas backdrop.

Our previous production, Bottoms up, needed only one set for the whole play. All the scenes were played out inside a living room of a flat in downtown Liverpool. For that production, we designed a "box set". This means we've built the room onstage, complete with doors, cupboards and furniture. A box set allows for far more realistic scenery and more intricate details.

Below is a story board presentation of act 1, scene 1, from the musical, The exile, with the opening song, Freedom day. It shows my idea of the backdrop for this scene.

The exile will require a fair number of different backdrops for the different scenes. The idea of a book as backdrop, as used in the Wizard, may just work very well.

 

The concept album - selection of songs

Some people asked me "Why did you not put all the songs on the concept album, and how did you choose which ones to put on?"

Fair question.

My advice to anybody thinking about doing a concept album is to aim for recording all the songs from the musical for the concept album, and if I had to do it again, I will most likely do exactly that.

So, why did I not record all the songs for The exile concept album?

The most important reason to keep in mind is the cost. It cost money to record a song. There are a total of 27 songs in The exile. I included only 16 songs on the concept album. To do all 27 songs would have more than doubled the cost.

The next thing that I had to consider is that you can fit a maximum of 70 minutes of music on a CD. More realistically, it is wise to plan around 60 minutes of music. A whole musical usually takes about 90 to 120 minutes of music. To do them all would require a double CD. Once again, that about doubles the cost of printing the CDs.

Once I have decided to do only a partial recording, the next decision I had to make was - which songs to include or exclude from the concept album.

I listed all the songs, and then first decided which songs MUST be included. i had to choose which songs are the best songs. This is very subjective to choose the best songs. Everybody has their own favourites.

Next, I decided which songs I should leave out. This decision was based purely on cost. (After all, if a song had to be left out because I thought it was not good enough, I better had to rewrite the song to improve it!). The cost factor was related to the number of singers on a song. Each vocalist charged a session fee for a song. Does not matter if that vocalist do only a single line on the whole song, and some songs needed lots of singers, each doing only a single verse or single line. Those were the songs I left out. Those "company numbers", where a whole chorus of singers do a sing-along can get very expensive. Unfortunately, as musicals go, these company numbers are sometimes also the most important ones.

I know there would have been better ways to do this. Next time (if there is a next time) I can probably get more songs out of a singer withinin a single session with a bit of better planning.

Finally, I tried to select songs which, when listening through the album, would tell at least a complete story. I did not wanted to leave out any songs which would cause the story as a whole to be confusing.

 

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

 

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

 

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.

 

Time for you to go

Hugo is back. All formalities are now dealt with. Tyler made up with his mom. His mom made up with Hugo, and Hugo... Well Hugo now have to deal with the realities.

 

Tyler has already told Hugo about everything that was going on, and especially about his mother's business with Anthony.

 

Hugo now approaches Anthony to confront him. Anthony is however not going to disappear that easily.

 

HUGO

(1A)

ANTHONY, I KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON

IN THE YEARS WHEN I WAS NOT AROUND

I KNOW YOU TREATED THIS WOMAN LIKE YOUR SLAVE

AND I KNOW YOU THINK THAT YOU ARE JUST THE MAN

 

(2A)

BUT THIS IS ALL GONNA CHANGE TODAY

CAUSE I AM HERE NOW TO TAKE MY PLACE

I KNOW THAT I HAVE NOT ALWAYS BEEN AROUND

BUT THIS TIME I AM HERE TO STAY

 

(3B)

NOW IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO GO

YOU BETTER GO WHILE YOU STILL CAN

I WILL GIVE YOU ONLY ONE MORE CHANCE

TO LEAVE THIS PLACE ON YOUR OWN

 

(4A)

NOW IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO GO

YOU BETTER LEAVE THIS WOMAN ALONE

YOU BETTER LEAVE THIS HOUSE TODAY

NOW IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO GO

 

ANTHONY

(5C)

MY DEAR HUGO, YOU HAVE NO IDEA

WHAT HAS HAPPENED WHILE YOU WERE NOT HERE

I WAS THE ONE CARING FOR THIS GIRL

I WAS THE REAL MAN OF THE HOUSE

 

(6A)

WHAT A CHEEK OF YOU TO WALK IN HERE

THINKING YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO BOSS ME AROUND

YOU HAVE NEGLECTED YOUR DUTY AS THE ONE

AND NOW YOU SAY THAT YOU WANT ME GONE

 

(7B)

YOU MUST GO BACK TO WHERE YOU ARE FROM

YOU BETTER NOT COME BACK HERE AGAIN

YOU CAME HERE ONLY TO START A FIGHT

A FIGHT THAT YOU CAN NOT WIN

 

(8C)

IT IS NOT FOR YOU OR ME TO DECIDE

FOR THIS WOMAN MUST MAKE UP HER MIND

IF SHE SAYS THAT I SHOULD LEAVE THIS PLACE

ONLY THEN WILL I GO

When I needed you

In act 2, Hugo returned home with Tyler. When they arrived back at Pamela's home, Tyler explained to Pamela where he's been. Then Hugo entered.

After an awkward moment, Hugo and Pamela started talking about all the years since he left her. One most important piece of the puzzle had to finished now. Hugo wanted to know why Pamela lied to him. Why did she never tell him about their son?

After clearing up the most important details, Pamela tells Hugo that she missed him.

PAMELA

(1A)

WHEN I NEEDED YOU, YOU LEFT ME ALONE

YOU LEFT ME TO BRING UP A CHILD ON MY OWN

ALL THESE YEARS YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN AT HOME

WHEN I NEEDED YOU

 

HUGO

(2B)

PLEASE FORGIVE ME I WAS NOT ALL AT FAULT

I LEFT IN CIRCUMSTANCE BEYOND MY CONTROL

WHEN I LEFT THAT DAY YOU TOLD ME TO GO AWAY

WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME A CHILD'S ON THE WAY

 

PAMELA

(3C)

WHEN YOU LEFT YOU TOLD ME TO FORGET ABOUT YOU

HOW COULD I WITH YOUR CHILD TO REMIND ME?

EVERY DAY I WAS HOPING YOU WOULD WALK THROUGH THE DOOR

ALL THAT HOPE WAS JUST IN VAIN

 

HUGO

(4D)

I DID NOT KNOW. I WAS NOT TOLD

IF I KNEW I WOULD HAVE RETURNED TO YOU

YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME

 

PAMELA

(5D)

IF I SAID A WORD THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN OBSCURED

YOU WOULD HAVE STAYED AND LET YOUR DREAMS SLIP AWAY

IF I TOLD YOU

 

(6D)

ALL THROUGH THE YEARS YOU DISAPPEARED

WHEN THE TIDE HAS TURNED YOU SHOULD HAVE RETURNED

'CAUSE I NEEDED YOU

Where did you go

Tyler returns home, where his mother is waiting for him. He has much to tell her.

Pamela asks Tyler why he left without telling her where he went. She is just a normal mother, worried about the well-being of her son.

Tyler starts to tell Pamela everything he has done for the last weeks. He tells her how he and Melissa went to Melissa's father to find out if he could give them any news about Hugo's whereabouts. Unfortunately, her father could not help, but he at least send them in the right direction.

Tyler tells his mother they went to London, where they met Manual. He told her that Manual still had regular contact with Hugo, and gave them Hugo's address.

Tyler tells his mother how they visited Hugo in a little apartment at the university. He tells his mother how he met his father and how they talked for hours. A father who did not know about his son.

Pamela tries to explain. Tyler tells Pamela that she don't need to explain anything to him. There is somebody else who would like to hear her side of the story.

Before Pamela can say another word, Tyler calls somebody else into the room.

Hugo enters.

A feast to my eyes

Act 2. Scene1:

 

We have closed act 1 at the pivotal point in our story. Tyler went all the way to London to find his father. Even though Hugo dreams about his home country, he could not immediately agree to return with Tyler. However, after learning the truth, he recalls the promises he made. The next morning, he decided to return home.

That was where act one ended. In act two, we will follow him home and find out what happens.

Scene one opens where Hugo is wakes up the first morning in South Africa. As he walks around outside, he is surprised with how much has changed over the years.

Track: A feast to my eyes

(Click title to listen)

HUGO

(1A)

I WOKE UP ONCE MORE UPON MY LAND

I HAVE BEEN AWAY FAR TOO LONG

THIS IS THE PLACE WHERE I BELONG

THE MOST WONDERFUL SIGHTS ARE A FEAST TO MY EYES

 

(2A)

I REACH MY ARMS TO THE HEAVENS UP ABOVE

I GAZE UPON THE WIDE OPEN PLAINS

THE MOUNTAINS THAT REACH TO THE SKY

THESE MOST WONDERFUL SIGHTS ARE A FEAST TO MY EYES

 

ENSEMBLE

(3B)

WHAT IS THIS PLACE WHERE HE LANDED HIS FEET

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE THAT ARE WALKING DOWN THE STREET

THE PLACE HE LEFT BEHIND

LOOKED SO MUCH DIFFERENT AT THE TIME

WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE WALKING SIDE BY SIDE

 

HUGO

(4A)

I LEFT THIS PLACE IN A HASTE

BULLETS FLYING AT MY HEAD

NOW I HEAR THE SOUND OF CHILDREN PLAYING ROUND

THESE ARE THE MOST WONDERFUL SOUNDS TO MY EARS

 

ENSEMBLE

(5B)

I CAN SMELL THE CLEAN AIR ON THE BREEZE

AT NIGHT I CAN SEE THE STARS IN THE SKY

IN THE MORNING I CAN SEE ALL THE BIRDS IN THE TREES

THESE MOST WONDERFUL SIGHTS ARE A FEAST TO MY EYES

 

The big plan

Planning is an essential skill for anybody who wants to get something done. This can be anything from writing a song, or recording a whole album, or even putting up a live show. Every musician can benefit his or her carreer greatly by following this kind of process. It is simple and takes little extra time, but saves a lot of time later on.

If you have been following the previous posts on this blog, you will remember how I embarked on this exercise of planning. First I identified the problem. Then I deided on a mission, and then I broke the problem down into detail tasks. Today, I will show you how I visualized my plan on a simple spreadsheet.

Spreadsheets are handy for this kind of task, as most people have Excel already on their computers, or can download many alternatives for free.

To visualize the plan, I start by listing all the songs that I need to do more work on for each project. Then I added a column named YTD, meaning Year To Date. Here I make a note for everything that is already done on each song. For reference, my legend is shown at the bottom of the spreadsheet, i.e. W for words, M for melody, B for backtracks and V for vocals.

In the first column under YTD, I added a WM down for each song that the words and melody is written. A WMB means that the words, melody and backtrack is done. And an added V would mean the vocals are recorded as well. I changed the color of all the cells with work finished to green. Green means good.

Now, I add more columns; one extra column for each week. Next I start to plan time slots for every task. Let's look at an example.

First song listed under The exile is Singing comes cheap. Under the YTD column I have WM, meaning the words and melody is written, and I marked it green. Every song needs to have words, melody, backtracks and vocals, i.e. I still need to plan backtracks and vocals for this song. I added a B under the next column with a heading of 13/3/10. This means I have to finish the backtracks (B) before 2013, March, the 10th. Next I added the V under the next column, meaning then that I want to finish the vocals by March the 17th.

Then I moved on to the next song and plan a time slot for all the Bs and Vs, and so on. When I get to the songs where nothing is done yet, I added slots for the words and music in one week (WM). Preferably we should not put the B and V in the same week, to give the vocalists more time to record the tracks.

I estmate that each task will take about 5 hours to complete. In a normal week, where I work a normal 40 hour week for my day job, I can fit in another 20 hours at nights to work on this project. That means I must plan such that I do not have more than 4 tasks in the same week's column. When planning time slots, always start with projects where the time slots are dependant on other commitments. I started with this plan around the Rock fable project, as that also involve some collaborations with other people.

After finishing the whole grid, I ended up with the possibility of 20 songs that will be finished and recorded by June 16th. That will be pretty good going, and most likely a bit optimistic. That is more songs than most artists or bands record in two years, and they do it full-time. Ambitious, but let's give it a shot.

So, we can summarize by saying our objective is to record 20 songs by the middle of this year.

As we go along, we may sometimes fall behind in our plan, or at other times, we may get ahead. We will keep on updating our schedule every week by marking things in red when we fall behind, or in green as we finish things off.

Keep on watching this blog to see how I progress.

 

Finding Nemo to sing

Now that we kickstarted our project to record the rest of The exile somgs and got it back on track, we have to face the problems. The biggest problem in this project will be to find enough vocalists to sing our songs.

For The exile, the concept album recording, I chose specific vocalists based on some restrictions, e.g. I hade to make sure that I have one vocalist per character and that vocalist had to sing all the tracks where that character was required. I also choose the timber and the sound of each voice carefully to it the written vocal ranges and to ensure that the characters for Tyler and Melissa sound younger than the other characters.

For the rest of this project, I will not restrict myself in the same ways. The only requirements are that the vocalist must preferably be a a specific gender and the vocalist can do the required voice range. I will not try to match voices to characters. This approach may sound strange for a musical, but the idea is not to end up with a cast recording, but rather something that will sound like a compilation or concert recording.

There are not many sources for finding vocalists. First possible source is friends. That means I must have friends, or at least ones that can sing. Failing that, I can try to make friends. That is a long and hard process, and assumed that I frequent the places to find them and the ability to befriend them. Failing those avenues, I can hire local musicians. For the concept album recording, that was also not so easy. It is a slow process and they charge standard union session fees. Each vocalist wants to be paid a session fee for rehearsing and recording the song. Recording of chorus lines or backup vocals require the same, multiplied by at least 3 musicians. I will also have to be present at all sessions, requiring me to take leave from work. All that then need to happen in a studio that cranks up studio time. All and all, it works out to about R10,000 per song (about $1,00), plus my own time and cost of leave (yes, we buy our leave).

For the concept album recording I opted for Studio Pros. Each vocalist now charged $150, and that includes a lead vocal and one backing vocal track. That has brought the costs down to about $300, or R3,000 per song. Studio Pros includes all studio time and everything was mixed in my home studio. That is still pretty expensive going at about R30,000, or $3,000 fot the whole project, but for a final album that can be sold, that is a possibility we may wish to keep in mind. Another advantage of this route is the time saving. Turnaround times for Studio Pros are usually a few days. Even a large project like the concept album recording was finished within three weeks. And best of all, it needs very little time from my side to revord the vocals after I upload the files.

However, we first want to see if we can get away for free. There only a few places you can get people who are happy to sing for free, and most of them I have not found yet. The one place I have used before is Indaba music. I had a huge successful recording of Ghost town there. So, I will try Indaba again.

Progress is sure to be slower than what I planned for, as I will rely on volunteers only, but let's give it a chance and review our strategy as we go along.

 

Building sets for Bottom up

This week was a very busy week all round.

To kick start the execution of the plan we started to work on last week, I spend my Monday and Tuesday evenings recording back tracks for a song, Singing comes cheap, from The exile. The tracks was uploaded to Indaba, but I have not yet started searching for singers.

Then there was the meeting with Anne on Wednesday. She loved the song I wrote so much that she promoted me from songwriter to producer X 3. I have to decide if I take the job(s) of producer, but it does sound exiting. That is producing the demo CD, which will be used to get sponsorships exited, then produce the album and then the show. We've spend most of the evening talking about stories for songs to write and the overall vision of the show and album. We might have been a bit over exited for a first production meeting, but we discussed target listeners markets, venue sizes and stage designs. A rough date for the first recording has been decided as well.

There is no way that I can produce a show while I'm holding down a full time job, so I will have to do some serious planning, including planning my leave around the show.

Next we went to Cape Town for the dealers awards. This is suppose to be the annual celebrations day, but whenever a dealer sees me, they read "complaints department" written on my forehead.

The dealers at my table did not disappoint. At least, the whole evening was not a drag. The entertainment from Elvis Blue and his team was as good as it can get.

Back home on Saturday. I had some time Saturday night to work on my song writing, by slowing the song for Ann down from 160 bpm to 140 bpm, and transpose it down from soprano range to alto range. As any songwriter knows, you can not simply transpose a song few semitones and forget about it, so I still have a few notes to work around.

Sunday morning was spend at the Protea Stage Productions warehouse, putting a set together for the show, Bottom up.

It may not look much like the final stage set yet, but after a few adjustments and paint brushes, it will look great.. I have been honored to observe professionals in action. These guys have dome it before, and know what to do as efficient and cost effective as possible.

 

I'm going home

Today I wish to interupt our discussions around the busness side of things and return to our story. Last week we left our story where Hugo's life has been thrown upside down. For all the years he believed that all his ties back to South Africa has been broken. There was no reasn for him to return. Now for the first time, he learns that he has a son back ithere. As he went to bed, he thinks about what this means. In his dreams he remembers the promises that he made. Promises that he did not keep.

The next mornng, when he wakes up, he has made up his mind. He will go back to talk to Pamela again.he buys a ticket and packs his bags.

In this song he is ready to leave. This is his goodbye song.

Track: I'm going home

Album: The Exile, concept album recordingArtist: Eric Swardt

(1a)

Tyler, my dear son

I thank you for taking me home again

Even though this is something I wanted

but I would never have been able to do

but now I'm going home after all

(2a)

Manual my old friend

so I say farewell to you one more time

so many years and so many thingshave we gone through

and so many things that we have done

but now I'm going home after all

(3b)

While you were aboard to claim the reward

I was a fool who never played the rule

now it is my turn to claim what I have earned

and go back where I belong

(4a)

Goodbye my dear

You were a true friend for all these years

Please do not cry

Have a last drink with me

Wish me joy until eternity'

cause now i'm going home to be free

(5a')

I bid you fare thee well

I wish that one day you will be happy again

and one day you will find

someone so kind who will make you happy again

Someone who deserves someone like you

------------------------------------------------------

 

Anybody remembers that epic scene from Rocky Horror picture show when Frank 'n Furter says goodbye?

 

 

 

Planning to get more done

Today we will start to do some serious planning. If you remember, we started this all when I realized that I have a problem. My problem is that I have too much to do and not getting anything done. Having too much to do and not finishng anything is just another form of procrastination. This is a very typical problem that millions of people all over the world suffer from. Lucky for me, there is a solution. It is called planning.

Before I draw up my plan of action, I have to establish the extend of what I have to plan for. Let's call this my scope. I start to define the scope first by giving it a mission statement. This is simply putting into words what I want to accomplish; into a single generic sentence.

So, what is my mission? I want to write songs and I want to record them. To be more specific, I want to write and record songs for the musical shows I am working on. Now, that sounds like a mission to me. Let me refine that into some generic words that I can put up on a signboard.

My mission is to write songs and make recordings of the songs from the musical shows I write.

Let's read that again. Not bad. Now we can start to get creative.

Now that I know what I am doing, I can start to break that down further into more detail. I am talking about musical shows I write. I have a long list of those, in various states of completion. Let's look at that list again:

1) The exile

One concept album with 16 songs dne. Nine more songs written (words and melody) to be recorded.

2) Wake not the dead

One song recorded. Three sng, words and melodies written and needs to be recorded. Nineteen more needs words, melodies, and recordings.

3) The nightingale

One song recorded. Five more, words and melodies are written and needs recordings. Twenty six more needs words, melodies, and recordings.

4) Ghost town

One song recorded. One more with words and melody. Total extend unknown.

5) Christification (bet you did not know about that one?)

Book and story in progress, but no songs yet.

6) Denise (this is just single songs)

Two songs submitted.

7) Rock fable

One song with words and melodies written. Backtracks recorded. Needs vocals. Many more to go.

 

I will leave the other activities like Protea Stage Productions off this list for now. Rock fable includes full production responsibilities (album and stage show). Butbfor the purposemof this excercize, I will listbonly the initial songs required for the promo.

Next, let's see what work needs to be done for each song. Every song needs lyrcs (or words) and a melody. Then we need to record backing tracks (guitars, drums, piano, etc.) and then we will submit it for a vocalist to do his or her job. Often it needs second lead vocals and backing vocals as well. After vocals are recorded, we spend some time on mixing it together and then upload it for general public consumption.

So many works in progress, and so much work that needs to be done on each song. We will have to prioritize. After reviewng the list, I decided to prioritized Rock fable, The exile and Wake not the dead at the top of the list. We can get quickest results with them. If we see how much we can get done on these few, and then tackle the others.

The next step is to list all the work that needs to be done. For this I will use a simple spreadsheet like the one shown here. A spreadsheet is easy to use and a very effective tool. In the next blog post I will explain my spreadsheet in detail.

 

 

 

Memories long forgotten

Today we look at a "dream sequence" song. (A name I just made up).

Hugo is confused. What he believed for so many years now suddenly seems to have been a lie. Many of his actions were motivated by this lie.

That night, when he went to bed, he did not sleep very well. With all these thoughts milling through his mind, he eventually fell asleep. His dreams took him back all the years before he left South Africa.

He dreamed about Pamela. He dreamed about the times they were together and the promises he made.

Track: Memories long forgotten

(Click title to listen)

Album: The Exile, concept album recording

Artist: Eric Swardt

Hugo

(1a)

The two of us will be together

and my love for you will be forever

There will be no more tears

and in your heart will be no more fears

I'll be by your side forever

I won't leave you, no never

Please you do not have to fear

for wherever you are, I will be near

Pamela

(2a)

Tell me again before you go away

I just wanted to hear you say

You will be back again

and tell me you will never make me cry

Some times we will have to be apart

I know that you are here in my heart

I know you will be back again

Where ever I am you will be near

Hugo

I promise you

Pamela

Promise me

Hugo

I will be back by your side

Pamela

Promise me you will be back again

Hugo

I promise you that I will never leave you alone

Pamela

Promise me

Hugo

You won't have to face this world alone

Pamela

Promise me you will be back

Let these fears that bring me tears

melt away and dissapear

Hugo

Forever through bad weather

we will always stay together

Pamela

Please remember what you said

Don't forget the promise that you made

Soon all promises made

are just memories long forgotten

Please stay by my side forever

and don't leave me, no never

I know I do not have to fear

Wherever I am, you will be near

 

So much to do in so little time

For somebody who is doing this while holding a pretty busy daytime job, I have far too many projects in progress.

First there is The exile. This is my main project which we are now in the process of pitching to producers.

Next there is Ghost town, a rock concert musical in development.

Then I have Wake not the dead, the horror musical. This is a musical propper, and if all goes well, I will record the songs by sometimes middel of this year.

Last on the list of musicals is A story of a nightingale. Many of the songs are written.

For all of these musicals, at least one, and sometimes many, demo songs are recorded.

Next in progress, on the production side is the farce, Bottoms up, by the Protea Stage Productions. My involvement here is more on the hand-of-all-trades and whatever-I-can-find-to-do-to-look-like-I-am-helping nature. The show will go on stage in May 2013. Later this year, around October, we will put a musical up, so watch this space. I will be much more involved in that production.

On the songwriting side, I am pitching songs for 2 projects. One I am especially keen for. This will probably turn into a 50's /Jim Steinman style rock show. The other project is pure adapting of some of my songs for a singer who plan to record an album this year.

So, if all these projects just keep moving forward and if my work gets accepted, then this year will be a very busy year. Keep watching this space.

 

A prisoner of your spell

While Tyler and his father catch up on years lost, Melissa and Cathy is talking in another room. Cathy is not somebody who gives anybody much time to explain anything. If Melissa sounds like she is getting tired of repeating herself, it is for good reason.

Melissa pleads with Cathy to let Hugo return to South Africa. Cathy does not give in that easilly, but eventually concedes that it is Hugo's choice, and if he wants to go, she will not stand in his way.

In Talk about democracy we discussed the conflict and dialogue song format. Here we have yet another example of a dialogue song. Is essence, the dialogue song is a form of a duet. This simply means 2 persons are singing in the song. Duets can come in many forms, most comonly, where one person sing one part and another person sings a different part, but not at the same time, i.e. taking turns.

Musicals have many examples of different forms of duets, e.g. where the persons sing different lines, but at the same time. That is a technique liberally employed by Schonberg in the musical Les Miserable. A third and much more common form of duet is where the two persons sing at the same time, but they sing basically the same words, but different notes. This is simply refered to as harmonizing.

 

Track: A prisoner of your spell

(Click song name to listen on soundloud)

Album: The Exile, concept album recording

Artist: Eric Swardt

 

Melissa

(1a)

You ask me why I am here today

I will tell you once and once more again

Why do you think I'd come all the way

if I had nothing of import to say

 

(2a)

I can't bear to see the suffering man

denied the freedom of his land

Freedom for which he dedicated is life

and for which he abandoned a wife

 

(3b)

You know he is suffering the cruelest pain

while you're keeping him in this living hell

He is confined by an unbreakable chain

He's a prisoner of your spell

 

Cathy

(4a)

You ought to be sorry and ashamed

It is out of jealousy that you blamed

A woman who take a fancy to another man

and live with him as she can

 

Melissa

(5c)

It is not fair

that he shall die here

Far from his home, far from his child

Please release him from your spell

 

Cathy

(6a)

And now you put me to blame

because I love him unashamed

I cared for him and his tears I dried

when there was no one by his side

 

Melissa

(7b)

Please relieve his suffering of cruelest pain

Why are you keeping him in this living hell

I ask of you to release this unbreakable chain

release this prisoner from your spell

 

Cathy

(8c)

It is not fair

I can not fight my fate

If he insist he wants to go

I'll release him from my spell

Check out Peter Gabriel's Don't give up, which is one of my favorite conversation songs employing this same song format.