Remolding Older Tunes

SAYING OF THE DAY:

Love is like a puzzle. When you’re in love, all the pieces fit but when your heart gets broken, it takes a while to get everything back together.
- Author Unknown

BLOG OF THE DAY:

Remolding Older Tunes

As a musician, I have recently been called upon to
"Re-tool" some oldies..."update them" so to speak
Despite the fact that many times, I like the original
recording or arrangement, and feel it shouldnt be tampered with,
sometimes people want me to help them do a "alternate concept"

on them..After all, to put it out again, ya have to do a
"different" version"

My brother (whom is a singer and guitar player) and I are faced
with such a challenge to come, as we are going to
try and "re-tool" an old surf vocal by the Sunrays..A Beach
Boy type surf group from 1966 who sang..
The tune is called "You DOn't Phase me" and is a brilliant
tune, musically, far ahead of its time with the chord changes...
The words are more adolescant, and not as great as the music, but hey!
(Composer: Hial King)Unfortuneatly, it is not a song remembered
today, but that kind of works to our advantage.

But it poses a problem, as the very life of it is rooted in
the surf sound, including the rhythms and high Beach Boy type
vocals that were popular back in the day...
As I look at the tune, the first thing I have to do, is try and
"pitch it" in a key wich wont turn the singer into an instant Vienna Choir boy!lol
Then after that, the "Feel" of the song needs to be re-interpeted for
a more modern rendition...this is the most difficult part...
The rhythm track, feeaturing the guitars, and bass, etc..
Then after that, we conceptualize how the "new" vocals will be, including what harmonies to use..and lastly
it falls upon me to "orchestrate the track with synthisied
strings , woodwinds, and horns...
We had a project recently whereby we re-recorded a demo that
was never released commercially during its time, even tho I
recorded it with its composer back in 1973..
I am happy to say it turned out real well, and you can hear that recording
eventually on my brothers website. DavesArtistry.com
There have been times when i have re-arranged stuff for myself
that didnt work out, or even tunes I wrote from scratch that
that I ended up junking...such is the life of a composer/arranger.
My brother is an excellent musician, so working with him is a
pleasure, and it is always nice to bounce ideas back and forth
with others...
Stay tuned for the outcome of this one!

Steveo

Please visit my "sister" blogs:

DailySteveo

www.steveowenmobileblogger232.blogspot.com

Miimizan

http://zitbagblog.blogspot.com