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Thanks Tony for the great review of Milepost 681. Much appriciated
You are welcome. And thank you, sir, for recent stars!!
Tony, Glad you liked "Mostly Blue". Wrote that during my SongU days. They didn't know what to do with it. Couldn't place it in their "what genre is this?" list. At that time they were very much country oriented and I wasn't. They've really grown and a great place to get critiques and advice on all aspects of the music biz... good guys. I'd recommend them to anyone who wants to improve their songwriting chops. Bill
I've kinda surrendered on the songwriting front, for now anyway. A real challenge. Sounds like you have a leg up on that, to say the least. Is that SongU.com? I should check out.
Yeah, SongU.com. Haven't visited that site in a while but hear good things about it. I think they have trial offers, some are free.
Tony, Thanks for the 5's and PL add for "Find Yourself". Trying to stick to the music and my garden during these very strange times... Bill
Well deserved... Talking about the '50s. I am a tad younger than you, but I do have recollections as early as late '56 onward. The one tune that typifies that time, at least the way I recall it, is the instrumental "Theme from a summer place" / Percy Faith & Orch. Remember that on radio in '59, always peaces me out. - T
"I Only Have Eyes For You" by the Flamingos...1959. Still gets to me. I was 12/13 and girls had entered the picture.
Tony, Thanks for the 5's for "Speed of Life". One of my wife's favorites. And...."Winter of '21-'22" is damn cool! Don't know how many different layers it took to create it but it all works. Hope you're planning on putting this out to some of the opportunities on bjam. I'm in the process of reviving some old Jazz stuff from the Paleolithic period of my compositional journey. It's been interesting so far... Best, Bill
Hi, Bill! Your stuff always interests me, always instructive. Your words very good indeed. Thanks for the stars for Winter '21-'22. Couldn't think of a title, so I just kinda date stamped it. Took me a good 3 months or so to get this together working on it nearly every day, and a tweak or two surely on the horizon. -- Back to a blank drawing board. :-\ Hope you and yours are well! Tony
We're good, hope the same for you. I noticed you used one of the pro reviewers and was wondering if you felt it was worth the pazzoozzas. I've been considering it but $100 bucks is a bit steep for me. Not sure I have anything that would be worthy of the effort. Just received a bunch of nice refusals from some pitches...'good production but not what we're looking for at this time'. I shall continue to chase the elusive venue. Bill
I have had one song considered for commerce but ultimately not used. Will certainly consider other pitches that may suit my work. -- I have paid for two pro reviews, two different songs. In each case I sought a nice blurb suitable for promotion. Only my Blue Chalkin" got something suited to that purpose. -- Trying to spend my money wisely for sure.
Thanks for the stars for Thomas, much appreciated Tony.
Hi Tony, Thanks for the review of Thomas, very kind. Good luck with your projects. Cheers, Bob
Tony, Appreciate your comments on 'Mean Dreams". When I originally wrote it we were in the middle of the legal bs, before the final fall. I'm pretty sure I know how to do the tune right, just not sure I want to. Sent the lyrics to some pros and they were on board, got some very positive feedback. Think I'll put this on the shelf for awhile... Bill
Thanks for the nice review of our version of You're All I Need to Get By. Yes, it's a cover of an R&B hit. Marvin Gaye - https://youtu.be/Dza91W2DLWE Aretha - https://youtu.be/Jx7M3g-9JEY
Tony, listening to your tune, "Ashes", sounds like the intro music to that 1983 Film "Blade Runner", KILLER DUDE!! 5 Stars & Likes!! Blade Runner Intro film clip......enjoy and hear the musical similarities......My favorite all time movie!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1j XmJmmj3o The Corey's............
Corey's, hey Thanks! -- sadly, I'd have to do significant recreation of this for a broadcast quality, is mp3 only. I have MIDI file, but gear that it pushed is long gone. Maybe I should try...
So Tony, can I hire you as my publicity wordsmith? Glad you liked "Maggie's Bright". I originally started to write about my Maglite as a way to get out of a writing slump...then this happened. Strange roads at times... Bill
You have a beat poet kind of thing going on. Very cool. -- I've been doing some reviews to earn credits, not using for now, accumulating them, rather focusing on coming up with new material. -- Yeah, I like fooling around with words. I'm a wannabe writer of sorts. Would like to leave something before I die, maybe a collection of speculative essays about whatever. - Tony
Wait, gotta find my beret and my fluffy knit sweater...back in high school we would play folk gigs at coffee houses which featured said poets. It was always interesting...
Thanks for the review of Buttered Toast, much appreciated.
Tony, I really appreciate your comments on "Turtle Neck". Your prose are unique and refreshing, not he usual fare. It was a fun tune to write. Bill
Maybe you can explain to me what the heck I was talking about. Ha! -- Yet another thought provoking song, Bill.
When my wife 1st heard the tune she asked me who this mysterious woman was...I deftly produced a picture from the "good old days" of her in a turtle neck sweater...a brilliant save on my part.
Laughing out loud here!
As in Jazz...improvise.
Hi Tony--thanks for your support on "I See You (in my dreams)". I appreciate it!
You have an M.O. that is working for you, imho. Keep on keepin' on! - T.
Welcome to BroadJam! Solid tune. Wishing you all the best!
Tony, Really appreciate the 5's for "Before My Fall" and "Mostly Blue". "Before" actually made the finals on Songdoor a couple years ago. Wrote "Mostly Blue" many years ago for a songwriting class that just couldn't figure out how to categorize my stuff. I like that. Bill
How to categorize stuff... What a pain. Sometimes I start out thinking ' this is gonna fit in category xyz', seldom works out that way. Perhaps a characteristic of genuine originality? Like to think so. :)
It is a Pain. Just got a note from a contest provider saying "...looking forward to your incredibly iconoclastic creations...". I'll take that as a compliment. Just sent them a new tune about the current sociopolitical situation guaranteed to piss-off at least 50% of the judges. Don' think I'll post it on Bjam, don't need the grief. :)
Tony, Guess you liked "Northern Climes". Not exactly a Jazz number. People have suggested to write what you know about...gettin' older is something I definitely can relate to. Thanks for the 5's. On another note, some new Bjam guys are ripping my Jazz stuff to ribbons. Can't please everyone. Finally, did your strat come with a maple neck? Bill
I thought your lyrics were great, a moving sentimentality (in best sense of that word). I love jazz of course, but I respect and can sincerely appreciate a wide range of musical artistry. I confess to a fascination with certain classic pop and rock things perhaps stemming from the Beatles explosion here in '64. -- I believe it is a maple neck, a mid '80s ax. I 'm not real saavy about these kind of things. It is a good guitar although there are undoubtedly better ones. Perhaps someday.
Before my fall, and Kind of blue. A couple more very nice tunes. -- Just a thought here... I've been told I'm a pretty good crooner, Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Bobby Darin.... Love those styles. If you dare, throw a track at me. I do charge, tho. Lotta zeros. $0,000,000.00. If you don't like it it's gone no problem. -- I can forward you a demo.
Hi Tony--Congrats on your first place win for "Chanson Sans Paroles"! Well deserved.
Thank you, Jeana. Endeavouring to prove to myself that this was not a one-off, fluke type thing. Best to you always! - T.
Tony...thanks for the nice reviews of my tunes! I've been listening to some of yours...quite the talented one! rock on! Martie Echito
Hi Tony. I am thanking you for passing by and rating so well the theme of Annie. I have to catch up on what's new with my connections. A bit busy these times. Meanwhile, take care. Any collabs in sight for you?
An extremely moving bit of work, T. --- I would find a request to collaborate from many folks in this environment a serious honor and a lot of fun to boot, can never rule it out. -- I am a vocalist with some ability - if I may presume to say so. Not well represented here, but a collaboration in that department would thrill me. Rock/pop/jazz/crooner styles are my strongest suits. -- When you have a moment check out my latest instrumental Sticky Tape. Absolutely no rush tho, I can be, actually am, very busy myself. -- Happy Halloween, sir! - T.
Sticky Tape is very interesting, how you melted the synth lead sounds in the jazz genre. It is a smart fusion. I also really enjoyed the dramatic atmosphere of Blue Skies ! Well done (ending dum dum dum... love them !)
Thank you for taking the trouble to listen and the comments, Sir! -- I'm an obsessive tweaker, micromanager, ever finding things to improve. I'll bet you are no different. -- In addition to the obvious jazz influence in your work, you have that strong classical disposition as well, which I love and envy. I have no formal knowledge or training in that department, but some time ago I started creating a string quartet. I visit it periodically, definitely a challenge. Perhaps one day it will see daylight.
Thank you for the stars, Thierry. I appreciate the encouragement, always and ever needed.
Hey Tony, saw your New Photo......in your picture, you look like a very Intellectual Artist...deep into the feel of your latest composition!! Heavy Dude! Say what "Key" is that song your singing in?? One more pertinent query......What's the Flag and Danish mug all about?? Looks pretty cool!! Stay Safe.... The Corey's..............
The key of Q. Actually, I very rarely wear a tie. I'm a t shirt and jeans with holes guy.
That stuff is Dutch. I was born in Rotterdam, came here when very young. Been boning up on the language.
Tony, I just had a feeling you were a foreigner in your younger life!! So, would that cup or bowl be a piece of Delft ?? I visited Rotterdam in the late 60's with my family on one of those Bus tours, the Gattabouts, 35 countries in 21 days....Holy Crap!! But we saw some great stuff, my Mother did her homework! While the other travelers were visiting Delft & Jewelry factories, we were going to museums seeing great works of Art, that you see in Film and in books!! Something I will ever forget!! Thanks for that detailed reply!! Oh..........and what Key is "Q"?? Is it similar to Fronk Minor Sharp?? That Key is pretty popular out here on the West Coast, used by Old Hippies!! Toodles, Stay Safe & wear a Mask for a few more weeks!! Art Corey............
Hey, I'm tryin' ta sleep here!! Ha, ha! Yeah, my family is from Delft. Luv that town. More in the morning... [sound of snoring].
Your experience very interesting. Yeah, Delft ware. Got a ton of it here, my girlfriend and I dig that stuff. -- I have been back to Holland twice. in '66 and 2004. Am retired now and want very much to go back, but I will wait a while longer ;-/ ---- Stay safe!
So Tony, what did you do for work before retirement?? I worked in the Grocery Business most all my life!! What a boring industry, with the exception of the Humans I ran into as customers! Management are basically Monkey's in Top Hats!! Stay Safe Sir!! The Corey's...................
Been a grocery store clerk (2 weeks, fired for not shaving), dishwasher, a lifeguard, swimming instructor, dept. store sales clerk, jr hs hall monitor, bank teller, a security guard ... and finally got this part time gig at local university library (see profile). Last seven years there were full time, thank goodness, because I needed that for decent pension. Library certainly interesting, but I did not love the work. -- and oh yeah, lots of band gigs. Still play when safe to do so.
Tony, this is Quite a Trippy tune Sir! Are you familiar with the T.V. Series, "Mystery Science Theater 3 K"?? The theme music to show is really unique and your composition has a Pop/Sci-fi sound..... 5 Stars & Likes! Great Job...I love the creativity to your music!!! Theme Song to Series...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Awd ztgFFq1I Stay Safe.......... The Corey's...........
AARGH...! Vid not available for some reason... Aahh... found it, thanks for the share. Yeah, I am hostage to all them far out sounds, at least for a moment. -- Hey Corey's! Thanks once again for your kind consideration of, and 5 stars for, my latest work. What next? Daunting always... Take care, and stay safe on your end as well! - Tony
Tony, if you like weird Comedy, you need to watch some Mystery Science Theater 3K.....it's totally off the wall!! They watch old Bad Sci-fi movies and add their own dialog!! You need to be a little opened minded with the humor factor!! Just give it a try, the stuff will grow on you!! Stay Safe......... Art Corey..........
Humor? What the heck is that? Ha! -- Yeah, perhaps I can be a mite fond of entertaining the dark side in my stuff. -- Come to think of it, I have seen bits of that series but it has been a while.....
Thank you for reviewing Scratch's due. Perhaps you would find my Sticky Tape has a more pleasing design? -- Best to you. - Tony
Great work Tony. All the best, Álvaro Guevara y Vázquez.
Truly meaningful from you, sir. Thank you.
MGB, thank you indeed for your review of and encouraging words about Scratch's Due. I sincerely appreciate it. -- Tony
Sincere thankz for review of Scratch's due. I can apprreciate that not everyone would be enamored of this kind of work. All the best! -Tony
Hi Tony. Many thanks for the 5* for 'Goodbye to Paradise.' Much appreciated. David.
Thanks for the two reviews, 'A TV Game Show Theme' and 'The Wagon Train' much appreciated.
Hi Tony. Thank you very much for your review of 'Believe'. I really appreciate your comments. David.
Thank you so much for your kind review of our song Pirates. We noticed you're from PA, we're on the west shore of Harrisburg. We really enjoyed your songs Blue Chalkin' and Time and Tide. Great stuff! We loved it. Thanks again stay in touch, Rusty and Spark (Signal 30)
Only recently here in PA. Originally from Binghamton area a few miles NE of here. Was looking for a warmer winter, Ha! We will stay in touch, and Thanks indeed for the listens and kind words! - Tony
Tony, Thanks for the listen and comments on "Life With Blurred Vision". It was one of those tunes that just happened during a free afternoon and a new (1998 ) keyboard workstation. Some people have commented that it's a strange tune but compared to some other stuff I've written it seems pretty straight forward to me. You mentioned earlier that you were working on some new stuff, how's it progressing? Bill
Yeah, a couple days ago I posted a new track I call Paca Loko -- Esperanto for A peaceful Place. A decades old guitar idea fronted by a more recent synth riff. Simple in a way, but of course I couldn't help going to town on it. Perhaps you can give it a listen. -- I also have a couple more nearly 'straight ahead' type things I started, hope to complete one at some point. I also have an EDM thing in the works. -- I also cherish a dream of writing and singing an awesome classic rock style tune. Looking for that killer idea, but ain't quite found it yet. -- I love In The Beginning. Thanks for the note, Bill! - Tony
Tony, Paca Loko is a gem. 5's and a playlist add. I love the layering, the synth stuff that weaves in and out. Won't be surprised when someone picks this up ( for a fee ) and uses it under a contemplative video scene. Glad you liked In The Beginning. Wrote it for my wife many moons ago. The lyrics came very quickly which is not generally the case. There's a tune I wrote as a contemporary classical guitar piece back in the "80's that I recorded on my Johnny Smith as the the recording on my classical guitar just didn't sound right to me. People here seem to think it's Jazz, I'd be curious to hear what you think...the tune is called Olympic...(not the best performance but the only recording I have). Bill
I will surely check Olympic out shortly, Bill. Thanks for liking, as well as the stars for, Paca Loko. Yeah, maybe you are right, maybe I could sell it. I am likely not done tweaking it yet though, maybe could use a bit more clarity here and there, a few other possible improvements -- me thinks anyway. -- I always try to isolate the weakest link in the chain that constitutes a work of mine (no doubt that can elude me sometimes, ha!), and to try and fix that. -- I always struggle with presenting a track with a strong signal to match the work of other artists I hear. Still have much to learn about compression, limiting, eq and such. -- Man, I wish I had a real jazz guitar, it's been many years since I've owned one, have no explanation for that. My two best guitars at moment are a strat and a classical. I don't have a lot of space here for stuff :( -- Yeah, I have apparently sold my soul to the devil whose domain is electronic music. My circumstances here make recording real guitar challenging at best, hope to change that some day. - Tony Listening to Olympic. Perhaps there is no real difference between great solo jazz guitar work and great classical guitar work. I can hear it both ways. I'm truly humbled by your work here. A lfty place. Thank you for sharing.
I'm never done tweaking my tunes. It's a blessing and a curse. As far as compression, limiting and eq are concerned, I too, am in the dark. I've got a couple programs that help with those elements, but generally I just try to keep everything clean, maybe a little reverb. Toontrack has some easy to use mastering programs that have helped me. Bought my Johnny Smith just before I went on active duty in'68. Had an ES175 before that and a Barney Kessel before that. Always liked the big box guitars. Don't play it much now, bought a used Epi Sheraton a few years ago and put new pups and pots in it. It seems to work pretty well for the rock stuff and actually makes a pretty good jazz ax. Nothin' wrong with electronic music. I'm in awe of some of the stuff I've heard. As for "Olympic", I don't think I could play it now...too many years out of practice. You have a very unique and wonderful ability to create some great music, regardless of what you might think your handicaps are. I'm honored to have you as a friend. Bill
I'm 67 now (eligible to be drafted one year, but didn't win that lottery). It is only relatively recently, the last 5 years or so, that I have come to truly appreciate how much work it takes (1% inspiration, 99% work) for me to realize that of which I may truly be capable. This technology thing - I am using Logic Pro X exclusively right now - enables me to explore places I never could otherwise. It is a deep program, and there is much about it, features and what not that I do not yet fully understand. But what I have learned about it has given me quite a bit of freedom I could not otherwise enjoy to create. I used a version of cakewalk for a number of years, but it involved using all these additional sound modules to create what I was hearing in my head. The LPX program, on the other hand, is replete with quite a few sounds and with the ability to modify them, all within this single Mac computer I have sitting here. Technology is amazing (when it's not irritating, ha!) I have delved into guitar fairly deeply, but clearly not as deeply as you. I hope to get some of what I can do out there at some point. And I take singing very seriously too. Take a listen to my Blue Skies I just posted, or my I Sing For You. Hints of my vocal ability. I have a bunch of other older stuff, but am rather reluctant to share in this forum. You are a real inspiration to me, Bill. It is great that we can communicate in this way. I hear lots of things in your music that stretch my ears and that I take to heart and love. - Tony
Sincere thanks once more for all the stars, sir. -- My star cluster here is getting too large, will need to start another :D. -- Those vocals are just me hovering over my computer with mic in hand. Works pretty well I think.
Blue Skies is a cheery little number. I've visited that dark space a few times. Your vocal recording technique is proof that you don't need a fully equipped studio with with isolation booths and Neuman mikes to produce good vocals. I started out as a vocalist back in the Pleistocene. Mostly choral and small group stuff with some folk and rock groups mixed in. High school choir president and Arion award which got me to be recruited by a college music director...the only way I qualified for college, barely made it through high school. They tried to make me a operatic singer, I rebelled and brought my guitar and amp back to school and formed a rock band. Pretty much the end of my early formal college experiment. My vocal chops have deteriorated a bit over the years, don't have near the range I once had. Just clocked 74 a couple months ago so I'm not too surprised that the voice isn't what it once was. Bill
My voice is changing a tad now too. When fully practiced and warmed up I can still approach my best, but change is inevitable. Yeah, admittedly my stuff can have a dark tone. I kinda sorta think of it as the blues but in a non-blues musical structure. I was a philosophy major, which I think nurtured in me a fatalist mentality, which in my case resonates with darkness. I'm ok with that, I even like it. Maybe I should be writing goth metal stuff. :)
Went back to school after my stint in the Navy, psychology, sociology and anthropology...while playing in a rock band, writing music and sneaking into to jazz theory classes at Cornish. Oh, and getting involved in SCCA racing, building a streetable B sedan and selling aftermarket car parts. And drinking a lot of beer. Bill
The next round is on me.
Thanks again, Bill, for the stars. Again, really appreciated. -- I have to do some more listening here myself... 'Hey waiter! Where's that beer??' ... sorry about that, Bill