Compare your notes to Enriques
Now it's time for YOU to compare your thoughts about the song with what Enrique thought. Nobody is right or wrong, it's just impressions of where the song should go. Have fun, get a feel for what arrangers, producers and engineers do with a song! And, if you like this and want more, Enrique will be one of our valued guests at the conference this year...come and meet him!
IN GENERAL:
After listening to the demo I feel the song structure and journey through the song is very nice, as each musical is very beautiful. The one thing that I am feeling is that by the time Verse 2 comes along we have already heard the majority of the elements (harmony and melody), leaving little for the listener to discover along the way. As a way to "not give too much too soon" I think the song could gain from a couple of small structure edits (*see "Proposed new Form" at the end of this document).
Harmonically and melodically the song is great and very fluid. All parts transition very well. The only part that to my ear could use a lift is the Bridge. I feel that since it only happens once in the song, we should take advantage of it and take the listener to a different place with textures and moods not heard in the rest of the song (doing this will also add emphasis to the last chorus when we come back to something we know).
ENRIQUE’S ARRANGEMENT SUGGESTIONS
INTRO - A brief (5sec) severely washly and reverbed-out field recording of people having a conversation (live background) which dissolves into...
VERSE1 - VOCALS and ACOUSTIC GTR just like the demo.
CHORUS1 - TIN PERCUSSION playing Brazilian-Samba style accents. HAMMOND high notes (2 or 3 note chords) with pristine veil-like sound.ELECTRIC GTR can swell-in single note roots (very reverby and in the background).
CHORUS1B - Continuation of CH1. Double VOCALS with a whisper track.
INTERLUDE1 - [ HAMMOND goes away ] DRUMS come in (playing a train-like chug / march ONLY on the snare with brushes). VIOLIN plays first 2 motif notes (G - F#) holding a G over... GLOCKENSPIEL answers the motif with the notes (B - A) ; as well as the closing motif (listen to guitar demo track for note reference...) accompanied by the VIOLIN.
VERSE2 - DRUMS continue but playing the whole kit (Kick / Snare). PIANO accents the 2 and 4 of every bar playing softly in the low-mid range.
CHORUS2 - [Like CHORUS1] GONG on the 4 of every bar. PIANO opens up (fuller dynamics and broader range). GLOCKENSPIELplays pedal note (mimicking CH1's percussion). Add HAMMOND PEDAL bass notes as an overdub (* Bass pedal notes will alwaysbe recorded as an overdub).
CHORUS2B - [ Continuation of CH2... ] PIANO goes away (? To try out and decide in the studio). HAMMOND continues just on the BASS PEDALS. VIOLIN comes in playing simple long notes in the background (lower register). Add harmony VOCAL singing the third, 1 octave lower.
INTERLUDE2 - [ Like INTERLUDE1 ] Try VIOLIN part 1 8ve higher. RICE SHAKER comes in.
BRIDGE - [ DRUMS and HAMMOND go away ] PIANO plays single notes on the 1 & 3 of the first 2 bars and then opens up to a big arpeggiated chord just for bar 3 (holds the chord for bar 4) ; and repeats the same motif for bars 5, 6 and 7. On bar 8 PIANO and DRUMS do a dynamic swell into the second half of the Bridge ("In a better life") and do a steady dynamic crescendo that lifts right up to the Chorus. In the last bar VIOLIN and HAMMOND should also do a crescendo leading into...
CHORUS3 - [ Like CHORUS2 but dynamically a bit bigger ] HAMMOND plays full chords (added to the HAMMOND PEDAL bass notes).
CHORUS3B - [ Continuation of CHORUS3 ] With VIOLIN just like in CHORUS2B.
Additionally, the original form was the following and I proposed a change....
- VS1 - 12 bars
- CH1 - 6 bars
- CH1B - 8 bars
- Inter1 - 5 bars
- VS2 - 12 bars
- CH2 - 6 bars
- CH2B - 8 bars
- Inter2 - 6 bars
- BR - 12 bars
- Inter3 - 9 bars
- CH3 - 6 bars
- CH3B - 10 bars
PROPOSED NEW FORM:
- VS1 - 12 bars
- CH1 - 6 bars
- CH1B - 2 bars
- Inter1 - 5 bars
- VS2 - 11 bars
- CH2 - 6 bars
- CH2B - 8 bars
- Inter2 - 6 bars
- BR - 13 bars
- [[ Inter3 - Taken Out ]]
- CH3 - 6 bars
- CH3B - 10 bars
