The Wagtunes Corner

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Thank you for reviewing my music! I haven't figured out yet where the "Arturia" thread is of mine that you commented on, perhaps I will later. Now your song: "Let's Run Away": per usual you have more loudness than me, yet very good sound quality. Nice melodies all around per usual. The vocals at around 3:10 are the best vocals (good) on the song for me; the vocal layering and/or the effects work well. Nice song!

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Have I ever mentioned I have snorkeled with "Sharks" about a dozen times in real life?: Intro remind me of "Cheers" theme song (I'm not saying you copied it), if my memory serves me. Just listened to the Cheers theme song; I was wrong, it is much different. Even Dog Sharks don't bark! Modo Bass on bass? Nice piano melodies and piano tone. Nice melodies all around per usual. 70's style lead synth is nice. I could picture this is a musical play. Another nice wag-song!

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Before I forget to mention it, I will review more of your songs tomorrow night, it is getting late. "Style Blind": once again you have more volume than me with very good sound quality. This song has a musical theater vibe, an ELO vibe (the strings), a Beatles vibe (that horn), and a brief alternative vibe. Per usual, very nice melodies all around, and a very nice song!

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
"Star Wanderer": I dig the synths and vocal effects! Good vocals! I love the lyrics. At the least the melodies are good, most of the melodies are great! I listened to the intro three times, it made more sense to me with each listen. I could picture this song in a movie. Excellent!

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
OK, I read your reviews (thank you) of 2 of my songs on the Arturia subforum (if that is the correct word): I'm behind on my emails & did not notice the email notification until earlier today. Before I listen to a couple more of your songs, I read some of your earlier posts. It's not clear to me how you made money with your music. How did you get royalties? If you want, copy & paste your reply if you explained it earlier, or elaborate a bit more please.

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Now reviewing "Stay Away": this has a 70's vibe for me. This has a bit of music theater vibe for me also. But I could picture this on TV also. My favorite parts are the piano and the horn(s). Sounds nice. Nice melodies. Vocals are good.

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Now reviewing "Reach For the Sky": has a 70's (the piano)/80's vibe (the synth, my favorite part of the song for me). Strings are nice too; give some ELO vibe. And a musical theater vibe also. Vocals are good. I was good with the first listen, though it sounded better on the second listen for me. Another nice wagtunes song! Have you kept track how many original song recordings you have now? Going to eat dinner now. Plan to be back tonight.

[wagtunes]

wagtunes,
OK, I read your reviews (thank you) of 2 of my songs on the Arturia subforum (if that is the correct word): I'm behind on my emails & did not notice the email notification until earlier today. Before I listen to a couple more of your songs, I read some of your earlier posts. It's not clear to me how you made money with your music. How did you get royalties? If you want, copy & paste your reply if you explained it earlier, or elaborate a bit more please.

Hi Aaron. To answer your question, it's through the group that I signed with. It's kind of a long story. This guy heard my music at Gearslutz and contacted me asking if they could do some of my songs. Of course I said yes. They are signed through a distributor who works out of Germany. They immediately went into the studio to start recording but then the pandemic hit and that put everything on hold until this year,

They finally went back into the studio and expect the album to be released in May. The "royalties" will be coming in the future for whatever time period sales are computed for. I assume quarterly but I don't know.

The group averages a few thousand units sold for their albums. Based on the number of songs of mine that will appear, plus the fact that on some of them I'm also performing by supplying my MIDI files, I figure to make a few hundred dollars from this whole thing. It could be more but I'm not holding my breath. But they are an established group with a following in Europe and Asia. They do no distribute in the US because their distributor feels that Americans are pirates and will steal their music. Because of this, and because I live in the US, I am under an NDA not to reveal the name of the group or how to purchase their music, which is a shame. My own friends and family will never hear my music as performed by this band.

On the plus side, I still retain all rights to my versions so I can keep them up on Soundcloud and post them wherever I want. But their versions are off limits. All I'm going to be getting out of this is a check every few months.

And no, I have no idea how they manage to keep promotion to Europe and Asia so that nobody else around the world can get access to their music and they won't tell me what their "secret" is. Obviously if they did, I'd be able to access it.

My gut tells me it's some private site that rejects all non European and Asian IP addresses. I know this is possible because there have been sites I've tried to go to that give me a message "forbidden" so yes, you can be blocked from going to a site.

After that, it's simply a matter of having the music played on platforms specific to Europe and Asia, or stations that are only available in those areas.

Naturally, I'm only guessing at all this but it's the only thing that makes sense.

Anyway, I've rambled on long enough.

Thanks for the listen and the feedback.

[wagtunes]

wagtunes,
Now reviewing "Reach For the Sky": has a 70's (the piano)/80's vibe (the synth, my favorite part of the song for me). Strings are nice too; give some ELO vibe. And a musical theater vibe also. Vocals are good. I was good with the first listen, though it sounded better on the second listen for me. Another nice wagtunes song! Have you kept track how many original song recordings you have now? Going to eat dinner now. Plan to be back tonight.

How many original songs have I done? Well, counting just the ones that were converted from analog (cassette) to digital, it's currently over 1,100. But there are countless hundreds of songs that I did back in the late 70s and early 80s that were on 8 track and cassette that never made it to digital because, quite honestly, they really sucked. This project, Restoration, is some of the few "early" songs that I did that were worth redoing. Most of my early music is not worth redoing and I don't even listen to it anymore.

But yeah, I've written a lot of songs in 43 years.

Let's put it this way. Since 2014 I've written over 650 songs. That's 7 years.

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Thank you for the reply! That's a whole lot of songs! Yeah, I remember the NDA group thing story. Could you google the song titles or lyrics to see if you can find your songs? I guess not if they have the IP thing? Anyway, now reviewing "I'm Gonna Rock Tonight": I haven't watched the movie in ages (it's pretty decadent; I'm not saying your music is decadent): "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". For some reason this song reminds me of the music in the movie. I like the "Let's Do the Time warp Again" song; not saying your song necessarily reminds me of that song......probably. Here are other vibes I am picking up: 70's, a bit of music theater. Listening to it a third time: I like it better with each listen: rather nice! I think my favorite part is the Hammond B3 organ. Though it's all good.

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Now reviewing "Dana": vibes? You won't be shocked. 70's rock/music theater. It's all good, per usual. Nice melodies. Did you take piano lessons? I did for 5 years.

"Loving Those Blues Away": same vibes as the previous song. The piano is my favorite part. Nice melodies. Nice strings/synths.

"Werewoman": equal rights for werewolves? . Nice melodies per usual. The keyboards/synths are my favorite parts...besides the wolf howl. My wife and I joke my wife is the driving bear.

"One Last Kiss": another nice wagtunes song. The piano/synths/strings are my favorite parts. Nice melodies per usual.

"Shadow In the Night": seems you used an identical or similar piano in most of these songs? That would make for a cohesive CD? A nice song again. Out of all of these songs, I liked 'Star Wanderer" the best.

[wagtunes]

wagtunes,
Now reviewing "Dana": vibes? You won't be shocked. 70's rock/music theater. It's all good, per usual. Nice melodies. Did you take piano lessons? I did for 5 years.

"Loving Those Blues Away": same vibes as the previous song. The piano is my favorite part. Nice melodies. Nice strings/synths.

"Werewoman": equal rights for werewolves? . Nice melodies per usual. The keyboards/synths are my favorite parts...besides the wolf howl. My wife and I joke my wife is the driving bear.

"One Last Kiss": another nice wagtunes song. The piano/synths/strings are my favorite parts. Nice melodies per usual.

"Shadow In the Night": seems you used an identical or similar piano in most of these songs? That would make for a cohesive CD? A nice song again. Out of all of these songs, I liked 'Star Wanderer" the best.

Thanks so much for the feedback Aaron. Star Wanderer is also my favorite of the bunch and is going to be an upcoming single once the group finishes it.

As for looking up the songs once they're released, no clue. Honestly, I'm still baffled as to how they're going to manage to hide these things from the rest of the world.

[vurt]

hopefully get a few hours in the studio tomorrow, so will get to restorations
just so you don't think ive forgot

[wagtunes]

hopefully get a few hours in the studio tomorrow, so will get to restorations
just so you don't think ive forgot

Vurt, wasn''t even worried about it. But I am wondering when YOU'RE going to post a nice symphony of sound for me to listen to. A good half hour or so would be nice.

[vurt]

hopefully ill get something together tomorrow too
sadly, the weather has been "bloody freezing!" which isn't good for my aches and pains, so haven't been able to get in that room.
but i do use the time to jot down ideas, from little patches to full tracks, so i have plenty to work with as soon as i do
hopefully...