The Wagtunes Corner (Featuring My Best Yet)

[Heavenly Sounds]

Yes I like it.

[candybag]

Autotune, on the wagtonian scale.

Music - 7.5
Instruments - 7
Performance - 8
Mix - 7

Overall - 7,375

Comments:
Pads at 1:43 (for example) needs LPF.
Snare panned slightly left, probably intentional but unorthodox.
Vocals/instrument ratio ~60/40 in terms of volume distribution, personally i'd make it more even and bring those vocals back a bit.
This is probably what Muse sounded like before their breakthrough (it's a compliment.)

[vurt]

For everybody else who isn't an asshole, I wasn't comparing myself to Elton John. I'd have to be born a thousand times over to have a tenth of his talent. I was simply replying to the comment made to me.

And that's all I'm gonna say on the subject.

it didn't look like you did
it was an example of a partnership, no one suggested that your partnership was equal, other than it being a partnership.

and as for elton john, hes a short arse.

(i do actually like some of the earlier stuff, not so much the ballads of later years)

[wagtunes]

Autotune, on the wagtonian scale.

Music - 7.5
Instruments - 7
Performance - 8
Mix - 7

Overall - 7,375

Comments:
Pads at 1:43 (for example) needs LPF.
Snare panned slightly left, probably intentional but unorthodox.
Vocals/instrument ratio ~60/40 in terms of volume distribution, personally i'd make it more even and bring those vocals back a bit.
This is probably what Muse sounded like before their breakthrough (it's a compliment.)

Hey man, thanks for the detailed breakdown. Appreciate it.

Yeah, I was pushing those pads a bit at 5k and up. Vocals were brought up because somebody else (another forum) complained that they were too far back. So yeah, you can't please everybody. Usually my vocals are drenched in reverb and back in the mix. This one I tried more up front. Personally, I like it but can completely understand some not liking it.

And I love Muse.

[rotku60]

(Don't Wanna Be) Another Autotune . Nice groove. Really like the 80's vibe. Seems to be two main drum patterns. The second (faster one) along with the chord progression is a great.

[wagtunes]

(Don't Wanna Be) Another Autotune . Nice groove. Really like the 80's vibe. Seems to be two main drum patterns. The second (faster one) along with the chord progression is a great.

Thanks for the listen and the feedback. Appreciate it. And yes, there are two different drum patterns for the verse and chorus.

Note: Drums were played in real time. Not programmed.

[Bansaw]

In my humble opinion, if you got a vocalist and someone to produce, you'd move to a high level.
The songwriting - the arrangement is definitely there, the lyrics are OK too. I'd love hear one of your songs with a singer and producer behind it.

[wagtunes]

In my humble opinion, if you got a vocalist and someone to produce, you'd move to a high level.
The songwriting - the arrangement is definitely there, the lyrics are OK too. I'd love hear one of your songs with a singer and producer behind it.

I'd love to hear one of my songs with a singer and a producer too.

All kidding aside, what do you think I've been trying to do for 42 years? I'm a songwriter. I'm not a singer, I'm not a performer, I'm not a producer.

In the old days (probably long before you were born) you'd go down to Tin Pan Alley in NY and you'd sit behind a piano and you'd pitch your song to an A&R guy, producer, publisher, whoever. If they liked the song, they signed you and scrounged around looking for somebody to sing your song. How do you think Burt Bacharach got started? Have you ever heard him sing? Dreadful. But back then it didn't matter. A songwriter could make it as a songwriter even if he couldn't sing for shit.

Today? Forget it. You have to be a singer, multi instrumentalist, producer AND your own PR guy because unless you have a following on social media to begin with, no label will even go near you.

That's today's reality.

I've thus resigned myself to writing songs because I like to write songs.

[Benedict]

In my humble opinion, if you got a vocalist and someone to produce, you'd move to a high level.
The songwriting - the arrangement is definitely there, the lyrics are OK too. I'd love hear one of your songs with a singer and producer behind it.

I'd love to hear one of my songs with a singer and a producer too.

All kidding aside, what do you think I've been trying to do for 42 years? I'm a songwriter. I'm not a singer, I'm not a performer, I'm not a producer.

In the old days (probably long before you were born) you'd go down to Tin Pan Alley in NY and you'd sit behind a piano and you'd pitch your song to an A&R guy, producer, publisher, whoever. If they liked the song, they signed you and scrounged around looking for somebody to sing your song. How do you think Burt Bacharach got started? Have you ever heard him sing? Dreadful. But back then it didn't matter. A songwriter could make it as a songwriter even if he couldn't sing for shit.

Today? Forget it. You have to be a singer, multi instrumentalist, producer AND your own PR guy because unless you have a following on social media to begin with, no label will even go near you.

That's today's reality.

I've thus resigned myself to writing songs because I like to write songs.

Yes and kinda true Wag.

But there are a reasonably silent set of people (like me) who live for the moments when we find an artist doing something that is uniquely them. Don't play to kids wanting more Trailer Swift or Ed Sheepman. That is the wrong direction. Play to people like me (and I assume you) who get soul excited when they find a record that is true beauty of human expression.

I value this guy far more than yet another person trying to tick all the boxes dictated by people in forums: https://unigonplane.wordpress.com/2018/ ... luminated/

[wagtunes]

In my humble opinion, if you got a vocalist and someone to produce, you'd move to a high level.
The songwriting - the arrangement is definitely there, the lyrics are OK too. I'd love hear one of your songs with a singer and producer behind it.

I'd love to hear one of my songs with a singer and a producer too.

All kidding aside, what do you think I've been trying to do for 42 years? I'm a songwriter. I'm not a singer, I'm not a performer, I'm not a producer.

In the old days (probably long before you were born) you'd go down to Tin Pan Alley in NY and you'd sit behind a piano and you'd pitch your song to an A&R guy, producer, publisher, whoever. If they liked the song, they signed you and scrounged around looking for somebody to sing your song. How do you think Burt Bacharach got started? Have you ever heard him sing? Dreadful. But back then it didn't matter. A songwriter could make it as a songwriter even if he couldn't sing for shit.

Today? Forget it. You have to be a singer, multi instrumentalist, producer AND your own PR guy because unless you have a following on social media to begin with, no label will even go near you.

That's today's reality.

I've thus resigned myself to writing songs because I like to write songs.

Yes and kinda true Wag.

But there are a reasonably silent set of people (like me) who live for the moments when we find an artist doing something that is uniquely them. Don't play to kids wanting more Trailer Swift or Ed Sheepman. That is the wrong direction. Play to people like me (and I assume you) who get soul excited when they find a record that is true beauty of human expression.

I value this guy far more than yet another person trying to tick all the boxes dictated by people in forums: https://unigonplane.wordpress.com/2018/ ... luminated/

I checked this guy out. Honestly, I found your review much more interesting than the first track. You write very well.

Here's my problem with the track.

It's very repetitive. You can barely make out the words. For a spoken word track, the words are important. There isn't much arrangement. It's about as minimalist as you can get. On top of that, I'm personally not a big fan of spoken word, which is why I can't listen to rap.

Back in 1971, a gentleman by the name of Les Crane came out with a song called "Desederata." I found it an absolute bore. Again, just not into spoken word.

I'm now listening to the second track and while it's different, it's the same. He has a style, formula, whatever you want to call it, and it's immediately predictable in an unpredictable way. When he tries to sing (track 3) it's obvious why he doesn't. He can barely sing in key. There aren't many people who I sing better than. But he's one of them.

I still believe that you can make music that is approachable and still be yourself.

My "Pig On The Dash", which is totally off the wall, is a perfect example. I posted this earlier but here it is again. One of the most unique songs I ever did.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/pig-on-the-dash

You can't say this is mainstream. Yet, I got a lot of positive comments on it by a lot of people saying it was one of the best things I've ever done.

Food for thought.

[Benedict]

Oh I don't like Cedar for his pipes, tuning or any other technical thing. For that, I can listen to Christopher Cross "Sailing" or The Doobie Brothers "Minute By Minute" (both lovely tracks). What did grab me about Cedar was that once you dismiss all the judgments, he is baring his soul in ways you rarely hear in modern music without being trapped by cliche. I was far more pleased to be hearing Harvey Reaid which I found a bit later.
http://www.partialcapo.com/store.htm#ec ... t=11802640

Pig is amusing (and yes way better sung) but joke songs often don't make it with me (Johnny Cash's being the exception as the stories are so strong).

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Thank you for the reviews! Now 'Pig on the Dash': I like the piano a lot, my favorite part. The lyrics are funny (now I have a new recipe!). Drums & bass are fine. The guitar does the job. For some reason, I find some of the Gary Numan-like synths humorous when mixed with the piano and vocals. The vocals are appropriate. Oink! The song was entertaining.

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Now reviewing 'Another Autotune': well, I do use Melodyne a lot; it's not flawless, but it helps me a lot usually. I used to use an Antares AVP with mixed results, though I never did do the "Cher-effect". I only liked it a bit in that first auto-tune Cher hit (how do they do that?, was my first reaction). I wasn't really certain if you were going for humor or not on this song, though I did find some humorous elements. Now that I paid more attention to your description & lyrics, I see you were going for silliness. I do find this song entertaining, though overall, I liked the Pig song better. Will listen again but posting this first.

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
'Auto tune': part 2 of review: now that I'm paying attention more to the vocal melodies, I think they are good, especially with the chorus & its harmonies; I was somewhat distracted by the auto-tune on first listen. Instrumentally, kind of quirky. One of the synths is a bit irritating for me (its drone is shrill for me), though that might be intentional; otherwise the synths are fine.

[wagtunes]

Thanks for the listen and the feedback Aaron. Always appreciated.