The Wagtunes Corner

[wagtunes]

You always have cool hooks - I've listened to a few and my fave was the Last Twenty. I have to admit, and this happens a lot when I visit this thread (don't take offense) - the first 30 seconds to a minute usually have me smiling at how corny it all sounds, but somehow by the middle of the track i'm reeled in and i have to go back for another listen Good stuff.

You can check out my latest track if you like - it's a little on the other end of the accessibility spectrum :/ I also have a more straight forward sounding Motorhead cover if you fancy having someone shout at you for a few minutes.

Thanks for the feedback Frank. Corny is my middle name so no offense taken at all. I've been called the uncool bubble gum king of the 21st century.

Always look forward to hearing your stuff. Will check it out right now.

[Norqa]

You know, this is so frustrating. My group leader just emailed me and said one of the members wants to do another one of my songs. Problem is, it's an old one with no MIDI file and they won't work on anything without a MIDI file.

I really like this one too.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/killing-me

Not sure about the deal you got going but surely once you've given the band your basic idea they should be able to adapt it? midi or no midi assuming they are semi professional?
I hope for your sake they are not charlatans.
You deserve much better than that imo.
A bit of honesty on their part, rather than this hope and a prayer wouldn't go amiss.

Killing me, one of your best

[wagtunes]

You know, this is so frustrating. My group leader just emailed me and said one of the members wants to do another one of my songs. Problem is, it's an old one with no MIDI file and they won't work on anything without a MIDI file.

I really like this one too.

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/killing-me

Not sure about the deal you got going but surely once you've given the band your basic idea they should be able to adapt it? midi or no midi assuming they are semi professional?
I hope for your sake they are not charlatans.
You deserve much better than that imo.
A bit of honesty on their part, rather than this hope and a prayer wouldn't go amiss.

Killing me, one of your best

As you said, you don't know what kind of deal I have so let me just set the record straight on that.

These guys are not charlatans. They've already recorded 3 of my songs and I've received royalties on the first one. There are several reasons they want MIDI files and I can understand now that it's been explained to me.

1. With a MIDI file drum track, there is no need to hire a drummer. That means more money for us as there are fewer shares to split.

2. With a MIDI file it takes less time to learn the song as many parts can be programmed and not played live.

3. With a MIDI file it's easier to tweak things and include parts that wouldn't normally be included because they don't have a keyboard player. They have a lead vocalist, guitar player and bass player and that's it aside from the group leader who does all the MIDI work. Providing him with a file makes his job a lot easier. Thus, songs get recorded faster which means albums get released faster which means we get paid sooner.

Ultimately, it's all about the money.

FWIW, the few musicians they have are excellent. They do an amazing job with my songs. Much better than I could ever do on my own.

Hope this clears all that up.

[Norqa]

You explained it well.
And sort of put me in my place, which in hindsight I deserved
Keep Rockin man.

[Norqa]

PS Wagtunes, could you provide a link to the band that are covering your songs now that the royalties are coming in?
I would like to hear what they are doing with your songs.
Who knows I may even purchase a track or two in support.

[wagtunes]

PS Wagtunes, could you provide a link to the band that are covering your songs now that the royalties are coming in?
I would like to hear what they are doing with your songs.
Who knows I may even purchase a track or two in support.

I would love nothing more. Believe me, I'd be blasting links all over the Internet.

The band's music is distributed through a German distributor who absolutely hates the US because of all the piracy in this country. In order to prevent this from happening, the distributor has taken drastic measures. The music is available through a subscription service and is only available to residents of Europe and Asia.

The subscription service itself is a closed service. In other words, you can't find it by doing a search. It is only available to join through word of mouth. Then to join, after you've been told about it, you have to show proof of residence. Living in the US, I don't even know what this service is or how to join it even though I am a member of the group.

It's bizarre and nothing like anything I've ever heard of in my life. And quite honestly, I wouldn't even believe this arrangement exists except for the royalty check I received in the mail sent by the group leader. Yes, the group leader and not the distributor himself. The group leader gets all monies paid to him and then he distributes them to the rest of the group. So he is the only one who knows who the distributor is. And he is sworn to secrecy under penalty of losing his contract. Obviously, none of us want that.

And while they've sent me copies of the songs that have been recorded, I am forbidden to post them online. Violation of that agreement will immediately ban me from the group and all future royalties. Obviously, that's the last thing I want.

So as much as I'd love to oblige you, I can't.

On the optimistic front, the band leader tells me that he is considering working out an agreement with the US in the future. But I'm not going to hold my breath because this guy sounds like a real piece of work.

Pretty messed up, isn't it.

[wagtunes]

10th track from my upcoming CD "Short Takes"

This one might be my favorite of the whole CD so far. I cannot stop listening to this and that's very rare for me considering I'm usually sick of the songs by the time they're finished.

Popular

Sick of being invisible
Sick of being ignored
Sick of being the only one in a jam packed room
I'm sick of being so bored

Sick of being the butt of jokes
Sick of being the laughing stock
Sick of being the only one in a crowd of fans
I'm sick of being so mocked

I want to be
I got to be
Please just let me be

Popular
I want to be popular
I want to be the hero in a TV show
The cowboy in a rodeo
So famous like you'll never know
I want to be popular

Sick of being abused and used
Sick of being just cast aside
Sick of being the only one in a party town
I'm sick of having to hide

Repeat Pre Chorus & Chorus

Instrumental Break

Repeat Pre Chorus & Chorus

Outro

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/popular

[Bansaw]

Popular: Like how your songs always carry a story. My favorite part is the chorus. What did you do to thicken up the vocals in the chorus? Bridge is great @1:49.

[wagtunes]

Popular: Like how your songs always carry a story. My favorite part is the chorus. What did you do to thicken up the vocals in the chorus? Bridge is great @1:49.

First, I doubled the vocal track and put a slight delay on it along with Melda's MUnison and then I put AVOX under that in certain parts in chord mode.

Thanks for the listen and the feedback. I really enjoyed doing this one.

[Norqa]

Pretty messed up, isn't it.

Yes but at least you aint letting it stop your flow.
Keep pushing Wagtunes!

[wagtunes]

Pretty messed up, isn't it.

Yes but at least you aint letting it stop your flow.
Keep pushing Wagtunes!

Right now I'm taking a short break from songwriting to do some film underscoring.

I just attempted a very ambitious project. It's a short TV show that I wrote, directed, edited and starred in. I play all the parts. The film editing software I used to do the clone shots is Filmora X. In one scene there's actually 3 of me in the scene at the same time.

The film itself is finished and edited. All that's left to do is the film scoring. This is something I've never done before. I'm processing the video portion now in order to import it into Cubase.

I have a feeling I've bitten off more than I can chew but you know what they say, if you don't try, you'll never know. Putting music to video is a whole other animal. Finding just the right mood, hitting all the cues, it's harder than it looks. Or maybe it looks as hard as it actually is depending on your perspective. I've always admired film scorers. It's an art that I never learned with all the music I've written over the years.

Better late than never.

[Norqa]

You usually bite more off than you can chew.
We all do.
As you say better late than never.

[wagtunes]

While I'm away from writing pop songs, I'm working on my video project. Below is the main theme intro and the end credits theme.

Intro

https://youtu.be/ZyBi6Q8edEQ

End Credits

https://youtu.be/3TrV6zySFtk

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Now listening to "Popular": this song has a part E.L.O. vibe and part Broadway vibe for me (a compliment). For me, the highlights are the melodies: very good! Nice audio quality. I wanted to be a hero. I saw this cute girl with her Volkswagen Beetle on fire on the side of the road (long ago). I pulled in behind her with my car. I dashed out of my car, lifted the hatch, whipped out a fire extinguisher, and pointed it at the burning engine. I pulled the safety pin and pulled the fire extinguisher trigger. It barely blorped out anything; apparently it was too old. Fortunately, a fire truck came to the rescue and extinguished the fire. Your song was a much better success than me trying to be a hero.

[wagtunes]

wagtunes,
Now listening to "Popular": this song has a part E.L.O. vibe and part Broadway vibe for me (a compliment). For me, the highlights are the melodies: very good! Nice audio quality. I wanted to be a hero. I saw this cute girl with her Volkswagen Beetle on fire on the side of the road (long ago). I pulled in behind her with my car. I dashed out of my car, lifted the hatch, whipped out a fire extinguisher, and pointed it at the burning engine. I pulled the safety pin and pulled the fire extinguisher trigger. It barely blorped out anything; apparently it was too old. Fortunately, a fire truck came to the rescue and extinguished the fire. Your song was a much better success than me trying to be a hero.

Hey Aaron, thanks for the listen and the feedback. Much appreciated. See you've got something new. Will check it out shortly. Can't wait.