The Wagtunes Corner (Featuring My Best Yet)

[wagtunes]

12th track from my upcoming CD "RPM II"

Went for a mid to late 70s rock mix on this. I think I came close but, eh. Hard to emulate scotch tape and paper clips.

Zenith

Forever reaching
Forever climbing up that mountain
Forever thirsty
Forever drinking from the fountain

May never get there
But I never will stop trying
My will is stronger
Than the fear of somehow dying

And someday I'll see
The land of the free
And in time I'll find my way to you

Reach the zenith
Reach the top the highest mountain
Reach the zenith
Drink the water from life's fountain

I'm getting closer
I can see the peak before me
No going back now
This is everything I could be

That someday is here
Salvation is near
Now it's time I've found my way to you

Instrumental Break

Repeat Chorus

Outro

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

[Music Bird]

I like the organ/keys sound. Definitely has a 70’s sound to it. It sounds like a Yamaha YC-45D organ almost.

[wagtunes]

I like the organ/keys sound. Definitely has a 70’s sound to it. It sounds like a Yamaha YC-45D organ almost.

Honestly, I don't remember what synth I used for that organ sound. The joys of getting old.

I can pull up the project and look it up if you like.

Anyway, thanks for the listen and the feedback.

[wagtunes]

13th track from my upcoming CD "RPM II"

Vinyl Record Girl

She listens to the Stones
While she plays her trombone
She listens to the Who
And I do too

She's my vinyl record girl
She's the cutest in the world
She's my musical partner
Ooo She makes me want her
She's my vinyl record girl
She's got the cutest little curl
In the middle of her forehead
Gonna get her into my bed
She's my vinyl record girl

She's got the biggest collection
To my recollection
She listens all day
While her records play

Repeat Chorus

Maybe we can put our records together
Maybe we can make it so much better

Instrumental Break

The turntable goes round and round
etc.

Repeat Chorus

Outro

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... ecord-girl

[Bansaw]

Vinyl...
Nice sax intro. Like how the chord progression ends in the chorus on a surprise minor 0:57, very good.
Is it the minor 4th?
Instrumental break was good as it often is.
Overall, liked it.

Zenith...
Sounded very 70s (or 80s) in terms of chords used.
Maybe I'm putting my interpretation on it. Just something familiar about it. What guitar library did you use for this?
In terms of mixing, I don't know how wide this is. Do you use a multiband widener sometimes, e.g. Izotope has a good one in Ozone8. For me, there's something a little bit missing (I'm being picky) from the mixing. Whether that be depth or width, I don't know. Just something I can't put my finger on.
Music, arrangement, lyrics, all great though.

[wagtunes]

Vinyl...
Nice sax intro. Like how the chord progression ends in the chorus on a surprise minor 0:57, very good.
Is it the minor 4th?
Instrumental break was good as it often is.
Overall, liked it.

Zenith...
Sounded very 70s (or 80s) in terms of chords used.
Maybe I'm putting my interpretation on it. Just something familiar about it. What guitar library did you use for this?
In terms of mixing, I don't know how wide this is. Do you use a multiband widener sometimes, e.g. Izotope has a good one in Ozone8. For me, there's something a little bit missing (I'm being picky) from the mixing. Whether that be depth or width, I don't know. Just something I can't put my finger on.
Music, arrangement, lyrics, all great though.

Thanks for the listen and the feedback.

Let's start with Zenith. The guitar library is Music Labs Real Les Paul. The amp and distortion are Amplitube. The wideness comes from panning. I don't use wideners because they tend to screw up the phase.

The familiarity is probably the chord progression. It's probably been used a million times, especially back in the late 70s, early 80s. So yes, it should sound familiar. It's a pretty generic song if you grew up back then. I was literally dipping into my memory banks and putting together a best of the 70s, 80s classic rock. FWIW, I think I pulled it off decently if not great. As far as what's missing from the mix, it's probably all the low end I took out of the two guitars. They are more high passed than usual because I really wanted to make sure they didn't stomp on the vocals.

FTR, the original mix of Zenith was horrible. It was mid range-y and muddy and distorted and I ended up removing like half the plugins I had. I mean it was REALLY bad. This one is much cleaner. Now, maybe I removed too much and took away some of the edge. It's possible. Song was very hard to mix right.

Moving on.

Vinyl - The last chord on the chorus is F minor over A flat. The sax is from the Warp IV library. If you need realistic brass or woodwinds for your music, Warp IV is the top. Expensive as hell but worth every penny.

The amount of automation on the mix in this one was off the wall nuts.

I'm finding I'm paying more attention to mix dynamics than ever, making doing these tracks more difficult than ever. With this damn quarantine, I have nothing else to do so I can get 5 days of mixing done in 2.

Anyway, thanks again, as always, for the feedback. It is very much appreciated.

[Jesse Gorter]

Vinyl...
Nice sax intro. Like how the chord progression ends in the chorus on a surprise minor 0:57, very good.
Is it the minor 4th?
Instrumental break was good as it often is.
Overall, liked it.

Zenith...
Sounded very 70s (or 80s) in terms of chords used.
Maybe I'm putting my interpretation on it. Just something familiar about it. What guitar library did you use for this?
In terms of mixing, I don't know how wide this is. Do you use a multiband widener sometimes, e.g. Izotope has a good one in Ozone8. For me, there's something a little bit missing (I'm being picky) from the mixing. Whether that be depth or width, I don't know. Just something I can't put my finger on.
Music, arrangement, lyrics, all great though.

did you do the singing on vinyl record girl? I kinda like the .... poppyness cheesyness of it, very 80ish. good mix too
Thanks for the listen and the feedback.

Let's start with Zenith. The guitar library is Music Labs Real Les Paul. The amp and distortion are Amplitube. The wideness comes from panning. I don't use wideners because they tend to screw up the phase.

The familiarity is probably the chord progression. It's probably been used a million times, especially back in the late 70s, early 80s. So yes, it should sound familiar. It's a pretty generic song if you grew up back then. I was literally dipping into my memory banks and putting together a best of the 70s, 80s classic rock. FWIW, I think I pulled it off decently if not great. As far as what's missing from the mix, it's probably all the low end I took out of the two guitars. They are more high passed than usual because I really wanted to make sure they didn't stomp on the vocals.

FTR, the original mix of Zenith was horrible. It was mid range-y and muddy and distorted and I ended up removing like half the plugins I had. I mean it was REALLY bad. This one is much cleaner. Now, maybe I removed too much and took away some of the edge. It's possible. Song was very hard to mix right.

Moving on.

Vinyl - The last chord on the chorus is F minor over A flat. The sax is from the Warp IV library. If you need realistic brass or woodwinds for your music, Warp IV is the top. Expensive as hell but worth every penny.

The amount of automation on the mix in this one was off the wall nuts.

I'm finding I'm paying more attention to mix dynamics than ever, making doing these tracks more difficult than ever. With this damn quarantine, I have nothing else to do so I can get 5 days of mixing done in 2.

Anyway, thanks again, as always, for the feedback. It is very much appreciated.

[wagtunes]

Vinyl...
Nice sax intro. Like how the chord progression ends in the chorus on a surprise minor 0:57, very good.
Is it the minor 4th?
Instrumental break was good as it often is.
Overall, liked it.

Zenith...
Sounded very 70s (or 80s) in terms of chords used.
Maybe I'm putting my interpretation on it. Just something familiar about it. What guitar library did you use for this?
In terms of mixing, I don't know how wide this is. Do you use a multiband widener sometimes, e.g. Izotope has a good one in Ozone8. For me, there's something a little bit missing (I'm being picky) from the mixing. Whether that be depth or width, I don't know. Just something I can't put my finger on.
Music, arrangement, lyrics, all great though.

did you do the singing on vinyl record girl? I kinda like the .... poppyness cheesyness of it, very 80ish. good mix too
Thanks for the listen and the feedback.

Let's start with Zenith. The guitar library is Music Labs Real Les Paul. The amp and distortion are Amplitube. The wideness comes from panning. I don't use wideners because they tend to screw up the phase.

The familiarity is probably the chord progression. It's probably been used a million times, especially back in the late 70s, early 80s. So yes, it should sound familiar. It's a pretty generic song if you grew up back then. I was literally dipping into my memory banks and putting together a best of the 70s, 80s classic rock. FWIW, I think I pulled it off decently if not great. As far as what's missing from the mix, it's probably all the low end I took out of the two guitars. They are more high passed than usual because I really wanted to make sure they didn't stomp on the vocals.

FTR, the original mix of Zenith was horrible. It was mid range-y and muddy and distorted and I ended up removing like half the plugins I had. I mean it was REALLY bad. This one is much cleaner. Now, maybe I removed too much and took away some of the edge. It's possible. Song was very hard to mix right.

Moving on.

Vinyl - The last chord on the chorus is F minor over A flat. The sax is from the Warp IV library. If you need realistic brass or woodwinds for your music, Warp IV is the top. Expensive as hell but worth every penny.

The amount of automation on the mix in this one was off the wall nuts.

I'm finding I'm paying more attention to mix dynamics than ever, making doing these tracks more difficult than ever. With this damn quarantine, I have nothing else to do so I can get 5 days of mixing done in 2.

Anyway, thanks again, as always, for the feedback. It is very much appreciated.

Trying to find your comment in that maze of text. I think I found it. Yes, I did the singing on Vinyl Record Girl. The background harmonies were achieved using Antares AVOX. The background "ahs" are Realivox Ladies by Realitone.

Glad you liked it.

[wagtunes]

14th track from my upcoming CD "RPM II"

Catchy and creepy.

Now We Shall Dance

Now we shall dance
Oh oh oh oh
Now we shall dance
Oh...let's dance

You make my heart do things it's never done
You are my dancing queen the only one
You are my everything my world til end
I want to dance with you time and time again

Repeat Chorus

It seems like yesterday since we first met
You think I'd get enough but I haven't yet
I'll never tire of you my love is true
We'll be forever girl just me and you

Instrumental Break

Repeat Chorus 3x

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... hall-dance

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Thank you for the reviews! Now reviewing "Now We Shall Dance": sounds very 80's, which is fine by me. I got a (good) kick out of the drum beat. The (I assume) Vocaloid female background vocals work well. All melodies are quite good per usual. At around 3:00, the Sci-Fi sound effects are amusing. Audio quality is good. This song has way more volume than my recent songs. I assume you have a fair amount of compression happening. Synths are fine. I like it!

[wagtunes]

wagtunes,
Thank you for the reviews! Now reviewing "Now We Shall Dance": sounds very 80's, which is fine by me. I got a (good) kick out of the drum beat. The (I assume) Vocaloid female background vocals work well. All melodies are quite good per usual. At around 3:00, the Sci-Fi sound effects are amusing. Audio quality is good. This song has way more volume than my recent songs. I assume you have a fair amount of compression happening. Synths are fine. I like it!

Yeah, I went for a big dance sound on this one. The kicks and snares are both triple layered. A lot different from my usual stuff.

Thanks for the listen and the feedback.

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Now reviewing "Vinyl Record Girl": vinyl records: what are those? The sax(es) sound very good. I've probably asked you earlier what that is. The lead guitar is pleasant. All melodies are very good per usual. The panning sound effects had me checking to see if someone was sneaking up behind me (ha ha), while on headphones. I like that background vocal synth thing at the end of the song, what is that? I liked "Now We Shall Dance", though overall, I think this is the better song. Nice!

[wagtunes]

wagtunes,
Now reviewing "Vinyl Record Girl": vinyl records: what are those? The sax(es) sound very good. I've probably asked you earlier what that is. The lead guitar is pleasant. All melodies are very good per usual. The panning sound effects had me checking to see if someone was sneaking up behind me (ha ha), while on headphones. I like that background vocal synth thing at the end of the song, what is that? I liked "Now We Shall Dance", though overall, I think this is the better song. Nice!

Thanks for the listen and the feedback Aaron.

Okay, the rundown.

The sax is from Warp IV. The libraries are expensive as hell but they are hands down the best out there for pop brass and woodwinds.

The background vocals at the end are from Realitone Realivox Ladies. Truly an incredible product for realistic background vocals. I use them a lot. They do require Kontakt.

The panning FX are just a lot of automation.

Thanks again for the support. It's really appreciated.

[Bansaw]

A bit of departure from your normal stuff.
Like the call and response between you and the vocaloid.
The vocaloid was done well.
The kick was a touch too heavy for me.
But a unique track and was interesting.

[wagtunes]

A bit of departure from your normal stuff.
Like the call and response between you and the vocaloid.
The vocaloid was done well.
The kick was a touch too heavy for me.
But a unique track and was interesting.

Yeah, I really wanted that kick to stand out. It was triple layered. I get that it's not everybody's cup of tea. It's not normally mine, but I felt it fit what I was trying to do with this song.

And yes, a bit of a departure. Trying to stretch myself and not get into a rut. In fact, this current CD has been a lot of fun to do. Even did a Nu Metal track, something I'd never attempted before.

Will be sorry when this CD is finished. Only 2 tracks to go.