Recorded on: GarageBand
Instruments: (In order of appearance)
Edgy Rock Bass 04 (GB Loop)
70's Ballad Drums 01 (GB Loop)
Smoky Clav (Preset)
Deep House Dance Beat 01 (GB Loop)
Blue Jazz Organ Riff 03 (GB Loop)
Southern Rock Organ 05 (GB Loop)
Southern Rock Organ 04 (GB Loop)
Southern Rock Organ 03 (GB Loop)
Southern Rock Organ 02 (GB Loop)
Uploaded to SoundCloud 03/14/2013
Some of my songs I like less the more I listen to them, and some of them I like better. This one is definitely in that second category. In fact, this has always been one of my favorites, ever since I first wrote it. This is also the first time I almost had the courage to use just loops when writing a song.
At one minute and forty-three seconds, it's not the longest song I've ever written but it's got some pretty satisfying stuff packed into it. Unfortunately I don't remember bpm, but I'm thinking it's about 120 because it's pretty fast and I wrote this when I thought successful EDM needed to be 120-140 bpm to get club play.
Like most of my songs, it tells a coherent story. Spoiler alert, if you just want to keep your pictures of it (which I say bless you if you do) then skip to the next paragraph. It's a classic story of falling and redemption, with a little Southern-Gospel-Style thrown in. The opening bass line is meant to represent someone (and yes, I do think of a girl, although don't call me misogynistic. I just do. It don't mean nothin',) who is tightly wound and on a continuous roll of shooting off her mouth and getting into trouble. The additions of drums and other bass (the Smoky Clav) are just meant to show her speeding along no matter what happens. Then the organs come up and I couldn't help thinking of her going into a church and finding redemption. Since it's a dance song it's all meant to be done in spectacular fashion, but that's the basic of it.
When I started writing this I just was listening to different loops in the Garageband collection and really liked Edgy Rock Bass 04. I think I almost used it for something else but decided not to since it is kind of busy. It's got a great funk sound to it and is kind of dirty and grinding. I added the Smoky Clav preset (the only instrument that I actually play) to fatten it up (like it needed it, but it still works!) And also to add a little menace underneath, emphasizing the beat.
There is an art and a science to arranging loops just right. I don't claim to have mastered it yet, let alone when I wrote this song, but when I started working with the organ loops I realized that I was going to need to let some pieces go in order to have it tell it's story most effectively. Layering the organs on top of each other, which was what I initially wanted to do and I know some EDM guys WOULD do, was just a mess waiting to spill. May seem like a no-brainer just listening to it, especially if you're a more experienced producer than I am, but at the time it was a bit of a revelation. This piece more than any other helped me form my Three Rules of recording. It was accidental, but I found that groove and locked it in solid. I layered effectively, knowing when to let go. And I finished it up. And I was pretty happy with it, and I still am!
You can listen to it here: https://soundcloud.com/c-l-neal/little-loudmouth
I've always been disappointed that this one wasn't more popular. In all the time that it's been up through this writing, it's had fifteen plays, no downloads and no little hearts. It's been most popular in the US, followed by Canada and Ireland. Hey, I love for people to like it no matter where it's played!
Hopefully if you read this you'll check it out and maybe this little gem will get another shot at the life it deserves.
Peace out and catch you later...
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| ShankThr33 - It's In The Genes! |
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