Working on a remix contest entry

[Cue Zephyr]

Howdy folks,

I'm participating in a remix contest set-up by the band We Came As Strangers for the track titled Shattered Matter.

I overhauled it to a newgrass/country concoction. It's so different that I think it's rather irrelevant to present the original too.

This is what it sounds like:
https://soundcloud.com/ezyo-pourchez/shattered-matter-mix-preview-4

The guitar will be re-recorded at some point because it's so much out of time you'd suspect it was intentional. :))

What do you think?

Thanks in advance for listening.
https://soundcloud.com/ezyo-pourchez/shattered-matter-mix-preview-4

[Cue Zephyr]

You can find a preview of the original here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/shattered-matter/id881668509 - it's the first track on the album.

[Jim Broyles]

Sounds like a decent pop song. Not really much grass or country about it but some of the instruments. If you want to grass it up, it could be a little livelier.

[Rex Hart]

Cue,
You have a lovely voice. I really enjoyed the song. I am a hardcore bluegrasser but good music is good music no matter what the genre.
Your voice alone can carry you very far.

[Cue Zephyr]

It's a mixing contest. I took the vocal stems and changed up the arrangement and chord progression. I played every single instrument in the mix.

Is it too slow for grass, or am I not digging in enough? Or is it the melodies? Not necessarily to change it up again, simply to learn how to do it for a potential next arrangement.

Thanks for the replies!

[Rex Hart]

Oh, I get it! Duh! Yeah, the backing track was also nice, don't know how you could ever turn it into grass, just not the right tempo or nuance in the vocal track. But it is a nice acoustic, ( now) song. I must confess I have never heard the song before. I don't think even if Earl played banjo on it that it would ever make it bluegrass, though! But still, I liked the song and arrangement. Good job!

[dang]

I like it, but I kept expecting the mandolin solo to jump out at some point ;)

And no, it isn't hard driving blue/newgrass... but it sounds great! Go with your musical instincts for sure, you are on the right track. I like to describe music with terms that are not so loaded with connotation. Modern acoustic music, modern folk/country, progressive acoustic music...

Another way to phrase it is "done with bluegrass instrumentation." Or "acoustic instrumentation."

Sometimes to "grass it up" means to play it very fast with a lot of instrumental breaks, but that doesn't seem appropriate here...

[Cue Zephyr]

I don't think even if Earl played banjo on it that it would ever make it bluegrass, though! But still, I liked the song and arrangement. Good job!
Well that sure says something! :grin:


I like it, but I kept expecting the mandolin solo to jump out at some point ;)

And no, it isn't hard driving blue/newgrass... but it sounds great! Go with your musical instincts for sure, you are on the right track. I like to describe music with terms that are not so loaded with connotation. Modern acoustic music, modern folk/country, progressive acoustic music...

Another way to phrase it is "done with bluegrass instrumentation." Or "acoustic instrumentation."

Sometimes to "grass it up" means to play it very fast with a lot of instrumental breaks, but that doesn't seem appropriate here...
Thanks! :D
I'm not quite skilled enough to play an actual break. I did however introduce some 'wandering off' between verses and the end now has some slightly dramatic but simple riffing. I like the modern country/folk name, I'd even make it 'contemporary' country/folk.

Once I've improved I'll try to really 'grass it up'. Not this song in particular, since it probably wouldn't work anyway. That might take a while, since I'm playing all the instruments and would need to be able to take breaks on all of those instruments. Having said that, I want to pick up dobro also once I've saved enough to afford one. :)

[Cue Zephyr]

Dang it. Too late to edit!

This is it's final form, it's been submitted already.

http://youtu.be/j6928UrHce0

[Jim Broyles]

I just played your song at approximately 131.5% speed, which put it around 104 BPM and it sounded fantastic. IMO it is much too slow to appeal to a bluegrass loving audience. Like I said before , it is a nice pop song, with banjo and mandolin, but it improves vastly at a faster tempo.

[Cue Zephyr]

My entry was chosen as a runner-up. I'm happy. :)

http://wecameasstrangers.com/we-have-a-winner/

I'll remember the thing about tempo. I'll just have to get better at playing my instruments so I can actually keep up with it. :grin:

[dang]

My entry was chosen as a runner-up. I'm happy. :)

Congratulations!