I cowrote this with a friend. I had the hook and most of the music. He helped me with the chords for the bridge and with the lyrics.

I made this song from scratch, instrumentation-wise. I created drums, bass and marimba on the computer with the PSR-S900 as playback device. I then created an organ part on the keyboard.

Vocals are mine with help of Celemony Studio 3 for harmonies and improvement of pitch.

Electric guitars are all done by yours truly.

It's called "It's Like a Rocket." It's at:
www.myspace.com/larrylevin

Beakybird



[This message has been edited by Beakybird (edited 03-30-2009).]

Larry, Great JOB!!

Every one seems to get better and better than the last. Great guitar work and backing vocals.

Good Work, Keep it up

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God Bless,
Mikey

www.mikeymaestro.com
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www.77bucks.com Affordable web design

Larry ... sounds good ... one of your best vocal efforts... you should have been writing songs in the late 50's early 60's ...

thnx for posting ...

t.

I agree. Your work gets better and better with each piece...IMO of course.

Eddie

Good rocker, Larry...

Only thing that grated on me a little bit was the marimbas... not exactly rock and roll there. A big rollickin' piano part, a bit of Jerry Lee might help it out.

But, just my opinion, no big thing. Song is strong, bridge got Beatles-y again, but is fun...

Nice job!

I liked this...

Whole different feel from your other material.

Mix wise, I wanted to hear more of a rhythm instrument through most of the song. I thought the lead vocal might be just a tad...just tad... a little hot.

I liked this vocal alot...

Cheers

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Bill in Dayton

Thank you so much for listening! I applied some vocal touch ups with Celemony to my other songs, and they sound much better too. It was scary to see my vocal performances on a staff and see how off key I was. But I quickly discovered that too much correction sounds unnatural - at least for lead vocals. I wouldn't have even thought of purchasing Celemony if it hadn't been for some complaints from you guys that my voice gets off key.

If I get any success with this project, I am going to spend some money on vocal lessons with the best teacher I can find in Chicagoland.

I wanted a retro feel with this song. One of my favorite Stones songs - sound wise - is Under My Thumb which has marimbas or some similar percussive instrument. I thought about piano, but with the rhythm guitar and rotary organ, I wanted something sparse.

Bill in Dayton says: Mix wise, I wanted to hear more of a rhythm instrument through most of the song. I thought the lead vocal might be just a tad...just tad... a little hot.

I will try taking some of the crunch off the rhythm guitar and turning down the lead vocal just a tad to see what results I get. Thanks so much for the suggestion.

Thanks so much for listening. Because of a few constructive critiques of the lyrics on that "In My House of Love" song, I rewrote much of it with some input from a friend who's also a songwriter and who also was an English major.

I'm sending out demos now. Hopefully, I won't get too many letters back with the two words: "Wrong decade."

Beakybird

Well we finally have a success story! The criticism wasn't taken personally, but applied constructively and a forum member has been able to use the input from us as a learning experience.

A lot of times guys says things in the most careless of ways and the basic concept they're trying to get across gets lost in the bluster and rudeness.

Sometimes the recipient of this advice/criticism is sooooo uber sensitive that again, the value of the message gets lost in self defense mechanisms.

Refreshing to see the scenario end up differently for a change...

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Bill in Dayton

[This message has been edited by Bill in Dayton (edited 03-31-2009).]

I personally don't think anyone here is qualified to make any professional criticism on anyone's music. With that in mind Larry shouldn't let anyone derail his original direction on his songs which will only cause a misdirection of the original intent by the writer & his perception of ideas. I'm glad he is pursuing his dream as a song writer but the SZ is not the place to invoke input for your musical success.
Sorry for being honest..

DNJ, if someone tells me that my voice is out of tune, and I say, "Hey, you're infringing on my original intent as a songwriter," that's pretty stupid.

If several people in different forums say that your hook is great, but the other lyrics aren't very professional, should I tell them, "Hey, if I change anything, that's messing with my original perception." That's pretty dumb too.

Because of some constructive criticism, I tuned up my vocals, and I reexamined a song, and wrote verses that were more cohesive with the theme of the hook.

I'm intelligent enough to take any critique with a grain of salt. But I'm also intelligent enough to listen to people and see if what they says reverberates with what others say and what my inner voice says.

Beakybird

Who was asking for PROFESSIONAL criticism, Donny?

You don't give enough credit to the poster to realize who he is posting to? After being here and reading our posts for a long time?

You accept the criticism that your audience gives you every night. Did they like you? Did they hate you? Did they care one way or the other...? Are any of THEM 'professional' critics..? Of course not. But you still listen to THEM...

I guess I had too many Martinis today.....good luck to you.

[This message has been edited by Dnj (edited 03-31-2009).]

So Donny, are you telling us that you NEVER picked up good advice from ANYONE??? ...

Man, I ALWAYS at least LISTEN, because I never know when someone may say something that makes sense ...
t.

Tony I absorb infomation from my lifes experiences from what I see & hear,deciding what to use or chuck out.. ....that's a big difference then "asking for it" from unknown sources that could totaly ruin my initial direction..

'Asking for it' doesn't mean you have to follow it, does it, Donny?

Why would I ask for people to tell me what they think of my songs if I'm not going to listen to what they say?

When and if the song is for sale at Wal-Mart and Best Buy, then I won't ask for opinions on the web. I'll ask the producer what he thinks.

Beakybird

Beaky I really hope you get that far.......a friend of mine used to go play in the Walmart's parking lot for free to get his name around the community......
he eventually got signed & is a happy camper now.Then again you dont have to be good to get signed its all about who you know more then the talent you possess.....good luck.

Asking for other people's criticism, opinions, etc. is NOT a weakness, its a strength...

Diki is right...You telling us you've never considered the feedback your audiences gave you during a performance for future shows?

The Columbus analogy is weak because to compare a scientific endeavor to an artistic one is rife with holes.

Hoagy Charmichal "Stardust" was originally to be played as a quickstep, but a friend thought the melody needed to be slowed down. Was HC wrong to make the change?

Did you eat something you shouldn't have today?



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Bill in Dayton

Careful Beaky... old joke:

Q) How many producers does it take to change a light bulb?

A) (Producer says) 'I don't know... what do YOU think?!'

I'm guessing you never bought a CD or record album then...or passed on the same??

The only professional critic are those who make the decision to purchase the music.

If I hear a song, I first ask myself if I would want to purchase that song....IF not I explain why. I cannot say great things about a song I would not buy to listen to again and again.That would be disingenuous.

In my opinion the Rolling Stones wrote and recorded terrible songs, always have. I never spent a dime on their music. Yet they were successful as was Tiny Tim.

EVERYONE is a valid critc of another's art.

[This message has been edited by Kingfrog (edited 04-01-2009).]