www.myspace.com/larrylevin www.reverbnation.com/larrylevin

Title: Nothing Really Matters Much
Pop ballad
74 bpm
3:45
Piano, bass, percussion, strings done on PSR-S900
Drums done with EZ Drummer
Acoustic: Yamaha LL400 acoustic
Electric: Yamaha Pacifica USA2

I hope you like it.

I took a hiatus from recording the last few months. I've gotten a lot of rejections from publishers. Still waiting to hear from some others.

I've entered several of my songs in some songwriting contests, and I will find out about those in September and October.

In the meantime, I have been doing Brett Manning's singing success: www.singingsuccess.com. I cannot recommend it more highly. I have been doing the exercises for about 5 weeks, and I have learned to get into my head voice. I still have a lot of progress to make.

I think you will notice some improvement with my vocals.

I'm also really proud of the electric guitar solo.

I just fully converted the drum track from my PSR to EZDrummer and uploaded it again.

Thanks for listening

Beakybird



[This message has been edited by Beakybird (edited 08-04-2009).]

Another great tune, Larry. Still very seventies, though, which is not a BAD thing, but if you are getting more rejections that you want, you might try maybe listening to a bunch of stuff by the Killers, or Puddle of Mud, or Kings of Leon, etc., and see if you can't write something like those guys. Are the publishers you are sending to specializing in older music for films and TV? Truth is, if not, they are looking for stuff that is basically NOW...

But don't let it get you down. Even successful songwriters have maybe 99% of what they write rejected, or not used. But that one hit will feed you for a year or two! There's only one way to win in this business, and that is to be persistent... for years, if necessary.

You've got talent and a steady output... the trick may be as simple as writing stuff that THEY like, rather than what YOU like...

Beakybird - great work all around! You have a nice approach to your songs. Plenty of energy for sure! I listened to several of your cuts and they all sound like they should be in a broadway production number!

Keep up the great work and don't be discouraged. Life is full of ups and unfortunately as many (or more sometimes!) downs. Hang in there and keep plugging.

Also - great job on the recordings. Good clarity in your vocals and great job balancing the mix out!

Randy

Nice production Larry. You have done a great job with both the performance and recording. And I did like the guitar solo. How did you record that?

Thanks to all three of you! To tell the truth, I have been getting a little discouraged, and I've pulled back from full throttle (which has probably saved my marriage anyway). Like many songwriters, I suffer from illusions of grandeur. I thought that one of my recent songs, Please Say Yes, sounded so incredible that no publisher in his right mind would reject it. It has been rejected by about 6 publishers so far.

In my reverbnation account, I can see that the average listener to "Please Say Yes" listens to 38% of the song. If that's the average listener, what do you think is the percentage for publishers? None of them probably listen up to the point where there are multi harmonies weaving in and out.

I will try to sound less '70's. The melody of the chorus of this new song, while super catchy IMO, is vintage sounding to put it mildly, but I thought that the melody and sound of the verse is more modern. I wanted to get a little bit of a Wallflowers feel, at least vocally, slurring my words a bit. Hopefully, the hook's catchiness can overcome it's old fashioned sound. I know that this decade's pop songwriters are much more tangential in their reference to love.

What I would like to ask a Yamaha user is, if I wanted to make this particular song sound more like a ballad by the Goo Goo Dolls or by the Fray or Matt Nathanson, what style would I use? Would I chuck the PSR altogether and use software? If so, what software?

To Nigel, thanks. Recording done with Yamaha USA2 in middle pickup position. Electric guitar has a capo on the first fret because I wanted to get an open chord sound on the solo. I am using Peavey Revalver sofware with one of the British settings along with a bit of Sonar 7 Studio Edition reverb.

My trying to learn the solo to Aerosmith's Dream On when I was younger, helped me in devising and performing the triplets going down during the solo.

Thanks again,

Beakybird


[This message has been edited by Beakybird (edited 08-05-2009).]

If you are trying for a Wallflowers feel, or any contemporary music (which the Wallflowers are honestly a little past their shelf life, anyway!), you've got to concentrate a LOT more about just the basic chord and melody structure. It's not simply a matter of STYLE...

What I would suggest is to go out, and buy two or three CD's by bands currently successful. Now chart each song, Nashville out the chords, and write the melody... Look for how simple things tend to be. Look for how little complexity in the changes there is. Look for how often sections repeat whole chord structures from other parts of the song. Look at the melody, and see how relatively un-virtuostic it is...

That's the sound of modern pop. It is generally a far cry from the typical chordal complexity in music from the sixties and seventies, and the vocal stylings and range are completely different.

Look at how fast the hook arrives. You seldom get the length of setup for the hook as you used to. Sometimes, there IS no hook, just a change of guitar tone!

You've also got to understand that, except possibly in Nashville, there really isn't the market for selling songs to publishing houses any more. Bands write their own material, on the whole, or work with songwriters they are familiar with. Ever since the Beatles, bands have realized that the majority of the money to be made doesn't come from selling a few records. It comes from owning the songs themselves.
Once upon a time, the job of the A&R man was to put Artists and Repertoire together, pick the songs that suited the band or singer. Now their job is to go out and find artists that are usually writing their own stuff, and get them signed with as little input as possible...

Maybe a different avenue than simply submitting songs to publishing houses is to go out and find good local bands that might be receptive to your writing, and see if THEY want to use your songs. In other words, bypass the publishing house. If they get signed, you'll get the deal... But perhaps working with young musicians that NEED material might get you into writing songs in the style of modern bands. I'm afraid it's a kind of uphill battle tying to sell something as dated as this is (no offense, just describing the genre).

But there's a LOT about your writing style that naturally reflects what you are most interested in. Unfortunately, the time to write those songs was back in the seventies, when that WAS the style. Immerse yourself in what is NOW, steep yourself in the chordal vocabulary that is being spoken NOW, the melody styles that are being used, and you vastly increase your chance of success.

Trying to shoehorn a modern arranger style on dated chords and melody won't help at all, IMO. It's got little to do with the production (publishing houses won't give a damn about the production), and everything to do with the song...

Diki's advice is spot on!

But Larry, let me say that your song and your music are very good. I haven't written many songs, but those I have are more similar to your style than to today's music, as Diki would say. My explanation for that is that my mind is thinking keyboard and melody all the time, certainly not what we hear on air today. Take Diki's advice to heart, but let it fuel you to make something completely different and outstanding. As I said, your music is good and enjoyable and getting better all the time. The guitar solo was very excellent, but kind of buried; bring it more out front and beef it up.
Actually, I think your music is kind of American Idol music - pop with a little rock flavor and a decent melody.

Larry... it's not about what music you play, it's all about who you know & how much money they can make off it as usual the harsh reality.... ...welcome to world of music production.

Well I know that the reality out there is harsh.

It would be almost impossible for me to write a hit pop song. There are extremely few artists out there who aren't doing their own songs. There are probably ten thousand great songwriters who already have a feel for the modern sounds that are out there, who don't need a crash course, and even they cannot get heard.

I'm going to plug along anyway. I'm hoping that one of my songs might get noticed in a songwriting contest. I'm also working on my vocals so that I can sing the songs myself. Maybe I won't be a superstar, but I give myself better than even odds of getting something together that pays at least as much or better than what I make in the senior circuit.

I would like to modernize my sound, maybe if not up to modern pop level at least up to what is adult contemporary. I like David Gray. He's got good songs with some catchy melodies. The structures of his songs are more what I'm used to. But I notice that his percussion sounds more modern.

Maybe I can't be someone that I am not, but I at least can spice things up a little and evolve.

Is there any EZ Drummer plug in that has more of the newer beat patterns? Or would I be better off with some Acid type of loops?

Thanks for steering me in the right direction.

And I will be remixing this new song with a slightly more prominent guitar solo.

Beakybird

[This message has been edited by Beakybird (edited 08-05-2009).]

Yesterday I put up a remix of the song. Just better balanced all around + added more movement to the bass part and more volume to electric solo. I might add some background oohs and aahs later on.

I'm posting, however, because I would love to get some information on what software I might use to get some of the rhythm sounds used in today's pop.

I have EZ Drummer with no expansions, and the clips they have are pretty much straight on drumming. Maybe I haven't explored it thoroughly. Could someone recommend an expansion pack or an Acid type of product?

Beakybird

I would highly recommend StylusRMX for contemporary beats that you can still manipulate more than most Acid type loops. If you want some great modern flava to be added to the EZ Drummer loops (don't forget some of their expansion packs, I'm a big fan of the percussion and Twisted Kit sounds), StylusRMX might be right up your street.

Sale on EZ Drummer expansion packs...
http://www.macmusic.org/news/view.php/lang/en/id/8317/

At the very least, I'd get the Percussion one, but if you have the moolah, load up on 'em, Larry

Thanks Diki!

That's $45 per EZDrummer expansion at Guitar Center stores. I think they're normally $79 aren't they?

I'll look into Stylus RMX. Is it pretty easy to use? I don't have time for a big learning curve.

Another question, why would you recommend the Latin Percussion for my type of songwriting? Wouldn't that be mostly a lot of merengues, salsas, cha cha chas, beguines, and bossa novas?

I'm probably going to buy the Twisted and the Nashville expansions.

Beakybird

Just because something might need a conga part, or some good shakers, or a little hand percussion doesn't mean it is a Latin song. Plenty of percussion of all kinds of genre's, Larry. Remember, they ain't loops, just kits (and some MIDI files to drive them). A well programmed cabasa or tambourine pattern can help lift a chorus, or allow for a more stripped down drum part...

Thing is, if you are replacing out the S900's drums with something more realistic, why not replace the latin perc too?