I'm almost always in my 'rehearsal' room which is separate from my so-called 'studio', and where my beloved organ resides. But I went into my studio to listen to some drum loops. I wanted to do a slow semi-funky version of Funny Valentine. I found one I liked and started to play around with it on my Fantom G7. But I thought about the recent post on GOSPEL music and decided to try out an old so-called 'Negro Spiritual' called 'Sometimes I feel like a motherless child', which has a similar beginning chord progression. I'm sure the chords are not correct since I'm just playing it the way I remember it from 40 years ago. In any case, the melody is very pretty but sad and melancholy as you would expect, given it's tragic orgins.

I multitracked it using the downloaded Cakewalk that Bachus so generously pointed us to. It's unmixed, uncompressed, and not equalized, so it sounds kind of raw. I also didn't bother to correct any mistakes (too lazy). The instruments used were:
Fantom G7 - Vocal samples (the hums) and Choir pad
Triton Classic - "Ghosttown Coronet" patch ('Truuuuue Believer')
Tyros2 - Piano (should have used G7) and Guitar (last chorus)
Drums are two patterns from one of my VST packages

This took me about 1 1/2 hrs., mainly because 1) I didn't know Cakewalk and 2) It took me awhile to relearn the keyboards I hadn't used in such a long time. When I get time, I'll look up the correct chords and do it again on my organ.

Anyhoo, I was going for sort of a funky/blues feel.

chas

https://app.box.com/s/cc47s663j2ilnhwq6cygvbbg8bxhcvsm

Thanks for sharing Chas - nice chops there! I really liked the Coronet and the piano sounded so very acoustic. The vocal samples were nice background, maybe a tad louder.

Really nice! Sounds like a live combo! Thanks for sharing Chas.

Proper job, Col

Hi Chas,

Just listening as I write......
Lovely tune and great playing. Allow me some constructive criticism ?
The piano sound is too much up front and while the bass and drums are just about right I would give more prominence to the brass/sax sounds cutting in here in there....

regards,
John

WOW, chas, I'd got that feeling too, and your recording also made me feel it was some musicians / friends jamming, it sounds real good and feels very live.

Thanks guys. GJ, the 'live' feel is probably due to the 'live' drum loop. John, you're entirely correct, of course. No excuses, just too lazy to mix and eq it. The 'sax', btw, is a breathy, 'verby tenor sax from my ancient PA1x Pro. I usually do this type of 'shadowy' background 'accents' with a 'muted trumpet' patch (like Miles used to do behind a lot of singers like Chaka Kahn) but again too lazy to move over to the Triton for the patch I normally like to use . Same with the piano, I intended to use the Fantom G7 piano which, IMO, is much better, but.....I was already sitting at the Tyros 2 . Oh well, maybe I'll do a rough mix on it but most likely I'll re-record it using a different approach and different instruments. The fun is in the experimenting. Hopefully, next time will be with my Crumar Seven if it ever emerges from backorder. Rhodes and B3, how sweet it is.

chas

That was very tasty Chas. Being that it is a gospel song, I think a vocal would be
really make this track shine. Either way, it was really nice and thanks fir sharing.

chas ... I loved it ... played it a couple of times through my UE Bluetooth speaker while having breakfast ... sounded really nice ...
Thank you ...

Just got around to listening while having my morning cup of coffee.
First off thank you for taking the time to share your work with us
& I hope you will indulge us many more times in the future.
That said I really enjoyed listening to this song it brings back memories for sure. The slow sultry vibe really digs into you all the way thru, Could it be EQ'd better to bring out and balance different parts,volumes, etc, yes, otherwise a great heartfelt rendition that put a smile on my face, Thank you