I am (Guerrilla)

[LeeRosario]

Got a new one for the grinder. Go easy on me I'm a bleeder . A bit of a change of pace on this one... called "I am".

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8196441

 

[jeffmaher]

Love it. Unique. Aggressive. Musical.

So who's the guy in the band with the classical training? Neapolitan progression? That rocks!! I'm hearing Carcassi....

I'm really impressed by the bass sound...and the musicality of all the playing. Very good. Damn good.

Certainly several cuts above the usual three chord, roots and fifths, unguided missile garage rock thing. There's some real skill and study apparent.

Did I mention I love it?

 

[LeeRosario]

Love it. Unique. Aggressive. Musical.

So who's the guy in the band with the classical training? Neapolitan progression? That rocks!! I'm hearing Carcassi....

I'm really impressed by the bass sound...and the musicality of all the playing. Very good. Damn good.

Certainly several cuts above the usual three chord, roots and fifths, unguided missile garage rock thing. There's some real skill and study apparent.

Did I mention I love it?

Jeff, you sure know how to butter up a guy . This one is definitely a personal favorite of mine as well. The chorus progression was actually something I brought up from a dream I had. I was trapped in the 70s or something like that... Something kind of beatles meets indie? I do have the basic theory background, but I just mainly sounded it out while I played it on the piano.

Just crazy to think that it actually has a name. I'll be reading up for sure. I like writing in that focus.

 

[jeffmaher]

Aha! A 'head tune'. They're always the better compositions...written by the superior subconscious composer.

The neapolitan is, in classical harmony, the bII maj chord of a minor key. It's an archaic, bluesy substitute for the V chord. In this case, the bass is playing the leading tone [G#] of the Am tonality in the bottom of the Bb chord [ the dom7 of Bb.....also the b5 of the 'ghost' E7].....so the chord could be said to function as an E7b5 [root b5] lending a whole-tonie kind of moment [a more jazzy construction] on the V7. [if you played a solo over the changes, that would be a great place for a Steve Vai 'out' moment, whole tone phrase, eg] And the G# chromatically resolves to the tonal root nicely. Strong shit.

Any way you look at it, it just struck my ear hard, and pleasantly. I don't hear that kind of musical finesse in most radio rock. Unlass it's like, Barry Manilow, who rips a lot of his tunes from 600 year old classical pieces, but has no edge whatever. :^)

So, like, did your mom play a lot of classical stuff in the house when you were a tyke? You got ears. Listen to that music playing in your head. And render it faithfully...

In other words...go with this muse!

 

[philbagg]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig14jYmk5v4 - from 2:40

This reminded me of it

Good work Lee, I'm very impressed. Brill overall, killer bass sound

 

[jeffmaher]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig14jYmk5v4 - from 2:40

This reminded me of it

Amazing what's happened to the polka.....

 

[LeeRosario]

So, like, did your mom play a lot of classical stuff in the house when you were a tyke? You got ears. Listen to that music playing in your head. And render it faithfully...

In other words...go with this muse!

Actually, ironically enough, she did! It was a Mozart tune, but I forget which one

 

[dementedchord]

the neapolitan is, in classical harmony, the bII maj chord of a minor key. It's an archaic, bluesy substitute for the V chord.

not quite... the bii7 in "classical theory" doesn't substitute for the V but moves to the V... more of a special version of the VofV... and was in practice primarily in the romantic period... think chopin... you can hear it today used in things like the Fox Football theme...

as to it's use as a substitute chord ... that's more of a jazz thing... called a tritone sub... warning! (to non theoryheads)

consider for a moment the V7 chord... in "C" we know it as the G7... the movement from the chord comes as a result of the "tritone" of B-F the 3rd and 7th of the chord... now consider the bii7.. the Db7 in "C" it's power comes from the tritone of B-F the 3rd and 7th of the chord.... coincidence???? sure but it's a hell of a powerful one... so in jazz it's not unusuall to play ii-V-I rather than I-IV-V like in rock... so try it as ii-bII7-I... if you can grasp this you're on your way to all kindsa neat things... consider it's importance as pivot chords for modulations... it means any tritone has 2 resolutions.. 1 inward and 1 outward... now consider the fully dim chord.. it's constructed by 4 tones a min 3rd apart... that gives you 4 different tritones!!! 4 resolutions for any dim chord... and there are only 2 to learn... there will be a quiz thurs...


oh and props for the tune...

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Good song. I enjoyed it.

Though I wasn't impressed by the little flute just before 2:00. It sounded pretty synthy, like something out of an old Kings Quest game or something.

 

[LeeRosario]

not quite... the bii7 in "classical theory" doesn't substitute for the V but moves to the V... more of a special version of the VofV... and was in practice primarily in the romantic period... think chopin... you can hear it today used in things like the Fox Football theme...

as to it's use as a substitute chord ... that's more of a jazz thing... called a tritone sub... warning! (to non theoryheads)

consider for a moment the V7 chord... in "C" we know it as the G7... the movement from the chord comes as a result of the "tritone" of B-F the 3rd and 7th of the chord... now consider the bii7.. the Db7 in "C" it's power comes from the tritone of B-F the 3rd and 7th of the chord.... coincidence???? sure but it's a hell of a powerful one... so in jazz it's not unusuall to play ii-V-I rather than I-IV-V like in rock... so try it as ii-bII7-I... if you can grasp this you're on your way to all kindsa neat things... consider it's importance as pivot chords for modulations... it means any tritone has 2 resolutions.. 1 inward and 1 outward... now consider the fully dim chord.. it's constructed by 4 tones a min 3rd apart... that gives you 4 different tritones!!! 4 resolutions for any dim chord... and there are only 2 to learn... there will be a quiz thurs...


oh and props for the tune...

You know it's good for me to hear the technical phrasing of the progessions. Like I said, I know basic music theory for my piano class days in high school, but nothing extremely in depth.

I think from a internal feeling point of view, I'm able to write a good setup (intro, body and resolution) to a phrase, but I'd like to learn the technical side of things.

They say producers with little or no technical musical experience write simple, but more "organically felt" music. I guess more about the song as a whole. And the tech guys seem to go more elaborate, sometimes too elaborate in getting things to fit like a razor sharp puzzle. Sometimes good and sometimes bad.

 

[rayc]

Lee,
another side of you.
I'm not fussed on the panned/harm. vox @24secs "spring" - though I gues it might be an audio pun. They come as a shock & there's no follow up nearby.
I like the word play & your melodies are always pleasing.
I'd either get a better version or distort/treat the flute sample it's a little lost & anonymous in the mix as it is.
Great song, good capture & I look forward to the release of the LEE album.
As to the high falutinness of the discussion - I think you came across, (albeit in a dream), something that sounded good, different & right; which you incorporated in your song - such is the way that music has developed over time.
I also know you can slip into that reflexive, reptilian sub cortex mode of thought & drag up some classic elemental rock.
I like both sides.

 

[dintymoore]

Nice job - good tune, arrangement, vocals.

#1 good thing - not boring (main thing wrong with most music).

Only thing I noticed was there was some frequencies in the upper mids that bugged me. Like if you listen to the first three notes - A, C and E, the E pops out too much for me and I hear that throughout the song.

I'm real sensitive to E's because they have a funny sound, I think it's actually the B in the E that sounds like a buzzer to me, and that pops out very easily.

You gotta be real careful when you record about the tuning, and don't rely on guitar tuners - they only rough it in. You can have a B that is in tune and doesn't poke and another that's just a hair different and sticks out like a buzzer. You hit a B and then a Bb and see if the Bb doesn't sound warm and the B sounds like a buzzer - any instrument, any room, any eq, it's the color of the note.

But that's tweaking stuff (fine tuning), the main part is there.

Good job!

 

[joeym]

Cool stuff, Lee, very original sounding.
Love the guitars on this. Great singing, totally good performance all round. Cute scratch sounds..... Good song great work!

Joey

 

[LeeRosario]

Cool stuff, Lee, very original sounding.
Love the guitars on this. Great singing, totally good performance all round. Cute scratch sounds..... Good song great work!

Joey

Thanks man, means alot! Really good input here and definitely good notes to balance here.

 

[JonPaulP]

Sounds good man!