Raiders of the Lost Hoagie (Ark of Philadelphia)

[Caravan Ray]

My personal thoughts are that anyone can play an instrument, and if that person is a songwriter, good things happen.

Reisty is absolutely right.

I didn't really 'play' any instruments on my song this wek. It is almost all (slightly tweaked) AppleLoops.

The only "real" instrument is a ukulele - but I'm not 'really' playing it. Basically, my daughter has rendered my ukulele unplayable (it is actually her 'guitar'). To get the ukulele strumming sound, I recorded four separate tracks of me playing a two note riff, one string at a time. This 4 second sample (only 2 actual notes, plucked 4 times each) was then looped through the rest of the song To do the chord change bit, I had to re-tune the uke and do it all again. It is a technique that a complete non-guitarist could do easily.

Many of my songs contain similar non-guitar playing. I often record just one single strummed chord - then loop it and pitch shift it into a song.

Not being able to play a guitar is absolutely no excuse for not playing a guitar. (and this applies for every musical instrument - I can't wait to get started working on songs with my new sitar).

Eric, there is absolutely no reason to apologise for simplistic music - but don't let it limit you. Just grab some instruments and see what noises you gan make with them - buy a toy ukulele or harmonica, borrow a guitar, whatever. You're writing good songs - that's the hard bit covered, filling in the music is the fun part.

[MC Eric B]

Very interesting. I had no idea you were not really playing instruments. You sound like a real band/musician to me. I will try more in the future to do stuff like you mentioned.

- Eric

[fretnoize]

Eric,
I'm going to have to agree with the sentiment that you should learn an instrument or two. Once you start to learn an instrument and improvisation on an instrument you'll be able to get closer and closer to how you envision your songs. I don't know if you know much theory either, but that will help you too. But, don't be intimidated by music theory stuff. I think one of my teachers at school put it best, something along the lines of "You already know everything about music theory, I can't teach you anything new, we're just here to give everything definitions". Basically what he's saying is your ears are already familiar with how music works and it's various aspects. (granted this was a contemporary harmony class and not, say counter point or traditional harmony class, where the rules might not be so obvious, damn you parallel fifths!)

Your Mbox should have come with some awesome stuff... last time I checked it came with a synth/sampler (Xpand), some drum software (BFD lite - I own the full version of BFD and love it, not positive but that should be at least one full kit to play with. If I take the time to program the drums right people usually think they're real drums or at least are not sure). There's even more I'm leaving out. You should look into taking advantage of these tools! I have pro tools as well, and I'm sure there are probably some others here too that have it. I have the M-powered edition so I only got about 1/2 the neat stuff you did. Anyway, if you have questions or anything, or want to know how to do something in pro tools feel free to ask.

[howling monkey]

Zipline dense. kinda hard to follow and hear the words.

eddie lance very nice progression

feldspar you got a good voice. don't try so hard.

caravan ray i like this tune. great concept. the horn section and breakdown are great.

mc eric b you scared me with that.

the weakest suit

a pathetic wannabe in these days of free/cheap recording software...

knights of griznacht prog rock!

binary red the time thing is throwin me off

stu jordan i like this. not my style, but it's good. good work, dude. got a nice melody, nice acoustic guitar work -- not over-done. The tapping solo kinda kills it a little, though. The tone is so nasty.

paco del stinko it's kindaTMBG-ish with all the MIDI instruments and a whole lotta everything else. But it's a story-song, and you can't go wrong there.

[Paco Del Stinko]

with all the MIDI instruments

Whoa. I just want to point out that no midi was harmed during the recording of the song. I don't know if I should take it as an insult or a compliment. Either one's fine though, I'm glad you gave it a go.

[glennny]

I can back up Paco, I've been to his studio. It's all real instruments. He's just a master player! And a master producer! He's the real deal and I'm continually awestruck by his talent and musicianship.

[Paco Del Stinko]

I'm blushing! But perhaps it has more to do with me not knowing what all those cute little buttons actually do!

[Kill Me Sarah]

Just thought I'd contribute some reviews, I know it's been a while. I haven't read anyone else's reviews, so sorry if I repeat anything.

A Pathetic Wannabe This has a Springsteen feel. I actually like this more than I like most Springsteen, nice melody. The vocals are also a little Lou Reed-y. It sounds like there's a little clipping in places, fixing the levels would do wonders, but overall a really nice song.


Binary Red Reminds me of the last FAWM song I did Some interesting sounds in there. I like the rhythm. The timing is a little off which I guess is a no-no in general, and a BIG no-no for electronic, so fixing that would help. Sounds like you did the beat and then cut and pasted it which I realize from experience is really tricky. I really like the little scratch flourish around 2:30. Overall I think it's a promising track if you fix the timing problems.

Caravan Ray Haha, this is fun. A little "Yes, We Have No Bananas" feel to it. I like it. Now where did I set my rum & coke?

Eddie Lance This is really nice. It has a movie score feel to it. I think you should keep in mind that with repeated listens, that intro could get a little annoying, but then Bright Eyes gets away with it on the first track of every one of his albums I like the "tinkly" part at the end. Sounds ripe for someone to sample.

Feldspar I like the 60's guitar sound a lot. This a simple, fun ditty. Could imagine this being a Cat Stevens song.

The Knights of Griznacht Kinda cool how the bass seems to just emerge from the horn at the beginning. I think this would probably be cool to watch live, but it's a little long for my taste to be a Song Fight! entry, especially considering it's an instrumental, but it does have some very cool instrumentation.

MC Eric B Wow, your style has changed a lot since last time I listened to you. It's cool to hear people's skills progress. Even though SF! can be brutal, there's no denying that it's educational You're really coming along.

Paco del Stinko This kind of reminds me of TMBG. Makes me wish I could drum and I like the flangey guitar (is that flange...always get my FX confused). Fun song.

Stu Jordan Really like the acoustic rhythm. I really like this song. The only thing I'd change is that the lead sounds a bit "busy" in places (especially towards the end) which is another thing I find myself doing sometimes too. I think I'd like this stripped down a bit, just you and acoustic.

Weakest Suit Reminds me of this song I did once. That said, how could I not like it? Seriously though, I like the melody and the vocals are really nice (I describe things as "nice" a lot, I need a thesaurus).

Zipline I like the dirty guitar a lot. Reminds me of Vitalogy-era Pearl Jam a little. I think this is my favorite.

[halen99]

but then Bright Eyes gets away with it on the first track of every one of his albums

ha, I'm proud to live in Omaha where Conor is from. Love Love Love the Bright Eyes

Eddie

[Paco Del Stinko]

Makes me wish I could drum and I like the flangey guitar (is that flange...always get my FX confused).

Ha! I wish I could drum too, but I'm trying, thanks! The guitar is using a wah pedal on that one part, other than that it's just guitar into amp.

[Kill Me Sarah]

I need to get a wah, but I probably have to learn that talent of being able to tap my feet at the same time as playing, lol.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Congrats to the Pathetic Wannabee! Good tunes beat production anyday. Also, thanks to the people who voted for me, this is tied for either my first or second highest vote count yet. Told you I'd finish in the top ten!

[howling monkey]

with all the MIDI instruments

Whoa. I just want to point out that no midi was harmed during the recording of the song. I don't know if I should take it as an insult or a compliment. Either one's fine though, I'm glad you gave it a go.

whoa, my bad. no harm intended. It was, after all, a nice song, even if I got the wrong guess on the instruments!

[howling monkey]

but then Bright Eyes gets away with it on the first track of every one of his albums

ha, I'm proud to live in Omaha where Conor is from. Love Love Love the Bright Eyes

Eddie

u from omaha? me too. (in nyc now) go big o!

[The Weakest Suit]

Here are some reviews. Three instrumentals in the first five songs was initially disappointing, but after a few listens I got past it and was able to see what each artist was trying to achieve.

Binary Red – This is ok for instrumental background music. I’m not a fan of the long notes at the end. Maybe the mix on them was too loud.

Caravan Ray – The fake accent and the fact that Philadelphia is not a coastal city (to be able to easily sail to) were both factors that worked against my enjoyment of the song. I liked this one, but I usually like your songs more than this one.

Eddie Lance – The “old recording” part sounds like Chris Redfield trying to play the Moonlight Sonata in the original Resident Evil game. The ending sounds eerily like the opening music in Final Fantasy X. Sorry about all the video game references. I did enjoy it quite a bit. The back story was a nice touch and I liked the contrast between the two parts.

Feldspar – I found this to be a straight up poppy number with a very noodle-y guitar solo. A fuller arrangement would probably add to the catchiness of the song, but as, it’s a nice study in writing a well-crafted song.

The Knights of – This instrumental is very rough around the edges. It comes off as an improvisation that one would come across on an old tape of band practice, having forgotten it was ever recorded.

MC Eric B – I feel like I’ve heard this one before. The melody is very similar to other songs you’ve submitted. Like the Caravan Ray song, I liked this song, but I’ve liked other songs you’ve submitted much more.

Paco del Stinko – You should have won for the “dwell”/“live” line as well as the half-spelled out chorus. Very fun. Multiple listens. Still fun.

Pathetic Wanna – This is kind of dirge. I’m not a fan of all the pop culture references to Philadelphia and Arks. I know that’s the point of the verses, but I just found it to be lackadaisical lyric writing. There is a very literal interpretation of every title, and this seems to be the one for this fight. I liked it fine, but it didn’t feel very deep.

Stu Jordan – This is the nicest guitar playing in the fight. I really enjoyed this song.

The Weakest Suit – Me. This song was completely improvised into my mp3 player’s mic: lyrics, chords, the whole thing. That’s why the structure is very hap-hazard. After listening back, I liked it enough to try to reproduce it on my Roland. The only change was in the original I referenced “Olympia” and in the submitted version I changed it to “Astoria” (where the Goonies took place, and because it sounds like a fantasy land like Fantasia). The rest of the lyrics are all stream of consciousness goop that somehow came together quite well. The singing was also better in the original mp3 player version. If anyone is interested in hearing the improvised file, just let me know. I also used a tambourine that I received for my birthday for the first time. It’s sloppy playing because I had never used one before. Thanks to everyone who reviewed my song. I’ll try to review more often.

Zipline – Instrumentally, this sounds very Fugazi (guitar tone and drums). This is the only entry in the fight that sounds like a collaborative effort of a whole band. I like this song quite a bit. The mix is a bit muddy for my ears, but I’ll take it because whole-band entries at songfight seem to be few and far between.

A note about multiple titles. I know it cuts down on fight size and makes everything seem more managable, but I have been missing the continuity of the individual songfighters. It's hard to explain, but the division of the artists each week somewhat keeps me from following the developing styles of the regular songfighters. It also completely stunts my ability to get into the style of any new fighters. Because I usually only focus on one fight a week (the one I entered), I miss about half the songs from songfighters I know, and songfighters who are trying to get established here. I'm not calling for change or anything, I'm just noting that to me the community seems divided. Maybe, if the front page was streamlined into having two columns, one for each fight, and seeing everyone who entered on the same screen would help, but I assume that would be a lot of work and having two voting buttons on the same screen would probably either be unfeasable or impossible to achieve. Just something to think about.

[Jerry]

A note about multiple titles. I know it cuts down on fight size and makes everything seem more managable, but I have been missing the continuity of the individual songfighters. It's hard to explain, but the division of the artists each week somewhat keeps me from following the developing styles of the regular songfighters. It also completely stunts my ability to get into the style of any new fighters. Because I usually only focus on one fight a week (the one I entered), I miss about half the songs from songfighters I know, and songfighters who are trying to get established here. I'm not calling for change or anything, I'm just noting that to me the community seems divided. Maybe, if the front page was streamlined into having two columns, one for each fight, and seeing everyone who entered on the same screen would help, but I assume that would be a lot of work and having two voting buttons on the same screen would probably either be unfeasable or impossible to achieve. Just something to think about.

Not to stir up too much fuss, but I agree with these points. Yes, reviewing thirty songs and voting for one is daunting, but I like it when everybody's duking it out in the same ring. Maybe (just to complicate things further) the voting system could become a three-points-first, two-points-second, one-point-third, kind of thing. That way reviewers could offer more than a single vote per fight and make it more enticing to review and consider all.
Or, you know, not.

[Paco Del Stinko]

no harm intended

No harm taken, by any means. And I would hope that if you thought it was poop, you would say something like "I thought it was poop". Slam away, if needed!

[TheCapitalistYouth]

Caravan Ray – The fake accent and the fact that Philadelphia is not a coastal city (to be able to easily sail to) were both factors that worked against my enjoyment of the song.

Living somewhat near Philadelphia, I couldn't let this slide. Look up the Port of Philadelphia. (Apparently we can't link to a certain -pedia) It's the second largest port by volume in America. While it's technically a fresh water port, the article notes the Delaware is tidal up to Trenton. In any case, one could sail to it.

[Caravan Ray]

Caravan Ray – The fake accent and the fact that Philadelphia is not a coastal city (to be able to easily sail to) were both factors that worked against my enjoyment of the song.

Living somewhat near Philadelphia, I couldn't let this slide. Look up the Port of Philadelphia. (Apparently we can't link to a certain -pedia) It's the second largest port by volume in America. While it's technically a fresh water port, the article notes the Delaware is tidal up to Trenton. In any case, one could sail to it.

...and not to labour the point - but the gentleman in the song's sole knowledge of Philadelpia came from a Playboy magazine, and he was basing his choice of destination on his assumtion that Philadelphia was a place inhabited only by naked women. Geographical considerations really didn't enter into it.

And while the gentleman is obviously a characature, there are actually many tropical atolls I have visited personally where the local peoples knowledge of places like the USA is drawn almost entirely from the imported videos they see - which are almost always of the cheap and nasty sex and violence school of film making. And to people for whom a canoe is a vital and indespensible piece of equipment, and who do not have access to any actual media coverage of the outside world - it isn't unreasonable to assume that for many, the idea that there may exist places that are not accessible by canoe is a difficult notion to comprehend.

[Reist]

A note about multiple titles. I know it cuts down on fight size and makes everything seem more managable, but I have been missing the continuity of the individual songfighters. It's hard to explain, but the division of the artists each week somewhat keeps me from following the developing styles of the regular songfighters. It also completely stunts my ability to get into the style of any new fighters. Because I usually only focus on one fight a week (the one I entered), I miss about half the songs from songfighters I know, and songfighters who are trying to get established here. I'm not calling for change or anything, I'm just noting that to me the community seems divided. Maybe, if the front page was streamlined into having two columns, one for each fight, and seeing everyone who entered on the same screen would help, but I assume that would be a lot of work and having two voting buttons on the same screen would probably either be unfeasable or impossible to achieve. Just something to think about.

You could just click the button at the top and check the other fight for your favorite fighters ...