Nur Ein IX Round Two "Stop (You're Killing Me)"

[chocolatechips]

just sent mine in ! nur ein?

[Lunkhead]

I'm still mixing but we're just about done and will be in this round.

Our major/minor thing is maybe not as obvious as we probably should have made it. There is an instrumental section of our song that appears first in C minor as the intro to the two main sections of the song. Then it becomes the outro, and we alternate between playing it in C minor then in Eb major. Hopefully that counts (???).

EDIT: Also this entry is more of a return to form after last week's song.

[Caravan Ray]

I think I got the challenge thing right.
My song should be alternating between Am and A throughout the song
That was the idea anyway.

[glennny]

Cavedwellers are in, we posted the chord pattern in the lyric thread. We hit the challenge several different ways, you'll see it in the chord pattern and hear it in the melodies, and the solos (muted trumpet vs Vai guitar).

NUR EIN !!

[skypup]

Couldn't come up with anything decent in time

Good luck to everyone left standing

NUR EIN

[Vincent Von F.]

Very good quality this time. I won't make any reviews, but I specially like the songs of Paco del Stincko (as usual), Adam Adamant, Chocolate Chips and I would like to give my congratulations and admiration to Dj Den ranger, whose song really has left me speechless.

And of course a big applause for everybody. You're so fucking great, people. It's a pleasure to songfight with you all.

Have a nice day and let's see what the judges have to say.

Vincent.

[chocolatechips]

I wrote out a rather long winded self indulgent explanation of the ways my song met this week's challenge but then I lost it somehow ... I suppose the Gods didn't care for all of that BS. But I still want to link to my somewhat naughty youtube video for it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZyHIkVRSzk

My impressions of Round 2 entries:

Adam Adamant - I find this one quite charming. It kind of reminds me of Spiritualized (one of my favorite bands, so this is a compliment indeed.) I think this would be towards the top of the rankings if I were a judge.

Balance Lost - I dig the barely controlled hectic tempo vibe of this one.

Cavedwellers - The "I Am The Walrus" reference is appreciated (and I noticed many other song references in there too, nice). I really like the warm sound you got here. Great tone on the electric guitar on the right. The instrumental horn vs guitar breakdown is quite unexpected - pretty neat.

Cookie Blue - Interesting choice with the percussion mixed so high, it does sound pretty cool in a way but I'm not sure it works. The acoustic guitar could be a bit more clear/bright I think (especially since there's so much space in the mix available for it.)

DJ Ranger Den - Fantastic atmospherics and vocals. I really like the tone you got on the keys. Really great mix. Some things I'm reminded of: Joanna Newsom, Radiohead, and Fiona Apple. This would be near the top of my list.

Inflatable Vegetables - I really dig some of the guitar riffs, funky jams. On the downside occasionally the song sounds a bit rhythmically sloppy and the vocals could be stronger. I quite like the sudden stop at the end.

Ken Mahru - Great electric guitar on the intro. Whole song has a cool '90s alternative rock feel/sound. The bass guitar has some real tasty bits in there too. The reverbed "stop" during the chorus is a nice touch. Love the synth solo. One of the better entries for Round 2 (and I'm not just saying that because Ken was nice enough to provide vocals and lyrics for this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPmd-LSUYeo )

Krautkitten - This has a groovy sloppy charm to it and the kid voices work pretty well. But I do think compared to some of the other entries this week it's a bit thin composition wise and while the sloppiness is charming in a way, in another way it's just sloppy.

Ligers with Attitude - I'm not really a fan of this style or this kind of production so ... it's not up my alley. I can't think off much positive to say except that the instrumental solo part is ptetty cool (but still could be mixed/produced much better imo.)

Manhattan Glutten - I like this one. Cool laid back groove. Good mix/production. It seems like a sort of a mix of an alternative country vibe with a '90s alternative rock deal. The one bit I don't like quite as much is the part with the funny accent on the vocals (although the backing vocals during that part are great.) Still overall; a definite top five for me.

Merisan - Probably the most professional sounding entry. I can imagine hearing this one on the radio. Everything is well done - absolutely great vocals and the instrumentation/mix/production is just about perfect. On the downside: I can't say it's the most exciting song I've heard though (on first listen) but it may be a grower.

Nick Soma - Late '90s pop/punk jumps to mind immediately. Unfortunately that's one of my least favorite genres, fortunately for you I'm not a judge so it doesn't matter. Still I think I'd rank you pretty highly despite my distaste for this style because I think it's really well done (also the horn is a really neat touch that keeps it from being overly predictable as a whole.)

Paco del Stinko - I always find your songs technically impressive but rarely do I find them engaging for me personally and that's just a personal taste thing that I always feel like I should apologize for because it's obvious you're extremely talented. I do like the slow part of this one quite a bit but overall I can't say I really like it too much - just too many seemingly random changes for my taste.

Pigfarmer Jr. - Some rhythmic sloppiness takes me out of the song pretty early along with some vocal shakiness ... but I do hear a pretty cool tune in there. Compositionally it's pretty good I think but the performance could be better.

Rabid Garfunkel - Did you play these instrumental bits or are they canned? If you played them I find your playing quite impressive but for some reason they sound a bit canned. Overall - either way - it's a pretty effective song I think. Enjoyable.

Ross Durand - Great sound on the acoustic guitars. I like the percussion too. Warm production, good mix. Strong vocals. Not one of my favorites of the round (I think the "I wish you would stop" repeat doesn't quite work) - but it's definitely well done overall.

The Tydon Docks - I really like the "oh what a lovely way to die" section (and the following instrumental breakdown.) I'm not as crazy about the other parts.

Vincent Von F - Kickass guitar riffs. I like the whisper vocal bit too. The whole thing has a great '60s vibe to it that I appreciate quite a bit. I dig it.

[BenKrieger]

This has a groovy sloppy charm to it and the kid voices work pretty well. But I do think compared to some of the other entries this week it's a bit thin composition wise and while the sloppiness is charming in a way, in another way it's just sloppy.

All is intentional.

[RangerDenni]

Hello.
Thank you for all the lovely and helpful things said throughout all the rounds! I'm getting a lot out of it all as usual. I have not been as participatory as I would wish. I've been swamped with house-hold-sy things and also doing a lot of writing and recording that is more work-work in nature and takes a little more time out for me as recording is not so intuitive as performance and lyrics-writing or making pianos! I would like to get some reviews done though. Perhaps in the next few days. BLT helped me finish off this week's recording because I have little issues with my final volume and mastering ... and I liked the way that my 'Her' came out so he probably figured out that I would have really liked the same thing. He surprised me with it last minute, really I just sent him one of my mixes to complain. It was a no-brainer which one to send in. I'm glad the piano worked out for the entry ... I wanted it to sound sort of defeat-y/desperate and wooden and sad but I hadn't the faintest clue how to get a vocal to play along with that. So thanks, Chris
What I have heard so far of the entries sounds like some good listening. It's been great thus far.

[Calliopeva]

Finally home on a Monday night- will there be a LP tonight?

[Niveous]

A request from the judges,

Contestants, can you please take a moment to talk about just how you fulfilled the challenge in your song.

[Paco Del Stinko]

My song opens with the chords used in the verses. D to Dm, repeatedly. It goes to C and Am. Then C to Am/A. This repeats every verse. The song ends on a G chord, right after a C to Cm change. The melodies (such as they may be) change along with the chords. Hope this helps.

[ken]

In my song, when I yell STOP! and then repeat, "Stop, you're killing me" The chord pattern is Amaj7 E Am7 E. I do this twice. You can hear the vocal melody change as I sing G# F# E B, then G G# E B. So you hear the 3rd of the chord change from major to minor and back.

Ken

[iVeg]

Intro: first phrase is minor [Gm - Cm] and the riff is also minor. Second phrase is major-ish [A7 - D7] and the riff is major/ [mixolydian]
Verses: first line of melody is minor [Gm - Cm]. Third line of melody is same thing adjusted to major [G - C].

[adamadamant]

Its a bit close to the line for requesting clarification? I'm assuming some people won't get a chance to respond.

For me:

The second part of the song, once the bass and drums come in, mirrors the first part, except minor chords and slightly darker lyrics. I.e. if the first part is G B D then the second part is Gm Bm Dm. Although I can't remember what actual chords they are off hand.

[BenKrieger]

A request from the judges,

Contestants, can you please take a moment to talk about just how you fulfilled the challenge in your song.

The verses repeat over alternating Dmaj/Dmin. I wrote the song before the clarification, and it came out as more of an improv Crabs on Banjo-style song during morning song time with the girls. We ran into the studio and recorded the initial track that I submitted. Even when I had a chance to resubmit with a knowledge of what some of the judges wanted, I decided just to add to the arrangement of the song I had, to make it more catchy, but retaining the sloppy, lo-fi charm. I felt that any new song I submitted could have easily taken the challenge to another level, but it would have been less of a good song in spirit, just craft. I don't expect the song to win, especially with some of the other songs that had a chance to be fleshed out as more complex compositions. But I certainly don't feel like I have anything to prove on that front, so I went for spirit and a legally-kosher execution of the challenge.

[noma]

My song is in the key of Bb major during the choruses and the first part of the verse, which goes Bb - F - Eb - F. Then those chords are repeated in their relative minor, i.e. Gm - Dm - Cm - Dm. When that part leads over to the chorus again, it goes Gm - Dm - Cm - Eb - F.
Also, during the bridge and the final chorus, the major and minor sections constantly alternate, with the last chorus following the chord scheme of the verses: Bb - F - Eb - F, then Gm - Dm - Cm - Dm.
BTW, those horns you hear near the end of the song are a cornet and a mellophone. It's really hard to stay in tune with that damn mellophone, so I apologize if it sounds a bit off at times.

[Lunkhead]

Our major/minor thing is maybe not as obvious as we probably should have made it. There is an instrumental section of our song that appears first in C minor as the intro to the two main sections of the song. Then it becomes the outro, and we alternate between playing it in C minor then in Eb major. Hopefully that counts (???).

[Ross]

The third verse of my song is in the relative minor (em) compared to the key of the first two verses (G major).

[chocolatechips]

My songs structure:

Intro in A major

I - vi (A to F#m)

Verse in A major

I - iii - IV - V7 (A - C#m - D - E7) x2

Verse in A minor (parallel minor of previous key)

i - III - iv - V7
i - III - iv - VII6

(Am - C - Dm - E7 - Am - C - Dm - G6)

the melody of the Am verse is the same as the A verse except transposed from major to minor. the last chord (G6) doubles as the V for the next key

Chorus in C major (relative major of previous key)

I - IV - ii - V (C - F - Dm - G) x2

Instrumental Solo in A minor (relative minor of previous key)

The guitar solo (and the synth part mixed underneath) are (loosely) based on a minor version of the major melody of the chorus.

___

Going back into the verse again it's now the parallel major of the previous key.

___

The ending is a mirror image of the intro except it's in C major instead of A major (C to Am instead of A to F#m ... both I - vi) ... unrelated to the challenge but included because I liked how it worked: the choruses are in 3/4 while the verses are in 4/4.

[Ligers With Attitude]

The verses of my song (save for the last one) contain a high droning tremelo'd guitar which alternates from major third to minor third over the bass note.

[glennny]

Cavedwellers - Major Minor challenge

1) The verse is a repeated 4 bar phrase in Bb major | i , iv, iii | vi, iii | i, iv, iii, | iv, iii, i | then the same chord pattern is done in Bb minor.
2) The melody in the verse is done in major, then done in minor
3) the verse happens 3 times in the song (the 3rd verse is half as long, each 4 bar phrase once instead of twice)
4) The Chorus changes key to Db. The pattern is | i, ii | iii, ii | . This happens in Db major, then Db minor then Db major again.
5) During the 1st half of the solo the muted horn and the Vai guitar are soloing over Emaj7(9), Em7(9), Emaj7(9), Em7(9), the 2nd half has a Gmaj7(9), Gm7(9), Gmaj7(9) oscillation too, but resolves to F7sus(13)

hopefully one of those ways works for the judges.

I posted the actual chords in the lyric thread.

Nur Ein!