Quote: Fireproof_BabiesNice take on this. I remixed this last year, and I like yours better. Sounds like Tom Waits on the keys. Good job.
Sorry to be the one to tell you, but that was two years ago. :)

Your version kicks ass. In fact, I wish I had made it.

Thanks for the thumbs up.

Quote: ditto dittothe “bandoneon..?” add a touch of nostalgia. This is perfect with the delicate voice of Narva. I don’t know why, maybe is-it the “bando..”, but i hear your work very “french”.
Hahah - that’s the highest compliment coming from you! :)

Yes - the sound was sampled from the Mannborg Harmonium at Abbey Rd studios. And I just read on wikipedia that the harmonium was invented in France, so there you go. :)

Thanks for the very nice words - much appreciated.

Quote: Calling Sister MidnightI hope you eventually plan on telling us what the progression is from. I just can’t hear it alone once a melody has been overlaid.
Well, there’s no big secret. It’s one of the very few songs I know - “My funny Valentine”. Just the verse though - I did a different thing for my “refrain” portion.

Thanks for stopping by and for the thumbs up.

Excellent colab. You have achieved the optimum ambiance for the pella.

My ears say me that Led Zeppelin’ Stairway to Heaven’s fingerpicking also goes well (aproximately) with your mix, at least in the first bars.

This observation deserves a portion of those pickled herrings, isn’t it? :)

Quote: PitxThis observation deserves a portion of those pickled herrings, isn’t it? :)
Hahaha. Yes, I’m sure that could be arranged. If you can get to Toronto I’ll set up a herring lunch with boiled potatoes, sour cream, boiled eggs, crisp bread, beer and vodka. :)

OK!!
But don’t forget that italian wine… :)

Quote: CarosoneI also like the nostalgic musette (as I call it). You’re an elegant piano player, aren’t you?
Re: playing - I have a very narrow genre that I’m comfortable with playing - but thank you, I really appreciate it.

I just looked up musette and it seems to be a bellows-blown bagpipe, which isn’t quite the same. A harmonium is a bellows-blown keyboard similar to an organ, but with a very unique sound.

Thanks again for the kind words - much appreciated.

ops.. I didn’t notice you wrote harmonium in the keywords: indeed I play the Hindi harmonium, but it has a different sound.

Quote: wellmanVery well Done.. As ditto said.. this has some french air in it… I like it!
Thank you much - I very much appreciate you taking the time to leave a comment.

Quote: panu moonthe treat of the day esthetically & technically. great track.
Well thank you kindly - that is very nice to hear.

Making a track like this is like comfort food for me. I needed to go back to basics and get some perspective.

Thanks for the thumbs up.

Quote: CiggiBurnsAbsolutely perfect with the sweet melancholy of Narva’s voice. So there’s a tender side to you after all, C! xxxx
Thank ye kindly.

I enjoyed working on this. The music comes naturally for me, and narva’s vocals struck that right balance of melancholy and optimism so it was a great pella to find.

Thanks for leaving a comment.

Quote: St. PaulYou really have a great musical sensibility. Mikael. The adding of the musette is “genial” as they say in France.
Hey thank you, I feel the same way about you, so it’s really nice to hear you say that.

The harmonium was almost pure luck. I wanted a light element and sort of stumbled on this sound when I was browsing through my library. What I love about the harmonium is that it has a feel of of organ, accordion and musette - and it just turned out to be quite right for this track.

Thanks again.

Quote: SackJo22Bravo! Narva9 has a certain delicacy to her tone that is well matched by all of the sounds you mixed her up with in her. Loved listening.
Thank you much.

Re: matching up - I know what you mean. I wouldn’t have wanted to try to wrap an electronic dance track around these vocals. :)

Thank you for leaving a review - I appreciate it.

Quote: oldDogBeautiful, and suits Ynonne’s lovely song perfectly.

The harmonium adds a touch of Astor Piazzolla’s tango to the mood (do you you know his Oblivion?)

No - I haven’t heard of him at all before, so thank you for the reference. Will look up when I get home.

Thank you for the kind words. I have had a great admiration for Yvonne’s singing for a while now, and was very happy to think of her just when my head was in this type of music-making space (as opposed to glitchy electronic stuff, which would have been a disastrous mix!)

Thanks for the support. It means a lot coming from you.

Quote: colabThe harmonium adds a touch of Astor Piazzolla’s tango to the mood (do you you know his Oblivion?)
Went home and found it on iTunes. Oh-la-la. If my little track reminded you of his, then I am very, very flattered. That is a spectacular piece. Thanks for the reference - now I’m going to buy a few more. :)

Quote: Black Sunday Productionsi heard this track on the Cool Music show , .. man this track is so dope , the instruments/sound ride along with the lovely vocals/lyrics, together as one ,on a melancholy trip , so smooth & soothing to the listening ear & to the soul
That’s a hell of a review - thanks for taking the time to leave a comment.

The vocals spoke to me straight away, and then the music came really quickly to me once I loaded up the rhodes.

Glad you liked. Also really pleased you found this through the Cool Music show - that’s how I come across tracks I’ve missed. I have a lot of respect for MC Jack in the box for keeping it up week after week.

Thanks again for leaving a review. Much appreciated.

Quote: TheJoeYou old softie you! :-)

What i like most on it, that you left out any “spectactular” sounds or efx, just a plain and spare instrumentation.

I don_t want to forget to mention the lovely vocals of narva9.
Whoa, thank you much. The reason I take your personal ed-picks so seriously is that you’re not afraid to tell me when a track is terrible. :)

I’m always so surprised when people like these types of tracks, because they require so little time from me to create. So maybe there’s a lesson in here somewhere that when I spend more time on things I overdo it, and simple is better? Not sure.

I will say it’s a lot of fun to just load up a few traditional instruments and play away. :)

And I’m glad you mention narva’s vocals - I really like her voice and it works really well in this type of setting. I think you’ll see another one soon, with a surprise appearance by another remixer. :)

Thanks again for leaving such a nice review. Much appreciated.

Quote: VickyA melody very typical “French” with the accordion in the background. Fantastic arrangement. I appreciate very much ….
Thank you very much - that is a very nice thing to read - thanks for taking the time to leave a review.

Quote: Ivan ChewHey colab, you excluded the “How I Did It” this time :)

BTW, I thought I heard some parts (from the 2nd measure/ stanza onwards) that sounded like Narva9’s vocals could use some quantizing.
You’re right on both counts. I was too tired this time to add the details after I had finished it, and the day after I had forgotten most of the details. :)

I went back to check now though, and yeah - I didn’t quantize any tracks. I don’t have tools to easily quantize vocals - I could chop up individual phrases, but that would be a very manual effort and I rarely do it.
Not quantizing the music is more of a practice thing for me right now. I want to get sharper on the keys and create tracks that I could replicate live if I had to.

Thanks for stopping to leave a review. Much appreciated.

Quote: narva9OK, Two perfectly perfect songs. I’m such a lucky girl.

n9 :-)
Thanks - I’m really really glad you liked. I was worried, because I wasn’t sure whether this music would fit your idea of the lyrics.

Thanks again - I’m really happy you liked.