I don't have one.  I assume you either aren't able to make one yourself (sampling an existing track) or you can't find a suitable track to sample?  If you aren't able to create one but can name a suitable track (where the beat is played without additional accompaniment), I can probably make one for you.

Let me know.

mps

thanks for the great feedback, guys! this one was a lot of fun to work on.

mps, i'm a big fan of the stuff you've posted too! i wish i could write my own stuff like you and so many others on here do. jealousy goes both ways!

I am glad you like my stuff, I hope to post more in the near future.  What I couldn't do if I had the ability you display in this cover.  I would have to build a studio in my house...and never come out.

mps

Wow.  Great job.  I'm not worthy of posting on this board anymore.

mps

Wow, thank you! Sure I will send it to you: I will have to look it out, I'm sure I have it somewhere. I had a bit of a disaster with all my data at some point, so even pulling together the songs to put up on itunes/bandcamp took a bit of doing.

It was a little note for note, but that's because I lost my bottle a little...I was talking to Margo herself quite a bit, and I didn't want to screw it up when I knew she would hear it...pressure!

It was a great cover, not-for-note or not...and the mood it cast was a nice addition.  I hope you find it, because I'd really like to hear it again.

Welcome to the board, if you are new here.  If not, thanks for posting your music.  I'll have to check out the newer stuff.  Somewhere below I've posted a song or two, have a listen if you like.

Think of Rain, you guys covered Margo's Think of Rain!  If I recall correctly, it was a really good cover as well.  Thought it was "note for note-ish" it brought a different shade of mood/atmosphere than the original.  I'd love to hear it again  (wink, wink, nod, nod). 

Hi folks, been lurking for a while, only recently joined up. I made some records a couple years back, and I thought you might like them. They're available to listen to here:

http://allmyfriendsmusic.bandcamp.com/

There's more than a little BW influence in there, since that's who got me into recording. Have a listen, and if you feel so inclined, give me my first sale!

Hey, great to see you here!  I highly recommend checking these guys out.  I used to "follow" them on myspace, back when people used to visit myspace.  There were a lot of good bands I was able to keep track of all at one time, but one by one they slowed or quit updating myspace.  Its a shame.  The site sucks but it provided great utility for discovering new music.  And I dislike Facebook even more.

Didn't you guys do a cover of a Margo Guryan song?  I was never able to find a download for it anywhere.

mps

Great topic Ron.  I have a few of these.  If you count all of the Northern Soul tracks I've discovered over the years there would be over 100, but I'll save that for later.

The first that comes to mind is Jackie Blue by The Ozark Mountain Daredevils.  I heard this for the first time just a couple of months ago.  It sounds like a 70s song so I was probably too young to be aware of it when it was released, but its such a great song and so up my alley that I am surprised I didn't hear it until this year:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrbNeOEG0GY

Another, which has become an all-time favorite of mine, is "That's Where I Lost My Baby" by Marv Johnson.  Other than a slight disconnect between the feel of the music and the feeling illicited by the lyrics, this is a classic that wasn't.  I can't find a link to it anywhere, but try to track it down if you like Marv or 60s soul.

Here is a fantastic girl group song by The Honey Bees who were, apparently, The Cookies under a different name.  This is what girl group music is all about to me.  One of the greatest tracks of the genre, should have been a million seller:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv-3qAHlRj4

mps

Wow.  Now I've listened to H&V and Surf's Up.  Great stuff.  You guys make me jealous.  The songs I could write if I had the talent on this board.  Keep it up!

mps

Sounds great!

Oh wow, this is painful.  They have the Alesis for $82 (including shipping, which is free) at amazon.  I already have the amp I want in my cart.  The total is $265, including tax, shipping, etc.  I forgot I have a $110 credit in my amazon account.  My total is only $155.  Oh how I want to add a mic and make the purchase.  I just can't justify the additional expense.  Somebody stop me before I pull the trigger and make my family starve to death.  

Does anyone know anything about this amp?

http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-ACX450-Ultracoustic-45-Watt-Amplifier/dp/B000LAT0AK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319740728&sr=8-1

Ok, I might have to do this.  I think I am going to ask for early birthday presents, its only 3 months away.  What mic should I get and why?

mps

EDIT: Sorry Hypehat, now I see you already recommended a mic.  In the meantime I've calmed down and plan to start making money again before I go and buy anything.  Reason prevails.

hypehat: yes, you have been helpful.  I've got to stop asking such questions until I have money to buy some of these items.  I'm so ready to purchase, but I just can't justify it.  I'm in a necessities/investments only mode.  If I don't have to have it or if it isn't going to yield income, I don't buy it.  I haven't even purchased SMiLE.  Shame on me.

Right now I have only one guitar, which is acoustic/electric.  I suspect the "electric" was added after the fact.  The guitar was given to me, its a cheapo, and the guy who gave it to me has been known to do his own.  Works just fine though, so no complaints.

Speaking of money, the same guy has a great sounding classical guitar.  It sounds great to me, though I admit I don't know what to listen for.  Anyway, he's going to sell it to me for $65 as soon as I am willing to part with the money.  Man am I ever looking forward to it.  Now if he'll just throw in his acoustic amp for another $65 I'll be thrilled.

mps

This website tracks how much time each user has actually been on the site.  I am curious to know how many hours, days, maybe weeks for some of you, some of the heavier users spend on this board.  Of course it won't cover the time you are viewing the site while not logged in, but the total should still be pretty revealing.  Shall we have a competition?  I'll start it off:

19 hours, 18 minutes

Pretty lame, huh?

Anyone else willing to post their totals?  Andrew?

mps

Hypehat: thanks for asking.  Actually, I'm kind of stuck.  I wrote what I thought would be a bridge but it was too "strong" and made what currently functions as the chorus sound weak in comparison, but it wasn't the right sort of thing to become the chorus.  Instead I'm going to use it as an ending.  I've run into similar problems with everything else I've attempted - the flow back into the chorus results in weakening the affect of the chorus.  I believe I've got an exception to this but I couldn't quite put together a proper melody.  In short, I'm stuck.  I’ve got it in my head that the song needs a tempo change but I’ve not written anything with such a change and I’m not sure I can do it.  And I haven't yet attempted additional lyrics...perhaps I should as that might yield a melody or chord progression.

Also, I've been working on some other songs one of which is coming along nicely, except the recording sucks.  Speaking of recording, and I've asked this question elsewhere but I ask now with a bit more focus, I want to be able to record my guitar and vocals simultaneously.  I will therefore either need to mic both or mic my voice and plug my guitar directly into my computer.  I have several questions:

1. For the guitar, which is preferable, a mic or direct line into my computer (and why)?
2. What is an affordable way to record both simultaneously?  What will I need to buy?
3. Supposing I don’t have the money to afford a simultaneous solution at present, what is the best, yet affordable, way to record my guitar directly into my computer?  I realize I can buy a special cable but if that is going to sound horrible (as I’ve read elsewhere) then I don’t want to do it.

I am currently using Audacity and would prefer to continue to do so in order to avoid purchasing additional software.

I may make this a separate post as it may not generate much response buried here.

Glad you like the song.  I hope I can finish it up.

mps

http://soundcloud.com/samblack-1/goin-to-brownsville-sleepy

Hows this for a weeks work? I apologise for the vocals.....

Pretty good for a week's work.  Someone gave me a mandolin recently.  I went home and immediately incorporated it into the song I was working on.  I think it sounds good but I wouldn't call it real mandolin playing, I just picked a few notes...and the song remains unfinished or I'd post it here.

It sounds like you are pretty dedicated so it should only get better.

mps

Great stuff...really actually suits the song as well which is not always the case!

I'd love to learn your arrangement btw. So friggin' rad.

Would you have time to maybe provide a tab of this arrangement?

Seconded, would love to have  a tab.

Wow, this is great, I really like this cover, great vibe.  Post more.  And if you have any original work, please post that as well.

Sounds great.  Do you write any original material?  If so I'd like to hear it.

Paul,

I've listened and not commented simply because all 14 songs you've chosen all happen to be songs by the Beach Boys that I don't much care for.  Maybe I'll listen again, this time with the intention of objectively assessing the work, though I'm not sure I'm qualified for such a thing.  Nevertheless, when I have some time I'll give it a go.

mps

What do you guys think of this group? I think they are pretty good and the last great Doo-Wop group in the 1950s tradition. But I also think Frankie's great falsetto is still a notch bellow Brian's otherworldly Falsetto.

One of my all-time favorite songs by The Four Seasons is The Puppet Song.  It's not the easiest to find, but if you can track it down, give it a listen.  Not the greatest lyrics ever written, but the song floors me each time I hear it.

Edit: Here is a 30 second clip.  I doubt it gets to the chorus and therefore won't do the song justice, but give it a listen anyway: http://www.amazon.com/New-Gold-Hits-Four-Seasons/dp/B000000DAA

mps

yeah, originally I wrote "the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, classic rhythm and blues, and George Gershwin", but that just didn't look right.

One day the whole of human civilisation will be gone, and our greatest achievements with it. It's all meaningless. It's all pointless.

"It's all meaningless. It's all pointless."

Sort of a self-refuting statement, isn't it?  If it has meaning it proves itself false, but if it doesn't have meaning, well, you see the problem with that, don't you?

Thanks for the kind words everyone.  I really appreciate it.  I've got an ending worked out but I agree with kwan, it would be nice to through in a twist of some sort, and of course I need to finish out the lyrics.  Once its done I'll post the final work here.

Thanks again!

mps

Man, you guys make me jealous.  I can't do this sort of thing.  Sounds great.

Not my genre, but it sounds great!  I really wish I had a better recording set-up, and more know how regarding the addition of other instruments, drums and bass, for example.  Keep posting, and sorry I missed this when you first posted it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gxYZrUWymY

No Problem Please give some feedback!

Thanks, that made it much easier.  I think you did a good job of re-creating the vibe of the song.  I suppose a lot of that is due to it being a "note for note" cover (I just mean you didn't try to re-invent the song, I have no idea if you used the same key, much less the same notes).  But I think some of that comes from the way you sang the song (pacing, etc) and I especially like the feeling the guitars gave me.  The cymbals during the chorus seemed to be too loud, or maybe just too noisy.  I don't recall hearing a cymbal at all in the original - its probably there but having not noticed it previously and having it stand out in your cover tells me it must be more subtil in the original, though it could be I'm not very observant.  Some of the vocals seemed out of your range (the really low and the really high), but as I said, I appreciated some of the quality and pacing, etc.  I apologize in that I don't have the music vocabulary necessary to properly communicate my thoughts.

mps

Any chance you could post it streaming or on youtube?  I'd like to hear it but I don't particularly like to download files to my computer.

Thanks,

mps