The Smiley Smile Message Board

My Pet Sounds...  ;D


https://themajikrainorchestra.bandcamp.com/releases

I’m working on these songs... I still have to record the vocals.

Cheers

Guillaume

I love what you are doing so far!  I can't wait to hear the vocals!

EoL

Thank you!  It’s a fun project, an impossible task. I’ve already done the Beatles :-D . This one is for me.

Thank you!  It’s a fun project, an impossible task. I’ve already done the Beatles :-D . This one is for me.

Oops...

Dude....that’s brilliant.

And they work just fine without vocals, so I’m stoked to hear what you come up with!

Thank you! Track 6,10 and 12 are instrumentals. I think 12 is more 67 Smile than 66 Pet sounds. Three instrumentals is a bit too much. If you already like this, You will like the melodies,, it’s always the toughest part of the game, finding  good vocal lines over complex chords sequences. Brian was so good...

Seriously, you could've added some static to these songs, claimed you found some acetates of lost Brian Wilson tracks, and I would've believed it. Definitely the best emulation of Brian's Pet Sounds style I've ever heard.

'Away' is like a perfect coupling of Henry Mancini and The Beach Boys. I absolutely love this whole album.

I found myself singing my own melodies to some of these songs since there are no vocals yet haha. Phenomenal work!

How did you record the orchestral parts? Are those with actual instruments or MIDI? Sounds like actual orchestral instruments to my ears.

Thank you.

I’ve played everything except  a couple of drum tracks and the strings, woodwind and brass  parts.

As I’ve said before, it’s nothing but a great challenge. I won’t do it a second time so it has to be perfect to my ears.

I’ve always wonder why there wasn’t more soundalike Pet sounds songs. You can find dozens of beatlesque tunes for any of their albums. Even Brian changed its style after 66. The song Jill by Gary Lewis is a rare exception. Same musicians, same studio, almost same year...

I will probably use pre-sales to help press some records.

Very nice! Glad to have found it recommended on another thread. What led you to relase them as a work-in-progress? Do you have all the vocal melodies written out or are you still composing them?

How did you build up the tracks?

Kudos for a great job

I'm only a few tracks in so far, and I'm stunned. Amazing work! The production and arranging are top notch, as is the songwriting and especially the chord choices. You've captured something in the texture of this music that Brian had in his own, a texture which others can try to use the same orchestrations and sounds but not get the cohesive whole. Very, very nice.

Whether intentional or not, the chord changes (one sequence in particular), descending lines, and rolling triplet/shuffle feel in "Someone Like You" reminded me of the great lost Monkees track "All Of Your Toys", and anything or anyone who does that gets my highest compliments.  :)

Thanks, I work on my own and sometimes I need to know whether i'm still going in the right direction. I have almost all of the vocal melodies written. I’m beginning the work on the vocals this week. I need to complete some lyrics. I know the vocals are gonna be a hard task... I really like what I have already done but sometimes the melodies are hard to follow. I know where they have to go but I can’t sing them. It’s frustrating. Like these high falsetto on I get around or Let him run Wild, the melodies can’t go anywhere else.
Anyway, I can sing them but alas, I’m not Carl or Brian.

Usually, I write the chords and the vocal melody together avoiding the obvious choices. I try to find something interesting in the bass with my left hand and then I find a smooth modulation to change the key within the song and when the chorus ends I try to lend on my feet again.

I know this is easier to suggest than to do it (and no, I'm not postulating mysfelf for the task), but, If you need other voices than yours, you should go the extra mile to find them, to do justice to your work. I've been listening on Spotify to The Pen Pal Club, a Japanese band with a havy Sixties fixation (I learnt of them because they did "Melt Away"). The albums are very well done, with a heavy ratio of covers. But them beign of the "Stack-on/twofer" mentalilty, they like to feature both mono and stereo mixes of every album, as well as backing and vocals-only tracks. And I was very dissapointed when I heard the notorious autotuning on the vocal arrangements. Bottom line: they should have find better singers. Sorry if I'm rambling (most certainly I am) but don't sacrifice the melodies or the vocal timbres: your work is very promising for that to happen.

Anyway, keep up the great work.

PS. but going back to my original question: Do you start tracking a keyboard part along with a metronome, even if that keyboard may end up erased after the other instruments are stacked?

I think I will sing them myself...It’s too complicated to find some other singers and they won't be as invested as i am right now. It’s a lot of work to make things perfect and I can be quite picky sometime.

To answer your question, I start with a basic programmed drumbeat or simple percussions and the I add the organ (Elka Panther) or the guitar (telecaster, jazzmaster, jaguar and Gretsch 12 strings)

How are the vocals coming along?  Shall I get Tony Asher on the line to help with the lyrics?  ;)

I've listened through the songs and it sounds really great! Keep up the good work  :)

 ;D
You know I'm french, so those damn  lyrics don't come easy.
This one has words...

https://themajikrainorchestra.bandcamp.com/track/rosa-2

I wasn't satisfied with the result and I'm still not satisfied. I still hear some flat notes here and there.
But I'm really proud of the backing tracks. :(


I should have plagiarised Ronny & the Daytonas, it would have been easier?

Hey!
The album is coming soon... This one is complete.
a "That's not me" vibe on this one  :smokin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOvN5Rn7zOQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOvN5Rn7zOQ)

Wow. It really sounds like a Brian Wilson composition/production. The vocals are amazing - as are the lyrics. They're just right.

Can't wait for the full album!! How is it coming along?

(Two months later) Thank you! I thought I would finish the album before the end of summer. But I still have to record a couple of horns. And I’ve got a problem with a song, The vocals are a bit to high for my range, and I sound a bit like Michel Polnareff (for those who know, Lettre à France)
Anyway, i will find a way to fix it. I’m really proud of half of the songs. The other half is ok.
So October is the next goal!

Thank you for the update, I am looking forward to hearing the completed songs.

EoL

I haven't visited this section in ages. But I certainly came up trumps this time. These are sensational, Guillaume. The one that sticks in my mind the most is the stamping "Reverberation", although every track is pretty blissed out.

Good luck with those vocals! That said, the tracks sound fantastic in themselves, so I hope you leave them up after uploading the vocal versions. ;)

Thank you!

https://youtu.be/NBg965GkuF4

Reverberation with vocals… is now titled " Do you remember?"

The album is out. Streaming links here:

https://music.imusician.pro/a/ohDz3fR4/