Nothing and Everything ~ A silly song, looking for help with background music.

[Gabi]

Here's a piece of morning inspiration. Sorry about the poor accent and the lack of background music. My piano skills have only allowed me to play the introduction and, even then, it was a bit slower than I wanted it to be.

If you would like to help me and have musical skills, I'd love for someone to record a background music to go with this song (I can sing the song again over the new music, so don't worry about matching my singing speed exactly).

Musicalization guidelines: the intro should be similar to the current one, but feel free to make it sound better. As for the rest of the music, the general idea is that it should be somewhere between deep and corny, with a crescendo and general lighter 'mood' on the verses starting with "And it rains" and "And it burns". I'm not going to be too strict, just go with what you feel. You may or may not add extra effects. It's meant to be a silly song.

The purpose: my purpose has been to create a song that's meant to sound like any other corny song out there but which, upon closer inspection, does not, in fact, mean anything. That's what I decided I would do when I got up today, and this is as far as my skills have taken me, which is why some help would be very appreciated.

Here's the song: http://www.muziboo.com/GabiAPF/music/nothing-and-everything-a-silly-song/

If you'd rather wait until it's finished before you listen, I understand. If you'd like to help me finish it, I'll be grateful. And if the song makes you chuckle or at least smile, I'll consider my job here done.

[Inumo]

I'm afraid I'm no decent composer, but I might be able to give you advice in terms of singing (along with one piano tip). From what limited experience I have, it sounds a bit like you're trying to sing in your chest voice out of its range. I can't really describe it much better than that, since it was something I picked up from living with a bunch of musicians. In addition, you might want to figure out the melody on piano and sing along with it so you can make sure you're on pitch; it sounds like you're wavering within a half step sometimes. I've done the same thing before, and my family still hasn't let me live it down. The piano tip would be to try using the sustain pedal on the right. It keeps the strings from being muffled, so you can make hand movements, chord changes, etc without silence (so long as you get some practice with it).

Hope that helps!

[Brunhidden]

really puts me in mind of 'horse with no name'

[Gabi]

Thanks for your comments, Inumo. The voice thing was mostly caused by my singing a capella without warming up first. I knew it wasn't really good and that's one of the reasons why I thought of re-recording my voice after the background music had been added, but this sample was made to give people an idea of what the song should be like. If someone can help me, I'll try to sing much better on top of the new audio track.

As for the piano, I used the right pedal at the end of the intro, but I don't trust myself to be able to compose and play the whole background music. I'd rather leave that task to someone who's better at it.

Thanks to Brunhidden for introducing me to that song too, although that one actually makes sense, it was interesting to listen to.

[Castle Pokemetroid]

I wonder, what kind of microphone do you have? A standard dynamic microphone? Getting a microphone with a cardio directional or unidirectional recording area is better than a dynamic microphone with omidirectional recording field.

The reason why I mentioned that is because there's a bit of static in the music. Compressing or picking up something unwanted can cause that.

Then again, you could always drown out that very minor amount of static with the background music you'll eventually put in, which might make my post useless.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Speaking of the microphone, if you have that resting on the piano, it'll pick up a lot more sound from the piano than from your voice. Which might explain why the sound of the piano is so intense at the start...

Interesting song. I'd pass it on to my brother who plays piano, but I've no idea if he'd be interested. Actually, I think I'll pass it on anyway.

[Gabi]

Thanks, llearch.

Actually, the piano bit was recorded with my camera, while my voice was recorded with my microphone which is a Philips SBC MD110 if that means anything to you.

[Nyil]

What key is it in?

[Gabi]

D minor. I believe the key changes in the chorus, but I haven't tested it.