This is the result of just a single evening playing stuff in. I have access to a sax player who may want to play the solo in, but I have no idea what the actual range on a sax is so it may not even be possible 
By far most of this is just single-pass recordings with very little editing, which is why it may sound a bit ālooseā. Itās very different from what I used to do, but I have a feeling that this genre is here to stay!
Let me know what you think!
Definitely a little ālooseā, as you say. Cool groove. Thereās something about the piano sound that is a bit one dimensional and overpowering to me. Some real horn playing would liven it up for sure. A solid foundation to build from.
Have you listened to The Brand New Heavies? This kind of reminded me of them. I love those guys.
Is that live e-kit playing or programmed drums? The timing is a little odd. Or it might be the timing of the piano fighting with the drums thatās throwing it out of balance? Eh, what do I know?
Thanks
The piano timing needs some work, as well as some of the drums. They were played live from my kit.
Iāll have a listen to that band, cheers for the pointer!
Agree with Scabās comments. Nice groove waiting for some structure/variety/contrast to make it into a satisfying piece. Will be looking for the next version of this one. I like the new direction!
yup, very different from what Iāve heard from you. its short and sweet, the sax lead could really put a stamp on the arrangement by taking more control, of melody and direction. cool stuff
Thanks guys
Iāll be seeing my potential saxplayer coming Sunday, will be interesting to see what she thinks!
Hey Rick,
This is different, I always thought you were a synthjockeyā¦
Yeah, the piano cutās like a knife in this one.
Itās also fighting with the organ sound, I would seperate the organ and piano somewhat,
I think when you would mute the organ the piece getās a lot more open.
Maybe spread the organ hard left-right and use some saturation/drive to give it another character?
When the sax comes in I would ride the piano a bit back or make it less sparkling to give room.
Another idea is to pan the piano and organ apart, then you also have the advantage that the sax can be sitting in the middle.
Looking for it to the end result.
Greetz Dylan.
Great feedback there Dylan, much appreciated
I still am a synthjockey (the āorganā sound is a patch I built from scratch on my Blofeld!), but Iām leaning away from EDM, more towards accoustic sounds and slightly slower paced genres. This is partially because in the last month or so Iāve had the chance to work with some friends of mine, recording their songs for them and building entire arrangements around their pieces which I love doing. (check out my soundcloud, I put 1 up there āWith meā. Iāll post it here when Iām done with it, it still needs some work before that though, mainly the timing on the drums is plain bad.)
Cheers for the comments, when my holiday starts Iāve got plenty of material to work on which is nice for a change. Last song I posted here was a desperate attempt to get something done, so Iām glad itās picked up again!
Good overall ideas and feel. The arrangement will work well.
Agree that at the moment the piano is not quite there yet,
some light and shade would make it easier to digest given that itās such
a major feature. I also thought the main piano chords and the
highlight tinkly bits sounded somewhat divorced from each other, both in
terms of actual tone as well as panning distance. Something not yet
organic about it.
Will look forward to your next step.
Thanks Jet, I already had some ideas for panning on the piano, thatāll definitely come in the next version.
Iām not entirely sure on how to translate āsome light and shadeā into more technical terms. Do you mean it needs more dynamics?
Well Iām glad my review wasnāt taken wrongly,
sometimes I think I donāt review well enough.
Yeah, the chord piano is full-on, pretty much in the listenerās face.
The fundamental idea is fine, and Iāve tried similar things myself in some of
my own stuff, but I had to learn to ease off and introduce some
dynamics and, more importantly, some space. The part as it is is pretty
much constant, and therefore a little fatiguing.
Still, the journey is just as much fun as the destination.
Will look forward to v.2
Right, thanks. You are completely right, that is in fact the biggest problem in most of my arrangements. Itās mostly because of my workflow that most songs end up like this. 9 times out of 10, a song is born from a chord scheme that I loop in Cubase and keep adding stuff to. The result is a very complete and catchy part, but not an arrangement. From there I usually just build up the different parts I have to a climax and then down again, combining the elements as I see fit. I see it mostly as creating some sort of acceptable intro to the actual loop Iāve got.
Iād love to build an arrangement more conciously, which is something Iām practicing on. For that reason I think Iāll be trying to build this song in a standard intro-verse-refrain-verse-bridge-refrain-outtro, just to get a more defined buildup in a song and force myself into using more variety in intensity. Wish me luck 
Well yes, thatās right. Try writing a novel or making a film
that has no plot development, climax or resolution. 
As you say, a āshort pieceāā¦but waiting to be expanded.
Hi
Nice groove.
It is so much easier to come up with ideas than it is to develop them into interesting tunes isnāt it. If you have lots of ideas in different projects why not try pinching some of those or merging some to make a complete tune. Sometimes it can work out quite well.
Cheers
lol good luck. things donāt have to be a rigid standard, sometimes just a middle 8 or 16 spurs something new. on some tracks that are little more than a groove Iāll pick a spot where I think Iāve had enough of that part, knife it there and move it forward out of the way. then Iāll start playing the chords or something along with the begining section over until a new chord or idea fits into that blank spot. once I get that new mid section worked out Iāll drag the last part back to join it up. from there you just have to figure out how the mid section has to change to run into the outtro. donāt know whether that helps any, Iām no expert at all, just thought Iād add something here. I like the idea you have going. for some reason I even thought of it slowed a bit and turning into a sort of RnB tune.
Thanks lads, Iām sure Iāll think of something. At least Iām now more consciously thinking about the arrangement so Iām sure thatāll pay off after a while.
Updates on the song will have to wait for a week, Iām a bit busy right now.