PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase Janice/Floyd Duet - If I Could Get To You

Pat wanted a duet. Janice Merritt and floyd jane.
So I dug through some old stuff and found something that I thought might work.
It sorta does - use your imagination a bit.

The original thought was to have this be a true duet. With Janice and I swapping lines
or each taking a verse. But that didn't work out. There is too much range to the melody
so the key is wrong for one or the other. So we worked around that
the best way that we could - to make it as "duet-like" as possible.

The song "evolved" to have a bit of percussion (I had never recorded it before).
I have never really "been through" the RealTrack drum kits.
The Nashville kits usually do what I need - and usually, the Even8 one, at that.
I wanted a snap-snap....snap on this so I had to "go looking" for it.
In doing that, I came across the Salsa kits - not quite what I was looking for, but kinda cool...
The Nashville Skip kit had a nice subtle feel for the 1st verse, so I grabbed that, too.
I auditioned EVERY kit. For some reason, I skipped over the Calypso.
When I finally tried it (last), it was, of course, what I had been looking for.



IF I COULD GET TO YOU



RealTracks in song: ~683:Bass, Electric, PopHalfNotesPush Ev 120
RealTracks in song: 511:Guitar, Electric, Soloist Dire Ev 140

RealDrums in Song: SalsaAfro^2-a:Congas, b:Bongo
RealDrums in Song: SalsaBachata: a: SalsaBachatab: SalsaBachata
RealDrums in Song: NashvilleSkip^01-a:SideStick, HiHat , b:Snare, Ride
RealDrums in Song: PopCalypso^1-a:Snare, Closed HiHat , b:Snare, Ride

I did the acoustic guitars.
I "played" some "claps" using an old Alesis HR-16.

Vocals: Janice Merritt and floyd jane.
Additional harmonies: Janice Merritt

I think we are having a "Janice Fest". What could be better?

Hope you enjoy it. Comments encouraged.

floyd

Hey Janice and Floyd,

This sounds really, really cool! The groove is brilliant but then so is the music, the lyrics, the singing, the arrangement and production. It's so different from anything I've ever heard from either you. Talk about the proverbial "pushing the boundaries"! The sound was "top notch professional" to my ears.

I have to say that your two voices blend amazingly well together. To my mind, the song highlights your individual talents and lets them gleam. As a duet, it's sunshine in the tropics!

I think Pat will be very happy with this one. You got me smiling with it

All the best,
Noel

P.S. What a great chorus!

hey Floyd and Janice,

One might think that giving me what I asked for should make me happy, but... I think I hate you both. You're both wayyyy too talented to be thought of in any way except overwhelming jealousy and resentment. ;-)

Having said that, I'll continue the review with WOW! HOLY MOLEY! HOT DANG!

First of all, it's always fun to hear something totally unexpected, and that was! In the past I've mentioned that you both have a personal style that is recognizeably "your sound". By the time an artist has achieved that, it often becomes the safe place that eventually pigeonholes them. This song shows that each of you can perform vocal high-wire acrobatics without a safety net, and still wow the audience. (Ah, but Janice glitters like a diamond in a black velvet display case when she's in her niche, and its almost a shame to ask her to step outside it. I think its very cool that she honored your request and the results worked out so well)

Second of all, I am a sucker for music that works in front of a live audience, and I think this song would indeed work with any audience. The visual of the two of you playing a lounge on a cruise ship popped to mind immediately. I can imagine the stage interaction between both singers during the song, and the audience getting sucked into the chorus, singing along.

I listened to the song multiple times at various volumes. When the volume was low, your vocals over powered Janice's. When I turned it up, Janice overpowered you. It must have something to do with your different frequencies in relation to how my system handles such at different volumes. (does anyone else notice the same thing on their systems?) The good news is there was a "goldilocks' porridge" volume where it was "just right", so I continued listening at that volume.

I particularly liked the harmonic banter at the end. It reminded me of some passages that Josie Beck has included in her songs, with the same "hey this is FUN!" effect.

OK, this is getting long, so I'll stop here and pause to give each of you a squinty-eyed jealous look before I exit the room.
------
no wait, one more thought:
Much as I like this (and I really really do like it a lot) the thought occurred to me that years spent together have made Bud and Janice highly aware of their synergy. Bud intuitively knows how to create tracks that perfectly frame his wife's vocal image. You really can't reproduce in days or weeks what took a lifetime to create. Yet, this song has a totally different appeal than that which Bud creates so perfectly every time.

You are all so dang talented. All joking aside I really am quite envious.

I will call this A Big Time Production, in every way.

Congrats to both of you.

Later,

I sure can relate to what you said about drums...it's soooo easy to settle but worth it when forcing oneself to dig and find just the right beat. Sometimes just looking at all the possibilities available in real drums is daunting to me to say the least - even tho all that choice is a wonderful thing. Kudos for taking the plunge - that had to be a LOT of drum listening!

Enjoyed it.

Hey, I think the salsa Afro fits right where you put it plus blends with the rest o it very well. You'll be surprise to find tracks out there that we do not suspect how well it works with styles totally different. Here's the proof. Well done.

Mike B.

You folks just keep putting out great music, Thanks for sharing!

The reviews are in..............

Hi Janice and Floyd,


I can't say it better.
While writing this I'm having my fourth listen. That speaks for itself.

Guenter

Yeah, what Josie, Pg, and everyone else said. I'm a bit behind in auditioning your songs. You are so PRO-lific!

hi guys holy smokes guys super production mix everything thanks for sharing great style you guys have a lot of talent and the bar goes up eric

wow! great song!

I like the drum kit story too

I can't help but imagine the process of making it all come together, what fun

Hey guys,

This is some good stuff. Very catchy melody... I can't get it out of my head! I'd say that's a good thing!!

Greg

Very nice. Thanks for including the details. It's nice when people do that.

Bump - for those who were replacing the batteries in their hearing aids.

Noel - as always, thanks for the wonderful things you say...

Pat - we will continue to do all in our power to both please you and "[*****] you off". Thank you for your delightful assessments. I experienced some of what you described as I mixed this. Over and over. Finally just had to decide on a place to stop....

Danny - thanks for that. Appreciate it.

Josie - thanks for the listen

Mike - nice to have you drop by for a listen.

Robert - thanks.

Bob - THANK YOU for posting Variety! I wasn't sure if we would be noted there.

Guenter - always good to have you droppin' in for a listen...

Don - SO pleased to see you pop in for a bit to sample our wares!!! Hope you got a little jiggin' out of it...

eric - those were some kind words - thanks.

Lawrence - pleased that we could "wow" ya.... means a lot...

Greg - always appreciate the things you have to say (I know you like Janice better...)

rharv - really nice to have you come by for a listen and a comment. thank you.

90 - you are truly a "gentleman"! owe ya.

I just want to do a quick "thank you" to Janice - for lending her immense talent to this "project" (and to Bud for the engineer work).

They are both a true delight to work with.

And... a thank you to Peter and all the folks behind him - for providing the "genius software" that makes this possible - and the "home" to display it...

floyd

Just caught up with it Floyd - a great listen over mid-morning coffee As are all your songs btw. You are a great writer for sure.

Thanks

Dennis

This would sound incredible sung live.
Interesting use of the Real drums... I shall investigate them further myself.

Enjoyed that

Alyn