PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase A li'l swamp pop shuffle...

Okay... here's my second attempt at creating something in BiaB.

Please click here.

This really is some fun and, truly, inspirational software!

I've been noticing that the shuffle beat has been infiltrating practically all genres of music, from rap to hip-hop, to R&B and even country. So, I thought I'd try my hand at using this most addictive beat and wrap it around a bit of my own cultural heritage and background. I took the beat and fused (welded, perhaps) it withe a type of music that's popular in my part of the country called Swamp Pop.

Here are the BiaB settings I used...

****** Song Summary *************
Title: Gonzales Double Bump
Key=Bb , Tempo 65, Length (m:s)=3:52
Soloist track has 402 notes, Soloist harmony is < no harmony >(0)
Song is saved with bar changes for Tempo ,Volume Changes,
Style is SWAMPROK.STY (Swamp Rock -Unplugged)
Style MIDI Instruments are : Acoustic String Bass (33),
RealTracks in song: ~1039:Organ, B3, Rhythm JazzBallad Sw 060
RealTracks in song: 566:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm Blues Monday Sw 065 ('A' only)
RealTracks in song: 2114:Horn Section, Background, R&B Ev16 110 (Bluesy)
RealTracks in song: 1347:Sax, Tenor, Soloist Rock Boogie Ev 160
MIDI Drums :1 Standard Drum Kit (1)
RealDrums will be substituted :HipHop: a: HipHopb: HipHop
*******************

Once the tracks were created, I exported them to Reaper where I recorded the vocal track adding a big of reverb, EQ, and echo. Finally, I took it into Audacity and trimmed out the click-track intro and used the Limiter tool to make the volume of the soft parts and the loud parts more uniform.

Here, also, are the lyrics, in case you'd like to follow along while you listen...

Down 61 passed Bayou Manchac
You need to come on down, go on and get your bags packed
The gumbo's hot, the Dixie beer’s on ice
And them Bayou ladies they all lookin’ so nice
But as sure as I'm sitting on this cypress stump
You just ain't livin' until you’ve done
The Double Bump

The Gonzales Double Bump is what the locals call it
And if you wanna learn to do it, it won't break your wallet
Yeah, without even spending you one, thin dime
I can guar-an-tee you'll pass a really good time.
So if you feel like you livin' in a cane-field rut
Pick yourself up and dust off your butt
And do the Double Bump

The clock on the wall says it’s time for the show
So if you’re ready, set, c’mon on let’s go!
Grab your best girl and your pirogue pole
Repeat after me, “Let the good times roll”.

So if you're ready bring your lady out on the dance floor
Pull her nice and close, you’ll be feeling it for sure
Sway it to the left once nice and slow
But when you sway to the right, sway it one time more
One bump to the left, two bumps to the right
Before you even know it you’ll be bumping all night
Doing the Double Bump


I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what you think. Constructive criticism is, truly, the only way to grow, as a writer.

Kevin,

A very interesting song and production. The horn stops are really well done. The vocal is strong! A solid mix.

I liked it. However, I couldn't help but feel that it should have been done a lot faster. So it had some real rockin' to it. The lyric suggested that as well...

You're doing some good stuff here.

floyd

Thank you for the feedback! I do agree that, at times, it seems like the song drags a bit. I guess I was trying to keep it at the tempo of the songs that the folks down here do that particular dance to. But I'm thinking a slight deviation may be in order! *lol*

Thank you, again!

Really well done!! Horns work perfectly. Really great vibe and delightful innuendo!! Great job! Take care. Greg

Nice tune. The horns worked really well with the song. I did notice a significant click at the 2:50 mark you may want to fix if you do any more work on the song.

Good job on this.


Charlie

Nice work! Just for my own tastes, the horns seem 'middy' and missing those highs that cut through and make horns, horns.

Also, I heard another 'click' about 10 seconds before the one noted before. It was only in one ear.

Well done!!!

A creative and interesting vibe indeed. Fun listen. Kudos on getting sw and ev tracks to not tug on each other. Great descriptive lyric that sets the atmosphere well.

Do I even want to know what that dance looks like?

Interesting but tended to drag and quickly diminished listener appeal. Excellent first effort, however. More please?

Hi, Kevin !:))


I liked this bump of yours really much !:))
Fun, yes, and very well performed and
mixed !:))Keep on "bumpin´" (lol) !


Regards
Dani

Swamp Pop is a new genre for me but I really like it!

Your vocal was super strong on this and the lyrics were fantastic. I thought the tempo fit the song, especially when you sang " Pull her nice and close, you’ll be feeling it for sure Sway it to the left once nice and slow". I also thought that the horns fit the mood you were trying to set.

Great song.

Ps - I also hear those clicks. If you clear them out the song would be perfect!

Thank you all for the great feedback! I've been playing with the tempo in BiaB, trying to see what it feels like a lot faster, a little faster, as compared to the 65 BPM I originally recorded it at. That's such a tough call. I'm not sure what those "pops" are all about but I'm gonna get Audacity after 'em to see if I can clean 'em up.

Thanks again! Y'all rock!

Yeah Rutherford, I like those horns!!!!!
Great job.

Yeah Rutherford, interesting song , love the horn stoPs. Do you care to elaborate how you built them?

Mike B.

Hi Kevin,

a fun listening. Does this dance really exist?
I'd like to know what it looks like.
Enjoyed it a lot.

Guenter

The horn stops were pretty easy once I followed some valuable advice I got here on the forum. Basically, imagine these four measures, with each line representing a measure...

Measure 1) C
Measure 2) C..,C.. ,C..
Measure 3) C..,C.. ,C..
Measure 4) C...

Measure 1 is set to 65 BPM so you hear the whole band playing through the whole measure. The BPM on measures 2 and 3, however, are set to 130 BPM so, in time, you hear these measures twice as fast as the one before. The horn stops play on what BiaB thinks is beats 1, 2 and 4 but, to your ear, the quarter notes become eighth notes for those two measure so you get a really cool sound set of eighth note horn stop. Measure 4 is, once again set to 65 BPM and the whole "band" holds the chord for the entire four beats.

Nothing more than some really cool math at work.

Hope this helps!