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Keywords:
caroline (57), bear (16), rag (11), ragtime (20), bouncy (19), harmony assistant (15), pink and fluffy (3), lickety split (1)
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Description:
(Version 2, drums removed by popular demand, minor embellishments added.) This little ragtime number began life as just a snippet, written as background music for a home movie last year. But recently, when Caroline (Caro2ine, to be specific) was going through her post-Macjammer-party depression, I decided to flesh this out into a much longer song, and dedicate it to her bear, who also seemed to have lost much of his bounce lately. So it has been renamed from its original "Lickety Split Rag" to "Caroline's Bear Rag". I also borrowed her bouncing bear icon out of the chat window, and taught him to play piano. For the hard core ragtime buffs, I know this is not quite syncopated enough to be true ragtime, but hopefully its fun and bouncy and makes you smile anyway. I had a lot of fun playing with the dynamics to make this feel animated and alive. Please leave me a comment and critique this, let me know what you think about the music, style, mood, technique. Also, Caroline's friend Lee took my piano sheet music, practiced, and played this for REAL, here: http://www.macjams.com/song/17923.
Hardware:
Dual 1 Ghz QuickSilver Mac, syncopated shot of triplesec liquor.
Software:
Harmony Assistant, GarageBand 2, Photoshop Elements & GifBuilder for the animated artwork
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I love this song!!! &mdash 01/31/06 - 07:54:23 AM
Drakonis, this song is one of my all-time favorites. It's happy, bouncy;
it's great. I hope someday to be able to play like that. I have it
downloaded and will listen to it over and over. Thank you for your
great compositions and for being such a motivator. Also, I love your
artwork. Perfect... :-) [ Reply to This ]
yay! &mdash 01/31/06 - 09:20:57 AM
i liked this before, but i think it is better w/o the drums...
the piano really shines now!
this is ggggreat! [ Reply to This ]
I think ... &mdash 01/31/06 - 10:07:42 AM
That Both Caroline and the Bear will be so honoured by this new rendition. I especially love the gif artwork. I was doing a little dance in my chair while listening ... a great way to start the day! [ Reply to This ]
No drums needed &mdash 02/01/06 - 11:29:33 AM
The piano is enough, and it sounds great. Wish I could play like that! Very cool. [ Reply to This ]
to honour us once... &mdash 02/02/06 - 01:50:46 AM
was marvellous - twice??? your homage leaves us speechless!!! haha - that fooled you!!! ed-wood - thank you soo much - frankly the bear and i love all the versions including the first one you ever sent us that was not posted - we bounce to every one xoxox [ Reply to This ]
I am lame &mdash 02/02/06 - 01:13:11 PM
Why didn't I know that you could play a piano like this. This wonderful.
The piano, for some reason it's not what comes to mind when I see
your name. Is it me... Is this my public display of ignorance... Sorry if
this is so.
Nice work Drak I really enjoyed this - Cyd [ Reply to This ]
I am lame &mdash 02/02/06 - 07:20:26 PM
Eek! I never said I could play piano! This was scored by me, note-by-note (not
in real time), and then tweaking certain notes to get subtle shifts in timing and
dynamics to get the sound of how I WANT it to be played. It was MIDI-imported
to Garageband, and the amazing GB Pianist then played it perfectly for me.
Please Dion, when you see my name, continue to think of me as a music
composer, or even a dragon, but never a piano player! I can print this as sheet
music, and maybe a talented musician can play it, but not me!
Humbly yours,
Drakonis
---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there<b>
### Today's song: <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/17641">Caroline's Bear Rag, take 2!</a> [ Reply to This ]
Nice playing &mdash 02/03/06 - 09:58:54 AM
I really like your piano playing great work love it.
Keep up the good work
9.9.10.10
And here you can listen on my last song
http://www.macjams.com/song/17744
*Skean*
[ Reply to This ]
Well, ok - that GB pianist is great &mdash 02/05/06 - 06:15:35 PM
but you did such a nice job of dynamics and touch variations, (I end up
doing that sort of thing by pencil, and I know it's a big job.) I think it's
neat that you also have it on sheet music. Finale? Sibelius? Have you
thought of posting the sheet music on one of the notation programs'
sites? It sure is cute and bouncy - good things to be! [ Reply to This ]
Really nice &mdash 02/06/06 - 05:59:04 AM
Really nice modern rag piece! And it is good to know that Carolines teddy
got a piece of his own. Now we know what he's dancing to ... well ...
"dancing" ... [ Reply to This ]
fun listen &mdash 02/09/06 - 12:59:43 PM
lighthearted, easy, good mood music. perfect for a spring day! I really
like the infectious movements, very catchy and listenable! Good job. [ Reply to This ]
thanks &mdash 02/11/06 - 01:03:23 PM
for posting this again....nice improvements...a very silly tune, and I love
it! [ Reply to This ]
piano &mdash 02/20/06 - 11:50:35 AM
nice piano work. better then my piano skills are at the moment. nice and bouncy must have cheered the bear right up. can't think of criticism it sounds good to me. volume is fine, nice accenting. [ Reply to This ]
bouncy &mdash 02/20/06 - 12:17:11 PM
happy wee tune &mdash 02/21/06 - 10:37:48 AM
i like this.....its so bouncy, like the happy bears bouncing on the keys with all his happy little friends......urgh, you made me feel like im on drugs......
[ Reply to This ]
It only gets better. &mdash 02/24/06 - 11:51:45 AM
While I liked the first one, I think the stripping down works great because the piano part is so rich by itself. I think the volume changes could be smoother -- maybe just a lighter touch with the volume curves -- because sometimes it almost seems to drop out of sight, and this piece needs to maintain maximum bouciness. Nice job! [ Reply to This ]
This song is &mdash 03/12/06 - 03:33:27 PM
Very pretty.I like you piano work very much.
Was so soothing,like a lullabye.
Thank You for sharing. [ Reply to This ]
Sounds like something Tori Amos will &mdash 04/18/06 - 05:43:23 PM
break into in between songs. which means I love it! Going on the faves. [ Reply to This ]
Impressive ... &mdash 04/25/06 - 02:57:14 PM
I liked the 17641 version better myself .. it had the 'happiness and
bounce' (as has been commented before) but flowed better - the
17923 version seemed to me to force in some more rag and bounce and
consequently interrupted the smooth flow.
Movie soundtrack application is perfect ... I hope it get's used in a
major movie, so it can reach the masses! [ Reply to This ]
Impressive ... &mdash 04/26/06 - 06:32:41 AM
Thank you for the critique, and welcome to Macjams! So, the starts and stops in
this version were more distracting from what you wished was a smoother piece?
Hmmm... that's a good point, I was trying to capture "resting between sprints"...
I will see if I canstill convey a breath without coming to a complete halt.
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/20224">Border Merger</a> [ Reply to This ]
Impressive ... &mdash 05/01/06 - 12:27:20 PM
sorry I confused you by posting on the version I liked best ..
this version I think flows smoother than the one played by a real pianist.
(it was really that version my critique is on) .. silly me - or really just
a comment when I compared the two versions and deciding which was to be
added to my Fav list!
Perhaps I'm just too used to computers playing music these days ! [ Reply to This ]
Happy &mdash 05/12/06 - 05:21:52 PM
Well Done.
My mood is lifted while listening to your music, keep it up, if I could change one thing it would be that I wish I could play piano like that. IT is mainly rag but the underlying classical theme is there, which I dont normally call myself "one that listens to classical music," but you find a way to put an edge on it that keeps me wanting more. I must ask, did you learn piano off a lot of classical music? [ Reply to This ]
Happy &mdash 05/12/06 - 10:50:32 PM
Glad it put a bounce in your step! I grew up listening to classical music, and
PDQ Bach, and Walter Carlos, and Spike Jones, and the Beatles, and Pink Floyd,
and Peruvian pan pipes, and Japanese Koto, so my genre wiring is a bit, uh,
complicated. But yes, I definitely have a classical bent. However, piano is not my
forte... if you say "play C#", I can find it on the keyboard, but that's about my
level of skill on the piano. I didn't play this, I entered it note by note onto the
staff.
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/20224">Border Merger Waltz</a> [ Reply to This ]
Very interesting composition &mdash 09/22/06 - 07:20:58 AM
I love this, I don't find it too far from ragtime roots, on the contrary. Very
artfully done with the dynamics, I don't find them to sudden at all. I would
be very interested in seeing the sheet music because I'm also an amateur
ragtime buff at the piano. Excellent, excellent work.
And thanks again for your comment on my tune!
MunichG [ Reply to This ]
2/4 the show... &mdash 09/22/06 - 09:52:09 AM
Thank you immensely for the feedback. I'm glad to hear that I didn't stray too
far off the ragtime path for you, and that the dynamics felt appropriate. I'll print
the piano sheet music to PDF and shoot it off to you to peruse. I'd love to hear
your thoughts on it, since I haven't played it, I have no idea if I have created
strange Chopin-esque reaches on the KB, or if it is generally playable. Only one
other person attempted to play this (Lee, see the description above), and we've
not heard from him since! :-) Anyway, check your "Notes" on Macjams, I left you
one :-)
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
The one with the most true friends wins!<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/23351">Sometimes - Magic Flute mix</a> [ Reply to This ]
Great dynamics! &mdash 11/09/06 - 04:49:26 PM
It's light with feeling. It is one of those feelings I don't know if I can describe. I guess it's like happiness that kind of chokes you up a little. It has a sense of innocence.
Thanks for letting me use it for my shop!
Doug [ Reply to This ]
Wow... well-described &mdash 11/09/06 - 05:51:34 PM
And thank you for the suggestion that it is "sentimental"(?)... I take that as a very high compliment! Glad you like all the work on the dynamics, and I hope it makes people buy maps in your store, and find out about Macjams! Thank you for listening and commenting!
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/23351">Sometimes - Magic Flute mix</a> [ Reply to This ]
Wow... &mdash 12/03/06 - 11:05:54 PM
You could have fooled me, had you not said this wasn't played... the dynamics of this is very natural, and conveys a lot of feeling even though it's programmed. The structure is very easy to follow, and leaves you feeling good after you listen to it. Great work! [ Reply to This ]
Kind compliments... &mdash 12/03/06 - 11:15:22 PM
coming from somebody who's played the piano since 4, I appreciate your suggestion that I got the dynamics pretty close! That's good to know. There's also a version of this played by another Macjammer, whom I sent the sheet music to... so I guess it is actually almost playable too! :-)
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/25837">MusiMorphosis</a> [ Reply to This ]
Fun &mdash 12/08/06 - 08:00:41 PM
This really has a nice music feel to it. Enjoyed the other one as well.
Like the carosel feel to it. Has a picture story to it somehow.
Nice Drak! [ Reply to This ]
Music that evokes pictures &mdash 12/09/06 - 12:19:00 AM
This one does seem to want to tell a story... I don't know exactly what though. Glad it caught your interest, Bill!
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/25837">MusiMorphosis</a> [ Reply to This ]
Animated artwork &mdash 01/10/07 - 07:08:40 PM
The gif... It freaked me out.
Anyway, the song.
It's like.. restrained happines. or some reason that's what it makes me think of.
It doesn't really sound that MIDI.. how'd you get it to sound so authentic?
I like it! [ Reply to This ]
watch the bouncing bear... watch the bouncing bear... &mdash 01/10/07 - 11:10:41 PM
Sorry to freak you out with GifCycles... but glad you liked the careful tweaking to make this note-by-note composition sound hand-played... I've just gotten some incredibly useful feedback from Paul F. Page here, who critiqued the piano score, so I hope to have an updated version of this up sometime that will actually be playable by 10-fingered humans :-) Love your acoustic guitar work, thanks for the listen-exchange!
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/25837">MusiMorphosis</a> [ Reply to This ]
hehe... &mdash 01/29/07 - 05:49:40 AM
i came back again today to listen to this - the whole package, not just from my itunes - i smiled all the way through - mwah - thank you - xoxoxoxxo [ Reply to This ]
perfect the way it is &mdash 03/20/07 - 12:11:05 PM
sweet. you play really well, and as usual your compositions are so moody. i found this to be a blend of the playful and the melancholy. i can easily see this in a soundtrack.
melody is great, and your technique is impressive. I never heard it with the afore mentioned drums, but my impression is that it was a good decision to lose them (unless you did a reprise with the drums, and your friend playing a trumpet melody over the top).
nicely done, I am really impressed. I guess I need to become a part of your fanbase. [ Reply to This ]
Piano is NOT my Forte... &mdash 03/20/07 - 12:39:01 PM
I tried to put a big disclaimer in the description here that I *don't* play piano... this was hand-scored, note-by-tedious-note, then dynamics added, note-by-note, to give this a live-piano-played-feel. In fact, I have sent the actual piano score to a couple of very good pianists, and they agreed that parts of it are indeed almost impossible to play, so I'm trying a simplified rewrite to remove some of the 11-fingered chords and vulcan-death-grip-inducing runs :-) I'm also reading up on music composition (late in life) and hope this will improve my music. But, despite the peek under the hood, I'm very happy you enjoyed the music. I am a nut for trying to evoke a happy-longing feel in my music, so the fact that you noticed and mentioned it puts a big smile on my face! I also re-scored this for "Calliope" to give it a merry-go-round feel, which worked well too.
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/28669">Dance of the Technoids</a> [ Reply to This ]
nice &mdash 07/10/07 - 11:45:29 AM
very enjoyable. (but coffee-wise, i would rate this one cup at the most Maybe it was the triplesec.) fun album artwork.
[ Reply to This ]
one cup &mdash 07/10/07 - 11:55:22 AM
One cup is probably best, anyway... any more than that, and it gets impossible to play any kind of instrument :-) Thanks for bouncing along with me and the bear!
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/24994">DidgeEmber</a> [ Reply to This ]
"Bouncy" &mdash 07/11/07 - 07:29:53 PM
nice work on the keys. I like the use you make of the dynamics; hard, soft touches (sorry don't know what ya call that:) to make this bounce along.
. - Harold [ Reply to This ]
I am young again! &mdash 07/29/07 - 05:00:47 PM
Such a nice, happy, upbeat song. One cannot listen and not be smiling. You are so gifted and as with all your music, your talent astounds! Thank you for taking the lead for so many of us and showing us how the pros do it. Great song. Thanks for sharing. [ Reply to This ]
You're still young! &mdash 07/29/07 - 06:20:59 PM
Well, coming from such a gifted piano player, I take this as a wonderful compliment! Thank you for listening and commenting... I'm so pleased that you stopped in and told me this made you remember that you are still young and bouncy! Keep that energy up, and we'll help you record more of *your* great music to put up here too! My daughter has a sudden interest in learning piano now, so we have her practicing... this is a good thing!
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/24994">DidgeEmber</a> [ Reply to This ]
Ooh! &mdash 09/12/07 - 10:37:00 PM
I love music like this! I wish i could be so expressive with only a piano.
It definitely made me smile... strangely, it also brought up sadness, longing, something slipped through my fingers... ? It conjures an old-time feeling that must be so much older than me, yet something to which i can relate.
Both happy and sad, for me. Thanks for letting it be downloadable. : ) [ Reply to This ]
Oooh! &mdash 09/12/07 - 10:52:25 PM
what a delight to have you stop in and listen, thank you! I was trying (as I often do) to balance a feeling of exuberance with a touch of wistful sadness and longing, so I'm elated to hear that this came across. Thank you for finding it worth a download, that is a great compliment too! I have no ability to play the piano, and have recently sent this piano score to a couple of great pianists, who confirmed my greatest fear, that this is almost unplayable. One of them, the esteemed Paul F. Page on this site, took the time to mark the score and suggest some tweaks to make it more playable by a human, and I have begun to rework it with his suggestions... I'd love this to be playable. We'll see what I come up with. Thank you again for commenting on my work, I'm happy this struck a chord, even if it was a mixed chord.
ttfn,
Drakonis
---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/28669">Dance of the Technoids</a> [ Reply to This ]
Wow &mdash 02/16/08 - 05:43:57 PM
I am so glad I found this, nothing like a rag to elevate your mood. This has such a modern twist to it too. Great piece of music. [ Reply to This ]
twist &mdash 02/17/08 - 01:23:14 AM
a smile with a hint of regret, but mostly upbeat. I'm delighted to have somebody with your musical abilities and ear enjoy the stuff I'm trying to make... thank you! Glad to put that bounce in your step! Ragtime is sadly not played or appreciated much.
ttfn,
Drakonis [ Reply to This ]
Caroline's Bear Rag (aka Lickety Split) &mdash 02/17/08 - 08:12:27 PM
I really like the accents and the dynamics in this piece. Very effective indeed! I like that you hold back the tempo. [ Reply to This ]
ragtime... take your time... &mdash 02/17/08 - 08:34:08 PM
it is usually played too fast. I like this at a slower tempo too. Thank you for noticing all the work on adding note-by-note dynamics!
ttfn,
Drakonis [ Reply to This ]
Let's Dance! &mdash 05/18/08 - 10:49:08 PM
I think this is totally fun and if I had any spot of talent playing ragtime music I'd beg you for the sheet music.
As a non-pianist I think you did a fabulous job here. Sounds like a fun piece to listen to - has just enough movement in the left hand to make it interesting but not too difficult.
The first theme is just great, very fun and melodic. Great balance between the hands. Good back and forth play.
The second theme - comes in around the 28 second mark for the first time - balance doesn't seem quite right. The right hand feels like it kind of just drops out - which would be fine if the left hand was doing somethin g a little more interesting, but it is basically continuing what it was doing before. I like the idea of switching to the left hand for a bit - just maybe change the part a little to make it stand out more.
I think dynamics are pretty good overall. It would be cool if you could do some effects with this to make it sound a little out of tune and crackly - like it's an old recording of someone playing this at the old spinnet piano in the living room.
Great piece mr. dragon. Lots of fun - made me smile and get up and dance around the living room. [ Reply to This ]
ha... &mdash 05/18/08 - 11:06:33 PM
if I had any talent as a composer for piano, I wouldn't have to stall and say "uh, just a minute, let me fix up those un-playable parts before I print the score" :-)
Thank you very much for the suggestion on the right hand part, I have this partly re-worked already, and will add some interest to the right hand part there, as you suggest... excellent! Thank you for your ear and time listening to this and commenting! I cannot return your time to you, but... here's your ear back!
ttfn,
Drakonis [ Reply to This ]
Woohoo &mdash 05/22/08 - 10:31:08 AM
Ragtime,who doesn't like a rag? Nicely done sir,a pleasure to listen to.And I am looking forward to a rummage round the old back catalogue,have to go now ...spark plugs to change seeya..Jarvoid [ Reply to This ]
Well thank you! &mdash 05/22/08 - 10:56:32 AM
Glad to have you stop in and use that spark plug rag for something new! Hmm... the "Spark Plug Rag"... oooh, a new song idea just ignited my cylinders! Gotta go! :-)
ttfn,
Drakonis [ Reply to This ]
Well &mdash 05/22/08 - 12:21:57 PM
here's another idea ,after the change of spark plugs didn't work we may have the Motorbike and Sidecar Blues to consider...........Woe is me
Jarvoid [ Reply to This ]
Caroline's Bear Rag &mdash 06/09/08 - 03:29:58 PM
what can I say more than AWESOME ... just wonderful
piano piece ...:-) thnx Draki ! [ Reply to This ]
Great! &mdash 06/09/08 - 03:51:03 PM
Glad to have you enjoying it, Feter... I hope to have an update to it soon, now that Lee has started playing it for real! :-)
ttfn,
Drakonis [ Reply to This ]
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it's great. I hope someday to be able to play like that. I have it
downloaded and will listen to it over and over. Thank you for your
great compositions and for being such a motivator. Also, I love your
artwork. Perfect... :-)
[ Reply to This ]