There's a very theatrical atmosphere here ... I can see this working
really well on stage with all the visual elements adding to the
experience. You've filled it with lively musical textures and performed
it with panache.

Having been in the position of an author having to kill off my favourite
character I can vouch that it can be surprisingly upsetting. I found
myself genuinely grieving for him, which is a bit weird really. It's an
interesting subject matter for a rock musical ... something different
and well worth exploring.

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Hallo Rebs, thanks for listening, I'm glad you liked this one. You've got some insight into this "character murder" thing - I think it would be very interesting to work with you on some concepts. I'll definitely e-mail you about it!

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Mahalo nui loa,<p>

Bing Futch<br>
New Song! <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/19711" target="_blank">"You"</a>

[ Reply to This ]

This is a really good musical number. Fun lyrics, great melody. You sang it wonderfully. What's not to like.

This whole genre thing is always tricky. I'm sure you want maximal exposure and putting this song in Pop will likely get you more plays, but this really should be in Showtunes. We need more great numbers like this in that category here at MJ's.



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Hi Charlie, thank you so much - that's very kind of you. It is definitely a showtune, but it has such a pop sensibility, I shot for it. It's a thin line, that's for sure. Rock and pop are so theatrical. Thanks again for checking it out!

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Mahalo nui loa,<p>

Bing Futch<br>
New Song! <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/19711" target="_blank">"You"</a>

[ Reply to This ]

Bing, I totally dig this song. I like the rhythm and the rather innovative
melody, with intermittent shifts to minor notes. To be honest with you, i
consider this one of your best songs because it has an offbeat twist to it
and stands out as a unique piece in your collection, like a hybrid of pop
and theater. I caught myself singing some harmonies with your vocals as
i listened through it repeatedly. The instrumentals are so bingfutchian,
an adjective synonymous with sharp, crisp, novel and well-layered
sounds!

9-9-9-9!

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Aloha, Leon - glad you like this one, bro. To be honest, I wasn't sure how this one was gonna go over, so I'm relieved and quite pleased! I am now an adjective as WELL as a verb and sometimes a noun. Heh.

You honor me man, thank you - I'm looking forward to our collab - I'll e-mail you with some notes.



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Mahalo nui loa,<p>

Bing Futch<br>
New Song! <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/19711" target="_blank">"You"</a>

[ Reply to This ]

Nice nice song, well crafted, really well written lyrics (some lines were a
little rushed, but not badly), great singing,super orchestration, wow! Cool
stuff! Twisted over-the-top melodrama is fun! Parts remind me a bit of
Danny Elfmann.
ttfn,
Drakonis

[ Reply to This ]

Danny Elfman? Wow, nice compliment, Drak - Danny's the man! I'm happy that you liked this track, thanks for giving it a spin!

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Mahalo nui loa,<p>

Bing Futch<br>
New Song! <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/19711" target="_blank">"You"</a>

[ Reply to This ]

My, what a surprising and well expressed turn of events - You're so
clever - I liked this - Love the production - Well done - Thanks! I think
it's okay for me to laugh, right... Well I'm smiling... Dion

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Dion, it's okay to smile - it's definitely 'ha-ha-psycho' and not 'scary psycho', at least I think so. Thanks for listening - I appreciate your comments, this one was an eye-opener, production-wise.

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Mahalo nui loa,<p>

Bing Futch<br>
New Song! <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/19711" target="_blank">"You"</a>

[ Reply to This ]

Good groove, very creative approach and lyrics with humor. Really
refreshing and musically interesting. Glad all this is about a "cartoon" caracter! Really like the sound the drums, but all instruments are well recorded and mixed (sound like mostly live recorded?). Great production! Love it how you mix the different textures and instruments. Are you playing all the instruments?!

[ Reply to This ]

Thank you for the love, I'm glad you got into it! I did everything with my Roland Fantom keyboard, programmed the drums, laid down tracks of bass, piano, "guitar", strings, bells and calliope - then sent them one by one into GB. No loops were used. I'm really glad you enjoy the mixing - I took a leap of faith and really tried something different with the mixing. Thanks for noting it!



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Mahalo nui loa,<p>

Bing Futch<br>
New Song! <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/19711" target="_blank">"You"</a>

[ Reply to This ]

If this is any indication, it sounds like a very interesting work. This one is
packed full of fun. It's very clever and very well performed. I'm guessing
from what I've heard here on MJ you must be quite a showman when
you're in front of an audience. It would really be awesome to see this
musical performed live. Are you going to post any more from it?

[ Reply to This ]

Hiya JG - your enjoyment of this song makes me very happy, and I hope you get a chance to see this show someday. Hell, I hope *I* get a chance to see this show someday. I have some instrumental demos from '98 that I could probably clean up in GB. I recorded all the tracks using a Roland PMA-5, one of those little handheld palmtop thingamabobs - the guts of those, a short-lived toy/tool-I think was the TR-606 or something. I just may have to look in to that, thanks for inspiring that - and for taking the time to listen!

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Mahalo nui loa,<p>

Bing Futch<br>
New Song! <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/19711" target="_blank">"You"</a>

[ Reply to This ]

I've had the chance to play drums in a few musicals (my old high
school keeps asking me back) and I know this would be a fair bit of
fun. Theres a nice mix of styles here and enough space inbetween to
allow for having fun with fills or dramatics if the bands on stage. Aside
from the mix of styles (very theatrical mind you) I also quite like what
you've done with the circus theme... works really well.

Some critisism though... the bridge part (with the distorted guitars)
doesn't quite work for me. I can tell you're trying to build up energy...
but it feels like my Barina... you're crusing along, then you put the
pedal to the floor and... you're still crusing along like you were before
(but using more petrol). I think it needs to step up a gear in some
fashion other than using a distorted guitar... the section either needs
to be busier or faster... say like going into double time. In particular,
something really needs to happen to the drums... they had more
energy and life in the chorus and the kick drum was doing heaps more
in the verse even. Perhaps, instead of going into just crotchet beats
for the snare and kick drum once a cycle, follow the rhythm of the
guitars and piano... because its screaming to do something more.

My other comment is sorta nit-picking about the mix.... its just a little
unbalanced, I think you've got the bass playing off center to the right
which is very hard to make work... but the first thing I noticed is that
far too much off your other stuff is on the left side. The piano, shaker,
one synth, distorted vocals and an arpeggiating synth of some sort in
the verse/chorus alone.... and on the right side you have a very thin
synth (and the bass, but I didn't notice that first up). Since the piano is
pretty constant through the whole thing, switching the sides of the
arpeggiating synth and distorted vocals would make me very happy.

Very cool piece though and I hope it gets played one day Glenn ;)

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Bryan, you reminded me of the time in high school when I was in the cast of "Damn Yankees" and also volunteered to play drums in the show band (while the drummer was onstage, dancing around as a baseball player)- the word "fatigue" springs to mind. I have no idea how this non-drummer ever managed to keep up that two-step snare and bass combo throughout "Shoeless Joe From Hannibal Mo" - but no-one lynched me afterwards; that was good. But I digress - thank you for your usual insightful review, I appreciate all the kind words - you're a discerning lad when it comes to music. For that reason, I also appreciate the nitpicks, because, as usual, I agree with you.

Regarding the middle section, I'm surprised that you referred to them as "distorted guitars", because no matter how much I tweaked it, it still sounds like lame synth guitar patches to me. Those downstrokes need to remain prominent in the drums, but I can definitely hear some fluttery, stuttery, flammin' licks and syncopation with the piano - if you hear the guitar part clearly, when it's not mixed into some kind of aural oatmeal, there are three distinctly harmonic parts going on there that just build up to a psychotic frenzy - the drums really need to feed along with that. This show so needs to get produced with a live band. Interested? Thanks again for listening, enjoy the rest of your Easter break!


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Mahalo nui loa,<p>

Bing Futch<br>
New Song! <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/19711" target="_blank">"You"</a>

[ Reply to This ]

Regarding the middle section, I'm surprised that you referred to them as
"distorted guitars", because no matter how much I tweaked it, it still sounds
like lame synth guitar patches to me.

Oh don't worry, they DO sound like lame synth guitars patches... but because
I know this isn't the 'final' product (like, you want this to be performed one
day), I'm trying to listen past that.... which is also why I know that this is a
piece quite a few people could have a lot of fun playing around a little in.

---
The Composer, previously known as The Pianist who hasn't played the piano in a while...

Sampled Sister

[ Reply to This ]

Thanks for confirming that. : ) I actually sent this demo to a MacJammer for to put in and make with the guitar action, got a confirmation e-mail and that was probably seven weeks ago. Of course, my e-mail's been dropping mail of late - so, MJer, if you're out there goin' WTF - please give it another go, if you will. I'd have another toss at this one if enough players stepped in. OtherwiseI'mDONE! Movin' on. Workin' on the next one now, you know how it is.

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Mahalo nui loa,<p>

Bing Futch<br>
New Song! <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/19711" target="_blank">"You"</a>

[ Reply to This ]

theatricality. Oh and now there's haunted carnival music, nice! Wow, a lot of work went into this, the production sounds fantastic to me. I've seen a lot of live musicals and though I'm not really crazy about that kind of music in general, sometimes, like here, I do like it. In particular the "wish you could be here" parts, and the sections immediately following with the loud, distorted, resonant someting.

[ Reply to This ]

Thanks for listening, PV, I appreciate you giving it a shot. The song itself, technically, is quite psychotic - switching from musical theater to pop, to rock. That's what I get for being a Sparks fan. Glad you liked it!

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Mahalo nui loa,<p>

Bing Futch<br>
New Song! <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/19711" target="_blank">"You"</a>

[ Reply to This ]

This is so totally different. I read through some of the comments, and it
looks like there are a lot of 'show' people here. I liked the whole thing,
and the only improvement would be to see it done as part of a live show.

[ Reply to This ]

Thanks so much, KristyJo! I was surprised too, at the amount of folks here who would actually sit through a show tune, let alone enjoy it. Glad you liked it as well! I've played this live ONCE as part of a one-man show, but it just wouldn't be full realized without a full ensemble. Hopefully, this will happen in less than a decade. LOL Thanks again for listening!

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Mahalo nui loa,<p>

Bing Futch<br>
New Song! <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/19711" target="_blank">"You"</a>

[ Reply to This ]

your voice is very articulate and clear. Did you ever do musical theatre?

[ Reply to This ]

I've been outed. : ) High school theater workshop - doing old timey stuff like "Anything Goes", "Damn Yankees"and "Bye Bye Birdie." I like the newer stuff, like "Wicked" and "Avenue Q", but "South Pacific", how can you beat that? Thanks for listening!

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Mahalo nui loa,



Bing Futch



[ Reply to This ]

now this IS different. pretty intense lyrics - love/hate/cuz you're dead!!!!
cool music - the contrast in soft and hard is great. but that VOCAL is to die for! love the maniacal laughter at end. i like your style, mister! anne

[ Reply to This ]

Thanks, Anne! This is one of the oddest little pieces in my repertoire - someday I'd like to revisit it and really give it the treatment. Thanks so much for the kind comment!

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Mahalo nui loa,



Bing Futch



[ Reply to This ]