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In our continuing series of musical adaptations of sonnets by William Shakespeare, this one is special. It features a guest appearance by Bill Furner (TheTiler) as lead vocalist, guitar master and MIDI violinist.
Rich did a couple exploratory demos of Sonnet 29 and was about to throw up his hands in despair when Tiler caught a flier, spending nearly a whole night doing his own rendition based on the chord progression I had prescribed: G-D-Em-C-Em-C-Am-D (A section) and C-D-G-Em-C-D-Em (B section).
Rich liked what Bill had done. Bill sent Rich his GarageBand project via iChat and imported it into Logic Express 7, doing some cleanup of the MIDI violin, adding in some harmonies (a la The Jordanaires), fixing timing of all voices and instruments, and reducing Tiler's excessive reverb.
Here is the result. I wrote this to Bill and Jack yesterday: "Bill made short work of a sonnet that I was stuck on. Captivated by the words but unable to find the proper way to convey in music format. Bill, your voice is dripping with richness and battle weariness. Has a Johnny Cash realism to it. And your guitar work is sublime. I hope my folk mentor, Ed Hannifin, likes it. To me, it has an authentic folk sound. There is a very interesting contrast between the elegance of the instrumentation and the honesty and hardness of the lead voice. I love it."
Credits - Lyrics: Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare. Lead vocal, guitar, MIDI violin: Bill Furner. Music layout, vocal harmonies, editing and mixing: Richard Schletty. Great Shakes concept: Jack Miller and Richard Schletty. ©2006
Rich did a couple exploratory demos of Sonnet 29 and was about to throw up his hands in despair when Tiler caught a flier, spending nearly a whole night doing his own rendition based on the chord progression I had prescribed: G-D-Em-C-Em-C-Am-D (A section) and C-D-G-Em-C-D-Em (B section).
Rich liked what Bill had done. Bill sent Rich his GarageBand project via iChat and imported it into Logic Express 7, doing some cleanup of the MIDI violin, adding in some harmonies (a la The Jordanaires), fixing timing of all voices and instruments, and reducing Tiler's excessive reverb.
Here is the result. I wrote this to Bill and Jack yesterday: "Bill made short work of a sonnet that I was stuck on. Captivated by the words but unable to find the proper way to convey in music format. Bill, your voice is dripping with richness and battle weariness. Has a Johnny Cash realism to it. And your guitar work is sublime. I hope my folk mentor, Ed Hannifin, likes it. To me, it has an authentic folk sound. There is a very interesting contrast between the elegance of the instrumentation and the honesty and hardness of the lead voice. I love it."
Credits - Lyrics: Sonnet 29 by William Shakespeare. Lead vocal, guitar, MIDI violin: Bill Furner. Music layout, vocal harmonies, editing and mixing: Richard Schletty. Great Shakes concept: Jack Miller and Richard Schletty. ©2006
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Lyrics
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings.
Warren Smith
Tiler sings!
Okay, so he may not have the voice of a Placido Domingo or a Van
Morrison, but that's not the point. It matters not if this is the greatest
sung rendition of Shakespeare's sonnet, but rather, is it valid
performance. And I think Rich's liner notes express it perfectly: Tiler's
gritty realism are perfectly suitable for this story.
Indeed, for me, this kind of piece represents one of the riches of
macjams. It has a purity to it, not tainted by commercialism, which
helps it transcend any limitations.
Interesting how you broke the line "lark at the break of day." ; )
Delivering on these sonnets is not necessary an easy task. There's a
built in lyricism, but finding the right music, tempo, mood and voice
can be frustrating (as was noted). But that just makes the payoff
sweeter. As Shakespeare argues in this poem, the joy of a good-time
memory is equal to the riches of kings.