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Ocean Hymn by Dragonas [Email]
Genre: Rock

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SONG STATS:
Hits: 473
Comments: 33
Votes: 4
Plays: 70
Last Played: Nov 21, 2008 - 07:34:08 PM
Downloads: 0
Fans: 12
Uploaded: Jul 18, 2008 - 11:56:46 PM
Last Updated: Jul 19, 2008 - 01:39:49 PM
Fan List
Keywords:
Ocean (38), sea (36), Hymn (13), the hunt for the red october (1), submarines (2), ships (2), sailors (1), naval (3), waves (20), water (50), opera (17), classical (387), pop (481), rock (1147), Dragonas (16), Anthem. (1)
Description:
I find musical inspiration in nearly everything, especially good movies.
I recently saw The "Hunt For Red October," based on a Tom Clancy novel.
I thought the movie was alright, but oddly enough, I was inspired to write a song about the deep blue sea.
All of the scenes in the movie where Sean Connery is plowing his Soviet Submarine through deep dark caverns on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean were pure Hollywood magic. The power and size of the ocean really resonated with me, so I wrote a hymn to the Ocean.
The meter had to be a waltz to signify the crashing waves on the shore and the tempo had to be moderate enough to feel like the swaying of an old ship on the sea.
Everything else was fair game.
Anyways, this is just a demo and I hope to persuade Tina to sing on it. :-)
Can you hear the ping of the sonar from that old sub gliding under the glassy gloom of the water?

---------------------------

"He who lets the sea lull him into a sense of security is in very grave danger." -Hammond Ines

"He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea." -Thomas Fuller.

Lyrics:
Ocean Hymn
(lyrics by John Dragoo & Christina Linton
2008)

VERSE 1

Mysterious depth of Sparkling light

Gaze into my green eyes, shimmering bright

Endless, music swaying `gainst the sand

Limitless depth swirling colors of night

Always there

Echoing

The Sirens song

A mother's light (womb)

Glassy crests crash on the shores of time

CHORUS

Come to me,

And Let my waves,

Wash over you,

And swallow you

In an ocean of tears (1st time only)

I cry for you. (2nd time only)

VERSE 2

Under a solitary ship,

Creaks the cradle of life

In the foam of the sea

Find redemption and peace

Below the abyss

Lies the truth

At the waking of dawn, hear the siren's song:

Sun soaked hands

tying knots

Endlessly

Ride the back of the waves

The companion of the sea

Rowing to destiny

CHORUS 2

BRIDGE

CHORUS 3

Hardware:
Ibanez S470 into a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier
Fender Jazz Bass into an Ampeg SVT-4Pro


Software:
GarageBand.
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Dragonas... &mdash 07/19/08 - 12:34:04 AM
This is already sounding stellar for a demo. I'll reserve further comment for the finished version. I am excited to hear it. I'm not an opera fan although I am a fan of this piece. Wonderful concept and I hope we get to hear a finished version soon.

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Thanks GuyGrooves &mdash 07/19/08 - 02:31:18 PM
Glad you were the 1st to hear it.
Hopefully, I'll be able to record the Soprano vocals soon.
It's getting harder to find time these days...

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Great! &mdash 07/19/08 - 12:57:57 AM
I like it!. Maybe the melody should stick out a touch.


edpdx

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Thanks for listening &mdash 07/19/08 - 02:35:13 PM
I have the synth Soprano vocals pretty high in the mix already, but thanks for the suggestion.
I appreciate the listen.

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Ocean Hymn &mdash 07/19/08 - 02:27:25 AM
Jee amazing ...indeed it gives me the feel of the
story ...if Tina sang this ...it will be a treasure !
loved the arrangment and the insteruments you selected
wonderful job my friend ...Thnx for sharn !!!!

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Thanks Feter &mdash 07/19/08 - 02:36:51 PM
What would MJ be without Feter Mc Blues!
I'm glad you liked it.

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3/4 is good rhythm of the sea &mdash 07/19/08 - 11:42:35 AM
it has a good flowing feeling. a real woman singer would be beautiful. the lyrics are strong and sad. perfect. perhaps the seagulls can get slowly swallowed as you go underwater... a fade. or a reduced treble to imitate submersion. it is a bold sketch. a final version will wash delight onto the shore. the sea is beautiful, and deserves this hymn. 0x0

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Yes! &mdash 07/19/08 - 02:40:14 PM
Great suggestion IC42,
I like the idea of fading the intro sounds of the ocean a bit more.
It does end a wee bit suddenly.
I'm so glad that you saw the imagery of the Submarine submerging under water.
This song is ALL about imagery.
I hope the words and music paint a vivid picture.

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A very impressive &mdash 07/19/08 - 02:24:13 PM
piece. The sounds are great, and it is indeed very evocative. The mix and production are very good. One nit would be that the hi-hat in the left channel is a little forward for my taste and dominates too much in the first half of the piece (until about 1:30, and then comes in again later, too). But this is just a nit. A very well done piece of music. I would love to hear this with a female vocalist. Very nicely done. Peace.

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Thank You &mdash 07/19/08 - 02:57:46 PM
Thank you for your nit!
This is exactly the feedback I am looking for.
The hi-hat is indeed to loud in verse 1 and 2 and needs to be brought down.
It's always a battle to get a good mix initially.
So glad you caught it.
On an aside, I am listening to a lot of music from the Romantic Era
(roughly around 1820 to 1910).
Composers like Mendelssohn, Liszt, Chopin, Verdi, Schmann, and Berlioz, are all inspiring me right now.
The Romantic Composer often tried to "say something" through his music, something beyond the sound itself.
;-)

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Excellent... &mdash 07/19/08 - 06:39:47 PM
as is (Enya vibe)... hope to hear the vocal of Tina. Nothing like the ocean to inspire.

D

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Dadai &mdash 07/19/08 - 07:12:12 PM
You are truly a fellow seafarer.
Love your avatar of the yacht on the ocean.
I don't own any of Enya's albums, but I always love her soundtrack work.
Cheers!

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Great &mdash 07/19/08 - 07:00:55 PM
This is a thing i like... The playing with the human voice.... And filled with great instruments playing.... But i especially like the voice.... Sounds great.... Keep on doing that... It sounds amazing...

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Thank you Lightman &mdash 07/19/08 - 07:15:44 PM
I appreciate your comments.
I promise to repost a version with Tina's amazing voice soon!

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I'm not sorry &mdash 07/20/08 - 09:43:20 AM
to say but Hunt for Red October is one of my all time favorite books and movies. I just about worn my tape copy of it through.

Sounds like you didn't enjoy the movie that much but perhaps it did have an effect on you hence this piece.

This tune is sounding good! I can't wait for a final version too.



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Mark! &mdash 07/20/08 - 01:43:17 PM
I actually REALLY enjoyed the movie, but my brother kept ruining it for me every time Sean Connery would do a really bad Russian accent.
So, by default I had to pretend like I didn't enjoy the movie, but I totally did.
It's so damn quotable:

"Captain Davenport: They're pinging away with their active sonar like they're looking for something, but nobody's listening.
Jack Ryan: What do you mean?
Captain Davenport: Well, they're moving at almost forty knots. At that speed, they could run right over my daughter's stereo and not hear it."

Love it!

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sirens indeed &mdash 07/20/08 - 10:01:07 AM
Some interesting choices here that work well.

The compressed kick drum sound works well 'cause it has that "heavier than air" sound which evokes underwater feelings.

I like the build ... works well for the piece.

Even without a "real singer" it works well because underwater is not a human habitat.

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Ohio Announcer &mdash 07/20/08 - 02:02:13 PM
Hey, thanks for the listen and the nice comment.
That is true, even without a "real singer" it does work well because its underwater.
But I still wanna get some real vox on there.

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thoughts... &mdash 07/20/08 - 10:34:06 AM
Great initial sketch, I love it. I love the "ping... boom" and melody. Here's the critique:
-The initial seagull entry is super, but too short... need to give it at least another few seconds before the music washes over it, and yes, you need to fade it out more slowly. I like the idea of rolling a low-pass filter over the intro to make it sound submerged.
-In the intro, the electric piano coupled with the cello doesn't feel quite right, they are too close in timbre and pitch... I'd choose cello and flute or something higher-pitched.
-I hear you doubling the piano and cello with the main singing melody in many spots, try to come up with a counter-melody under the voice, preferably with lots of dotted half notes, to give a slow power under the voice.
-I like the growly guitar that comes in, but again, I want more build-up before it hits... need some cello & string build-up, or crescendo timpani rolls.
-The percussion was a bit loud in places.
-I look forward to Tina's singing on this, I envisioned her in place of the synth vox, and it sounds like a perfect fit.
-Think about some kind of low frequency (that is, every 4-8 measures) ebb-flow crescendo thing in this, to give more of an ocean swell feel. Every 4th (or 8th) measure, have a soft cymbal rise-fall, or roll that cool bass drum you have in there up then down.

Just some ideas. This is going to be another great piece... love the lyrics too.

ttfn,
Drakonis

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Drak!! &mdash 07/20/08 - 02:13:06 PM
Thank you so much for the listen and the honest and thoughtful critique.
If it's ok, I'm gonna go with your "submerge" idea using a low pass filter on the intro.
Another great idea from you about trying a higher pitched instrument at the beginning with the Cello.
I'll play with some flutes there I think.
You are absolutely right about more build-up before the guitar hits.
-The percussion was a bit loud in places.
-I will play with some cymbals to get an ebb-flow crescendo thing in this, to give more of an ocean swell feel.
Thank You Drakonis.
It means a lot that you responded to my message so quickly and had a listen.
Cheers to Dragons!

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the deep blue sea. &mdash 07/20/08 - 06:07:23 PM
thanx for the journey, underwater sunlight. Great use of instruments and gothic build up.


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Thank you... &mdash 07/22/08 - 03:27:15 AM
for listening and commenting.
Always fun to go on a journey.

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Cool bass &mdash 07/24/08 - 12:53:44 PM
I always dig a cool underwater blip Enjoyed this allot!

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Thanks &mdash 07/26/08 - 03:10:15 PM
for noticing my bass guitar playing!


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When does the movie come out?? &mdash 07/24/08 - 01:10:50 PM
Love it.. it sounds soo pure.... and im evisioning it in a movie somewhere..... i like the huge kick, it just lingers in all the right places... Nice work!

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Movie! &mdash 07/26/08 - 03:12:57 PM
Yeah, the movie is actually at the bottom of the ocean.
I was definitely trying to be cinematic with this song.
Thanks

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Wow! &mdash 07/24/08 - 01:18:22 PM
If you can improve on something so nearly perfect, then you can do anything. Great quote from the movie! Thank you for sharing. It will be awesome!

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Thanks Char &mdash 07/26/08 - 03:14:16 PM
Thank you for being so awesome!
You rock!

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Love this &mdash 07/25/08 - 01:08:33 PM
idea now, but if you follow what Drak has suggested it will be really great. It's very evocative of the sea pitching and rolling with the waltz rhythm, which is perfect for this. I look forward to hearing the next edition with added vocals. Sorry to be so late calling in here, regards M

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Better late than never &mdash 07/26/08 - 03:15:57 PM
You can comment as late as you want on any of my songs!
Just glad you took the time to come by and have a listen.
Cheers!

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Great soundtrack! &mdash 07/26/08 - 06:09:30 PM
Love the waltz - fine instrumentation and vocals!

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Thanks Luna &mdash 08/05/08 - 10:04:35 PM
I like a good waltz too.
Cheers,
John

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I love the ocean... &mdash 09/04/08 - 03:00:01 PM
...and i love this Ocean Hymn. What a lovely composition!

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