Hello Everybody -

Well, it's taken quite some time but I finally got some of my accordion music recorded and converted into MP3s.

This is REALLY raw stuff. One take, no editing, no overdubbing, and lots of mistakes, but it was really fun to put together.

I used my Millenium digital reedless accordion, my Ketron XD3 arranger, and recorded everything into a Yamaha AW16G DAW. Some of the songs were recorded using the XD3's lead, while the songs that have Millenium in the title used the Millenium's accordion sounds.

These are really large files. Kind of stream-of-conciousness playing. If you are dial-up please don't even consider downloading these files. It's my music and even I wouldn't wait 30 minutes to hear it! It's just not worth it unless you have a broadband connection.

There are some obvious problems with the Millenium right-hand voices spiking. It's my fault. I'm new to the AW16g and learning.

I can't wait to start editing this with Sonar, remixing it correctly, overdubbing, etc. This is just my first attempt at putting music on the web.

Thanks for listening. All comments are welcome.

Tommy
http://f2.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/tnavone@pacbell.net

Nice Stuff!!!!....
I have a weakness for the Italian Songs!!!


Myron Floren would be proud of you!!!
Hope to hear musch more form you soon...

Good Luck

BELLISIMA!!!!!

Accordionist,
I could not download the first two files (the ones done with the XD3: "Somber mood" and "Man without love").
My favorite song of the three is "Malafemmena": I have only a little suggestion for you: maybe the first time it would be better to play the song "as it is", reserving the embellishments for the second or third verse, so as to add a nice "crescendo" and also leave the possibility to surprise your listeners with what you would add later. I have to say that you are a very talented accordeon player and you play also with a lot of emotion (this is a well known song here in Italy, so I know what I am talking about).
"Come back to Sorrento" was quite a surprise: you did a really original arrangement with a medium swing tempo but...I wonder how many of your italian-american listeners would prefer the original version, with a classic rhumba or beguine tempo...
Finally, "Tennesse waltz": the first thing that strikes me is that the volume is A LOT higher compared with the other two songs: maybe you should lower it a bit.
You were right commenting my "This masquerade": your approach is completely different compared with mine; you love to fill the pauses with a lot of added notes and...you are really an accordeon virtuoso; however, if you play for dancing crowds, I have a feeling that they could somehow be disturbed in their dance by this flow of notes.
You definitely have your own style and I have to say that I will wait with real interest your future songs.



[This message has been edited by Dreamer (edited 09-02-2003).]

Thanks DNJ! Thanks Vquestor!

Andrea - thank you for the feedback. It's too bad you couldn't download the first two songs - they use the Ketron voices exclusively and I feel that they mix down MUCH better than the Millenium. At least until I figure out how to mix the Millenium voices better!

Tennesse Waltz is terrible! I shouldn't have even put it up on the site. I unfortunately let the gain get way out of control when mixing it and it sounds horrible.

You are correct! I don't play like this at all for functions. I have been playing dances and parties for quite some time (just recently started up again) and would never play any of these songs. It would be quite impossible to dance to Sorrento! As my wife says when I am playing for enjoyment: "Too many notes!" I just seem to zone off when playing songs normally and tend to play too fast and with too many frills when I am playing for my enjoyment.

I'll record some accoustic accordion and some exclusive Millenium voices in the manner that I would play for a dance or party. There is quite a difference. I think that's the reason I appreciate your music so much! I learned a lot from it!

Thanks again and it will be really interesting to see my progress as I figure out how to record, mixdown, and convert to MP3 in a more professional manner. All of the websites I visit from members on this BBS have such professional sounding songs (yourself included). I strive to achieve that some day.

Tommy

Tommy,
I will try later to download the first two songs, but yesterday I got a message saying that "The requested file could not be found on this server".

I just put up another song called "25 Doyles". I watched the movie "25th Hour" last night and was inspired by the soundtrack. Really weird soundtrack. At any rate, I took the XD3's Orchestral Swing style and deleted the bass line which left kind of an eeire snare-harp background, which I felt went well with the XD3's jazzfisa accordion instrument sound.

I was pleased with the overall effect.

Tommy

Man...you play a lotta notes !
(Not a bad thing, just very busy)

Tommy,
I was finally able to download the other songs, inclusive "25 doyles".
The first thing that strikes me is that in "Somber mood" the accordeon (which seems more an harmonica, to tell the truth) is rather noisy (the sound has a dirty" quality that makes me prefer the Millenium more).
The jazzfisa sound in "25 doyles" is cleaner, but a bit "dark". I think that for this song even a musette sound would work well (the background has something of a "french" atmosphere to it).
"Man without love": again the sound has a dirty quality; definitely the Millenium is much better.
Once again, I have to say that I am really impressed by your technique!
Final comment: I think that, if you play a fast lick every now and then, it has more impact on the audience. It's the law of contrasts: you play a song slowly for 2'30", then start to improvise like hell for 30" and everybody goes "WOW"! If you improvise or play fast all the time after a while nobody notices anymore and the effect is lost.
(Got the message? )

Silence is (also) golden?

-- José.