OOTM (Original of the Month) Challenge for November 2022 Write a Latin Tune!

3622 Views 160 Replies 16 Participants Last post by SaxNutz, 6 mo ago

Roundmidnite

Discussion Starter · 7 mo ago

November 2022 OOTM: Write a Latin Tune

I was a beach boy, and I believe I learned my songs from the birds of the Brazilian forest. - Antonio Carlos Jobim

This is such a vibrant and passionate kind of music! There seems to be differences in how Latin music is defined, but here’s a dictionary definition of Latin jazz in particular:

Latin jazz is a genre of jazz with Latin Americanrhythms. The two main categories are Afro-Cuban jazz, rhythmically based on Cuban popular dance music, with a rhythm section employing ostinato patterns or a clave, and Afro-Brazilian jazz, which includes samba and bossa nova.

But no hard rules as usual- it’s all for fun to prompt some songwriting and share ideas!

The different rhythms are the keys of course, but also chord progressions so I’m starting with this for some direction.
v=dUrvpgmjur0

Reactions: 2

61 - 80 of 161 Posts

mascio

· #61 · 7 mo ago

whamptoncourt said:
Here's a lighthearted Bossa with sopranino:

Very nice. Good taste and pleasant vibe.

Reactions: 1

blaine hoopes

· #62 · 7 mo ago

mascio said:
Here is a little piece I wrote called : Salsa.

Very interesting chord changes. Is that you playing the piano?

mascio

· #63 · 7 mo ago

blaine hoopes said:
When I was working with the Latin band, I wrote this tune with lyrics. It was my first time writing a full set of lyrics (other than the lyrics I make up about my cat's stinky butt) and the lyrics were "OK" but not great. Not sure if lyrics are a part of these OOTM threads - I could share the lyrics if there is interest and maybe you guys could help me hip them up.

When I write a tune, I usually start with a bass-line that I think is catchy and then add a track with the chords and the basic melody idea. Then, in that basic and simple form, I will present it to the band and usually play along with just the drummer or bass and drums trying various feels in search of an "infectious groove". And then I would work with the singer and simplify the melody to get to the essence of it. As horn players we (or I for sure) tend to noodle a lot -- and so I try to get to the heart of the melody without a lot of flourish.

anyway .... while we were playing around with different Latin feels for the tune, someone suggested I try it as reggae. And that's how this version was born. I'm not sure if this qualifies as "write a Latin tune" but it does have congas and timbales and Latin percussion and a slowed and simplified Latin-esque piano montuno. The Latin elements are overshadowed by the Reggae I think.

Since my lyrics were amateur, I decided to mute the vocal track this morning and remove the second verse to shorten it up for now. I just recorded some tenor sax playing something similar to the vocal melody but I drastically altered the chorus melody because on Sax I could get away with it - is it too much of a departure from the verse melody?

Curious what you think. The sax lines are pretty much off the top of my head this morning and I'll probably completely re-think it after I have some lunch. Also where I cut the middle section out (right between the sax chorus and the guitar solo) I had a subtle (but driving) organ interlude before the second verse (both gone here). Perhaps I should put it back and turn the 2nd verse into a sax or flute solo? I just thought it would be boring to repeat the vocal melody a second time on sax (with vocal at least the lyric changes to tell more of the story). Comments/critique/suggestions all welcome.
https://soundcloud.com/user-460666353%2Fobsesion

Great! You have some nice ideas and production.

Reactions: 2

whamptoncourt

· #64 · 7 mo ago

mascio said:
Great! You have some nice ideas and production.

Nice creative interpretation of the changes and good control.

whamptoncourt

· #65 · 7 mo ago

mascio said:
Very nice. Good taste and pleasant vibe.

Many thanks. Nice to know it's got a few listens.

whamptoncourt

· #66 · 7 mo ago

Roundmidnite said:
This breaks my own rule a little! .This is my arrangement (vs. an original) of “Summer Breeze” by Seals and Crofts. I made it awhile back during record-breaking cold just after a blizzard in Maine (it was therapeutic!) and attached a pic of a summer day playing a gig in Castine,Maine on my website.I play saxophone, flute and synths I used the Partido Alto groove for the verses. The partido alto groove was very difficult to play my melody with for some reason and I'm not entirely happy with it because it seems kind of choppy or something, but no matter how I tried to do it differently it just didn't seem to improve it, but it does contrast with the other section that used a more traditional dry swing drum loop.

I'm working on an original Rumba though so stay tuned!

Summer Breeze

View attachment 139533

Sounds: The verse uses Partido Alto loops/samples from Celso Alberti, fretless bass, jazz guitar and Rhodes. In the second verse I use a new device called Humana in the DAW I use (Reason) which has great samples of the human voice. The last verses are solos- first tenor, then synth (Rhodes put through a polyphonic arpeggiator), and finally flute for the outro. The chorus has a more traditional dry swing drum loop, a “low simple sub” bass, a guitar sound called “Vollenweiderustica” and a synth called “Shoals”. The contrasting, more tranquil sounds in the bridge are synths called “Ambient Bamboo” and “Cinematic Justice”. The Rhodes accompanies, and there is an Udu sample.

Very cool! Excellent arrangement and use of synth. Your flute work is really lovely. A minor comment: The sax sounds further forward and "drier" than the flutes and to my way of hearing the flute has more of a lead in this.

Reactions: 1

mascio

· #67 · 7 mo ago

blaine hoopes said:
Very interesting chord changes. Is that you playing the piano?

Yes, I'm playing the sax and the piano, the rest is my computer.

Roundmidnite

Discussion Starter · #68 · 7 mo ago

whamptoncourt said:
Very cool! Excellent arrangement and use of synth. Your flute work is really lovely. A minor comment: The sax sounds further forward and "drier" than the flutes and to my way of hearing the flute has more of a lead in this.

Yes I agree- I did this tune several years ago and would do a few things differently with tenor- I always find saxophone so much harder than flute!

Roundmidnite

Discussion Starter · #69 · 7 mo ago

blaine hoopes said:
Well I gave it a try singing and had a real hard time with my voice wavering all over - just really out of shape. I tried doubling two vocal takes and that made it even worse. I was only able to sing one verse and I'll have to rest my voice a bit - but I think if I start singing every day it might come back. 40-50 years ago I was singing 5 sets a night 6 nights a week but I haven't sung much at all in the past 30 years. It was fun to pull the flute out too.

Here's a sampler taste of the tune. Or is that wrong of me to show the work in progress -- should I wait until I have it finished? I'm hoping by showing the work in progress I might get some suggestions about where to go with it. The expected form is the 2nd verse will come right where this little sample fades out and then a short solo (probably Tenor Sax?) and chorus out.

Note: Você é Gata --- someone was telling me that this is Portuguese for "You're a Cat" but that it's used in Brazil to mean "You're so Sexy". I don't know for sure if that's true and I'm certain I'm not pronouncing it right.

https://soundcloud.com/user-460666353%2Fvoce-e-gata-first-verse-with-flute

I listened a couple of times- nice little intro with flute- longer would be nice! Also flute fills are perfect and the lyrics are clever: "where do I start" right at top of tune. I can tell you have a great voice! Great idea to post the tune in stages-
I'm thinking of doing that- mine is just such a mess at the start! Lyrics: I like how you combine the emotional with the physical content (you can picture the woman dancing for example).

Reactions: 1

Roundmidnite

Discussion Starter · #70 · 7 mo ago

mascio said:
Here is a little piece I wrote called : Salsa.

You have a great sound and I like the conversational feel of the melody. Your harmony is interesting- I'm trying that too, and arpeggiating those chords in piano part- it's difficult I think to get a handle on the chords for the listener as I'm trying it. You have a great twist on his style and experimenting with it!

SaxNutz

· #71 · 7 mo ago

mascio said:
Here is a little piece I wrote called : Salsa.

Nice tune and some great playing, the piano is really good too.

lostcircuits

· #72 · 7 mo ago

whamptoncourt said:
Many thanks. Nice to know it's got a few listens.

Hey man, it's a great tune, very lively and "butterflyish" or something like that. Maybe with more coffee I can find a better word

I am still struggling with this month's challenge, I'm just too much of a homeboy

SaxNutz

· #73 · 7 mo ago

Another guitar song on my classical Yamaha.

Reactions: 4

blaine hoopes

· #74 · 7 mo ago

Roundmidnite said:
Lyrics: I like how you combine the emotional with the physical content (you can picture the woman dancing for example).

.... nice little intro with flute- longer would be nice!

I can't take credit for the lyrics (lyrics are difficult for me to write). My friend, Carlos Elizalde, has a really nice voice and whipped the lyrics up for me when I played him the organ riff - I'm hoping I can talk him into coming over and letting me record him singing it.

The flute was an afterthought so I wasn't really thinking of an intro beyond just the organ - but when I was recording the vocal and my voice got tired so quickly, I thought about adding some flute (after hearing your summer breeze version it had me thinking I should use the flute more). I cringe when I listen to the vocal because I can't control the pitch (just out of practice) and I don't know how to taper off the volume and keep any quality. Saxophone is similar for me - I mean that trying to keep a good quality to the tone when holding a long note and reducing the volume or fading out the end. And that gets better with practice so I'm guessing/hoping that my voice will come together with some practice - but probably after a year or two of practice and not likely to get where I want it this month.

Thanks for the feedback. I don't know how song writing works for others -- but for me, I get "too much me" really quickly. I mean once I have a basic piano or organ chord progression and a bass line, I get stuck into a rut where anything I add starts to sound too much the same. Sometimes I just need to put the tune to bed and go do something else - but my favorite way to write is to have someone else improvise over my chord progression or suggest a different rhythm or something I wouldn't have thought of... and even if I don't use their suggestion, it sparks new ideas.

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Reactions: 1

lostcircuits

· #75 · 7 mo ago

SaxNutz said:
Another guitar song on my classical Yamaha.

Very soothing

Reactions: 1

blaine hoopes

· #76 · 7 mo ago

SaxNutz said:
Another guitar song on my classical Yamaha.

Very nice! Great sense of melody!

Reactions: 1

whamptoncourt

· #77 · 7 mo ago

SaxNutz said:
Another guitar song on my classical Yamaha.

Good melodic lines that have just the right balance of tension and release. The photo and title remind me of Big Sur in California...cold water indeed!

Reactions: 1

blaine hoopes

· #78 · 7 mo ago

In case there is interest in me posting the progress on this tune as I build it up - I re-sang the vocals this morning and added the second verse. I'm still out of shape but if feels like it'll come back if I practice a little every day for a few months/years

I've got the bridge chord progression and then vamp out on the chorus (tomorrow when my voice has recovered enough to sing the outro).

I've got lots of questions about how to build this tune if you guys feel like weighing in:
I'm thinking Tenor Sax for the solo?
I added some echo to the flute - too much?
When I sing the outro (just chorus repeating over and over) should I overlay flute or sax with the vocals? And how polite do I need to be? Seems like I can intrude over the vocals a bit more with a horn or flute since it's just repeating the same lyrics over and over - thoughts on that?
Occasionally I drop into an Arabic tonality on a flute fills - is that off putting, out of character too much or does it work?
https://soundcloud.com/user-460666353%2Fvoce-e-gata-take-two-second-verse-and-bridge-chords-added

Reactions: 2

whamptoncourt

· #79 · 7 mo ago

blaine hoopes said:
In case there is interest in me posting the progress on this tune as I build it up - I re-sang the vocals this morning and added the second verse. I'm still out of shape but if feels like it'll come back if I practice a little every day for a few months/years

I've got the bridge chord progression and then vamp out on the chorus (tomorrow when my voice has recovered enough to sing the outro).

I've got lots of questions about how to build this tune if you guys feel like weighing in:
I'm thinking Tenor Sax for the solo?
I added some echo to the flute - too much?
When I sing the outro (just chorus repeating over and over) should I overlay flute or sax with the vocals? And how polite do I need to be? Seems like I can intrude over the vocals a bit more with a horn or flute since it's just repeating the same lyrics over and over - thoughts on that?
Occasionally I drop into an Arabic tonality on a flute fills - is that off putting, out of character too much or does it work?
https://soundcloud.com/user-460666353%2Fvoce-e-gata-take-two-second-verse-and-bridge-chords-added

Good that you're open to comments, however I'd be happy to hear this all as your vision rather than a composition by committee. You've got a good musical vision and all the ingredients seem classy and refined. OK, the voice isn't perfect, maybe easier if put into a lower key? Leads and fills should be your choice. Repeated lyrics a problem? Not to most pop stars who've raked in the $$ with a lots less musically or lyrically happening. Most amusing having a musical serial.

Reactions: 1

mascio

· #80 · 7 mo ago

SaxNutz said:
Another guitar song on my classical Yamaha.

I like it. Nice playing too.

Reactions: 1

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