AM:PM Sings

AM:PM

New member
Its been sometime since I joined this forum , I should admit, I have felt intimidated by the talent you got to hear here. So it took me some time to post something for review. Nevertheless, am hell bent on learning from the forums critique, so here is is a track I did a few days ago.
Its in soul tinged song with a easy lilt http://www.audioshots.com/auditorium/download.php?id=2250
Sequencer: FLStudio
Vocals: Me, Myself and I (AM:pM)
Thanks
 

Rune Vejby

Commodore of Water Music
My friend, why on earth were you worried about getting your music reviewed here? Your song is absolutely awesome!!!

This song is ready for the next Cafe Del Mar compilation. Nice instrumentation, very nice vocals (I don't understand the language but your singing skills are great!) and all in all a great mix! I would'nt categorize it as "soul", the sound is more chill-out/ambient with reggae influences in my opinion!!

But absolutely fantastic work!!! You should seriously consider sending this out to some record labels. Very very nice work!!

Maybe you can explain to us what the lyrcis mean???
 

Jette

Rear Admiral of O Theatre & the 4 - 1 + a few more
No need to fell intimidated. It`s always great to hear the different kind of music, that people compose
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. I`m not a composer myself, but I listen to your song and I think it`s nice
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. It sounds like a mix between African and European music and I like that
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, I used to listen to African music many years ago (unfortunately I can`t remember where i put the tape
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).
Hope you get some feedback

Jette
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AM:PM

New member
Hi Rune,
Thanks for the positive review. I feel "lifted".
I wrote the song last week when I came back from my homeland -Zambia. Zambia like many 3rd world countries is hard hit by the HIV pandemic and you get to see alot of tragic "stories" where innocent young people fall in love with the "wrong" person.
"Alekubepa" means he/she is cheating you.
I am doing an non-literal translation since alot of people have asked the same question but I would like to present the translation with an explanatory essay placing it the cultural context within which the lyrics are embedded. I will trying finishing it asap.
Again I say thanks for the encouraging words (Det var pæn af dig
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)

PM
 

AM:PM

New member
Hi Jette, thanks for taking some time. True, to the point, I sing in CiBemba (a Zambian language) but I was aiming for wider appeal by keeping it in a contemporary vein

On a lighter note ....hvis du ikke kan finde dit tape med afro music, bare lyt til dette nummer
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) If you cant find your tape with african music, then just listen to this song.

PM
 

Jette

Rear Admiral of O Theatre & the 4 - 1 + a few more
I guess I wasn`t totally wrong then, even though the tape I used to listen to was in Swahili
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, I think (bought it in Kenya), I can even remember a little of one of the songs: Jambo jambo bwana habari zuri sana (or something like that)
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But still I like the mix (it doesn`t sound to African and it doesn`t sound to European, hope this makes sense
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). But yes I will definitely listen to your song, now that I can`t find my own, thanks
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Jette
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Rune Vejby

Commodore of Water Music
Jambo jambo bwana habari zuri sana (or something like that)
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Wow, Jette, I think you are really great in that genre!!! What about singing that sentence you wrote, record it and post it here on the forums
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Jette

Rear Admiral of O Theatre & the 4 - 1 + a few more
Be careful what you wish for, I might do it just to punish you
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or maybe not I still like to be able to "show my face" in here
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Jette
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Jette

Rear Admiral of O Theatre & the 4 - 1 + a few more
I just love that song, I`ve been hearing it a lot the last 2 days (thanks
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), so please don`t hesitate if you have more songs you want reviewed
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Jette
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Jette

Rear Admiral of O Theatre & the 4 - 1 + a few more
Thanks
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The first one doesn`t work
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, but I have listen to number two and I like that as well, it`s quite catchy and your voice is really good (I like that "rød cecil" voice
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)
You just keep up the good work
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Jette
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AM:PM

New member
Hi again Jette, the first one was supposed to reference to this song "Comfort Of The Heart" its now available in thru my webspace @ http://am-pm.panicnow.net/Comfort Of The Heart.mp3
If you are to listen to it open the url in your winamp or something
One of my personal favourites
Cya
 

Jette

Rear Admiral of O Theatre & the 4 - 1 + a few more
open the url in your winamp or something
I don`t know what url is
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and I don`t have winamp I just use the windows media player
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Jette
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AM:PM

New member
No worry I will fix it and put it up in a convenient spot in the course of the nite. I just realised I need to have my songs in one spot at least
 

Jette

Rear Admiral of O Theatre & the 4 - 1 + a few more
Thanks
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He he I`m quite good at keeping people busy
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Looking forward to hearing the song
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Jette
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Tony Bray

New member
AM:pM. The coolest element to this track is your voice and the language. Its beautiful. For me personally unless a lyric is extremely poetic or clever it is uninteresting to me in English. I only have a few (hopefully constructive) critizisms.

1) Dynamically, the music bed could be more expressive for my tastes. Perhaps try different and less subtle changes in orchestration.
2) Speaking of orchestration. I feel that some instruments translate better than others when using PCM synthesizers. It might be a better choice to find a unique synth sound rather than using PCM samples of woodwinds for some of your melodic lines. (or find the real deal).
3) You also might want to explore breaking out of the 2 chord vamp thing. Even when keeping a melody simple (and tasteful) there are some simple diatonic devices to keep things interesting. And of course there are harmonic places that you can go without completely changing the vibe of the tune.

This is also true of your "chill out" stuff. And please. this is meant to be helpful and certainly just my opinion. Take it for what you will. Keep crankin' them out.

All Respect,

www.tonybraymusic.com
 

Rune Vejby

Commodore of Water Music
Nice suggestions, Tony. Regarding orchestration you should always keep in mind what kind of music we are dealing with! In my perspective, Chill-out music should not be produced with emphasis on a expressive orchestration - the point of the music is to make people "chill out" and expressive instrumentation is often demanding a very attentive listener
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So I think it is fine to keep focus on the vocals and leave the instrumentation more or less at its current state
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I'm not saying it is OK that the musical aspect of cill-out music is boring - but keep it mind the objective and "rules" of the particular genre
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AM:PM

New member
Hi Tony, Thanks for listening to my tracks and taking the time to review it. I appreciate the things you point out.
I could have added a few more dynamics to the track in order heighten the tension. I will give it a thought in my next tracks.
About the wood/wind samples, thats a tough one. I know samples dont carry the same accentuation as the real deal and I dont have access to the real deal as you put it- so I guess its a question of settling for second best. Thats why I try to use such samples with a degree of modesty.
Kind regards
 

AM:PM

New member
Hi Rune, There is some substance to what you point out but on the other hand I find a lot of credence in what Tony pointed out. It all breaks down to a balance
Kind regards
PM
 

Rune Vejby

Commodore of Water Music
No problem.... actually it is just a matter or categorizing the music then... Expressive orchestral music is not chill-out
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It's as simple as that...

By the way, which track are we talking about??? I've just experienced that this thread contains several tracks
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My comments are related to the first upload/first post... Just to make everything clear
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