Hi y'all,

A friend of mine and I have been working on a track. We met over on the BandHub site, and he had a melody and lyrics, but needed music composed to go with it. So I came up with a backing. Fast forward a few months, and this guy is having some tracks mixed for an album; one of them is the song I helped him on (actually there are two but this is the one in question). The gentlemen he's working with suggested a heavily modified melody line instead of what my friend originally had. To us it sounds strange, but that's partly because we're used to the old melody. Another engineer friend of his suggested that we go and ask people which one they prefer, without any information on original vs redo, etc.

Please comment on which you like better, track one or track two, based on the melody line only. The backing will be the same regardless (a few tweaks to the current one).


Track One: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NoVgVk ... sp=sharing

Track Two: https://drive.google.com/file/d/18zsq9s ... sp=sharing




Thanks everyone!

Hi Max. Personally preferred the first version . It seemed a much more powerful than the second one. I think it suited the lyrics better. But that is my humble opinion. John

Hi Max,

I preferred the second one.

The 'melody' itself has it's emphasis on just three or four syllables at the end of every bar (and into the first beat of the next bar). This to me sounded like an 'intro' that somehow never got into the nitty-gritty of a melody. I was expecting the melody to break into something 'solid' .. but it never did.

Now in the first backing you 'followed' that short three/four syllable melody continuously, more or less right through the piece, which only added to the monotony of that repeated melody phrase. I'm not talking about the 'drummer' here, but both the bass player and the accordion (?) were emphasising that 'pattern'.

In the second one you did the same, but 'broke away' from the melody line 'pattern' at about 2:34 .. and to me, that made all the difference! The backing was not now 'following' the pattern of the melody.

Reminded me when a friend of mine was asked to play the piano for a pantomime .. and brought a drummer along with him. Instead of the drummer drumming a solid 'beat' so the pianist could 'fit in' with what he was playing, the drummer played the drums 'with the melody' ie.he was 'playing the melody on the drums'. That is not what a drummer is meant to do! So I reckon that with the 'melody' of your song the way it is, you need to have a solid, continuous backing to accompany it. Although to have your backing 'pattern' at the beginning of the song would sound fine. Just don't carry it on for too long.

Sorry .. but you did ask! I have had no music training, can't read music (just play from chords and harmony) but do know what I like to listen to. To quote from Manuel in Fawlty Towers, "I know nothing!".

Hugh

PS. I thought the diction of the singer was a lot clearer in the second one too.