Africa Rising (Collab with Cecile)

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pompeyjazz

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« on: October 20, 2020, 04:13:09 PM »
You all know very well by now that I like to jump over the different musical genres pretty regularly  :) Cecile and I discussed recording a Reggae number and we developed the theme of the lyrics together. Musically, I laid down some beats from the Ezdrummer Reggae kit and had a nagging little reggae riff that was just crying out to be used. I cheated a little bit in that the idea came from a sample that I heard, but hey ! just another musical idea.

The guitar and bass sounds are from the Guitar Rig presets with some EQ tweaking. Ooh yeah, I threw in a dub section as well for good measure and we sang the song as a duet :)


Africa rising, brothers and sisters
Long years - of suppression
Colonial intervention draining your nation
Time to rise and look up to the skies

Break free from oppression
Power to your great nation
Africa rising – Power to be free

Africa rising, freedom from you chains
It's time to celebrate your culture
An ancient history, a land of mystery
Let's end the poverty and leave the bad behind

Embrace your mother land
Brothers, sisters hand in hand
Africa rising, power to be free

A giant nation
From the mighty Nile to the sea beneath the cape
Stand together, yours forever
Fight for your land, fight for your land

Another star shining, rising from the earth
Time to celebrate – Time for your rebirth
If you work together anything is possible
Now it's your turn to celebrate your freedom

Break free from oppression
Power to your great nation
Africa rising – Power to be free

mickyplankton

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« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2020, 04:36:17 PM »
Hi maybe I’m lucky enough to be the first on the forum to hear this. Loving this Track. It’s funky, upbeat, great lyrics. A real celebration of Africa. Bounces along really nicely. I was tapping my foot all the way through. Very infectious and catchy. The production is absolutely spot on as you would expect with the experience at the helm here and the editing and length just right.  A belter all round. Sorry can’t offer any constructive criticism as i don’t think I would change anything about it. Cheers Micky

LostBoy

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« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2020, 09:38:17 PM »
Nice, catchy and fun this one guys. I love that you try out these different genres John and why not? U nailed it! 😄✨👊🏻✨ U both sound great!

On a side note...ain’t it cool that we ain’t paid professionals? This way we can just write and do whatever we want when we want....a friend of mine writes with pros out in Nashville....he heard my song “Neon Socks” and said “Leo....it’s awesome! U sound great, but you need to change the date from 1989 to 2005 cos kids just won’t get it? I politely reminded him that 1. I’m not trying to write hits or trying to pitch my songs for todays radio and 2....The whole song is about MY childhood in the 80’s!! It’s called “Neon socks” for f@#k sake!!🤣🤣🤦🏼‍♂️ Name anything cool that’s worth singing about from 2005?? ....ok, so I did meet my wife then!🤔🤣🤣🤣 but who wants to hear a song about love at first sight with the girl of your dreams???🤣🤣

Anyway...sorry...the point of my mini rant...is simply that it’s way more fun just writing exactly what you want when u want. I can’t think of anything worse than being a pop star/writer and having to stay in my lane all the time. (which would clearly be gangsta rap!🤪🤣)

Keep up the great work guys!😄🎶👊🏻🎶👊🏻🎶

Sing4me88

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« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2020, 09:52:47 PM »
Nice one! Right from that catchy wee drum intro you get the bouncy reggae feel from this one and that is added to by the guitar and the vocal and the hi-hat. Both vocals marry very well in this. Slight raspiness in your voice at times which feeds into the whole reggae vibe.  Really liking the reggae work in the horns in the middle 8 section beginning around 1.28 and then at 1.38 too - are they samples/loops?

PeteS

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« Reply #4 on: October 21, 2020, 08:33:56 AM »
Well you jumped into this genre pretty successfully John.  Right from the outset, it was sunshine reggae, not just someone trying to do reggae.  Loved the feel of this throughout and Africa Rising is a great concept.

Top job guys!
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MichaelA

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« Reply #5 on: October 21, 2020, 08:46:52 AM »
Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy, what a ball of energy this is! Really loved the reggae guitar lick and almost baffled that it’s a song that seems to have an infectious chorus running all the way through.  8)

The duet has all the energy and drive of a live performance - where I am sure it would be a real crowd pleaser.

Very subtle too that change of mood and dynamic on the break, again the little guitar interval doing a great job.

Nothing useful to say, sorry, except I enjoyed it a lot. A festival hit for next summer  ;D

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PaulAds

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« Reply #6 on: October 21, 2020, 09:32:20 PM »
Great stuff, you guys...right up my street.

Sounds like it's a genre really close to your heart...love the guitars and Cecile sounds like she's really into it too. It's super as a duet.

The breakdown is really cool. The whole thing is really cool. Neat ending too.

Really cool :)
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Beebeesmith

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« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2020, 12:34:38 AM »
Hi John & Co
this is as good as any Reggae style songs that was about in the day. Sounds so authentic considering it’s not your staple diet.. I think. Just a great musical composition and production
Can’t fault it guys.
BB

Kafla

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« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2020, 11:55:26 AM »
You can't beat a wee bit of Bob Marley - Legend even though its a compilation is in my top 5 albums ever - no matter how much I change the other 4!

I'm listening on my new AirPods - that's a mighty fine mix you have there, John - the panning in particular is just perfect! That bass - ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh so lovely

Cecile sounds like Rhiannan lol - shes is such a good singer! and your not bad either!

Its so good that you would think its your actual genre - love it mate!
« Last Edit: October 22, 2020, 12:16:42 PM by kafla »

pompeyjazz

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« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2020, 11:03:00 AM »
Thanks to everyone for your feedback on this latest number  :)

@mickyplankton - Hey ! Cheers Micky - Can't get much better feedback than that  :)

@LostBoy - Thanks so much Leo. Good point about writing to a formula, you're dead right. It would make it seem like "work" rather than being able to do exactly what you wanted  :)

@Sing4me88 - Much appreciated - To answer your question regarding the horns, they started life as various samples from a free Reggae sound kit but were subjected to much manipulation / stretching / pitch shift etc etc etc..... Sometimes it's difficult to get an authentic sound when samples have been manipulated so much but glad that you thought it worked.

@PeteS - Jah ! Sunshine Reggae

@MichaelA - Cheers Michael, I like Bouncy bouncy bouncy  :) Would be great to actually be able to go to a festival, yet alone play at one.

@PaulAds - Thanks Paul - I listened to a lot of Reggae as a kid and also there was a great Reggae scene in Coventry when I was growing up so I guess the genre is actually closer to my heart than I might think. I used t0o love going to some of the Sound system nights with the bass pumping out of speakers the size of a small block of flats  :)

@Beebeesmith Thanks so much - I guess I don't really know what my preferred genre is. I love to experiment with lots of different styles so I'm gald that you thought this worked.

@kafla - Thanks so much Andy - Watched a documentary on i-player recently about Bob Marley's first tour of the UK. Fascinating stuff. He played at a school hall in Peckham with Johnny Nash and they interviewed some of the kids who were originally there. He also played at some tiny pub venues on that first tour. Must have been amazing

Thank you everyone once again  :)

MonnoDB

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« Reply #10 on: October 24, 2020, 04:25:47 PM »
@pompeyjazz and Cecile.. Great energy to this - drums are fab... really works well as a duet - you both sound great and I love your voices together! Fan of the break here too... spot on...

As Michael says it really is catchy all the way through...  infectious!!!

Dare I say you should do more reggae - suits you both perfectly. Another great collab!

Grubstar

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« Reply #11 on: October 25, 2020, 02:33:03 PM »
Hi @pompeyjazz and Cecile

Another really good collaboration form you two, you really seem to work well together. Its a really catchy song with a great reggae feel that you've absolutely nailed, great guitar and fabulous production.I really enjoyed it.

Jamie

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« Reply #12 on: October 26, 2020, 01:56:49 PM »
@pompeyjazz  and Cecile

Hi guys, is this allowed, isn't it cultural appropriation? ;) ;D. Great authentic reggae feel to all the elements of this song, beautifully sung too. Could easily be a hit in Jamaica 8)

Cheers

Jamie

moraamarolaloba

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« Reply #13 on: October 26, 2020, 02:14:17 PM »
Wow, I like a lot "reggae"
Powerful lyrics and catching song, great sound and production, the guitars are great, the voices, what can I say bad?
At my taste it's a song that has to sound in any radio!!! lalalala
@pompeyjazz


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hardtwistmusic

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« Reply #14 on: October 28, 2020, 05:47:29 AM »
VERY good.  This stands out as something special.  Important message, and the music is perfect for the message.  I'm not sure what it is about this that makes it stand out amongst all the great songs here, but it does.  This might be my personal favorite of all the songs I've heard here.  I could listen to this all day long.
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