Pop song idea looking for vocals

[Zoltan]

I wanted to try a few more "complicated" chords and did this simple chord progression. Then i ended up building upon that and doing lots of transposing etc.
I threw all the cliches into it and now when i'm listening to it it reminds me of one Lionel Richie song (!). It isn't the same, but i can't improvise vocals without getting stuck because of this.

Incase someone would like to give it a try here it is...

Arrangement is: Intro (chorus), Verse, Chorus, Verse 2, Bridge, Chorus 2, Verses (as an outro)
Tempo is 120bpm.

Verse: C, Em7, Am, F + C, Em7, Dm7, F, G
Chorus: Dm7, G, Dm7, G7
Bridge: Fmaj7, Em7, Dm7, G

(If i still remember the chords right )

Instruments used:
4Front bass Vsti (for sketching and as a low end in the mix)
4Front piano Vsti (for sketching and as an "ambience")
Yamaha Reface CP (for the piano sound + Wurlitzer bass)

This is just a rough mix...

[cuthbert]

This is cool! We don't get a lot of piano-based music around these parts.

I hear a bit of Beach Boys influence in the verse parts, but yeah - some Commodores in the chorus and bridge parts.

I've been thinking about getting the Reface CP - how do you like it? It sounds fab here.

[Zoltan]

I've been thinking about getting the Reface CP - how do you like it? It sounds fab here.

I think it's great. I have both Reface CP and YC and they're both keepers in my book. I haven't really kept up with new stuff, and there are probably better (or at least different) sounding alternatives on the market, but as a small compact and dedicated piano / organ instruments these are really useful. Easy to get great sounds and they're inspiring. I'm using these also as midi controllers, but this time i though to feed back the midi into the CP and record it as audio. So i went kinda backwards like this:
- use CP as a midi controller (I used the 4front plugin as piano sound) and record the chords as midi
- playback the midi thru CP and record as audio

Btw the sound you're hearing isn't one of the regular sounds (Rhodes I, II, Wurlitzer, Clavinet, Toy, CP), but instead it's the hidden piano sound. It's possible to get it by leaving the rotating dial between Wurlitzer and Clavinet settings and powering up. Yamaha says it's used for "internal testing", but i think it's probably down to somekind of last minute licencing thing. Anyway it's found on all of these Reface CP's, but hidden like this.

Also forgot to mention. The main CP sound is the one i don't like. It's supposed to have that 70's-80's Elton John etc. piano sound, but to me it sounds lifeless, and so far i haven't had any use for that. The Rhodes and Wurlitzer stuff is fabulous.

[Zoltan]

cuthbert i found this short snippet i recorded as a sound demo with Wurlitzer sounds + a bit of Clavinet (it's the improvised "melody" at the center) that i put thru an amp sim for added grit.

The playing is all over the place and you can actually hear me getting bored as i'm not getting anywhere with the playing but the sounds are good i think!

[kenny mac]

Hi there,I wrote and recorded the vocals this morning.
Is it ok if I stick a lead guitar on and a rhythm guitar?

[Zoltan]

Hi Kenny,

Great! Yes If it's possible i'd like to have a go with the mix? The current version is filled with "stuff" + is 100% static.

[cuthbert]

cuthbert i found this short snippet i recorded as a sound demo with Wurlitzer sounds + a bit of Clavinet (it's the improvised "melody" at the center) that i put thru an amp sim for added grit.

The playing is all over the place and you can actually hear me getting bored as i'm not getting anywhere with the playing but the sounds are good i think!

Thanks for posting that - it does sound great, lots of honk! The clav sounds nice and hot!

[StephenM]

I know I heard the finished product and commented the other day but it's interesting coming on the board here and listening to this.  I hear the Lionel Ritchie thing too...but it's also much more than that.  I love piano and organ bunches (I dabble in simple riffs for a few songs), but I don't play and so far I haven't been motivated to get into the computer stuff that way. 
My wife plays extremely well but she is too busy mostly to play with me on anything plus if I can't give her a piece of sheet music she really is not a creator.  I do play with her several times a week in a band that we get paid to play in.  So I get my piano fix that way.
Just yesterday I was telling my son Markus about the song "Mandy" by Barry Manilow to see if perhaps he might be interested in trying to play it.  He is quite good but doesn't really want me to record him much.

[Hilary]

Hi Z - this sounds very lovely - I'm getting the Barry Manilow too