A little autobiography beside the picture. I have been trying my hand at arranging some of my music for several voices. The results are good. Next I have decided to try orchestration. It will be meaningful work. Last week I was at a convention where I attended workshops in music composing and other fun stuff just to taste it and let myself grow.
The sound is great if you listen with headphones
They Belong Together is a jazz experiment. I wrote three songs Because I Can, I Just Can’t, and Stress Will Not Rule My Life at different times over the past two years. Because I Can and I Just Can’t are found on my website joshuaelimusic.com, one on the Home page and the other on the Original music page and Stress Will Not Rule My Life is found in the March 21, 2018, blog post linked to my website. The blog’s address is joshuaelimusic.com/blog and where you are right now just look through the index for the name of the blog entry. After writing the three songs their existential relationship popped. They seemed to live or fit together. That idea was the seed for writing a new arrangement for them: putting the three songs together in a new way. It also was a chance to experiment using my own material. At first the original melodies stuck in my head, but it didn’t take long to open the compression door, use my feeling for jazz, and then go for it. Since I wrote the original songs myself and hold the copyrights, I was free to go wherever I wanted to go. Each of the songs is a different slant about someone trying to find himself.. a very hard place to be. Knowing we are born expressing ourself vocally and loudly, I have come to understand we long for that place again after being internally shutdown by life experiences like passing through a formal education and interacting with people and doing all kinds of jobs in many settings with all types of responsibilities. Those markers tug and really pull people out of round. In search of a comfortable happiness, my life trek moves and meanders looking for my true self. I see that happiness takes work and is my forever job. I was born from joy and need to grab that state again so I can live my dream of happiness. They Belong Together has no chorus. I have written only one song before with no chorus: Near To You Is What I Want that I wrote tapping quickly into my heart. When my mentor Chris J at that time heard the song he liked it a lot and was impressed but reminded me that music listeners like choruses. I have taken that suggestion ever since but now. I think a chorus would have bogged down this song and took away from its compound construction. Those who are familiar with all 3 songs or have recently listened to them will see that echoes of the music and lyrics of the original songs are like a familiar chorus connecting the “verses” together. I adjusted the key because the keys for all three songs did not match. From G Major and C minor and C Major and listening a lot to the original songs, I did some mental transposing placing the song in C Major with a distinct sexy-pulled-out jazz sound that seems to answer the piece’s objective: finding a path toward happiness and feeling easy about it.. falling into a Diana Krall feel. I liked the groove and professional sound that came came from my musical ideas. The same feeling is also suggested in the instrumental intro where I took my time to get the song started and then the opposing force of the closing lines where “in your face” internal conflict still resides: But I just can’t. But I just can’t. I just can’t/Oh shit! But I can…Because I Can … doubt is the sister of change. So listen to the original 3 songs and then listen to the compound permutation. It felt good working it out. In parts of the song towards its closing I really enjoy hearing my fingers “clicking” on the keys because it sounds so real in more ways than the obvious. Find They Belong Together near the top of this blog. If you are in the mood tell me what you think. Thank you to Paul Faltusz in Australia for your demonstrated loyalty then now listening to Any Part Would Be Enough and It Will Be A Great Day WHEN and I Broke Out And Broke Through… good songs for their positivity. Barbara Hellerman, a frequent listener, listened to She’s Got A Way. Omsteadsonerie from Canada also a devoted listener listened to Not An Ending After All. It is a song about beginnings! My brother whose birthday is in a few days wrote the lyrics with me when he was undergoing a beginning. Danielle Walters from Wisconsin listened to Waste No One’s Life Anymore and And Then You Were Gone, both heartfelt songs. Ryan Gleason liked I Just Can’t and Any Part Would Be Enough. Those two songs seem to find a sweet spot with lots of people. Jim Armein from Texas chose to listen to She’s Got A Way and Any Part Would Be Enough. Both are special for me. Jennifer Godfin and Todd401 played Waste No One’s Life Anymore! Here, Here! That Makes You Beautiful And I Want You To Be and Life Is About What You Do With What Happens To You are real good songs to listen to and Zoeupchurch14’s did just that. Cemcculloch, in South Carolina and one of the the first to listen to Waste No One’s Life Anymore, decided to tap into the inspiration of On The Sunny Side Of The Street..a song I have loved since I was 5 years old and always lifts my spirits up. Well, hello, rhowardjunk in my home state of California. Thank you for checking out We Need To Live In The Arch Of A Rainbow and There Are Sounds All Around. There Are Sounds.. is my shortest song yet one of only a special few I consider my most meaningful songs. Then reading Mcelvain’s comment, “…truly made my day, “after he listened to my song Invisible on my blog post, Have you ever felt invisible?“ That comment made that day for me, too. And horikoshi’s comment, “good stuff,” about Wad-ing And Wait-ing, a song I wrote and put up on my April 25, 2018, blog post, is why I write: to be appreciated. Thank you, everyone!
July ends with a few significant birthdays. To those of you, enjoy and be happy. It is your time and your chance to be happy so go for it!
Stay close to music. It will improve your day.
We must find a way to keep cool. The current hot spell the weather is dishing out is a challenge.
Sincerely,
Joshua Eli
July 28, 2018
This post first appeared on What's Up With Joshua Eli Kranz L.A. Composer/Perf, please read the originial post: here
