Poet- lyricist Connie Marotta contacted us, sending us a recording of herself singing a lyric she’d written (one of many to come). At first, she just wanted to hear it arranged, creating a setting for the vocal she sent. Our task was to notate the melodyA sequence of single pitches perceived as a unit, usually the main theme or tune in a piece of music. into Finale, create a tempo mapComponent in MIDI data defining the tempo and tempo changes in a musical piece or track to match the metric scheme, derive a harmonic scheme, create the arrangementrefers to the structure and order of musical elements in a composition, such as melody, harmony, rhythm, and instrumentation. around the audio track as it imported into Finale –
then produce it into a master1. Intellectual property consisting of a sound recording 2. The process of optimizing a mix through further signal processing to adjust presence, timbre, loudness, and tone recording in Proacronym short for Publishing Rights Organization, such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC Tools, adjusting vocal pitchThe perceived highness or lowness of a sound, determined by the frequency of the sound wave. and timing at the end to polish up the master.
Here’s her original recording of “In The Morning Light” –
and our production around the original audio:
Here’s a screenshot of the ProTools session, showing some AutoTune pitch correction, the tempoThe speed at which a piece of music is performed, often indicated in beats per minute. map, and the original stem sliced up and moved around a bit.
She sent another, which presented challenges of a sort that she felt more comfortable hiring a vocalist to sing. I recommended the great Alexis Cole, who found herself suddenly available as the COVID-19 pandemic wiped out her packed touring schedule. As production went on, I proposed adding other musicians (Marc Phaneuf on flute and bari sax, and later, Mike Eckroth on piano) to record remotely, layering over and replacing our original sample tracks.
After doing several, Connie decided to have Alexis replace her original vocal on the first one:
And, after doing a couple more, we added Mike Eckroth on piano – this is “Three Magic Wishes,” the latest one in the series.
The project became Imagesong Presents.
All titles are playable on Spotify.
