April 2007 Song Contest sponsored by IK Multimedia, Sonic Reality, Disc Makers, CD Baby, and Recording Magazine.
Contestants' Choice Category Winner
J.J. "The Gator" and his daughter Keelin's song "Destiny" received the most votes in RiffRumble VII from the contestants. Contestants voted all over the board due to so many great songs being entered. Overall, GatorJJ rose to the top as the winner of this esteemed category.
Michelle interviewed J.J. "The Gator" about his win:
GatorJJ lives in North Carolina and has been playing guitar for 29 years. He played in a gigging band back in the 80's and married the singer. Wooooo Gator!
Michelle: Where did the inspiration come from for "Destiny" and who does that lovely voice belong to?
Gator: The inspiration came from my 7 year old daughter, Keelin. I think she's going to be a great singer some day and I've been slowly introducing her to recording. We recorded a couple cover songs last year that came out well, and one day she tells me next time she wants to do her "own" song. I asked her what she had in mind and she belted out the chorus to what became "Destiny". I figured the least I could do was sit down and help her write her first song, so I pulled the acoustic out and we went to work. I helped with the verses and she handled the arrangement, even insisting on the key change at the end.
Michelle:What gear and InstantDrummer sessions did you use to create your winning number?
Gator:The guitars are Carvin DC127TL electric, an Ibanez GSR200L bass, a Carvin C850L acoustic. The electric goes through a PODxt, the acoustic is mic'd. The mic I use is a Studio Projects T3, which I run through a Focusrite Saffire I/O. I used the new Sonic Reality R.A.W. Funk Grooves 2 InstantDrummer session. I really liked the tight sound of the drums for this song. I like all the InstantDrummer sessions, even the demo ones!
Michelle:
How long have you been using RiffWorks?
Gator: I've been using RiffWorks since late summer 2005. I bought a PODxt and tried the demo of RiffWorks...and was immediately hooked! There's nothing better for quickly and easily getting an idea down and it's always the first thing I reach for when I have an idea.
Michelle:What prizes would you like? Any other comments?
Gator:
WOW! Let's go with RAW Global Beats, RAW Pop Country, RAW Pop Rock Beats, RAW Rock Grooves 1, and RAW Dimension. AmpliTube 2 would be great!
Gator: I want to thank Sonoma for the environment you've created with RiffWorks, RiffCaster, RiffLink etc...it's really fun to be a part of this group. The bar gets higher every RiffRumble and it's awesome to win the Contestants' Choice category! Also many thanks also to the folks who voted in the contest, and passed it along to their friends!
Popular Category Winner
Jim "jimmiboy" received the most overall public votes for his song "Broken Angel". This is his third win in a row - He also won the RR V and RR VI Popular Categories.
Jim's response to his win was touching: "Broken Angel" was born out of my desire to include a very simple acoustic melody as the closing track on a CD project I have been working on. I chose the title as I thought it was indicative of the mood of the song and might entice someone to listen. Recording it was difficult as, over the two week period preceding the start of Riffrumble VII, my family was struck with illness, and hospitalization in one instance, which was immediately followed up by a house fire at my wife's parent's house which resulted in the three elderly occupants, all in their 80's, becoming my houseguests for at least two months during the restoration after the fire. The house was left uninhabitable. It was difficult to get into my studio and the song was hurriedly recorded over a two day period. I completed it on Monday night April 16 and, with the urging of my family, entered it shortly before the contest entry deadline. I submitted the song with no expectations, due to the style of song, an adult ballad aimed at an adult audience, and did absolutely NO promotion on the song at all: no emails, no posters, no suggestions to anyone to hear the song. I have no explanation as to how the song took off and where the votes came from. I guess, maybe, it proves there is always room for a simple, pretty, and romantic melody. Many of the comments were from people, of all ages, who were touched by the melody and gave examples of how it spoke to them in different ways."
The song took on a completely different perspective when one of the final comments posted on the song came from a U.S. Navy wife who wrote:
"I vote for this song because the United States does have a "broken angel" - our wonderful Blue Angels pilot Kevin Davis, and you are in Pensacola, home of the "Blues". Beautiful song too. RIP Kevin Davis. How fitting that you named this song Broken Angel...that was before the tragedy."
Jim said, "This comment touched my heart. For that reason I am dedicating the song to the memory of Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Davis, pilot of the #6 jet, U.S. Navy Blue Angels Precision Flight Team, who died in the crash of his F/A-18 Hornet on April 21, 2007 during a performance in South Carolina."
"I played my Ibanez Artwood AJ-200CE acoustic during the recording. I did not use an InstantDrummer Session. Instead I inserted a high hat effect and rim shot effect generated from a Yamaha DGX-500 Portable Grand Keyboard. A simple bass line from a Samick 4-string bass and a rhythm chord from my Martin Backpacker were the only other instruments on the recording."
"I would like the IK Multimedia AmpliTube 2 (box) guitar amp and effects modeling software. For the Sonic Reality Instant Drummer Sessions, I would like the RAW Jazz Beats, RAW Global Beats, RAW Brushes, RAW Rock Blues Beats and RAW Loose Grooves. Please feel free to award the other prizes to someone you think is deserving. There were a lot of great songs by talented people in the competition. We are all winners. After all, it is about sharing the music. I have submitted entries in the last 5 RiffRumbles and have been blessed and fortunate enough to be a winner in the last 3. The RiffRumbles have gotten better with each ensuing competition."
"Thanks to Sonoma Wire Works, along with each of the sponsors for providing a forum for a group of people to come together and share their music."
We chose to give the prizes mentioned above to bluesydude for his song "House of the Risen Son". His song had the 4th most popular vote after Jim's, GatorJJ's and WedgeBill's (who already won prizes in this competition). bluesydude also received 2 favorite votes in the Contestant's Choice category.
BluesyDude's response was, "I am surprised, happy, thankful and extremely humbled that you think I am deserving and even more so that you liked my song. Sonoma has made what use to be a very laborious process of getting tunes out of my head into some recorded form an absolute unparalleled pleasurable experience. I can't thank the programmers, analyst, beta testers, marketers and visionaries enough for such a superb product."
Sonic Reality's Choice Category Winner
Bill (Wedgebill) - Sonic Reality's Dave Kerzner and some of his crew listened to the RR7 tunes and chose Bill and his wife Joy's song, "Remember Summer", as the best overall song.
At the time this interview was written, Bill and Joy lived in a village in Cambridgeshire UK called Eaton Socon. They now live in Florida. Bill said, "Cambridgeshire is steeped in history, back to the Romans even. They had to halt the building of the house next door when they found buried Roman coins and artifacts. Right at the bottom of our garden is the moat of a long gone Anglo Saxon castle, sited on a bend in the river as a vantage point, and they built their castles on top of a man made hill, hence the name of the road we live in called "Castle Hill Close"."
Bill picked up his first guitar, (more of a ukelele / mini-guitar) at the age of seven, got his 1st proper acoustic at 11 and Futurama Duo electric at 12/13. He says, "I played my first live gig aged 14 but got so drunk I finished up sitting and playing my guitar in the middle of the road at about 2am! I played in a few bands until 1970 when Joy and I started a band called "WedgeWood" - we did middle of the road stuff, covers mainly with a few originals thrown in. In the early days people were more interested in the bingo than us...HaHa. In the fullness of time we were a very slick outfit, renowned on the professional circuit as one of the few and best semi-pro bands, mainly for our 3 and 4 part harmony work. We rehearsed for hours and our kids were quite used to guitars, amps, drums, wires and bodies strewn all over the place."
"Joy was offered a recording contract aged 30 but turned it down because of me and the kids. I was in a recording band in the mid 80's and tried to get somewhere musically until I was nearly 40 but was never in the right place at the right time I suppose. There's not many A&R men out in the sticks. I can't read music anyway, I play everything by ear. Last band I had was a 7 piece pub rock band with me fronting and Joy harmonizing and taking a few lead vocals. That band lasted about 4 years but came to a sudden stop when our 26 year old son Steve died in a car accident."
"This virtually destroyed our understanding of life and totally destroyed our capacity to make music. My guitars sat in the cupboard under the stairs for 5 years and did not appear until a couple of mates begged me to come out of exile to jam with them on their joint 50th birthday bash. Joy, of course, brought the house down with her piano accompanied rendition of "Desperado", but we had to get her seriously happy with wine first....HaHa. My guitar went back in the cupboard until..."
"My grandson has carried on the family tradition. He's living in Florida (aged 13) and currently plays saxophone in the school orchestra and jazz band. He has a set of drums and wants to be a guitar hero as well. When I saw him persevering on his own with a starter guitar and amp I asked him if he would like a nice guitar from Nan, Grandad, Mum and Dad. The guitar etc. was duly chosen, but the jack-socket came loose a couple of times in the first week. So we took it back to the shop and they said they would mend it while we waited...MMMMMmmmmmm...Guess what I saw while I was waiting...Line 6 POD XT Live, Gearbox...and the new meaning of life...RIFFWORKS!! So I bought another suitcase and smuggled it home, this is a big secret of course...HaHa"
"I waffle, I know but your software has transformed my life and all this pent up music is bubbling out all over the place. Since my first post at the end of January I've lost count of how many RiffCaster posts. I have, lost count of the number of songs I have in the melting pot, lost count of the number of collabs I've been involved in, lost count of how many new friends I've made over on the forum, lost count of how many fantastic musicians I've heard who use RiffWorks, lost count of how many ridiculous comments I've made on the forum, lost any idea of when it's time to go to bed or work etc., lost my anonymity, become a local celebrity, been spotlighted as the artiste of the moment by bluesyDude, been interviewed on BBC radio, been featured on the TV news and now won RiffRumble 7!
"Get the picture? I thought I'd lost my ability to sing and play,..look at all that stuff I've lost now...HaHa."
"Can't pick a favourite InstantDrummer session as I like all of them and if I could...I'd probably buy all of them and I'd definitely buy the RiffWorks Standard Crossgrade, and probably a gift certificate for my grandson so I can collab with him. I've already bought quite a few InstantDrummer sessions, and recently a Toneport UX2 to try and get better vocals. Whilst on the subject, If I thought 'er indoors wouldn't notice, I'd have bought a Variax 600 by now as well...HaHa."
"On the subject of musical instruments etc. I, like Mickey, have my beloved Telecaster Deluxe Custom - it has twin Humbuckers and years ago I had a Seymour Duncan fitted between them to get Gibson like sounds out of it. A beautiful Guild Jumbo Acoustic/Electric (also smuggled from Florida but that's another secret....HaHa) a Yamaha PSR 6700 keyboard, a Casio DG-20 digital midi guitar, Nevada cheapo bass guitar and Shure SM 58 mics."
"This is the last word about me and then I'll get to where the credits really should be. All I did on "Remember Summer" was fiddle about on my geetars and twiddle RiffWorks knobs."
"Joy wrote all the lyrics apart from one section where I got her to mimic my guitar solo, she sang the melody and harmonies, she played the descant recorder and alto recorder several times. That's one biggy credit the other goes to the wonderful Mr Pbobski, Mr. Bob Sweigart who made such a wonderful mix come out of my mess. Thanks again Bob, I told ya you might wish you hadn't offered...HaHa. Finally I give credit to all the other contestants, there was an incredible amount of fine musicianship in this competition."
"If you lived in England you would know where the inspiration for the song came from. Most of the time it's grey skies here and you know what they say about Mad Dogs and Englishmen, same goes for the women. One hint of sunshine and we all go bonkers. As we seem to be getting more sun here lately and keep hearing about global warming etc the song talks about this incredible place we live in and how we should try to care for it. My missus gets very deep...in between dancing and singing around our dustbins....HaHa!"
For prizes, Bill chose IK's AmpliTube 2 and these 5 InstantDrummer sessions from Sonic Reality: RAW RnB Soul 2, RAW Producer Beats, RAW Loose Grooves, RAW Funk Grooves 2, and RAW Effects.
More about RiffRumble VII
Listen to all 44 songs from this round here.
Discussion about the winning songs in the RiffRumble VII forum here.
Details about RiffRumble VII here.
RiffWorks Recording Software Pricing & Demo here.
Thanks to the RiffRumble VII Sponsors:
©2008 Sonoma Wire Works. All rights reserved. RiffWorks™, RiffWorld™, RiffLink™, RiffCaster™, and InstantDrummer™ are trademarks property of Sonoma Wire Works. AmpliTube® is a registered trademark property of IK Multimedia Production srl. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
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