Happibeats
City Beats
© 2006 Robert McDonald (634479426452)
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Happibeats second foot-tapping and hip-swinging creation of fresh Modern Groovy Instrumentals - 14 tracks to groove the day and night away.
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Wow!! Here are 14 new modern groovy instrumentals on the second Happibeats CD “City Beats”!
Their trademark sound is light, boppy, and always groovy!
Like the sensational Happibeats debut album 'Summer Nights' these tracks sound great - mastered by multi-ARIA Award winner Don Bartley at the legendary Studios 301 in Sydney.
Mastering was done on the unique Thorn-EMI mixing consoles shipped from the original London Abbey Road studios – these consoles were designed and used for 9 albums by George Martin and The Beatles! A little bit of that sound is in these tracks! How groovily exciting!
When I create these tracks each one starts with a simple mental image picture, and composing brings the pictures to life in music.
Sounds range from simple fun excursions into blues guitar and beaty jazz a la Osibisa to more Latin samba and dance oriented electronica. The track ‘Floating In Green Blue Waves’ is a subtle soundscape inspired by my endless quest for perfect heaven as a body surfer!
COMPOSING THE TRACKS:
I couldn't wait to express my own feelings in music. I was fortunate to find good advice about how to get started:
1-have a strong mental image picture of what you want to say, what I call a song picture
2-have a definite title for the track before you start
3-speak from the heart!
These ideas worked for me. There were some stumbles along the way. But I kept searching for and creating sounds and beats and chords TO MAKE THE SONG PICTURES COME TO LIFE. It was important to keep trying new angles until things felt right.
Suggestions and reactions from any audience that heard the tracks were a big help.
The composing process for this second CD was the same as for the first one, but happened faster, probably because I was
becoming more familiar with the urgency of getting the ideas down as beats and melodies to work on rather than waiting and waiting.
Here are the song pictures and titles for all tracks on my second CD.
1. City Beats - 2:52
Mad busy rush, time in a groove.
My humble homage to the excitement I felt when I first heard the Italian trio of Limoni, Davoli, and Semplici who as Black Box created 'Ride On Time' and as Starlight created 'Numero Uno' among many other tracks.
style = dance piano, Italian House Music flavour
2. Gone In A Flash - 2:52
Dirty guitar, be quick or he's gone.
style = passionate latin dance meets Jumping Jack Flash, still creating sheer excitement for me every time I hear it.
3. Teddy Bears Running The House - 3:47
Some days when I come home I am sure my teddy bears have been running all over my place - they try to look innocent, but things are not how I left them this morning!
style = smooth electronic dance groove with quirky synth bits
4. Rising Sun - 3:15
Guitars, guitars, guitars, celebrating a stunning sunrise at
Byron Bay while my friend Ralph checks out the waves.
My version of how House of The Rising Sun might sound as surf music. The sunrise and Ralph do exist.
style = many jangling rock guitars in a very big space
5. The Serenity Affair - 3:08
Out of sheer magic a huge crazy intense friendship begins with the most surprising and unusual person. It starts, builds up, and ends. It happens again. And again. Don't want to be completely sane ever!
style = strong emotions in drums, bass and keyboards, plus stillness, combined with beats
6. Beatnik Jazz Part 2 - 4:01
The beatniks have discovered more creamy espresso and a new groove.
style = modern jazz meets Osibisa
7. Sun Rain Sun - 3:55
Intense bright sunshine through shiny dark grey thunderstorm, a Sydney special!
style = guitar strumming chill out
8. Robot Love Dreams - 2:52
A humanoid robot has noticed this strange emotion called love that humans have, and wants to experience it too. He dreams about it, but he is still a bit mechanical.
Inspired by the staggering Foundation sagas written by Isaac Asimov.
style = jazzy keyboard chill out
9. Run It In Rio - 3:24
Carnivale looks like fun!
style = lively boppy latin dance, samba beat, lotsa horns
10. Blues Rush - 2:41
Just fast finger pickin' good.
style = fancy bluegrass guitar
11. La Bobba - 3:11
My tribute to hearing Richie Valens' original "La Bamba",
still a revelation today as it was in 1958.
style = latin dance, chunky guitars, fast samba beat
12. Floating In Green Blue Waves - 3:38
Late afternoon, I am the body surfer in a very big slow swell, rising and falling, waiting for the wave of the day. The water is so deep that it is blue as well as the normal green. There are unknown things below, moving, shifting, maybe seaweed, maybe rocks, maybe dark sharks, you don't dare look.
You want the last giant wave in before the sun goes!
Send it down Huey!
style = dreamscape chill out, haunting guitars, and electronic seagulls!
13. Gone In A Flash (Longer Version) - 4:00
Can't resist that dirty guitar.
style = more very hot passionate latin dance beats
14. Flying Free - 3:29
My friends played a duet like this at a Melbourne Eisteddfod - they were so free and happy at that moment.
style = strong glorious strumming guitars
I want to acknowledge again the fantastic tool for music creation in Sonic Foundry’s (now Sony’s) Acid Music Pro 2 and Pro 4 software! All tracks were created and mixed using Acid Music. Anyone can start creating in minutes using this software.
And another huge thank you goes to all the talented artists who created the music and voice samples used for these tracks. A full list of the companies involved is in the CD booklet.
A special thank you goes to the superb photography of Paul Wright and the stunning design skills of Andrew Davies for the CD artwork!
The beautiful city on the CD cover is of course Sydney, but looking afresh at its veiled and mysterious western side!
Keep grooving!!
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Play it constantly!
author: ChloeThanks Rob. It is a very nice CD. We play it constantly. Thanks from Chloe (Chloe Hair Design Salon, Canberra).