If they ask you...

[eagle1]

Hi guys.

 

So my sister is a writer and she has written hundreds of poems (in Spanish)http://www.lulu.com/content/827222 among other things she has written and a long time ago she wanted me to create a song from one of her writings.

 

Last month I had a chance to record (I hadn't done so in many months) and I almost gave up. Nothing worked as I wanted but I did come up with a little something, something so I have the idea. The bad things:

 

1) The microphone setting was at its most sensitive level (so not only you can hear in detail my voice because of it but you can also hear an awful hiss and even crickets!! hehehehe)

 

2) My metronome stopped working at the 2 minutes mark of the song so I probably have to re-record that last part again. (But re-recording is no biggie since this song is in the POV of a woman!! I already have the girl that will sing this! )

 

Here is the song (with and without vocals):

 

Si te Preguntan (inst)

 

Si te Preguntan (w vocals)

 

Is just a simple spanish acoustic pop song.

 

What I'm looking for is the arrangement in general and more importantly, would this work out well with a female singer?!?!

 

 

Thanks much.

 

 

P.S. If you like me to translate, I will do so. But the song is basically a proud woman saying to her ex that: "if someone asks you who I was in your life, tell them that I was the most loved of all you've had" or something to that nature

[blue2blue]

This is a nice, easy to listen to post-Eagles sort of thing. Certainly very easy to imagine in the context of contemporary American/Spanish language rock-pop.

 

I'd lose that boxey echo on the vocal; not only is it wildly distracting, it makes the lyrics all but impossible for this backslid high-school spanish dropout to catch more than one or two of. Whereas, I was pleasantly surprised to be able to translate the book blurb for the most part -- I think more formal Spanish is easier for me because the Latin roots are easier to make out.

 

While I wasn't able to follow the lyrics, the song, melody, and the essence of the vocals came over to me as bittersweet and filled with yearning. (I'm hoping it wasn't, instead, an earthy song of lust and romantic celebration. )

 

Sounds like a great start.

 

[eagle1]

 

I'd lose that boxey echo on the vocal; not only is it wildly distracting, it makes the lyrics all but impossible for this backslid high-school spanish dropout to catch more than one or two of.

 

 

Yeah, I guess that was the room coming into play (since the mic was on the highest level) and since I duplicated tracks, I guess that's how I got that "echo" on the track (I didn't apply any effects other than normalization probably...)

 

And you are right.

The song is kind of bittersweet because although the woman of the story is telling the guy to put her on a pedestal (even though they are not together) through the words we get the feeling that she still feels something for him. BTW, these are the lyrics (to put your Spanish to practice!):

 

Si te Preguntan

Chorus

Si te preguntan

que fui en tu vida.

Dile que fui de todas

la mas querida.

 

[Verse 1]

Dile que fui tu consuelo

Cuando tu cielo se nublaba.

Quien lleno tu corazon

cada noche, cada madrugada.

 

[Verse 2]

Que fui una dama

dulce y abnegada

quien entrego su amor

sin pedir a cambio nada.

 

[Chorus]

 

[Verse 3]

Cuentale de mis hazanas

o del poema escrito para ti

que te di toda mi vida

y te hice muy feliz

 

[Verse 4]

Dile que extranabas

mi cuerpo mis palabras

que morias en mis brazos

y resucitabas en mi cama

 

[Chorus]

 

[bridge]

Que fui el sol, la lluvia, la marejada

pero nunca le digas...

que tu no me amabas.

 

[Chorus]

 

Thanks for the comments blue!

[ido1957]

The ending seems a bit jumbled up with the multiple singers with different words going on. And yes the vocals are difficult to hear - you need to get those more up front. Since I don't understand the language at all, I'll just comment on the overall musical arrangment. For me - I could use some more differentiation between the chorus and verse - maybe a different chord pattern - something that would lift the song up during the chorus. The meat of the song is great - I'm just looking for a bit of a change up. The harmonies are good too, and the doubling is effective. A girl could definitely sing this although it might have to go up a few keys. Good job - it's a challenge to write music for someone else's lyrics and I think you did alright!

[eagle1]

Thanks for listening and for the comments Ido.

 

And yes, I tried to change the verses a bit but I just couldn't fit a different chord progression there... still looking for something but ... haven't found anything yet. If anyone has suggestions on this, they'll be appreciated. I can try some of your ideas (it's a simple done to death progression anyway -- the one I'm playing).

 

Thanks.