FOREWORD
Spring is Here!
I’m just putting out some content of originals, covers, and “collaborations” to see if anyone might be interested in jamming with me, based on what they hear in the samples provided below.
I titled this post “Evolving Audition” because it is intended to be updated with new material as it becomes available.
Currently, it has 19 songs uploaded ( 12 originals, 5 collaborations, and 2 covers )
The focus is on my guitar playing and/or songwriting skills.
NOT my vocals! I’m not looking to do any singing!
My voice sucks! I fully acknowledge that!
The vocals are there simply because the music requires someone to sing, and I don’t have any money to hire a vocalist, so, it looks like I was the only one available to do the vocal tracks.
So, it is what it is.
I put notes were solos are, so the listener can fast forward directly to the solos for immediate evaluation.
NOTE : I’m not looking to be in a “guitar-only” band — where there are no keyboardists — unless….one or more of the guitarists use guitar synths ( I definitely do! ) , or some kind of sound-expanding module.
For me, if the only two guitar sounds are “distortion on” and “distortion off”, I’ll get bored in a matter of minutes!
I need pianos, organs, synthesizers, violins, mandolins, flutes, and definitely saxophones, among others.
I’m also not a recording engineer. So, if the quality of the recordings, themselves, are less than pristine, that’s because I also don’t have the best of microphones, and I record old school — standalone recording hardware; no digital DAWS or plug-ins; all stage mics for pa equipment; plugging directly in and not adding any special EQ or compression; etc.
Anyway, if you can :
[a] ignore the bad vocals;
[b] forgive the home studio-“quality” recordings; and
[c] focus only on the guitar playing ,
….and if you like what you hear, and are interested in possibly getting together, please check out the written content after the samples which displays information regarding my contact info.
NOTE: Many of my songs have guitars, keyboards, and saxophones as the primary melodic instruments.
For now, check out the following songs below, and thanks for listening:
There are three categories of music :
[1] Originals, where I wrote the music and lyrics (and unfortunately, sung ) ;
[2] “Collaborations“, with YouTube Content Providers .
I put the word collaborations in quotes because the material I’m working with :
— [a] IS meant for tutorial purposes — , meant for people ( beginners, intermediates, etc., — to practice their theory and technique in scales, modes, chords, and chord progressions ) to jam along with.
— [b] is NOT meant to be posted as a formal composition from some band.
But…
Some of those jam tracks are very well constructed, and I would have been proud to have been in a band with these writers ( there’s definitely two or three that are first class writers , as fas as I’m concerned); and finally,
[3] Covers, of commercially-established bands ( Zeppelin, Beatles, Allman Brothers, etc.)
NOTE 1 :
Although Originals are mentioned first in the list, two possible benefits of listening to the Collaborations collection first, are:
[1] The Collaborations are all recorded on a newer digital unit, and sound a little cleaner than some of the Originals and Covers — most of which ( but not all ) were recorded on older analog units of the semi-pro “quality” found in most home studios; and
[2] The Collaborations are more likely to showcase my guitar and keyboard solos.
Way more playing and far less singing.
That’s because I’m not auditioning for vocals, that’s for sure.
Not even as a lyricist : Neil Peart I am not.
I just threw in vocals on some collaborations because the song, to me, seemed like it would be better with vocals ( e.g., “Don’t You Know” ).
Otherwise, the Originals ( some of which are instrumentals — e.g., “Pictures of You”, “Reunion” ) will showcase both instruments and vocals ( sorry about the vocals which are never top-notch ) .
INDEX
I-The Collections
—A-Originals
—— 01-Set 02; Song 01 — “Reunion” ( Instrumental )
—— 02-Set 02; Song 02 — “In The Dark Of Night” ( Vocals )
—— 03–Set 02; Song 03 — “You Made My Day” ( Instrumental )
—— 04-Set 02; Song 04 — “Nothin’s Ever Easy” ( Vocals )
—— 05-Set 02; Song 05 — “Jimmy Boy” ( Vocals )
—— 06-Set 02; Song 06 — “Always On The Run” ( Vocals )
—— 07-Set 02; Song 07 — “Lonely Eyes” ( Vocals )
—— 08-Set 02; Song 08 — “Tell Me Some Lies” ( Vocals )
—— 09-Set 05; Song 01 — “Where You Been Al My Life?” ( Vocals )
—— 10-Set 08; Song 01 — “Love Is The Answer” ( Vocals )
—— 11-Set 08; Song 02 — “Angela” ( Vocals )
—— 12-Set 08; Song 04 — “Pictures of You” ( Instrumental )
—B-Collaborations ( YouTube Series )
—— 01-Set 30; Song 01 — “Day One”
—— 02-Set 30; Song 02 — “Don’t You Know“
—— 03-Set 30; Song 03 — “Night Life”
—— 04-Set 30; Song 04 — “Rural Roads”
—— 05-Set 30; Song 05 — “City Lights“
—C-Covers
—— 01-Set 07; Song 01 — “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed“
—— 02-Set 07; Song 02 — “From the Beginning“
II-You May Have Noticed…
—A–6-piece Band Design
III-Time-Saving Information: What MUSIC I WON’T PLAY
Iv-Contact Information
I-The Collections
—A-Originals
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—— 01-Set 02; Song 01 — “Reunion“
“Reunion” : Instrumental
Guitar Solo @ 2:11
Organ Solo @ 2:44
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—— 2-Set 02; Song 02 — “In the Dark Of Night“
“In The Dark of Night : Vocals
Guitar Solo @ 2:25
The Story Behind The Song — “In The Dark of Night”
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—— 3-Set 02; Song 03 — “You Made My Day”
“You Made My Day”: Instrumental”
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—— 4-Set 02; Song 04 — “Nothin’s Ever Easy”
“Nothin’s Ever Easy”: Vocals
Guitar Solo @ 2:11
The Story Behind The Song — “Nothin’s Ever Easy”
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—— 5-Set 02; Song 05 — “Jimmy Boy”
“Jimmy Boy”: Vocals.
Guitar Solo @ 2:40
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—— 6-Set 02; Song 06 — “Always On The Run”
“Always On The Run”: Vocals
Sax Solo @ 3:03
Guitar Solo @ 3:26
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—— 7-Set 02; Song 07 — “Lonely Eyes”
“Lonely Eyes”: Vocals
Guitar 1 Solo @ 3:11
Sax Solo @ 3:44
Guitar 2 Solo @ 4:11
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—— 8-Set 02; Song 08 — “Tell Me Some Lies”
“Tell Me Some Lies”: ( Vocals )
[a] A keyboard synth solo @ 1:36;
[b] a guitar / scat solo @ 2:46; and
[c] a regular guitar solo @ 3:58.
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—— 09-Set 05; Song 01 — “Where You Been All My Life“
Guitar 1 Solo @ 2:00
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—— 10-Set 08; Song 01 — “Love is the Answer“
Sax Solo @ 2:17
Guitar Solo @ 2:42
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—— 10-Set 08; Song 02 — “Angela”
Guitar Solo @ 2:21
Sax Solo @ 3:03
Guitar Solo @ 3:51
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—— 11-Set 08; Song 04 — “Pictures of You“
Instrumental
—B-Collaborations ( YouTube Series )
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—— 1-Set 30; Song 01 — “Day One“
See Source below
—— 2-Set 30; Song 02 — “Don’t You Know?“
Guitar Solo-1@ 1:22
Guitar Solo-2 @ 2:39
Sax Solo-2 @ 3:31
See Source below
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—— 3-Set 30; Song 03 — “Night Life“
Guitar Solo-1@ 0:14
Guitar Solo-2 @ 1:11
See Source below
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—— 4-Set 30; Song 04 — “Rural Roads“
See Source below
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—— 5-Set 30; Song 05 — “City Lights“
See Source below
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“Day One“
Source :
YouTube Account : ErtoSound
Video Title : Cool Country Song Guitar Backing Track Jam In F Major.rtf
Source of Song Title : “Day One”
URL : https : // www. youtube. com/watch?v=cM1DqA8C3E0
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“Don’t You Know?“
Source :
Lyrics : Floyd Allen
Music = Not Mine; belongs to
( Notes Temporarily Misplaced ; will update when data located)
YouTube Account : ?
Video Title : ?.rtf
Source of Song Title : “Don’t You Know?”
URL : https : // www. youtube. com/watch?v=?????
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“Night Life“
YouTube Account : Pierpaolo Buzzi
Video Title : Tom Quayle Style Backing Track In A Dorian 75 Bpm.rtf
Source of Song Title : “Night Life”
URL : https : // www. youtube. com/watch?v=UDba6jD6Vxc
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“Rural Roads“
SOURCE :
YouTube Account : Elevated Jam Tracks
Video Title : Tender Mellow Groove Guitar Backing Track Jam in A.rtf
Source of Song Title : “Rural Roads”
URL : https : // www. youtube. com/watch?v=WC8IjJqE56g
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“City Lights?“
Source :
Music = Not Mine; belongs to
( Notes Temporarily Misplaced ; will update when data located)
YouTube Account : ?
Video Title : ?.rtf
Source of Song Title : City Lights?”
URL : https : // www. youtube. com/watch?v=?????
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—C-Covers
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The Allman Brothers Band — In Memory of Elizabeth Reed
—— 1-Set 07; Song 01 — “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed“
Original Artists : The Allman Brothers Band ( Original Lineup )
Guitar Solo-1@ 2:14
Sax Solo @ 4:08
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—— 1-Set 07; Song 02 — “From The Beginning“
Original Artists : Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
Guitar Solo-1@ 2:37
Keyboard Solo @ 3:27
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II-You May Have Noticed…
— A-6-piece Band Design
My Original compositions, and my renditions of other peoples’ music ( both Covers and Collaborations ) often, but not always, are designed for , at least, a 6-piece band:
[1] Drums / Percussion
[2] Bass ( I wish I had a Chapman Stick to use ; but “no gots”)
[3] Guitarist 1 ( To trade off on Rhythm and Lead Guitars )
[4] Guitarist 2 1 ( To trade off on Rhythm and Lead Guitars )
[5] Keyboardist — that’s an absolute must for me . No Keys? Not interested ( unless……one, or more, of the guitarists in the band plays a guitar synthesizer, to get access to those sounds not found in the guitar world in its natural state — an electric guitar is woefully inept at supplying any creativity in the timbre department with only “distortion on” and “distortion off” as the only two choices in the guitar world ).
[6] Saxophonist If available, I can’t see saying “no” — awesome instrument
…[7] Vocalist — Preferably, the singer plays an instrument ( e.g., guitar, violin, flute, mandolin, harmonica, etc. ) and is not “just a singer in a rock and roll band”.
Why not?
My experience has been vocalists who do not play an instrument, tend to prefer songs that have lots of vocals, or, are centered on the vocalist, otherwise, they’re spending a lot of time onstage not singing, while the other musicians are getting their moment in the spotlight.
I admit, if I was the vocalist, I would feel self-conscious about literally being onstage not doing anything for long stretches of time during the solos performed by the other band members.
That means, during those moments where he’s not producing any audio , ( because he’s not singing during the musicians’ solos ), he has to invent visuals to justify his presence onstage.
Otherwise, why is he there, if he’s not singing?
They could get anyone to stand on stage and do nothing — and there’s nothing of value, of him really visually “getting into the music” ( e.g., for example, pulling a “Roger Daltry” and swinging the mic from the cord; or, holding the mic, while it’s still clamped in the holder on the stand , while, say, rocking left and right in some “dance-ish” maneuver, dreading the moments of onstage inactivity for all to see).
That’s one reason I really don’t like the “backup singers” thing — i.e., with the “two or three women in the background” , snapping their fingers while they sing backup vocals.
Personally, I’ve found enjoyment only in Steely Dan’s use of backup singers ( check out Steely Dan’s album, “Aja”; lots of great examples of great use of background singers ).
Otherwise, your typical rock, blues, country, honky tonk, or hip-hop/gospel bands really ruin their performances with their version of backup singers.
It literally makes me cringe.
Also, notice that I called it a “6-piece band”, even though 7 are listed.
Why?
Do I “not” consider a Vocalist an instrument?
On the contrary, I most certainly do — and , in some strategic ways, it’s the most important one, in two ways :
[1] that’s a human organ and not a manufactured instrument, and thus, has no “repair parts” available at Guitar Center or Sam Ash.
You blow that instrument, you’re done! Have a nice day! No singing career for you; plus
[2] the human voice is so much more unique from other voices than, say, two typical folk guitars or two typical bass guitars sound “different” from each other.
If you swap out your Les Paul for a Paul Reed Smith, nobody in the audience is going to “hear the difference”.
The same goes for the keyboardist and the sax player — if the Keyboardist goes from Yamaha to Roland, or if the sax player switches from one professional grade brand to another professional grade brand, again, no one in the audience is going to pick up on those differences.
In complete contrast, are the vocalists of the music world — i.e., if you change vocalists, it would be impossible to not notice.
For example, immediately, one can tell the difference between, say, Phil Collins and Sting or Ronnie James Dio, , or between the late Christie McVie and Janis Joplin.
The differences are so much more stark in human voices than in instruments.
The reason that’s important to consider :
If a singer quits the band, guess what ?
The sound of the band instantly changes where that is going to be far more noticeable than if you changed drummers or bass players.
So, yeah, I consider the voice an instrument.
But…..
I count only six, because I’m hoping — really hoping ! — that the singer also plays an instrument ( e.g., guitar, harmonica, flute, violin, etc ) .
Why?
Because for every second that a guitarist or keyboardist or saxophonist is playing their solos, the singer is not doing anything at all, except watching the other musicians shine in the spotlight.
Personally, I really wouldn’t want to be that guy if the next five solid minutes ( or more ) involves me standing there doing and accomplishing absolutely nothing but semi-“dancing” in place with the mic stand, and playing with my …..hat.
Other singers like Ian Gillian, from Deep Purple, used to play harmonica ( Think “Lazy” ) and congas.
I believe Burton Cummings the vocalist of The Guess Who also played saxophone and flute.
The point is :
The more a singer feels under-used when his bandmates are soloing, the more likely that he or she will want to do more songs with more singing…..
And I do NOT want that.
I want just enough vocals that we’re not considered an “instrumental” band, but, by the same token, we’ll be far more likely to jam out to “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” by the Allman Bothers, than we will to Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue“, which has Way too many words in it, for my liking.
So…
If we do “…Elizabeth Reed”, what’s the non-instrument playing singer supposed to do with himself on stage for the eight to 14 minutes there’s nothing to sing?
I can’t believe that he or she would be comfortable with that.
But…
If he or she is playing a guitar or other instrument, they could join in on the jamming and still be the singer and get the spotlight twice as often as those playing only one instrument.
Some singers play instruments, too, and that’s the type I prefer because they’re far more likely to fit into my definition of a “6-piece band”.
Hence, I prefer instruments to singing.
III-Time-Saving Information : Music I WON’T PLAY
Sure, I like, need, and want money. Who doesn’t?
But, I’m not willing to do certain things, just to get a paycheck out of it.
If you’re in it “just for the money”, — and you’ll play any genre — then go for it : Be all you can be.
Just don’t reach out to me.
For me, it’s NOT about the money, if the job requires shit music.
I’m not going to pretend that I’m open to “all” genres.
I’m not!
There are certain genres that I just can’t take seriously, as I shake my head in disbelief that anyone likes that stuff.
And where I’m not interested, it’s hopeless to convince me to play “just this once”.
If I could do it “once”, I could do it repeatedly; and if that’s the case, I might as well just play the music.
To me, “making an exception” and playing music that one otherwise detests , — even “once” — defeats the purpose of not playing it in the first place.
If someone said, “I’m not a murderer”, and a someone requested that they commit “just one” murder, and they obeyed, could they ever say they’re “not” a murderer , since they only committed “one”?
Of course not : “doing it only once”, doesn’t mitigate a single thing in that crime. They’re still a murderer.
Maybe not a repeat offender, but one is all it takes.
The point is : there’s no point in ever hoping you’ll convince me to play that music even for a “great-paying gig”, because I’m not going to make any exceptions.
Regardless of how many “You’re a fool to pass up this gig!” accusations anyone throws at me, that’s fine. Go play “My Sharona” for your $2,000 gig. I’m happy for you.
Unfortunately, I won’t be showing up for that gig.
So, what songs am I laughingly rejecting?
The two posts linked below should answer those questions.
Anything But 80’s Music ( Part 1 )
Anything But 80’s Music ( Part 2 )
NOTE : Although the post’s title clearly contains the words “80’s music”, my definition of “80’s music” is slightly more “inclusive” than “just songs from 1980 to 1989”.
Where I’ve expanded the reach of the definition, includes two non-1980’s categories :
[1] music that caused the “80’s music” to get born, when it really hit the air waves in 1978 and 1979 ( i.e., punk rock, new wave, and glam/hair metal ) ; and
[2] music after the 1980’s that sounds like it’s influenced by “80’s music” ( e.g., Green Day is obviously influenced by punk and 80’s music — particularly Billie Joe Armstrong’s singing style, which has punk written all over it, similar to Robert Smith of the Cure’s punk vocal style, which is definitely a turn-off, musically speaking ) ;
III-Contact Information
If :
[1] after seeing my list of musical “allergies” ( i.e., what I WON’T play) ;
[2] hearing what I WILL play ( the links provided above ) ; and
[3] you’re still interested in jamming, …
…then, contact me @ :
Email :
floydallen97a@gmail.com
NOTE : 1
On the Email’s SUBJECT LINE TAG: Enter “BAND AD” in CAPS to indicate the email is BAND-related.
Otherwise, email might get accidentally deleted ( there’s literally over 15,000 emails in my inbox(!) at any given time ). Thanks..
NOTE : 2
If you send any files, keep in mind that there is a 25MB Max upload on my Gmail account; if it’s larger than that, then some kind of link to the file’s URL addrress might work.
If you have any links to websites with your material on them, please feel free to include those, too.
NOTE : 3
I’m also a tech-challenged individual : I’m not on Instagram or Snapchat or any social media, so if you post those kinds of links, I might not be able to connect, since I’m not on those platforms — and not looking to be, either.
So……………
Spring is here!
Are we jamming in the garage or down in the basement?
See you then.