3A - Madonna

The chord sequence for this song is like this:

(Capo 1st)

Verse 1

			Em C	      G    D
Your heart is not open so I must go
			Em      C	      G    D
The spell has been broken...I loved you so
Em 			   C	      
Freedom comes when you learn to let go
G			    D	
Creation comes when you learn to say no
C	D

		Em   C	          G    D
You were my lesson I had to learn
		Em     C	      G    D
I was your fortress you had to burn
Em 				C
Pain is a warning that something's wrong
G			   D
I pray to God that it won't be long
C	     D
I wanna go higher

Chorus
	   Em      C	      G    D
There's nothing left to try
	   Em      C	      G    D
There's no place left to hide
	   Em      C	               G    D     C		D
There's no greater power than the power of good-bye

Em	C	G	D


Verse 2

			Em C	      G    D
Your heart is not open so I must go
			Em      C	      G    D
The spell has been broken...I loved you so
		Em   C	          G    D
You were my lesson I had to learn
		Em     C	      G    D
I was your fortress 


	   Em      C	      G    D
There's nothing left to lose
	   Em      C	      G    D
There's no more heart to bruise
	   Em      C	               G    D     C		D
There's no greater power that the power of good-bye
  Em   C  G    D
Learn to say good-bye
  Em   C   G    D
I yearn to say good-bye

Chorus

However, this is played from the guitar and works only on the Capo 1 so this needs to be changed to piano chords that can be played straight in without transposing it.

I worked out that:

Em -> Fm

C   -> Db

G   -> Ab

D   -> Eb

Instruments:

Bass

Pad

Arpegiated sound at the start

Violins

Vocals

Other indescribable sounds (Some only appear once)

Plan:

Get basic bass line in

Add some of the more substantial instruments

Record vocals

Add less frequent instruments

Sequence, mix and add final effects

Bass Line:

F C* G* A*

F C* G* A* G* G

* = Flat

NEXT TIME I BEGIN MAKING THE MUSIC

21/10/10

I started to create the basic idea using the bass, drums and pad sounds. None are correct yet as I am only focusing on getting the structure correct. I used an arpegiator for the start sound but i will automate it and try to modulate it to make it sound closer to the original. This is my set up so far:

Next time I will carry on creating the structure and see if I can get the whole song structure in there

04/11/10

Carried on going on through the piece to and making the structure correct. I think I will carry on doing the same maybe play in the acoustic guitar in near the middle.

Today I added the pan flute sound and slightly sequenced the arpeggiated sound at the start. Here is the current settings:

(Click on the pictures to see full size)

I changed the settings of the pan flutes by adding more release to let the sound ring a bit more. I also did the same to the NX-XT 3 sound (On the top picture) and made it so the second stab was always quieter than the first one.

With the arpeggiated sound I brought the velocity up and down accordingly and also the volume at the very start too so that it sounds like the original.

15/11/10

Carried on going through the song and getting in the basic structure. This is now complete! I can now go through the song and put everything else that I need to put in. I was playing around with the strings sounds today and managed to get a nice sound although it doesn't quite match the song. However I managed to get the solo scale which works quite well

Here is the current reason sequencer:

I also still have the bass and warm pad on the logic file. These have been untouched today

25/11/10

Today managed to get the structure mainly finished apart from the end guitar part which will be played in anyway so for now it is ok. Went back to the start and am now going through adding the rest of the little bits of the song. I am currently up to where the arpeggiated song ends (On the picture above, the end of the big pale yellow section on line 4).

Added LFO sound (Not correct sound) with reverb.

Also added reverb and changed the sound of the echoey pulse that starts just after the arpeggiator ends. (Light blue section on the diagram from 15/11/10)

09/12/10

Played around with the stab sounds and the sound at the end of the guitar intro bit

Stab:

Sound at the guitar bit:

16/12/10

This is what I added today /\/\/\

13/01/2011

Today I was going through from the start. Added an extra bass part to go with the synth that pans at the start. (Within Logic) Changed the EQ to make is sound less Bassey. Panned the strange sound where the guitar comes in. Added extra orchestral part at the end that goes with the the other orchestral part. Added the pad-like sound near the end of the song that plays the tune just after the violins come in. Put in the extra viola sound (NX-XT2) that plays on the last line of the song. Changed the volume on it so that it quietens down a bit so that it wasn't the same as the other sound that the same instrument is making earlier in the song.

18/01/11

40 minute session. Playing in small bits. Close to getting all the bits in now. Added extra snare section and finalised the bass sound at the start. Next time I will try and get the guitar played in if I can find an electro-acoustic from someone.

20/01/11

Added arpeggiated sound right before the strings start to come in. Also aded a quiet pad sound on top of that same section. Still need to add guitar. Maybe next time? I might have to bring my own guitar and then play it infront of a microphone

27/01/11

Getting into the refinement parts now. Just doing little bits of panning and making sure all of the sounds are correct. Changed the sweep sound to a sound called bubbles to make it sound a bit closer. Was investigating changing the stab sounds but then realised that it was better than the rest I could find. Refined some levels on the reason file to make it sound like it does on the original where there is no one thing that is overpowering

03/02/11

I added the guitar today. I had a few issues with the studio in the way that I couldn't find a microphone / wire combination that was actually working. I had to change computers twice too. In the end I got onto Logic and it kept failing. I had to record one thing and then restart it otherwise it kept coming up with 'system overload.' I got it in though and did a bit of mixing in the time I had left. I put one track on the Left and one of Right as this is what happens in the original.

07/02/11

Guitar is now all in and ready to go. I just need to fix an issue at the end where for some strange reason for which I can't understand the right audio is coming in before the left one? I quantised the audio today to get it on the dot as it was out in places. It should all be fine now. 

10/02/11

More getting the sounds right and a bit of automation and mixing of the guitar

14/02/11

I added a bit of equalisation within the reason file and put in the bells sound that you can hear in several places throughout the song. Mainly this is in just before the guitar comes in and then just before the violins come in. Also added some delay on the sound that happens parallel to the solo violins.

17/02/11

More equalisation work. Finally worked out why the orchestral bit was sounding really bassy too.

03/03/11

So I was working on the filter sweep to make it sound as close as I could get it because my first attempt wasn't great. It was more there just to show where it went. I used the ES2 instrument within logic and added an auto filter to it. I've got a sound that is much better now.

I also tried to make the bells right because they weren't. I know don't have anything there and I will correct this when I can work out the right tune for them.

07/03/11
Worked on some equalisation for the violin section towards the end of the song. They weren't sounding too much like the original. I added an M-class Equalisation and a 2 band parametric on top of that. This created a much 'fuller' sound. It sounded before like it was being played being a wall the otherside of the classroom. The new sound is much closer to the original.

10/03/11
Very near finishing the track now. Maybe need to do a bit of mixing of the individual elements. Today added the extra bit on top of the chorded sounds that appears near the middle of the song. I also went through the drums and added a few extra parts that do appear in the song. Also did a bit of levels mixing with the violins at the end to make it sound closer to the original.

14/03/11
So I have done as much as I can now before I record the vocal parts of the song. Changed the underlying sound of the chords of that go throughout the song and went into the back of the reason file and realised that the EQ that I had put on the violin sound that rises just before the final chorus. I rewired the back and also added the sound that appears in the middle of it all. Also added a bit just before the guitar cuts out. There was a sound that pans from the left and the decay plays on the right.