I’m thinking this could be the foundation of Planet Hollywood, Ingo! It has some unexpected chord changes and yet a lot of melodic room for vocals. I will try singing along with it fairly soon, just to see what comes out of it. I’m pretty sure it is not long enough, so a bridge or interlude might be needed.
I’m hearing it cranked up in my head, dude, but I’m also digging the funky beat. Yes, it needs to be futurized and arranged to fit the lyrics, but it is original sounding to me.
Sounds like a plan Steve! I guess one thing I can focus on now is coming up with some music for The Golden Age of the Silver Screen, and doing a vocal scratch track to see how the lyrics will fit into the music I (kind of) have in mind. I’m amazed at how prolific you are at lyric writing and storytelling! Good stuff. The trick will be to make it sound natural to sing the lines.
Thanks, Ingo! I meanwhile have a couple tracks with vocals I have concocted using the song. Mind you, this is kitchen sink vocals with crazy chaotic arrangement, but I think it helps me figure out which way to go.
This first is just your track with my vocals. I duplicated your track and used Bark of the Dog on one to excite the bass and some synth compression to bring up the synths on the other. Obviously I don’t know all the chords yet, but I cheated with spoken parts, too. I am thinking I could already turn this all into one vocal line and perhaps use a mix here and there for a cool clubby effect.
And here is an extended version where I added 16 bars up front of synths based on your song, added some again in the middle and end, just to try to ‘space’ it up some. I also added big drums throughout, what the heck! I hope this gives us ideas on what to really do. I must say, I really like the detail in your composition, the chord changes are often subtle. I think this version is overall very strong but steps on your subtleties too much at times. If you like, I could send you my separate tracks if you wanted to do some remixing.
Please rewrite as you see fit, Stan! If you hear Planet Hollywood, I rearranged the lyrics as written significantly. Three times! And shamelessly mixed them all together!
I personally find I stretch out and speed up lines singing to fit and accentuate the musical drama, lines that might not read well when spoken like poetry. On the other hand, I often adjust the cadence or even add more lines to round out the verse. So yeah, have at it! Hey, maybe you already have something laying around.
Thanks, Stan. I have had the general story for years, but it has just now consolidated into this exact storyline. I guess I should credit Trump for some of the inspiration.
Aha, well you have added space and disco to the mix! (Planet Hollywood) But you are also much closer to the direction of the lyrics which is most important here, and I like the synth flavor too.
I think your concept is good so why don’t we shelve my track (which wasn’t properly designed to fit the lyrics anyway) and go in this direction if that’s OK with you. If you don’t mind that perhaps you can continue with this, maybe adjust the tempo, and get a structure that fits the lyrics. Then I can either suggest some chords, or just add some color or an interlude, or we can call it good and go on to something else?
You know, I like this one. Your track is like Pink Floyd being sampled into a disco rave synth thing. I like the way it is slipping back and forth right now, creating a pleasant musical tension like Pulp Fiction in the Fifth Element. I would not change the beat, 102 is great. I will fiddle with the vocals a bit more, and it could use some other sub riff somewhere to extra jam it out maybe. But I’m feeling the groove, and this is not my style at all. It’s a great collab, Ingo, so I’d go onward, maybe even the futurized orchestral instrumental version of Planet of Beautiful People. I can supply you with any of tracks like the guitar or that synth if as wav if you want to sneak in anywhere. The whole trick is the 1/8th note triplets electric piano that begin the measure that is 4/4 time. It’s all variations on that.
Or you can try one of the narrative parts, although you probably need to wait on Stan to read one first.
That leaves songs 6,7,8. Those are the story songs that we probably will all collab on and craft to fit well with our other songs. I think Planet Hollywood sounds bookend compatible with Planet of Beautiful People and feels like an excellent ending song to begin rolling the credits, then the orchestral finale with a touch of Billy Thorpe. .
If you want I can alter my track in any number of ways. The placement of the chord changes doesn’t fit your original verse structure very well so I could move or alter them if you want, and of course if you want to work with it as is that’s cool too. I had originally planned on adding some other parts to my track but I’ll hold off until you decide what to do, your intuition is good!
I’ll go ahead and look at the Planet of Beautiful People as an instrumental, let me think about it and see what I could do and if I need some of the original tracks, or I may have some other questions.
I’m not a vocalist but Stan does a great job with voiceovers and vocals so I’ll leave that to the two of you!
@Stan_Halen, @ingolee, @steban I’ll be on the case this coming Saturday… don’t expect miracles… or vocals!!! Just one step at a time with this new venture for me!
You will be amazing, dude! Just listen to the songs, get the feel and play that bass with record on, and we’ll see what transpires.
I don’t expect you guys to do as much as fast as I probably will, especially at this stage. In fact, I’ve got another track today- Song #6 So Polarized. It is sort of hard rock, but I’m sure you’ll notice my style and arrangement is stuck at me with all my flaws and idiosyncrasies, which I’m counting on some tasty bass and lead guitar maybe to distract from that aspect.
This leaves #7 We’ll Turn Back the Clock and #8 Freedom Is Ugly, which I’m hoping Stan and Ingo will want to come up with music.
Absolute truth- I had no idea how POBP the tale would sound. Even in its current state, though, I couldn’t be happier. The songs are already flowing gracefully, humanly, one into the next as if I planned it…
Hey Steban, if you could post a midi file for the POBP track that would help. I’m assuming you did this with midi tracks?
If you are still on Reaper just go File > Export Project MIDI and have it do the Entire Project - Merge to Single Track option, that would give me a big jump start on doing an instrumental version.
Thanks!
I will do this tonight after I’m back from the movies, Ingo. I haven’t tried that before, so I’m curious what the result is. We probably need to do more midi file sharing whenever we can nowadays when collabing.
I want in. I can help with the lyrics and narration.
I know you’re the lyric master and everything, and feel free to reject this, but your story inspired me to write lyrics to a new song called “Flying Free” about the dark and more personal side of Planet Hollywood that I think helps ground listeners to the story by making a more intimate connection. If @Stan_Halen is involved I’m sure this’ll kick a**. I’ll also provide in 7th octave screams if you need me to!
Flying Free
Planet Hollywood isn’t what it seems
It’s not like how the children dream
There is no pie up in the sky
Every day another man dies
There was an actor upon the screen
In the pictures his eyes always gleam
But underneath that fragile illusion
Lies a heart with many contusions
Shoved a needle in his veins
To alleviate his pain
Drove him crazy, he went insane
If only he could find his way
Maybe on some fateful day
We’ll meet him again and we’ll say
“Why couldn’t you stay?”
There was a lady who had the power
To make the noblest of the men cower
Commanded the respect of the masses
Behind the screen her life was tragic
Father had left her ripped and torn
With endless ridicule and scorn
An actress he said, was a death wish
She left in ignorance, in bliss
So she stuck the powder in her nose
Every day the loneliness grows
The isolation takes its toll
She always plays the starring role
In the film about the fool that didn’t know
Stardom has a cost that doesn’t show
Behind the lights that always glow
Maybe someday we’ll be flying free
Erase the tragedy from our minds
Happiness is following us, you see?
Time shines brighter from behind
We’ll sail across the galaxy
Among the stars for which we lust
But we’ll never get out, you and me
Planet Hollywood owns us
All the fame and fortune in the world
Pursuit of happiness, not fulfillment
But when the next contract unfurls
We sign ourselves back into it
The studios buy our lives over lunch
Take advantage of our crutch
We’ll escape, I know that much
With passion and a bit of luck
One day we’ll dance together
For no one but the two of us
That day we’ll fly free forever
Severe the ties we need to cut
Maybe someday we’ll be flying free
Erase the tragedy from our minds
Happiness is following us, you see?
Time shines brighter from behind
We’ll sail across the galaxy
Among the stars for which we lust
But we’ll never get out, you and me
Planet Hollywood owns us
Hey Ingo, I sent this to your ingo email I had from before. No .mid uploads allowed here.
Hey Clown, or what should I call you? There may not be that much lyrically remaining, although double did come up with a new song which fits in the storyline. There may be some narration left. Right now Stan is narrating Captain Bishop. There is also host Charlton Taylor on the show intro and possibly another voice or two, so it is possible.
That’s quite a lot of verses, double, but I think it does have a place after So Polarized. The only thing I’m thinking is in this future nanotechnology is coming of age, so I suspect there will be a lot of new drugs and new cures. I think there will still be the overdoses for some due to the insecurities of the stars, the pressures and competitiveness, but there may be nanobots as well in those syringes. The story begins with rumors and stories and children’s dreams, and it reveals the underbelly in the middle, requires a concerted action to make it a little better, and in the end is still much the same, a crazy show that will go on. Do you have a song in mind this would be like?
I’ve got another tale after this one in the works named Oasis. It is a beach planet with no ocean. It is a surfer tale, like a fish tale, the one that got away. So there will be more Endless Summer surf rock aspects mixed with middle eastern Sahara Desert imagery. It will be a planet rich in precious metals but with about as much water as there is oil on Earth right now. And it goes on from there. I have a basic storyline, but no songs, so there will be more available for that one. Nothing like getting ahead of myself, heh?
Hey Steban, I see an ad from the ‘Planet Hollywood Casino in Las Vegas’ here in the IRD ad space at the top of the page, I think they are attempting to cash in on your song!
So do you want more references to nanomachines and a change of pace? I labelled what I had in mind for each section just to make my intentions clear with these lyrics.
Verse 1
Planet Hollywood isn’t what it seems
It’s not like how the children dream
There is no pie up in the sky
Every day another man dies
There was an actor upon the screen
In the pictures his eyes always gleam
But underneath that fragile illusion
Lies a heart with many contusions
Shoved a needle in his veins
To alleviate his pain
Drove him crazy, he went insane
If only he could find his way
Maybe on some fateful day
We’ll meet him again and we’ll say
“Why couldn’t you stay?”
Verse 2
There was a lady who had the power
To make the noblest of the men cower
Commanded the respect of the masses
Behind the screen her life was tragic
Father had left her ripped and torn
With endless ridicule and scorn
An actress he said, was a death wish
She left in ignorance, in bliss
So she stuck the powder in her nose
Every day the loneliness grows
The isolation takes its toll
She always plays the starring role
In the film about the fool that didn’t know
Stardom has a cost that doesn’t show
Behind the lights that always glow
Chorus
Maybe someday we’ll be flying free
Erase the tragedy from our minds
Happiness is following us, you see?
Time shines brighter from behind
We’ll sail across the galaxy
Among the stars for which we lust
But we’ll never get out, you and me
Planet Hollywood owns us
Verse 3
All the fame and fortune in the world
Pursuit of happiness, not fulfillment
But when the next contract unfurls
We sign ourselves back into it
The studios buy our lives over lunch
Take advantage of our crutch
We’ll escape, I know that much
With passion and a bit of luck
Bridge
One day we’ll dance together
For no one but the two of us
That day we’ll fly free forever
Severe the ties we need to cut
Chorus 2
Maybe someday we’ll be flying free
Erase the tragedy from our minds
Happiness is following us, you see?
Time shines brighter from behind
We’ll sail across the galaxy
Among the stars for which we lust
But we’ll never get out, you and me
Planet Hollywood owns us
Your midi file opened up perfectly in Reaper Steban, so then I imported your mp3 of POBP and it all lines up. I also imported the midi file into Sibelius and it gave me a ready made (albeit unarranged) score with your parts on separate staves, it’s just too easy! I could listen and write it all out but this is a huge time saver, so thanks.
I’m debating whether to try a full-on epic Hollywood approach or maybe do something edgier . . .I subscribed to the East-West audio library so I’ve been learning how to do strings and woodwinds, choirs etc., these samples are much better than what we did with Mink Stolen.
So anyway, I’m open to suggestions from you or anyone else on the forum here as to what might be a good approach to an instrumental refrain to the POBP song.
Excellent news, Ingo. It would work in reverse as well.
I’m thinking you have it both ways, a classical music orchestral part that morphs into edgier sounds. East-West has some phenomenal instruments if I recall. I see your talent as arranging to fit the action, which is not automatic! And this is soundtrack stuff I think you understand very well. I want your version to outshine the original song in scope and beauty, that’s all.
This helps me with verse/chorus/bridge actually, DTJ. I think you have a lot of sci-fi reference in the chorus, and I suppose I am wondering if something clever in one of the verses, sniffing or injecting nanomachines to clean up the damage a little, could be added. Sober up with snort of nanobots.
I think I’m going to just mock something up to play around with. And us Reaper people can share midi files, a new trick for me, but handy.