The Wagtunes Corner

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Here is my review of "Til Tuesday": It's weird, I had a very difficult time posting something on a different forum, so I'm guessing it is my browser. Your song title reminds me of the band of the same name: I thought their best song was "Voices Carry", which I played in a cover band in 1985. Your song: I think instrumentally everything sounds very good! The melodies everywhere are very good also. And the Vocaloid (I assume) vocals work surprisingly well considering the song is half guitar. The background vocals sound rather realistic. Good job! Hope you didn't go through a recent heartbreak. Your song sounds rather 80's, which is fine by me.

[wagtunes]

wagtunes,
Here is my review of "Til Tuesday": It's weird, I had a very difficult time posting something on a different forum, so I'm guessing it is my browser. Your song title reminds me of the band of the same name: I thought their best song was "Voices Carry", which I played in a cover band in 1985. Your song: I think instrumentally everything sounds very good! The melodies everywhere are very good also. And the Vocaloid (I assume) vocals work surprisingly well considering the song is half guitar. The background vocals sound rather realistic. Good job! Hope you didn't go through a recent heartbreak. Your song sounds rather 80's, which is fine by me.

Thanks Aaron. Appreciate the feedback. No heartbreak here. Married 34 years to a wonderful girl. That's just me being a songwriter.

[aaron aardvark]

wagtunes,
Good to know! In recent years how many original songs a month, or a year do you finish approximately?

[wagtunes]

wagtunes,
Good to know! In recent years how many original songs a month, or a year do you finish approximately?

Well, I've slowed down a bit over the past year, trying to concentrate on making each production as good as possible. Now I write about a song a week. There was a time I was writing a song every 1 to 3 days.

Here's my discography just since 2008. I'd say since 1977, when I first started writing, I've probably done close to 100 albums.

5 Years After - 10/07/08
Stuck In A Fantasy - 02/11/09
50 - 08/09/09
Rubber Water's Revenge - 11/20/09
Welcome To Hell - 02/17/10
All The Kings Men - 04/19/10
Back Together Again II - 05/21/10
Where Dreams Go To Die - 06/09/10
The Lost Tapes II - 08/05/10
Transformation - 04/18/12
Modern Classics - 06/23/13
Modern Classics II - 07/12/13
Modern Classics III - 08/02/13
Modern Classics IV - 08/27/13
The Singles - 11/15/13
The Singles Vol 2 - 03/27/15
Dance Beats - 05/16/15
The Singles Vol 3 - 06/01/15
The Singles Vol 4 - 01/16/16
The Vocaloids A Little At A Time - 07/09/16
Once Upon A Time - 08/26/16
M - 10/17/16
The Lost Tapes III - 10/20/16
The Reflecting Pool - 11/09/16
Back Together Again III - 12/01/16
Glitch - 12/27/16
Guitars From Hell - 12/30/16
The Dungeon Masters - 02/01/17
No Signal - 02/17/17
A Whole Lotta Country - 02/28/17
80s Squared - 04/03/17
Resisting The Temptation - 04/17/17
Bananas Crackers And Nuts - 05/01/17
Amp It Up - 05/17/17
Sins Of The Father - 07/25/17
Botany Bay - 09/04/17
V Pop - 09/22/17
The Basement Tapes - 11/24/17
The Gates Of The Lord - 12/24/17
Six Guns And A Chaser - 02/26/18
Divas - 03/26/18
Weather Report - 05/19/18
Raising Kane - 06/11/18
Pop Madness - 07/05/18
The Vocaloids Live At Carnegie Hall - 07/23/18
Outtakes - 08/16/18
Ten Years Later - 10/07/18
The Wyzyrd Of Trance - 11/18/18
Untitled Masterpiece - 03/25/19

As you can see, there have been a few gaps where I didn't do any writing at all. Currently, I am working on my CD "Still Out Of Sync" which is a followup to a CD I did back in 1985.

Albums run between 12 and 16 songs, normally. The prog rock stuff, since the songs are longer, are usually 8 songs.

I've been doing this a long time. What's up on Soundcloud is just a fraction of what I've done in 42 years.

[aaron aardvark]

That's a whole lot of music!

[wagtunes]

That's a whole lot of music!

Yeah, I guess it is. LOL

[remiblaze]

6th track from my upcoming tribute CD "Still Out Of Sync"

Monyatta

Not a little girl anymore
Not a little girl anymore
Seen the world through stained glass doors
Not a little girl anymore

Monyatta, Monyatta
Where you going to
Monyatta, Monyatta
Why you look so blue
Monyatta, Monyatta
Feel for you

Ran away from home years ago
Ran away from home years ago
Seen the world through friend and foe
Ran away from home years ago

Repeat Chorus

Instrumental Break

Time to come back home to me now
Time to come back home to me now
Live your life with me...show you how
Time to come back home to me now

Monyatta, Monyatta
Where you going to
Monyatta, Monyatta
Why you look so blue
Monyatta, Monyatta
I love you

Monyatta, Monyatta
Monyatta, Monyatta

Fade Out

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/monyatta

I like the riffs and melody of this song, its very cool and refreshing. The drums and sounds work perfectly. The vocals are nice and fit perfectly into the mix, which is great. The arrangement is well done and the track keeps it interesting. For me I think the star beside the vocals are the guitar riffs. Very cool track. Nice.

[wagtunes]

6th track from my upcoming tribute CD "Still Out Of Sync"

Monyatta

Not a little girl anymore
Not a little girl anymore
Seen the world through stained glass doors
Not a little girl anymore

Monyatta, Monyatta
Where you going to
Monyatta, Monyatta
Why you look so blue
Monyatta, Monyatta
Feel for you

Ran away from home years ago
Ran away from home years ago
Seen the world through friend and foe
Ran away from home years ago

Repeat Chorus

Instrumental Break

Time to come back home to me now
Time to come back home to me now
Live your life with me...show you how
Time to come back home to me now

Monyatta, Monyatta
Where you going to
Monyatta, Monyatta
Why you look so blue
Monyatta, Monyatta
I love you

Monyatta, Monyatta
Monyatta, Monyatta

Fade Out

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim/monyatta

I like the riffs and melody of this song, its very cool and refreshing. The drums and sounds work perfectly. The vocals are nice and fit perfectly into the mix, which is great. The arrangement is well done and the track keeps it interesting. For me I think the star beside the vocals are the guitar riffs. Very cool track. Nice.

Hey man, thanks for the listen and the nice feedback. Much appreciated.

[wagtunes]

9th track from my upcoming CD "Still Out Of Sync"

Stained Glass Window

Looking through the stained glass window
Staring back at me
Looking through the stained glass window
Nothing there to see

I exist in my mind and shadows
Searching for the light
Longing so for the day to find me
All I see is the night

Repeat Chorus

Creatures come to inspect my being
Their confusion grows
An enigma is all that they find
A void that no one knows

Instrumental Break

Repeat Chorus

Looking through the stained glass window
Looking through the stained glass window
Looking through the stained glass window
Looking through the stained glass window

Fade Out

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... ass-window

[Bansaw]

As you know I am partial to retro... Liked the arp in the background, didnt get bored of it as I thought I might. Liked the synth organ sound coming in the instrumental. Interesting chord changes at the end of the piece.

[wagtunes]

As you know I am partial to retro... Liked the arp in the background, didnt get bored of it as I thought I might. Liked the synth organ sound coming in the instrumental. Interesting chord changes at the end of the piece.

Thanks for the listen and the feedback. I assume you're referring to the last track posted.

[Frantz]

I listened to "Stained Glass Window." Sparse and very good. It has a dark 80s vibe which is right up my alley. I especially liked the instrumental break and the additional backing vocals in the final chorus. I think the sound of the arp could have varied more to provide some additional interest.

Your mixing has improved. Everything is clear and well balanced.

[wagtunes]

I listened to "Stained Glass Window." Sparse and very good. It has a dark 80s vibe which is right up my alley. I especially liked the instrumental break and the additional backing vocals in the final chorus. I think the sound of the arp could have varied more to provide some additional interest.

Your mixing has improved. Everything is clear and well balanced.

Thanks for the listen and the feedback Frantz. The song itself is actually one of my more stagnant pieces. They are usually more complex but this one I decided to keep it very simple. So yeah, I agree about the ARP. It could have varied a lot more. But then I'm not sure what that would have done to the overall vibe of the song. Sometimes you change things and it ends up making it worse.

As for the mixing, been doing a crap ton of studying, mostly with Warren Huart. He has made a HUGE difference in my productions. And it shows in how long it takes me to put a track together now. I used to be able to do a song in a day. Now it takes me the better part of a week. Sometimes longer. Oddly, I'm enjoying the process even though I'm not nearly as prolific as I used to be. The result has been a lot of people have commented on how my mixes have improved. The downside is I can't even listen to a lot of my older stuff now. It's just awfully produced.

Oh well, better late than never.

[wagtunes]

10th track from my upcoming CD "Still Out Of Sync"

Well, here's a great example of something that looked good on paper and sounded good in my head but was just executed terribly. Song just doesn't work on any level. This was the one track of the CD that was "out of sync" because it didn't fit in with the others, as in "pop" in nature. The so called "hit" among all the "weird" stuff. Well, it's a total flop on every level. The mix is decent but the song is ridiculous and my singing doesn't help.

Hopefully, someday I can forget I ever did this one.

I'm Not Elton John

I'm not Elton John
I can't be your rocket man
But I'll do the best I can
Until I'm gone
I'm not Elton John

I'll take you to the pilot
We can fly away to wherever you want
Wait until your eye's lit
I won't ever tease you torture or taunt
We can make this your song
Sing it all the day long
Til the ghosts of Daniel come to haunt

Repeat Chorus

You'll be my tiny dancer
I will twirl you round the dance floor everyday
I'll be your true romancer
I won't let that brown dirt cowboy stand in my way
Stare into your blue eyes
Until bleeding love lies
Til that skyline pigeon comes what may

Repeat Chorus

So you can take your madman cross the water
Drown him in a sea of tumbleweeds
Nothing can replace the love you give me
Darling you are everything I need

Repeat Chorus

I'm not Elton
I'm not Elton
I'm not Elton
I'm not Elton

Fade Out

https://soundcloud.com/steven-wagenheim ... elton-john

[MasterTuner]

The most intriguing part of your songs is how you end them. They are very well ended, and often a different vibe or chord progression that often you might find in a bridge.
"dance floor everyday" and "dirt cowboy stand in my way" lines would have liked to see them fit better timing-wise.
Your songs are certainly unique and interesting. I don't find myself skipping a few bars here and there like I do with other people generally because I know whats coming next.