Instructions
how to order a custom song
READ CAREFULLY ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM !
You must specify the following:
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You can choose any song you want, as long as you have (or can get) a recording (preferably MP3)
of the original song (or any recorded version of it) and send it to us, so we can listen to it before we start recording. Your $ 50,- recording fee includes ONLY arrangements that don't have more than ONE STOP (or break) every 8 bars!!! If you want a complicated song with lots of stops / breaks / rhythm changes / sophisticated bass- or rhythm-guitar lines, you will have to PAY EXTRA ($ 10,- !!), as this is very time-consuming. |
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Usually between 124 and 132 bpm BEWARE: Even if you specify the correct tempo, you might still get a song that seems either much too slow or much too fast for you if you don't also specify whether you count DOUBLETIME or HALFTIME !!! Here's an example what this means: Take the song "There's a star spangled banner waving somewhere", first verse: There's a star spangled banner waving somewhere, In a distant land so many miles away. If you just say you want the tempo at 124 bpm, there are still TWO WAYS to count the beats. Now try to imagine dancing to this song: If you count your STEPS and find out that you put your feet on the floor ONLY on the following words (or syllables)at your regular dancing speed: "STAR"(1st step), "BAN-"(2nd step), "SOME-"(3rd step), (the 4th step would be in the pause after "-WHERE") "DIS-"(5th step), "MA-"(6th step), "-WAY" (the 7th and 8th step would be in the pause after "-WAY") you will have made only 8 STEPS covering the first AND second line, and if we record it this way, this song will sound unusually fast. Nevertheless - the song is 124 bpm !!! Now imagine putting your feet down at these words or syllables (still at your regular dancing speed): "STAR"(1st step), "SPAN-"(2nd step), "BAN-"(3rd step), "WAV-"(4th step), "SOME-"(5th step), (6th and 7th steps in the pause after in the pause after "-WHERE") "IN"(8th step), "DIS-"(9th step), "LAND"(10th step), "MA-"(11th step), "MILES"(12th step), "-WAY"(13th step) (steps 14, 15 and 16 are in the pause after "-WAY") This way you will have made 16 STEPS in the same 2 lines. As you make your STEPS at the SAME DANCING SPEED as above, it takes TWICE AS LONG (16 = 2x8) in REAL TIME for the same part of the song, so the song will appear TWICE AS SLOW !!! (In this case it would sound like a slow western swing song.) And the strange thing is - IT IS STILL 124 bpm !!! |
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This is the MOST IMPORTANT information! Don't ever say you don't care, because it's YOU who has to sing in this key. And if you find out AFTER we recorded the song that you can't sing in this key, you're going to have to PAY EXTRA, as we have to record the whole song anew!!! |
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The following are included in you $ 50,- :
3 solo instruments The fee is $5,- per additional instrument. The instruments to choose from are:
electric guitar pedalsteelguitar piano accordion harmonica ("harp") fiddle mandolin banjo sampled sounds: |
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BE CAREFUL! For most customers this is the most confusing item. You have to differenciate between the following:
verse chorus bridge (sometimes a song has a part that corresponds neither to verse or chorus in length and/or chord sequence, this is called a "bridge", then) solo (various instrumental parts) turnarounds (very short instrumental parts, usually before a new verse) tag (usually a repetition of the last line) outro (something like the intro, only at the end of the song) On the other hand there are the parts that make up a SQUAREDANCE SINGING CALL. In a regular arrangement they are:
Opener Figure Heads 1 Figure Heads 2 Middle Break Figure Sides 1 Figure Sides 2 Closer tag/outro And here is the reason why this is sometimes difficult: A squaredance song has a rather rigid structure (which, of course you don't have to follow, but most callers prefer it: By many callers this structure is called a 7/32 structure, meaning that there are 7 parts of equal length. (Intro and tag/outro are NOT counted.) Contrary to the misleading name 7/32, no musician will find anything countable that is "32" in these parts! In musical reality, each of these 7 parts consists of 16 BARS and each bar consists of 4 BEATS, so each of the 7 parts consists of 64 BEATS !!!!! And a "beat" is exactly what your dancers will put down their feet to! In other words - every time you put down a foot (IF you dance exactly to the rhythm!!!!!), you can count ONE BEAT. (As mentioned above: There are still 2 different ways of defining a BEAT) Older songs tended to have a regular structure, too, but if you want us to record a more modern song, you will have to count very carefully, as most of these song have a very irregular structure! And unless you want the structure of the squaredance-song to be irregular, too, (which is possible, of course, but you'll have to write special choreography, then !!) you (we) have to leave out a bar here or add a bar there. Get the idea? Have fun counting, but don't get it wrong! Remember - we record what YOU tell us. If you haven't done your "homework" before ordering, and we record it "wrong", you PAY EXTRA for any changes to be made afterwards! |
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Have you read the instructions REALLY CAREFULLY ? Then you're ready to order. Send us an email to with the instructions and an MP3 of the original song, and we'll tell you the final price. If you don't want to wait that long, just go to our Custom Song Calculator page and find out yourself! If you`ve kept it plain and easy, you have won a $50,- custom song and won't have to pay extra! To go back to the page you've come from, hit your browser's BACK button. To see the other pages of Aaron's Audio Alternatives, click on the arrow on the right side. |
