June 2008 Offerings Of The Month: "Enough Changes" Written by Edward Jerlin & Paul Caputo © 1990 & 2008 Everlasting Arms Records & Publishing - All Rights Reserved "Sing, Shout, Clap" Written by Billy Funk, Arranged by EJ © 1990 Integrity's Hosanna! Music/ASCAP - All Rights Reserved "Enough Changes" has to be one of the most fun pieces of music I've ever put together... and one of the most interesting musical challenges... :-) At the end of a long Grin & Bare It recording session, our engineer/sax player George informed us that there was only a little bit of tape left at the end of the reel. Our drummer Paul Caputo, having kept up with all the tempo & meter changes I threw at him all day, got a bit mischievous, said, "Wait, I've got an idea, record this!" George hit the record button, & Paul started playing, putting in as many changes of tempo/meter/rhythm/time signatures as possible, packed into just over a minute or so. If you listen closely, you'll hear where Paul broke one of his sticks at around 0:42. He merely grabbed another & continued undaunted, which was something he was brilliant at, being a heavy-hitting drummer. Then he said, "ENOUGH CHANGES for you Ed? I dare you to put some music to THAT! heh heh heh..." I accepted the challenge... which was to write something that went along with & fit this crazy drum track, but also could actually sound like a real song with the drums integrated in. I followed every single little nuance Paul put in there, every hesitation, every accent, every change in tempo/meter, whatever Paul did, I followed, right to the end... and even after you think it's over. (Be sure to listen to the whole thing.) heh heh heh... I recently updated this recording (which dates from 1990). After relearning what I did (which proved to be a little more difficult than I thought it would be), I added some real bass to the existing synth bass, plus some subtle crunchy guitar doubling the bass lines, & a little Hammond organ (re-learning part of the lead line was fun too). Paul C & EJ performing live with Grin & Bare It, 1991: I decided on a whim to video me recording the Hammond part, using a new webcam I got as a Christmas present. When I showed the vid to my wife Kirsten (who remains my primary web site editor), her comment was, "Show off. You're not really putting that up on the website are you?" I don't know... why not? :-) I think it's a nice silly little personal touch. It gives you a chance to *see*, not just hear the music. It's in two formats (avi & MPG). Try the avi first. The MPG has a watermark from the trial video conversion software. Hopefully everyone will be able to view it. Let me know if you can't & I'll see if I can change the format to something your computer can read. Enjoy! Recently, I've been including a "bonus curio" with each monthly offering. While one could make a case that the primary offering this month *is* itself a curio, I'm still offering up a bonus of sorts... I recently recorded some tracks for the kids at our church to sing to. One of them was a really fun song called, "Sing, Shout, Clap" written by Billy Funk, based on Psalm 47. When my daughter Megan heard it, she encouraged me to put it on the website. In lieu of vocals, I threw a quickie lead guitar on top just for fun. Enjoy! Comments & feedback are always welcome at our guestbook. Thank you & God bless! To download the music, RIGHT CLICK and choose "Save Target As": "Enough Changes" 1:14 "Enough Changes" VIDEO (avi format)" 0:34 "Enough Changes" VIDEO (MPG format)" 0:34 "Sing, Shout, Clap" 2:44