Onboarding Kaby Burton [Cancelled]

  [EDIT Jan 10 2022: After months no progress has been made, as Kaby keeps on responding that she is too busy. Sadly, I had to move on]
I discovered Kaby on Vocalizr and absolutely fell in love with her vocals when I listened to a demo. It contained something that I felt was different than many other vocalists, and I decided that I would love to create a production for her. So I made contact on Vocalizr to hire her, and almost when I gave up she responded later to my Facebook chat. She is into cinematic rock, a rare find for sure.
We decided that we will give it a go, although she could not commit right away since she has quite a busy schedule. I'm full of hope to start working with her soon, and I'm am really looking forward to this one. I'm ready to do my best!

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Completed production of "She" for Demian

 

"She" was quite an interesting song. Demian is into funk-blues stuff which leans somewhat towards a jazzy feel. He supplied the recordings for the vocals and acoustic guitar accompaniment.

Initially I attempted to replace the guitar with an electric guitar, and added a few other supporting instruments, but soon found that the original guitar contained such a rich rhythm, that I just had to keep it. And Demian does not like click tracks, and I agree that in this case the human feel is what made it work. It complicated things a bit in some sections in the arrangement though, as there was a little (and expected) drift in the timing.

I then again tried and added a few other instruments, more in the background this time to support the guitar, including a brush drum set, double bass, jazz organ and of course my tenor sax.

I played the sax using a very breathy style, to keep things mellow, since the vocals and guitar was what was important here and needed to stay in focus.

I think the track came out nice, Demian's guitar work made it sound impressive. A lot is going on with that actually, as it was originally done in mind to represent a full rhythm section live, only acoustic guitar and vocals.

Since the song is not been shared yet, I need permission from Demian - but perhaps I can share a snippet here soon. Go check out what he is up to at demian.band

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Completed production for Lovefire for Alexandra

 

Quite a while ago, after successfully completing Worry Not with Alexandra, we decided to work together once more on the next track for her. I really loved her vocals and I believe she is such an underrated artist. Even her accent gives the music a distinct character.

So we started work on LoveFire, a deep slow and soulful ballad. I created the music, lyrics and melody and a while later shared it with Alexandra. And right away she started working hard on the vocals and delivered it right on time, her commitment has always been on par.

But then at some point - with world events out of our control, we started having trouble to communicate and finish the production in full. We actually only had a few administration tasks left while we struggled on since April 2021, when the song was already completed 99%.

However, over time we continued to try to get in touch and managed to make some, albeit little contact. I got the kind blessings of Alexandra to host the song on my profile until she is able to continue with a normal life again. I pray for that day to be soon.

Here it is, waiting for you to hear it since April 2021 - the one and only Alexandra performing her song for you to enjoy, at her very best: Lovefire

• Performance: Alexandra Esakova
• Music, lyrics and melody: Sonic Dreamer Studio
• Artwork: Shanx

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Completed production for Adéle from Songforyou.co.za

 

This was a relatively short production, as the lyrics, melody and chords were already created and set in place by Adéle from Song For You. The studio accordingly created the music, including recording some live guitar, bass and sax. Adéle opted to perform and record her vocals as a placeholder, since the song in it's current state will be used as a demo for other artists to use in future, whom Adéle is involved with.

If it wasn't for a few technical challenges, including frequent power blackouts (called Load Shedding here in South Africa), the project would have been quick and easy. However it was still a lot of fun and I hope for it to move to the next level at some point.

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