Change Request ReVision | The Complete Collection

I make these as objective focused etudes in musicianship and sound design. They are practice works in production and writing skills where I recreate/rewrite the entire songs.

Some are tracks that I have always wanted an instrumental for and some are songs I wanted to pull back the technique curtain on, as they are many of my most favorite tracks in the last few decades. As these are representative of my skills in making records, but are not my actual original songs, I give them away for free. 

Reimagined with a variety of different orchestrations, all of these @changerequest ReVisions were created using @waves-audio processing. 

These labors of love offered as FREE DOWNLOADS!

Enjoy! 

Andrew Emil | Change Request

For more information about @andrewemil go here: https://www.andrewemil.com
For more information about @waves-audio go here: https://www.waves.com

FREE DOWNLOADS

Change Request ReVision | The Complete Collection

Lim-722

Yo Yo Honey Singh - Sunny Sunny - Blue Hy Pani Pani

Singer: Zoe Viccaji
Featuring: Sumru Ağıryürüyen
Language: Urdu & Turkish

In connecting musical roots, Zoe Viccaji brings her version of a melody that has traveled across the globe in many forms to now be presented as ‘Ishq Kinara’. She had heard the song in its Turkish equivalent – ‘Üsküdar'a Gider İken’ - and upon delving into the origin of the song, was inspired by not only the melody but the universality of its tune in the way that it has been reinvented in many different cultures across the globe. Given the driving inspiration behind Zoe’s connection with the melody was in her Turkish experience of the song, the composition was bridged with the vocals of Sumru Ağıryürüyen bringing the traditional Turkish song to the fold lending a link to its root. Sumru states that while ‘Üsküdar’a Gider İken’ stems from the old, Anatolian neighborhood of Üsküdar in Istanbul, the Turkish version’s roots connect even further to several other countries - Bosnia, Scotland and beyond. This fact was further confirmed by members of L’Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio in Rome, Italy, who had heard versions of the same melody. The Turkish version of the song primarily dealt with the theme of the despair caused by Loss in the name of Love, however Zoe, in connecting with the song personally, lyrically made her version about the idea of independence and self-realization in the name of Loss. ‘Ishq Kinara’ talks of the last moment of vulnerability as a relationship is severed, and looks on to being complete within one’s Self after the Loss. With an upbeat mixed canvas of instrumentation from Italy, Turkey, Morocco and Pakistan, the song becomes Pakistan’s version of the mysterious melody.

Ishq Kinara - Üsküdar'a Gider Iken, Coke Studio Pakistan, Season 6, Episode 4

Yaarian Amrinder Gill & Dr Zeus Feat Shortie

Maze Feat. Frankie Beverly | Before I Let Go (Change Request ReVision)

For this ReVision—my third one from this same group—I chose an iconic song that has had a great influence on me and my artwork throughout my lifetime. Featuring groove-intensive rhythm and blues, combined with a west coast-style songwriting balladry, their sound was something I immediately connected with from the very first time I heard “Joy And Pain” on the radio as a child. 

Often referred to as the “Black Grateful Dead” for their loyal cross-generational fanbase, Maze was formed in San Francisco, California in the late 70s, fronted by the Philly-raised songwriter and former gospel singer, Frankie Beverly. 

Originally called Raw Soul, the group changed their name to Maze upon the recommendation of Beverly’s mentor—as well as a major catalyst for their meteoric ascension in popularity—Marvin Gaye. 

Written and produced by Frankie Beverly and released on their 1981 Live In New Orleans recording, "Before I Let Go”, is the quintessential Maze record. Peaking at number thirteen on the Billboard R&B chart in 1981, this masterpiece would later go on to define the group, achieving iconic status as a cross-generational cultural benchmark of contemporary Black American Music.

“It was about somebody who was really having trouble letting go of something”, states Beverly of the “ode to a love lost” that helped inspire the song's lyrical content. Initially written in a slower tempo, the members of Maze developed the song into the seductive groove that cemented its musical legacy.     

Featuring conventional instrumentation of this era for an R&B ensemble—live percussion, Electric Bass, Guitar, and Fender Rhodes—I replaced the Electric Guitar lead parts with standard polyphonic synth choices for that period, including Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 bright brass pad, layered over a saturated Oberheim OB-X brass tone, for harmonic texture. 

For as much as they have written and recorded timeless songs and records, you really have not fully experienced their spiritual mastery until you've seen Maze Feat. Frankie Beverly live in concert.

Buy ReVision

Maze Feat. Frankie Beverly | Before I Let Go (Change Request ReVision)

The Weeknd | Secrets (Change Request Revision)

For this ReVision, I reworked the song “Secrets” from the Canadian singer, Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd, off of his third studio album, Starboy. 

The original features samples of “Pale Shelter” by Tears For Fears and is a cover of “Talking In Your Sleep” by The Romantics. 

Having been a fan of the production work from Toronto and the OVO section of sound design, my version removes and rearranges parts of the original, discarding the beat-driven focal point, taking a more sonic space design approach to this work.

The Weeknd | Secrets (Change Request ReVision)

Anita Baker | Been So Long (Change Request ReVision)

For this ReVision, I recreated one my mother’s all time favorite artists. She used to have this album on repeat when I was a child and it always stuck with me as the one song on that LP that I would always go back to. 

Rapture, Anita Baker’s second studio album, released in 1986, this album won her two Grammy Awards, with timeless tunes such as "Sweet Love”, "Same Ole Love”, and this track "Been So Long”. 

Written by Baker, this is one of two songs on the album that features her alone as the sole writer, the other being "Watch Your Step”.

Produced by Grammy Award winner Marti Sharron, this track features standard R&B arrangements of the 80s with her decidedly “Quiet Storm” approach to sound design. 

Featuring live drums, live bass, Yamaha DX7 Electric Piano, Fender Rhodes, Polymoog leads, Oberheim OB-X and Prophet 5 brass, I recreated this song with a modern touch on vintage synths. 

Enjoy! 

- Andrew Emil | Change Request

Anita Baker | Been So Long (Change Request ReVision)

Chaka Khan | What Cha' Gonna Do For Me (Change Request ReVision)

The title track of her third solo album, 1981’s What Cha' Gonna Do For Me" was written by Ned Doheny and Hamish Stuart of the Average White Band. They had recorded the song a year earlier and released it on their LP Shine, produced by David Foster, but it was Hyde Park’s Very Own that took this song to another world.

Released on Warner Bros. Records and produced with Arif Mardin, Chaka Khan’s “What Cha’ Gonna Do For Me” has been a top “port of call” of my personal affinity for the early 80s post-disco electric funk. The Queen Of Everything put this song on the map as the first single off the album that would seal her stardom with other iconic tunes, such as "I Know You, I Live You”, and the Stardust-sampled, “Fate”.

Even beyond my Reprise-styled stripped-down take on this, I also continued to lust after this harmonic motion through an original track—Change Request | Ravaged Romance—that was directly inspired by the chordal arrangements that Doheny and Stuart set forth in their original composition. Have a listen to the evolution of this song—through these four versions—including my two interpretations of this all-time classic.

Average White Band | Whatcha' Gonna Do For Me (1980): bit.ly/31bcD2v 
Chaka Khan | What Cha' Gonna Do For Me (1981): bit.ly/31cRZ28 
Chaka Khan | What Cha' Gonna Do For Me (Change Request ReVision)(2018): bit.ly/2VbGcgH 
Change Request | Ravaged Romance (2020): bit.ly/2VcVQs2

Chaka Khan | What Cha' Gonna Do For Me (Change Request ReVision)

The Jones Girls | Nights Over Egypt (Change Request ReVision)

For this ReVision, I recreated my favorite song from this Detroit-based trio of sisters who were backup singers for many years for artists such as Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, and Diana Ross, before breaking out on their own to form The Jones Girls. 

Written by Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff protege, Dexter Wansel, this song, and arrangement are quintessential Philadelphia music mastery. Dexter, along with Cynthia Biggs, wrote many hits for other artists, including Yellow Sunshine, Instant Funk, Phyllis Hyman, The Jacksons, MFSB, Teddy Pendergrass, Patti Labelle, Evelyn "Champagne" King, Grover Washington Jr., Lou Rawls, and of course, The Jones Girls. 

“Nights Over Egypt” was the second single from their studio album, 1981’s Get as Much Love as You Can, released on Philadelphia International Records. Most songs on this third studio album of theirs are written by TSOP kingpins, Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff, and the album reached number twenty-five on the Top Soul Albums Chart in the US. 

For this version, I recreated this R&B Classic with Roland’s Jupiter-8, Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, Live Bass and drums, and the best instrument ever created, the 73 Suitcase Fender Rhodes Electric Piano.

The Jones Girls | Nights Over Egypt (Change Request ReVision)

Hall & Oates | I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)(Change Request ReVision)

For this ReVision, I took on this classic by a duo who needs no introduction. Dropped right in the middle of their seemingly endless hit factory streak, this song was the second single from their tenth studio album, 1981's Private Eyes.

Landing them their fourth number-one hit single and the second from the same album, this song was written quickly in-between recording sessions for Private Eyes. 

This song makes iconic of the fairly new Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm at the centerpiece rhythm section. The CR-78 was Roland's first microchip-based programmable drum machine. This machine this song marked the beginning of what would become the golden era of synthetic drums taking over the airwaves. 

Released in March of 1981, “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” along with Phil Collins' January 1981 single, “In The Air Tonight”—which also prominently featured the Roland CR-78—would make this first programmable machine from Roland an icon overnight. 

This song also features the state of the art Dave Smith Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, a Korg organ baseline, Fender Rhodes, and simple, but effective guitar motifs. I recreated this song with a Roland CR-78, Prophet 5, Fender Rhodes, Vox Continental Organ, and Live Bass. 

Enjoy!

Hall & Oates | I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)(Change Request ReVision)

Andrew Emil // Change Request 

A preeminent artist of Chicago's 3rd wave, Andrew Emil is one of house music’s most staunch stalwarts. A concert-trained percussionist since age 11, he earned a chair in his native Kansas City Symphony before eventually moving to Chicago. 

As a traditional musician, Andrew Emil has worked as a keyboardist, arranger, and an orchestrator on recording sessions and productions, cutting his teeth at the former Chicago Trax Recording Studios. 

Credited on over 200+ recordings, his composition and studio productions have ranged from concert works and sound design to film scoring stages and hundreds of releases of electronic music productions. 

After a life in live music performance, from orchestra percussion sections to punk rock ensembles, he crafted a reputation for House Music productions in Chicago under his own name, as well as Broadway & Wilson, and Uptown Tones. 

One of the earlier innovators of the “Jackin House” genre under the Broadway & Wilson moniker with Jeff Bloom, Andrew is never content to stay in one place or style of musical thought for very long. 

He is the only recording artist to do production work simultaneously for Derrick Carter’s Classic Music Company, Mark Farina’s Great Lakes Audio, Gene Farris’ Farris Wheel Recordings, and four-time GRAMMY nominee Steve “Silk” Hurley’s S&S Records.

A string of double-digit singles for prominent labels, including remixes for artists such as Common, Kanye West, Little Louie Vega, Jamie Principle, Steve "Silk" Hurley, Iz & Diz, Fast Eddie, Shalamar, Roland Clark, David Morales, Colette, Amp Fiddler, JT Donaldson, and Gene Farris, to name a few. 

2012 saw the emergence of his epithet, Change Request, with the Change Theory EP on four play music. This new persona allowed the freedom to explore hybrids of mid-tempo live instrument focused jazz-dance-fusion. 

Following this release was “After All” on Seasons Recordings, with another single thereafter featuring house music icon, Chez Damier, “I Wanna Go Back”, including a remarkable rework from Glenn Underground, on Glenview Records. 

The ever-growing collection of songs and musical dialogue eventually led to the conceptual album series from Change Request. Each full-length effort containing a completely separate story and scored via its own unique incidental subtext. 

Emil created AstraVox Music with the award-winning Los Angeles-based composer, Mr. Nathaniel, as a home for his increasing catalog of incidental dramatic musical compositions. 

www.andrewemil.com