This is my first banger for 2022

The beat is made by @missantidote

My Soul (Prod. By Miss Antidote)

Re-Animated @frawstakwa 
https://soundcloud.com/youngelderly/re-animated-164bpm?in=randther/sets/open-for-collab
Lyrics and vocals written and performed by RS Frawstakwa @frawstakwa
randther RS Frawstakwa
https://soundcloud.com/randther
Paploviante: Music, Bass, other Instruments, Picture, Mix and Mastering

Re - Animated Frawstakwa & Paploviante

Front Porch Step - Private Fears In Public Places (Cover)

Boats and Birds - Gregory and the Hawk (Acoustic Cover)

DESCRIPTION: Alone, destitute, and unemployed, Fantine reflects on life and her shattered dreams.

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This is the first time I've placed special attention to tempo and have basically crafted it specifically to my liking. I don't know if this is just another one of those things that only I care about, but I've always had an IDEAL tempo in mind for each moment--not whole song--but each individual moment, depending on what's going down. While I've varied up the tempo in my other tracks, it was minimal. This time I've sat down and did not get up again until the tempo was near perfection. It's a lot harder than it sounds and my editor makes it pretty easy, but still, getting just the right flow and speed takes time when you're a picky mofo like me! 2 hours later...I've got it mostly right. =)

I'd like to say this is the final mix but I just know I'll start nitpicking at it in the coming days, but I'm happy enough with it to enable downloads, so have fun. =)

As always, this is a recreation of John Cameron's ORIGINAL 1987 orchestration and this rendering specifically recreates the sound of the exact number of musicians featured in the original Broadway production at the Imperial Theatre in NYC. The distinct sound of John's harp-like keyboard sound that harmonizes with the acoustic guitar is one of my favorite features of this song, and it's also one of the things that have since been completely cut. *Shakes fist*

Orchestra for this song featured on Broadway and recreated here:

STRINGS

-6 Violins
-2 Violas
-2 Cellos
-1 Double Bass*

WOODWINDS

-Flute
-Oboe
-English Horn
-Clarinet
-Bassoon*

BRASS

-2 French Horns
-2 Flugelhorns
-Tenor Trombone
-Bass Trombone

GUITARS

-Acoustic
-Bass

PERCUSSION

-Bell Tree
-Mark Tree
-Cymbals

KEYBOARDS

-2 Using original DX-7 patches created by John Cameron.
-This song uses 7 different patches.

* Denotes instrument was not used on Broadway but was an optional part of the original orchestration.

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"I Dreamed a Dream"

Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. Original French lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean Marc Natel

Music by Claude-Michel Schonberg

Orchestrations by John Cameron

FANTINE:
There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went...wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung
No wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
And they turn your dream to shame!

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together!
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed

Now life has killed the dream...I dreamed


"I Dreamed a Dream" - Original Orchestration

Hello everyone. This is my tribute to the musical Les Miserables, which I've been a fan of since age 6. I've since known and loved many other musicals but Les Mis holds a special place. I have an especially soft spot for the show's original orchestration, so thought I'd try recreating it!

Here is my humble attempt at recreating even a semblance of that iconic John Cameron orchestration and not-so-humble attempt at asserting how much better his orchestration is to the copy and paste cliche mess that claims to be the show's "updated" orchestration these days.. Sadly, that original orchestration has since gone through significant downgrades and MTI is no longer licensing the original orchestration. They offer now the 25th ann. reduction, which makes pretentious claims of being more classical with a chamber sound but it's first and foremost a money generating ploy to reduce costs, at the expense of character, cohesion, and integrity--the new concoction features work by 3 additional orchestrators. To say it is a train wreck is an understatement. I keep faith one day this will all just go away and the show's signature sound and gritty musical language restored...someday.

John Cameron's original work is the voice of Les Miserables to me and it can't be bettered, much less replaced.

I got the idea one summer to make my own backing tracks as a response to the cheap quality "Karaoke" tracks that were being mass produced at one time. I vowed to only use a real orchestra in my tracks but not being a millionaire and not having a full orchestra at his disposal, what was a fan to do? An emerging technology at the time (circa 2002) was the answer. It was called "Orchestral Instrument Sampling."

Many hours of trial and error and fumbling around with thousands of individual snippets of orchestral instruments playing a single note, I've reached a level of maturity in my work that I feel confident sharing it. I use NOTHING but REAL orchestral instrument samples in my tracks, all meticulously sequenced. It is arduous but rewarding work.

Most of all,  I've had a blast working with a score that has inspired me so much, and gotta love John Cameron's quirky mix of acoustic orchestral and synthetic "pop" sounds and styles that give this musical a uniqueness like no other, a hybrid musical style that at once sounds as classical as it does mainstream and is incredibly expressive.

Please forgive the so-so mixing as these are ALL work-in-progress preview tracks. A lot of them have crazy tempos in places and all could benefit from some equalization and better mixing / individual instrument positioning within the stereo image. 

At any rate, I'm not a composer and none of the work I present are my own original compositions. I merely recreate what I hear. I do NOT claim to represent or to have mastered anyone else's work/creation. I only represent my interpretation of their work and it comes from a place of deep respect and admiration, as well as strong focus on integrity.

These tracks are not for commercial use. They are for private individual home listening. 

All Les Miserables tracks feature orchestrations by John Cameron, to music by Claude Michel-Schonberg; Evita tracks feature orchestrations by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Hershey Kay--all as interpreted by me.

As for me? Hey, this isn't about me, it's about the music!!! XD

"I Dreamed a Dream" - Original Orchestration

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