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Well, here were are in 2017 and I’m finally getting back on track with my musical endeavors.  I’ve been working a lot on setting things up for the initial launch of Retro Fever.  I’ve also recently begun creating a “composite” duet of Dark Moon, which hit #4 on the Billboard chart in 1957 (yeah, very retro!).  More on that in a moment.

I was finally able to get the Studio One 3 software when it was on sale over the holidays.  I’d been using a demo of it, but that expired and so I really needed to get the full version.  I’m blown away with all the various instruments included within it.  Still, there’s a lot remaining on my wish list.  For starters, would love to upgrade my $10 mic to something a bit more pro level.  Being able to afford to upgrade my gear is one of the goals I hope to achieve through Retro Fever, where various levels of support will allow me to do different things to make the Retro Fever experience better for it’s supporters.

Back to the Dark Moon duet…

The idea for this duet came about during my brother’s visit over the holidays.  We were listening to some old recordings made long ago of my Dad’s relatives singing various songs…some hymns, some pop songs of the day.  The recordings were just vocals (no accompaniment) and had been recently “discovered” and provided to me and my siblings.  As my brother and I listened to them, one song that really stood out was my aunt’s performance of Dark Moon which, at the time my aunt performed it, had recently been recorded by Bonnie Guitar, as well as Gale Storm, and was all over the airwaves.  The tune was also later covered by Elvis, Jim Reeves, and other male vocalists.

Now, the audio quality of these recordings left a lot to be desired.  Like most old tape recordings, there was noise, hiss, etc.  Other than these audio artifacts, however, it was an impressive rendition.  I also knew that with modern technology, a lot could be done to “clean up” the audio and any remaining artifacts would virtually disappear when music was put behind it.

Mixing the Modern with the Retro…

As I’ve begun putting music to it, it’s sounding even better than I’d anticipated.  Next, I’ll record my vocal part and combine the tracks to create this duet combining the modern with the retro.  I’m thinking about having some violin added to the arrangement as well.  That might even be one of the surveys I do as part of Retro Fever where I invite input from supporters to determine which options sound best as I produce covers and original songs.

I’m excited about sharing the finished track with my Retro Fever supporters.  As Dark Moon is still under copyright, I’ll need to purchase mechanical licenses to cover every stream and/or download.  Stay tuned…