SongBlog.ca

This Month's release is a tribute to Elvis Presley's Blue Christmas. It is a song that was recorded by Alison and I as a gift to all our friends and family near and far.We hope you enjoy it and have a Happy Holiday!CreditsVocals by Alison A.Guitars, drums, bass, recording and mix by Patrice S.

Donate Style and InspirationThis song is a jazz-blues, one of my favourite styles of music to play. Today, I did my taxes for last year and it made me blue like every year. Since I started my own business, I have been very happy with my work, but my finances get worst every year and not for a lack of trying hard. So, after doing my taxes, instead of yelling like I usually do, I decided to pick up my guitar and see where it would take me.This whole song is improvised, chords, melody, lyrics, all of it was recorded in one take with one microphone, so if it's not perfect, it is because it is what music should be: real and honest. Nowadays, I find that music is created just to sell units. Most songs on the radio would sound terrible if they weren't as processed as the food we eat these days. So, this is my way to go completely against current and give you a song that hasn't been polished or processed.I hope you like it!CreditsMusic and lyrics by Patrice S.Guitar and vocals by Patrice S.Recording and mixing by Patrice S. 

Donate Style and InspirationThis song was written out of a mix between inspiration and baritone ukulele exercises. I was working on exercises with triads and Drop 2 chords. Most people don't like to work on music exercises like scales and chords, but if you try to have fun with them, you can create beautiful songs.  All you need is some imagination and inspiration. I was thinking of a trip to the Yukon that my wife and I are about to take on; trip that we have talked about for years, so it was easy to create a good song.I hope you enjoy it, it's a little instrumental delight that I have the privilege to create on a regular basis. I wish sometimes that I could have someone recording me when I'm practicing.CreditsComposed by Patrice S.Guitar by Patrice S.Recording and mixing by Patrice S.

Golden Sky - Paliatsky Style and InspirationThis song is 100% inspired by my wife and I's beautiful dog Sky. I was very lucky to meet her, as she is my first dog (my wife's dog). She liked me right away and I did too. For years, I wanted to record her beautiful howl, but I didn't have any recording equipment, so as soon as I bought what I needed, I recorded her and it inspired this song. I started writing this song on the guitar strumming a very folk/country rhythm. Then, I added the bass, basic drums, tambourine, her beautiful howl. You can barely hear our other dog Arctic howling as well. I had written and recorded all the music before I started working on the lyrics, as I wasn't sure what to write. I wanted to make sure that I was happy with the lyrics. So to give myself some inspiration, I started playing the song looking at her in the eyes and sang the song to her. It gave me all the inspiration I needed to write from the heart. I love this song; I wanted to write a song for her for years, but it's hard to write when the subject matter is very close to you. I wanted to make sure that this song represented how much she's changed my life and brought lots of love in my heart.I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do. If you don't have a pet, you might not get why I am so in love with my dog, but that's ok, imagine it's someone that is close to you and that you love very much.Patrice S.CreditsWritten and Composed by Patrice S.Guitars, Bass Guitar, Drums, Percussion, Vocals, Back Vocals by Patrice S.Howl by Sky and Arctic

Style and InspirationThis song was inspired by Gord Downie. I watched a beautiful interview that he did when his wife had cancer and I was so touched by his emotions and his fears, that I couldn't stop myself from writing this song. When I started recording the main guitar, I didn't expect to add more instruments. So, when I recorded it I was hitting my guitar with my wrist to imitate drums and I was adding a lot of fills in between my chords, doing too much compared to what should usually be done for a full band recording. When I was done recording the draft song, I liked it so much and I didn't want to re-record everything to try to make it perfect and super processed like every song you hear on the radio. So, what you are listening to is very raw like most of my songs, since I started recording on my own, but that's how I like it. It's a contrast to what you hear on the radio.I hope you enjoy it! Leave me some comments or donation if you want!Patrice S.CreditsWritten and Composed by Patrice S.Guitars, Slide Guitar, Bass Guitar, Drums, Vocals, Back Vocals by Patrice S.Recorded and Mixed by Patrice S. 

Style and InspirationThis song is very simple and very short. It was written in a moment of confusion as to what I want with my life like it happens to all of us. So, I decided to record it and see what came out of it. The song is a bit raw, but when I listen to it, I feel the confusion that I meant to express.I hope you can relate to this song.Patrice S.CreditsWritten and Composed by Patrice S.Guitars, Bass guitar, Drums and Vocals by Patrice S.Recorded and Mixed by Patrice S. 

Style and InspirationThe inspiration for this song is very simple, we were asked to record this song for a company and we did. It's very much like the original and I see it as my tribute to the great legend that is Willie Nelson. I really enjoyed recording this song. It might not seem like it, but there are dozens of tracks in this song. Just the solo has two acoustic guitars and two slide guitars doing harmonies in both ears. We hope you enjoy it!Patrice S.CreditsComposed and written by Willie NelsonGuitars, Bass guitar, Mandolin, Drums, Vocals, Harmonica, percussions by Patrice S.Back Vocals by Alison A 

Style and InspirationThis song was written very spontaneously. Actually, as I am writing this, I just finished recording and mixing it. It's the first song that I wrote on the mandolin. I was just sitting on my couch about an hour ago, I was fooling around with easy chords and started singing from my heart and that's what came out. I wrote it down, recorded it with one microphone for both my voice and mandolin, did a few takes and that's that. The only thing with recording with one microphone is that I have little control over my voice and mandolin, because what ever I do to the mix affects both tracks, so this recording is very raw.I hope you enjoy my impromptu song!Patrice s.CreditsWritten and Composed by Patrice SMandolin and vocals by Patrice S

Style and InspirationI wrote this song as a challenge for myself. I wanted to write a song in a Bossa Nova style with a minor harmonic scale. I won't go into too much details, but I really liked the chords progression I could achieve with such a scale. I'm a challenge-driven person, so a challenge like that gave me lots of inspiration.In a Bossa Nova song, the structure of the song is usually AABA, meaning that you have a first section that will play twice, then you change to a different section and finish with the original section. At the same time that I was composing section A, I was writing the lyrics which are about my struggle to be part of the music industry. I always thought that talent would be enough to get me wherever I wanted. The reality of the music business is that talent is just a small part of what it's all about. The lyrics of the song are a bit of a parody on my views of my love for music, as not only is it one of the loves of my life, but it's also my nemesis at times. Nemesis, because it feels sometimes like music is the only thing that I see myself doing, but it's so hard sometimes that I wish I could break-up with my love of music and move on to something else. I'm sure most artist have felt a similar emotion to their craft and I can empathize with all of you; art is a beautiful thing, but living off of it is a wonderful thing that only the most tenacious will manage.The recordingThis song was pretty easy to record, as I had been playing this song for years before I took it to the studio. The only part that was tricky for me was that live, I play the bass and guitar part on my guitar. In studio, I actually started by recording the bass line with a metronome, then added the rest of the instruments . Pete added really nice drums that felt a little bit Cuban to me, so it was a nice contrast from the Brazilian feel of Bossa Nova. He also added a lot of melodic instruments when I wasn't there; I lift my hat to him, because I don't think I gave him the music sheet and this song is very complex harmonically. I also remember him recording the timbales, he was bashing on them, it was very cool to watch.I really hope you enjoy this song and don't hesitate to give us some comments or donations to help us keep going!Patrice S. CreditsWritten and Composed by Patrice S.Arrangement by Patrice S. and Peter C.Guitars, Bass guitar, vocals, percussions by Patrice S.Drums, percussions and programming by Peter C.

Style and InspirationThis song is very dear to my heart. I wrote this song immediately following the call that my wife received from her mom telling her that her dad Nelson Durdle was dead. Even if I had met him only a few times, it got me very emotional. I just picked up my guitar and followed whatever my fingers wanted to do. I started with the main chord progression, just playing two notes per chords, then my finger picking started. I couldn't really control it or stop it. That's the way with the songs that are the most inspired. When came the time to write the lyrics, I wasn't too sure what to write, as I wasn't so familiar with death at the time. So, I put myself in the situation that had happened and started to write what came to mind.RecordingThe recording of the song was very complex. My guitar part was pretty easy, I did a few takes and got what we wanted. Funny thing is that when we started recording the song, I wasn't even sure what time signature it was. My bass part was way too complicated at first, so Pete made me calm down, play less notes. Then we added my vocals which were not great, as I had a hard time holding my notes. The percussions went pretty well, we added some craches, some glockenspiel, rain pipes. Finally came the orchestration, which Pete did all by himself and I applaud him for it. We don't have the budget for an orchestra, so he programmed them.When came the time for the mix, Pete did a great job. There were a lot of tracks, a lot of panning and a lot of volume programming.Patrice S.Donations to profit Salvation ArmyThis month, 50% of the donations we receive will be donated to the Edmonton Salvation Army Temple in Honour of Nelson Durdle and Florence Webster who were both part of that congregation and are both missed.CreditsComposed and written by Patrice S.Guitars, Bass guitar, glockenspiel, percussions by Patrice S.Vocals by Patrice S.Arrangement by Patrice S. and Peter C.Orchestration, programming, mixing and mastering by Peter C. 

Inspiration This song is simply a jam that I had with myself. I am releasing it to show some of my music students what improvising is all about. I know it is a little bit advanced and it was with myself, so it was easier for my tracks to be in time with each other, but those tracks are all one take. I didn't edit any of the tracks and you can hear it, because there are some mistakes. I want to show that music is very organic and you simply need to let it go; don't let wrong notes phase you, just keep calm and carry on!There are only 4 tracks in this song: two acoustic guitars, one bass and one programmed tambourine. I hope you enjoy it. I mixed it a little bit, but I tried to keep it as authentic to the jam as possible.Patrice S.CreditsGuitars, Bass guitar, programming and mix by Patrice S.  

Style and InspirationThis simple song with metaphorical lyrics was very inspired. I wrote this on a vacation in Osoyoos. The day that we were leaving, everything went wrong. I was taking my wife to work when our car broke down; we had to push it to the closest store we could find, but the employee working there wasn't happy that we were blocking her driveway. Unfortunately, my wife had to leave for work, or she would have been late. So, two homeless people helped me push the car somewhere else and then asked me for money. I managed to get the car to a mechanic, but the repairs cost a fortune and took all day to be done. I had to take the bus home, pack for the trip, walk and feed the dogs, go pick up the car, go back home to pack the car, pick-up a friend that was tagging along, but was broke, so he couldn't pay for his share of the trip, then picked up my wife from work and head to our destination. Anyway, it was a very bad start to the trip and I got into a depressive mood, which didn't make it very pleasant for my wife and our friend, but gave me lots of inspiration.We had a great view of the lake and mountains from the balcony of our room. I ended up writing two songs in about 3 hours. The Bay turned out to be a metaphor of a man on a boat wondering if he should keep living or not. The first verses are about his struggle and his questioning about whether or not it is worth fighting through all the obstacles. Finally, the bridge leaves it open as to what the outcome will be.I love the lyrics, because it is very different than the way I usually write. It is usually more direct and about my life, I don't often use metaphors, so that was my way to push myself in a different direction.RecordingWhen came the time to arrange the song, I knew I wanted it to be a happy sounding song to contrast with how dark the lyrics are. This idea came to me from a great song called "Tassez-vous de d'la" from "Les Colocs" which is a very dark song that is played over a reggae beat with lots of percussions to hide the heaviness of the lyrics. I wanted The Bay to be a kind of tribute to this band, as I do get into a dark places in my head sometimes, like most people, but being a musician, just like it is for actors, your art takes you places you didn't even know existed.When we took this song into the studio, Pete helped me a lot to bring my vision to reality.  The focus of the song is the Ukulele, layered with guitars and a great bass line in the chorus that was created by Pete. It is helped by the brass and very punchy energetic drum beat that Pete recorded. He added a nice honky-tonk like piano. I added a dark harmony to show that the lyrics aren't as happy as the arrangement of the song. As for the mix, Pete had lots on his plate, because there are a lot of layers to this song and it is a very simple concept, chorus-verse-chorus, etc. There are only two different parts in the song, so we had to keep the song interesting. Finally, for the bridge of the song, we slowed down the tempo, then accelerated it until the end of the song.We hope you enjoy the song as much as we do!Patrice S.CreditsWritten and Composed by Patrice S.Arrangement by Patrice S. and Peter C.Vocals, Ukulele, Guitars, Bass Guitar by Patrice S.Drums, Programming, Percussions, Piano by Peter C.Mixing and Mastering by Peter C.  

Style and InspirationIt took me about four years to gather the inspiration to write this song. My wife is an insomniac, so I learned from watching her struggle year after year and I saw how devastating sleep deprivation can be. Now, she is doing much better than when I met her, but her condition inspired me a lot. I started writing the music of this song in a very personal style of mine, which is to hit my guitar on every beat while playing a bass slap technique. After writing the music, the lyrics came to me very quickly. I believe I wrote the music and the lyrics in one week, as I wanted to have a new song for a radio show that I was playing on CJSF two weeks later.AnecdotesThis song was Pete and I's master piece. It is a very long song with a lot of different parts and songs like these are hard to produce, because you have to be able to keep the song going and not make it boring. It turned out very well. The hardest part of the recording process for me was to play the main guitar part without hitting my guitar at the same time. I had been playing this song for a few years before recording it, so it was quite a challenge. This song is very complex both on the music side and the arrangement. There are a lot of tracks from different guitars, to special effects, different ambient instruments, etc. Pete did a great job at making all the tracks mix without overstepping on each other. We were greatly inspired by Pink Floyd, as it is a strong influence to both of us, so you might hear some clocks or special effects that  are inspired by that great band. It also suited the style of the song, being a bit of a progressive rock style.We hope you enjoy this song. If you are interested, we challenge you to identify all the tracks in this song. Good Luck!Patrice S.CreditsComposed and Written by Patrice S.Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Bass Guitar by Patrice S.Vocals by Patrice S.Back Vocals by Alison A.Piano, Keyboards, Drums, Programming by Peter C.Arrangement by Patrice S. and Peter C.Mix and Mastering by Peter C.  

Style and InspirationCécile is an acoustic rock song that I wrote about one year ago when I learned that my grandmother is suffering from dementia and bone cancer. It was and still is quite hard, as I live about five thousand kilometres from her and I can't afford the trip, so all I can do is think of her. Also, the dementia makes her unable to recognize people, even her kids.Re-reading what I just wrote above reminds me how easy it was to write this song. When emotion is very strong, inspiration follows very closely. AnecdotesThis song was very easy to record. We had three microphones, two for my guitar, one for my voice. We did one take and it was done. Funny thing is that the chorus of the song is in 5/4 time signature, which is an odd time to write a song in. I remember playing the song for Pete and seeing is reaction when he realized what time signature it was, I knew in his head that he was thinking he would have to create a metronome track that would reflect this change during every chorus. Fortunately for him, we recorded the song without a click.I hope you like this song and that I transmitted an emotion that will make you feel something strong.Patrice S.CreditsWritten and composed by Patrice S.Guitar and voice by Patrice S.Mix and mastering by Peter C.

Style and InspirationDream is a folk-rock song that was inspired by the concept of duality in buddhism. This concept is basically saying that life is like a dream and that there is no you versus me, because everything that we believe in is in our heads, everything we think and what we think people think of us is our own perspective. When I wrote this song, I was super inspired, I didn't try to make this song hard to play, I just went with what I felt and that is what came out. I started with the guitar riff from the beginning of the song and everything came into place from there. AnecdotesThis song is a bit more raw then the songs that we usually release, as it was all recorded from my new studio at home. I had about three hours of quiet at home about two weeks ago and that is when I got inspired to record the song. The only parts I had at the time were the main guitar and the melody. Once the basics were recorded, I just improvised the rest. I added a lead guitar, shaker, tambourine, harmonies and bass guitar. The funny thing is that I didn't use a metronome, I didn't play many tracks for every instrument, it's almost all second or third take. The harmonies were created on the spot as well. I didn't take the time to find out what notes I was singing, I just went with what I thought sounded good, just like for À Deux and Somebody. There aren't a lot of effects either. I put a little bit of reverb and I doubled my main voice. I really hope you enjoy it. It's a song that I am very proud of, because it is very organic and it's almost like I had a Jam with myself.Patrice S.CreditsComposed and written by Patrice S.Guitars, bass guitar, vocals, percussions by Patrice S.Arrangement and Mix by Patrice S.

Style and InspirationThe Way you Look at Me is a love song that I wrote thinking about my wife. It was also a few weeks after I bought my first ukulele; I was happy to see how easy it was for me to learn it and I really liked the chord progression. I was very inspired; I improvised most of it, then I put it down on paper and just polished it. I really enjoy this song, because it is short, I can sing it whenever I feel like it!AnecdotesWhen we recorded this song, it took literally no time. I believe we recorded it with one microphone for my voice and one for my ukulele. We recorded about three takes, just to make sure everything was good and that was it. The mix wasn't too hard either, as there were only two tracks. The intro of the song was a tribute to an artist that I really like, Antoine Gratton. I replicated the intro of his song "Dans les yeux de Françoise", as it was the first song that I ever played for my wife and we both liked it.I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do. It's a great song to sing to your partner when they are happy or sad.Patrice S.CreditsComposed and written by Patrice S.Ukulele and voice by Patrice S.Mix and mastering by Peter C.

Style and InspirationThis Month's release is a song called À Deux. It is a folk-rock french song that Patrice wrote for his brother's wedding four years ago. It's a great song that discusses love and relationships. It was inspired by his life and his brother's life. Throughout the song, the style of music changes to accentuate the lyrics.AnecdotesThis song didn't take me long to write. It was my gift to my brother and his wife for their wedding, as I couldn't be present for the occasion, because I live five thousand kilometres away from them. So, when I started writing the song I remember I had a hard time at first, my mind wasn't going in the right direction. Then, I sat at Burrard Skytrain station in Vancouver during a lunch hour when I was still working a full time job in finances. It was the cherry blossom. For those that have never seen the cherry blossom in the Lower Mainland, you are in for a treat, because it is so gorgeous; it inspired me a lot. I believe it only took me one lunch hour to write this song. It was very easy for me, as french is my first language and rhyming in french was like breathing. So, when I came home that night, I tried to work on this song with my guitar. I can tell you honestly that the first version of this song is very different than the newest version. Not only in the arrangement, but the melody. That is quite normal for a song. It usually takes me several times of singing a new song to lock in the melody. When I felt I was happy with it. I recorded it with what I had, which wasn't much at the time. I used a loop pedal to record each instrument individually. The only thing with that type of pedal is that you have to listen to the whole song every time you want to record any part of the song. It is very tedious and the day that I was supposed to send it to my brother, my pedal lagged and erased most of my work. So, I had to rerecord the whole thing, which was a pain in my butt. I also remember using a rubbermaid bin, on which I was sitting, I had put a microphone behind it, with a compressor and a distortion pedal, to make my hitting on the bin sound like a bass drum.When Pete and I recorded the song, it was very easy and it took no time at all. The hardest thing was to mix the drums to make them feel the way we wanted.Patrice S.We hope you like this song as much as we do. Don't hesitate to give us some feedback and donate generously.CreditsWritten and composed by Patrice S.Arrangement by Patrice S. and Peter C.Guitars, bass guitar, vocals and percussions by Patrice S.Back vocals by Alison A.Drums, percussions and programming by Peter C.Mixing and mastering by Peter C.

Style and InspirationThis month's release is a rock song called "My Life" which was written and composed by Patrice Savoie. He wrote this song about four years ago about his life, as the title eludes to. It is a very personal song, that hopefully will resonate with other people that have gone through similar growing pain of life.AnecdotesThe song was originally played at a normal tempo, but a week or so before the recording, I had the idea of playing the song half time, which means that the beat of the song is every two notes of the bass line. That change made the song a lot heavier and darker, which suited it perfectly. It also gave it a more ambient sound that made it easy for Pete to add an electronic feel to the song. There is a very raw drum recording mixed with programmed drums.Another interesting fact about this song is that the solo at the end of the song was recorded with me on the guitar and Pete on the controls of a pedal that made the sound of my guitar go crazy. We recorded several takes and mixed them together to create the end result. Also, during the chorus, the harmonies were created with a vocoder and a talk box.Patrice S.We hope you like this month's song. Please let us know what you think, good or bad, in the comment section below and donate generously!CreditsWritten and Composed by Patrice S.Arrangement by Patrice S. and Peter C.Guitars, Bass guitar, Vocals, back Vocals by Patrice S.Drums, programming, mix and mastering by Peter C. 

Style and InspirationThis rock song was written in 2013 by Patrice for a charity event that Paliatsky hosted to raise funds for "Bullying Ends Here". This song is written from the perspective of someone being bullied.  The idea behind this was for people being bullied to know that there is always someone out there that knows what it's like to be bullied and that they are not alone in this. It's not only kids that get bullied, but adults and seniors as well.AnecdotesI had the music written for this song long before I knew what it would be about. I started writing the music in a guitar style that is uniquely mine.  I hit my guitar with my wrist to imitate a bass drum, while playing a very rhythmic guitar riff. I wrote the verse with complex chords.  I then wrote the chorus with very basic chords, but with an interesting chord-melody approach that is hard to hear in the finished version. Finally, I wrote the melody and lyrics that were added to the song.The lyrics were inspired by Amanda Todd, a teenager in Port Coquitlam, that committed suicide after being bullied at school and online and went viral around the world. That story really inspired me for the lyrics, but I was also inspired by my personal experience;  having been bullied at school and as an adult.  When I first moved to BC and was working in restaurants, as my first language isn't English, a lot of my co-workers and managers treated me quite badly.This song was the first song that Pete and I recorded together and it was the first time that I recorded my voice as the lead vocals in a song. So, I feel my vocals weren't great at the time, they were ok, but I am happy to say that I am much better now.  A few weeks ago, we re-recorded my vocals. Alison's vocals are the original ones, as she is much better singer than me. As for the bass, my bass line is very intense. Being a guitar player first and foremost, when I started recording bass, I was playing a bit more like a guitar player, than a bass player. I hadn't realized at the time how important the tone that you produce on the bass is. The guitar is much more forgiving. I am still very happy with the bass line that I produced.Patrice S.Donations to profit Bullying Ends HereThis month, to go along with the song, we are donating 50% of our profits to the foundation Bullying Ends Here. Tad Milmine, the owner and founder of this foundation as well as RCMP officer, has done a great job of expending his work from BC to all across the country to help educate kids about bullying. You can check out his website or contact him if you are victim or know someone victim of bullying.  CreditsMusic & Lyrics by Patrice S.Acoustic & Electric Guitars, Bass guitar, percussions by Patrice S.Drums, programming, Mix, Mastering by Peter C.Back Vocals by Alison A.

Beautiful - Songblog.ca Style and InspirationBeautiful is a 90's rock inspired love song. It was written originally as a challenge that Patrice Savoie gave to himself to write a love song that is genuine, but isn't cheesy. The idea of making it 90's rock style was an easy choice, because of his background of garage bands.AnecdotesThe original idea of the song came from a vague memory of a U2 song with the word beautiful in it. I wrote the song thinking about my wife that I love very much, so the words came very easily to me. Unfortunately, when came the time to record the song, the bridge wasn't different enough to add something to the song, there were too many choruses and it just wasn't working so well; my idea of the song wasn't working. We had to rerecord the song three times. In the end, we rearranged the song, but we were still looking for a bridge that was different. One morning, I woke up and my wife had written three lines on the mirror of our bathroom and it dawned on me that I had found the chorus. When I got back to studio, Pete found a fourth line and we ended up very happy with the results. The song's strongest point is probably the electric guitar fills that holds the song together. It's easy for me to create nice guitar lines when Pete gives me the green light; I'll record dozens of tracks very quickly and we'll chose what we like most. Finally, the intro of the song was a computer generated mistake that I thought was great, so we modified it a bit and kept it. If you listen carefully, it is a part of the song, but in reverse.Patrice S.Donations to help the Victoria Humane SocietyWe hope you enjoy the song and the upcoming podcast on February 22nd 2016. Half of the profits from the donations that we will receive for the February release will be donated to the Victoria Humane Society. To get more information on the great work that this charitable organization does, you can check out their website or listen to our third podcast.CreditsLyrics by Patrice S., Alison A. & Peter C.Composed by Patrice S.Produced & Arranged by Patrice S. & Peter C.Mix & Mastering by Peter C.Acoustic & Electric guitars, Bass guitar and Vocals by Patrice S.Drums, Organ, Keyboards and Programing by Peter CPhoto by Gina LisVideo by Patrice S. Donate