All it takes is a whisper

July 30th, 2010 | By

Welcome everybody to the very first post in TQR’s brand new website. In fact, it’s so new- the box it came in is still lying around here somewhere.

First, a brief introduction. Me=Tal More, 31, Israeli songwriter. You= Someone who’s reading these lines. TQR (short for The Quiet Revolution)= my way of introducing songs I wrote & composed to the world with the help of talented American and Israeli musicians and singers, while trying to convey the musical agenda I believe in. What musical agenda, you must be wondering (and if you aren’t- I’m afraid you’ll have to skip the next few lines). Well… it pretty much boils down to this:

1. A good song= an original melody + meaningful lyrics + a sincere delivery (or at least two out of the three).

2. Production is a good tool to support the above mentioned elements but should be used sparingly and if possible kept to a minimum.

3. Money can’t turn a bad song into a good one. Top producers, priceless equipment, amazing studio- the best they can do is make a song sound better. The song’s core will remain the same.

To summarize:  A simple single instrument+vocals song can be the greatest thing since Christopher Nolan started directing (Elliott Smith’s ‘Between The Bars’, for example) and a song produced by the No. 1 producer in the industry in a studio where the parking alone costs like the national budget of a small country can be the worst thing since the of invention of Yo-Yos. That is, if you expect music to be meaningful and original, as opposed to a generic assembly-line product.

This may be a bit naive considering the road mainstream music is taking, but I still consider music as an art form. Naturally I can’t judge my own songs in an objective way, but what I do know is that I invest of a lot of time and effort trying to craft songs that will be unique in lyrics & melody and most importantly- be sincere.  I decided to launch TQR’s site by releasing a sketch to a song called ‘All It Takes Is A Whisper‘, that in its humble way attempts to support my point.

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All It Takes Is A Whisper

Danielle,
Your lines spell cynical
Here I thought I was the king.

Life ain’t fair
These hells are dealt to us
Damned if we play them
And damned if we don’t.

All it takes is a whisper
To make the darkest cloud
Blow away.

Danielle,
The gods have been cruel to us-
Minds bright as comets in bodies of clay.

Don’t regret
The lives that you didn’t have
I‘ve been an expert, please trust me on this.

All it takes is a whisper
To make the darkest cloud
Blow away.

All it takes is a whisper.

As you may or may not know, I try to avoid singing my own material because I don’t consider myself a very good singer (songwriting is what I’m really keen about, anyway). Still- I decided to release this sketch because I love the melody and the lyrics and because I think this song has merit even in its current condition- recorded on my horrible digital recorder in one live take while I struggle to play and sing at the same time.

Do I think this song should remain in its current condition? No. It’s a sketch with quite a few problems and I know I’ll record it in the future properly. But does it really need a rhythm section, a soft cello accompaniment, backup vocals etc.? I don’t think so. I’m not saying that some songs don’t need elaborate productions. In fact, I have a few that will demand very elaborate productions if I ever get a chance to record them. But most songs should stay straightforward and concentrate on the meaning- rather than the colorful wrapping that’s too often used to conceal bad songs in.

Well… this is getting way too long and every good (?) thing has to come to an end. Thanks for dropping by and I hope you’ll decide to make TQR’s site your virtual home away from home. If you can help support TQR in any way- spreading the word (Twitter, Facebook etc.), buying something or simply calling your uncle, the head of Sony, and blackmailing sweet-talking him into giving TQR a push in the right direction: go for it. Also, please feel free to comment, suggest stuff and in general be active- as it will encourage me to keep providing new content and breath life into these pixels. I’ll try to post new blog entries and updates on a frequent basis and release new material when I can. The red button on the top right-hand side of the screen either activates an RSS feed or a doomsday device, so you’re welcome to use it if you want to get updates directly to your browser or possibly destroy the world as we know it. If you haven’t done so already- you can also sign up for TQR’s monthly newsletter for updates, free downloads etc. I’d love to hear what you think about the site, my very first blog post ever, ‘All It Takes Is A Whisper’ and whether you’d like me to release more sketches in the future or not- so let me know what you think!

Have a great Aug,

Tal

p.s. Make sure you check out Tracy Gibbons’ and Hadar Green’s music (there are links to their MySpage pages in the TQR tab). You won’t regret it.

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