"Summertime" by RMMS
RMMS is an abbreviation for the Usenet group rec.music.makers.songwriters - a place where people exchange ideas about songs and song-writing.
In February 2003, the group had a challenge to make a new arrangement of a popular song. The word challenge here is informal - there were no rules, no winners and no judges (except maybe you).
Following is a list of each arrangement, with some notes from the arranger.
Been at the 'pute for about 4 hours getting this one out. I have to go outside for a while! Trying to get a grip on what Sonar can do. A bit experimental, but nothing too weird. I discovered quite a few nifty effects while making it. will continue working on it later. Used BIAB, Fruity Loops, and Sonar to make this. All computer generated loops. Except the voice of course. Enjoy! - Tom
I'm travelling soon so I rushed this one out
in about an hour with BiaB. There's some vocal timing problems, but will fix
them later. - Rick Norton (This was for my first upload. It's has only
BiaB drums and bass on the current version. Most of it is live. I
don't wanT Mike making fun of me
again. :-))
Or as I could have titled it, "Human beings versus BIAB part 1" Personally I think we'll kick BIAB's ass! Here is my effort anyhow - Mike Morgan
So disillusioned that Summer was picked over I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face I decided to put forward my own version in protest. I think I've conclusively murdered it. This one's for you Deano. - porl
There's not much to say. I didn't think I'd enjoy it, but I did. Weird doing somebody else's stuff. And weirder is hearing all the other versions of somebody else's stuff. - Tim/gmab
Here is a version of Summertime as performed by my son (who now uses the stage name Magnet) June 1997, when he was 4 years old. The back-up band is a jazz trio of union musicians from Seattle. He is a little embarrassed about the amateurish vocal style, but he's got good stage presence. All comments and crits will be forwarded to Magnet, who will read them with delight as he's munching his frosted flakes every morning. - Jay Seeley
I had a great idea for a phase-shifted psychedelic rap-type version. But then I ended up with this instead... - Ron
...my version of Summertime...probably too "straight up" for most of you guys :) - Irene Jackson
Funny Summertime wouldn't have been my first choice either, but it was quite a lot of fun, and it's been fun to listen to others as well. The recording's a bit rough, but I figure its going to take the rest of this year to play the guitar part properly, so what the hell. ...and some may think I cheated. Well, I'd worked out the Summertime part on Sunday and was going to record with that. Then I realised that I could sing St James Infirmary with the same chords. The second verse of Summertime spooked me when I first sang it - heck this is about death ain't it - jeez people sing this as a lullaby - so the fit with St James worked (for me) really well. And guess what, Janis Joplin covered St James Infirmary as well. - John Robin Devany
Hi! I don't know if it's too late to submit my contribution, but here it is. I just got a (shi**y) mic a couple of hours ago, so I hurried to slap the track down on my computer. It's also my first project in my music software, but I hope you'll like it! - Linda
I only do this 'cause I like this bluesy tune and for the hell of it :) And because my last tune was such a bummer! - Roger
You dogs took a lot of the arrangement ideas I had...So I had to dig deep into my bag of tricks. Look ma...no bassline. - Craig Ramseur
This has been one of my favourite songs and I've played it since way back to the early 60s in a rock band I was in. (Now you know I'm no kid). This version was done a few years ago by my long time music partner, on resonator guitar, and me, on acoustic guitar and vocal. It was recorded in my living room with 2 mics into my then new Sony MDM-X4 4 track minidisc. There were no overdubs. I did some level adjusting and added reverb (probably a bit too much) in NTrack. I used only one mic for my acoustic guitar and (shaky) vocal, so couldn't really balance the two as well as I'd liked. Hope you enjoy it. I have another more recent version with banjo vs. resonator guitar I might upload later. - Ralph
My version of Summertime is up at nowhereradio (click on the URL below). I was holding off because I wanted to get my eldest daughter to do the vocal (she had two years of vocal jazz at school), but what with shopping for a prom dress, playing in the basketball playoffs, and generally dashing around wearing out my car, she never found the fifteen minutes it would take. So you'll have to tolerate my wretched vocal until I can chain her to a mike stand. I guess it's a pretty conventional treatment compared to some, but I'm reasonably satisfied with the groove. Please let me know that you listened. Thanks. - Sean Holland
Inspired by Sean Holland's version - the obligatory ironic version in a major key, with melody and drum tracks copied from another midi. - tc
This should be one of the last of the Summertimes. Well, it is not really Summertime at all, is it? I rewrote the lyrics, changed the melody, and gave it a new title to complete the metamorphosis. So there it is, at the top of my Soundclick page, bearing no resemblance to Summertime but a lot of resemblance to some other well known standard. Lyrics are at the site too, if you actually need to see them. Hi-fi is way better, as usual. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. - Jay Seeley
I had to get a version up before I left. I contemplated going really out with this... and decided against it. - Watson (the pencil neck) Davis
Hi everyone. Here's my effort at "Summertime". I had all these grand plans about how I wanted to arrange it, but then I realised I'd never get it out there if I spent ages tweaking and twiddling. So here's a kind of non-arrangement, just me and some acoustic guitar. Please give it a listen and let me know what you think - I'd hate to think all that pain last night was for no reason! - Karl Stanley
I think I might have had a little too much fun with this one. I even added
a little country flavor for all those country fans around here. Here's
my arrangement, if you can still recognize it:
I hope it wasn't too late for the list. It took me a little while to find
a recording of the song, then I don't like to record songs when people are at
the house. Regardless you can still give a listen and let me know what you
think. This is my first submission here so be gentle. 8~) It's pretty
rough, but if anyone likes it, I might record a better version. It's only my
second demo so I'm not to sharp on the production side of things
yet. - Bard
So you finally get to hear me.... My version of Summertime is on Soundclick. I got my other half to help out on guitar and vocals. I've really loved listening to everyone's version. So much variety! :o) ... So, I hope you all like listening to this version as much as we loved creating it. My voice doesn't do the song justice, but then, I'm no vocalist! (Yes, I can hear you sharpening those knives, TC) Looks like this will be the last version from RMMS ... hope it's not too late. - Lynn.
Any more? Bad links? Did I forgot yours? Well, send me an email.
These links are to the author's own work and represents their own private study and interpretation. You may only use the links for private study, scholarship, or research.
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Summertime
Devany.com