Finding A Solution

The original had an atmospheric arrangement with flowing vocals and gossamer synthwork that included ambient washes and lightly trance-like touches. Since there wasn’t a classic verse-chorus progression, I had to listen closely to the lyrics and vocals to see if I could rework them into a more traditional arrangement. It wasn’t long before I realized that with a bit of effort, I could transform “Solution” into a housed-up, Madonna-esque romp.

As always, I started with Ableton Live for the vocal arrangement. For time-stretching vocals, Live’s “complex” algorithm is wonderfully transparent. The original tempo was 132, which was a touch too fast for pop-house, so I dropped it to 130. What’s more, since the original vocals had a looser feel, I had to tinker with the warp markers to get certain words and phrases to line up with the rhythm. If you’re familiar with the original, this is most evident on the background vocals that lead up to the middle section breakdown and crescendo. Naturally, I ran the whole thing by Jac herself before having at it; I value her input and artistic direction and didn’t want to tamper with her vision. Since she’s a musician herself, Jac’s a joy to work with and was eager to hear the end result, of which she heartily approved.

Once the vocals were restructured, it was time to rethink the chord progression. In the original version, the chords moved from C to G to D in a more freeform fashion, with variations throughout. For most dance music, especially house, it’s important to lock the progression down to a basic three- or four-chord motif and rely on the arrangement to reinforce the transitions. I basically stuck with this chord progression, but added a touch more syncopation. The bass line came quite quickly — I just followed the chords with a disco-style electric bass riff, using the relative minor to bring out the emotion in the lyrics and a walking turnaround to give it more funk.

From there, it was time for guitars. I sifted through my loop collection for a couple of guitar bits that complimented the chords without cluttering the melody. I ended up with a funky acoustic part and two-note riff loop somewhere between Chic and Madonna that reinforced the ’80s vibe I was after.

Midway through each of the verses, a shimmering arpeggio reinforces the chord progression. Bathed in echo, reverb, and phaser, it evokes “Lucky Star” without ripping it off, since the chords and arpeggio type are obviously different.

Despite the fact that this remix was going to be an album track, I still wanted to create a club-friendly middle breakdown before moving into the final choruses. Jacinta’s background vocal tracks included a lovely harmonized section, right after the second chorus, that gradually crescendos into a full vocal. This passage was fairly lengthy and suggested a new chord progression that differed from the verse/chorus motif, while remaining in the same key.

I opted to use this new chord progression to create a backdrop for the vocals. I spent a little more time in Live, warping the vocals to match the song’s rhythm and tempo, then — using a combination of pads and strings — I followed the vocal movement with open voicings on the strings that expanded as the chords ascended.

As these chords climaxed, I brought the beat back in and introduced a new lyric from the original vocals, then I reintroduced the new chorus for 16 more measures. The song has a proper ending, rather than a fade out, which is always more fun to do, anyway.

I unveiled the track to Jacinta at my big birthday bash last spring. She and her manager, Paula Soileau, immediately loved the track and commandeered my studio during the party. The look on Jac’s face as she listened was one of the best birthday presents I have ever received. Mission accomplished!