Tips & Tricks: The CORRECT Guitar Tuning for Norma Tanega's "You're Dead" /  by Music Orange

If you’re both a guitar player and a fan of the FX series “What We Do In the Shadows”, you’ve no doubt tried to pick out the great Norma Tanega tune “You’re Dead” which is used as the series theme song. It’s not too difficult to get close using an open-G tuning, but try to execute some of the riffs that Tanega plays between verses and you’ll soon realize that open-G tuning is not quite right. Here is the tuning I am 99% certain that she uses: D2-G2-F3-A3-B3-D4. One of the riffs that clinched this for me is this one that she plays right after the first verse:

There really is no other way she would have played this. Of course this means you can’t just strum the open strings to get your G chord like you can if you use open-G. You’ll have to play one of these two chords (Tanega plays both at various times) and do that hammer on using your ring finger:

It should also be mentioned that Tanega does not flatpick - she plays fingerstyle and is likely using a thumb pick.

-Michael

TRACK OF THE MONTH / october 2021: This Is Us /  by Music Orange

This Is Us: TRACK OF THE MONTH / october 2021*

This month…The only thing more romantic than a barefoot walk across a gorgeous tropical shoreline with your favorite person is the right soundtrack. With its warm, wooden, acoustic tones and a slightly flirty melody, "This Is Us" could be that soundtrack. It opens on a sunny ukulele melody and accompanying banjo arpeggios before finger-snapping rhythms and syncopated handclaps help build an instrumental ditty that's amorous, uplifting, and playful.

Find this one filed under WORLD…EXOTIC in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

Check It Out: Google Guitar Tuner /  by Music Orange

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Google has added a guitar tuner to its arsenal of apps. To access it, just type ‘google guitar tuner’ into Google’s search bar. It’s simple, but works accurately and easily and is pretty handy if you’re playing along with a song on your computer, doing notation, or checking out a YouTube instructional video.

Things We Like: An Introduction to Synthesis /  by Music Orange

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I used to own a Moog Prodigy synthesizer as a teenager. Unfortunately, it was stolen from my car when I moved to college (along with almost everything else I owned). I spent many, many hours with that thing and it did a great job of teaching me the basics of synthesis. If you don't own a synthesizer but are even mildly interested, here's a pretty great introduction to synthesis from the BBC archives:

https://www.facebook.com/BBCArchive/videos/482177565488612/?hc_ref=ARSg2tyNzW6igpw0JYSHheGB6YXkYocNbbQufLtXTIkTUU91-R5r9uKiTFwmlnZDxj4

-Michael

TRACK OF THE MONTH / september 2021: Weight of the World /  by Music Orange

Weight of the World: TRACK OF THE MONTH / september 2021*

This month…You'd be hard pressed to find a better title for this composition. "Weight of the World" opens on the subtle tension of minimal, repetitive, piano notes falling like sparsely dripping water from a gradually ascending storm of strings. Drums drop like thunder alongside frantic violin swipes, creating a beautifully dramatic score with cinematic arrangements. The uplifting coda provides essential levity as the "Weight of the World" still resonates heavily in your mind's ear.

Find this one filed under INDIE ORCHESTRAL…FILM in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / august 2021: Clave y Mambo /  by Music Orange

Clave y Mambo: TRACK OF THE MONTH / august 2021*

This month…The first few festive notes of "Clave y Mambo" feel like a walk-up song to a 1970s party in Puerto Rico - the kind where musicians like Ray Barretto and Chico O'Farrill are mingling with other Afro-Cubano notables. This track's fidelity is so deep, it sounds panoramic. Under bouncy Latin jazz rhythms, you can hear claves clicking in the distance as a trumpet on the left ushers in more horns to blast on the right side. Everything sounds so present - with decent speakers, your neighbors might just think you're having a salsa party.

Find this one filed under LATIN…TANGO in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / july 2021: SummerFest /  by Music Orange

Music Orange -> Expertly created original music for commercials and other advertising.

TRACK OF THE MONTH / july 2021*

SummerFest

This month…Opening with playful piano notes, firecracker beats, and a sprightly horn melody is a perfect way to usher in the summertime. But the aptly titled "SummerFest" heats things up to another level once the uplifting and soulful vocals join the party. "SummerFest" has more flavorful layers than your favorite casserole at a backyard summer potluck.

Find this one filed under HIP HOP in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

library.musicorange.com/

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. If you like what you hear, please visit and check out some of our latest tracks. Enjoy the Music!

Things We Like: "ModulAir" Modular Polyphonic Software Synthesizer (Free Plugin) /  by Music Orange

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ModulAir is a modular polyphonic software synthesizer for both Mac and PC from Full Bucket Music. The list of features include:

  • Fully modular architecture

  • Up to 18 modules per patch

  • 43 module types available

  • Polyphonic Voice and monophonic Master modules

  • Up to 64 voices polyphony

  • External signal processing possible

  • TUN/SCL micro-tuning file import

  • MIDI Learn – all parameters can be controlled by MIDI CC

  • Double precision audio processing

  • Plug-in supports Windows and macOS (32 bit and 64 bit)

  • VST and AU plugin formats

It sounds great, is a lot of fun to play around with, and is free/donationware. Download it here.

TRACK OF THE MONTH / june 2021: El Caribe /  by Music Orange

El Caribe: TRACK OF THE MONTH / june 2021*

This month…If you haven't traveled for a while, it's easy to fantasize about unwinding beneath the palm trees of a tropical paradise with "El Caribe" playing in the background. Bouncing on mid-tempo beats and a grooving bass line, this one is somehow both chill and energetic. The soothing instrumental melody and the slightly robotic vocals create an otherworldly ambience, while synth textures bubble up with the effervescence of a cold carbonated beverage.

Find this one filed under DANCE…ELECTRONICA in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

Things We Like: Zupiter Online Modular Synthesizer /  by Music Orange

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Maxime Chevalier-Boisvert has created a free/donationware online modular synth called Zupiter that sounds great and is a lot of fun to mess around with. It includes all the basics you’d expect and can be controlled via your computer keyboard, the app’s programmable step sequencers, or externally via MIDI. You can even map your external controller’s knobs to the app’s virtual ones. While the site’s About page say, “Its interface is designed to be minimalistic and simple, so as not to put off beginners”, there is a bit of learning curve. Luckily, users can (and do) post their patches for others to load and play. It’s a great way to get your head around the interface or to hear what it can do. Check it out!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / may 2021: Dreambox /  by Music Orange

Dreambox: TRACK OF THE MONTH / may 2021*

This month…"Dreambox" is a perfect song title for this hazy, ethereal track. It opens sounding like a dusty tape loop of a lo-fi recorded piano set to simple beats under a whistled melody. But this soon unfurls into a clear soundscape of sunny, uplifting notes and chords - an optimistic instrumental built on negative space.

Find this one filed under HIP HOP in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / april 2021: No Going Back /  by Music Orange

No Going Back: TRACK OF THE MONTH / april 2021*

This month…The opening organ notes bounce playfully, sounding like vintage vinyl before the beats strut into the mix with more modernized aplomb. But it's the subsequent layering of spirited sounds that give "No Going Back" its deeper dimensionality. An uplifting horn section, ethereal synthesizer tones, and cheerful backing vocals all do their part to turn a simple song into a radiant anthem.

Find this one filed under INDIE…ALT POP in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

TRACK OF THE MONTH / march 2021: The Art of Paper Cutting /  by Music Orange

The Art of Paper Cutting: TRACK OF THE MONTH / march 2021*

This month…You'd be hard pressed to find another song that perfectly approximates the coming of spring. "The Art of Paper Cutting" opens with lilting piano notes that flutter around like butterfly wings as a sunny melody gradually emerges. The cello's deep timbre seeps into the song like tea before pitter patter rhythms give the tune its feet. But when a boomy kick drum joins the accompaniment, this all begins to feel like you're inside the soundtrack of a Wes Anderson film.

Find this one filed under INDIE ORCHESTRAL in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!

Check It Out: Spongebob, "Agua", and Music Orange /  by Music Orange

Who says playing the penny whistle doesn’t pay off? One of Music Orange’s founders, Blaise Smith, just received an ASCAP award for the use of his SpongeBob Squarepants penny whistle sample in one of the year’s most played latin tracks, J. Balvin and Tainy’s “Agua.” Cue the penny whistle and turn up the volume.

TRACK OF THE MONTH / february 2021: Say 'Si' /  by Music Orange

Say 'Si': TRACK OF THE MONTH / february 2021*

This month…Equal parts exotica and space age bachelor pad music, "Say 'Si'" saunters and sways with vintage vibes and tropical tiki tones. This handsome ditty dances on the coolness of Bossa Nova, the zaniness of Juan Garcia Esquivel, the martini shaker rhythms of Martin Denny, and the Cubano piano styles of Perez Prado

Find this one filed under COCKTAIL…TV RETRO in The Music Orange Library Online (MOLO).

*Each month, we feature a new track from the Music Orange Library online—the easiest, most intuitive online library in the industry. Enjoy the Music!