living for the city stevie wonder on yamaha motif xs

all done on the yamaha motif xs6.
I cheated and transposed because the original is in F# , but I played it in G. So I transposed so I don't get a slew of smart arses telling me I'm playing it in the wrong key.
The synth bass sound I think is really good, it's called Octave Analog PRE 3 F13. Then I used the Phaser Vintage elec piano and added some stereo delay. The lead from the video is elec piano Early 70's, the synth brass Big Syn.
All was recorded using Adobe Audition recording software over the original (kind of like a musical equivalent of tracing paper !) then the original was muted, so none of it remains.

Lyrics:

A boy is born in hard time Mississippi
Surrounded by four walls that ain't so pretty
His parents give him love and affection
To keep him strong moving in the right direction
Living just enough , just enough for the city

His father works some days for fourteen hours
And you can bet he barely makes a dollar
His mother goes to scrub the floors for many
And you'd best believe she hardly gets a penny
Living just enough just enough for the city

His sister's black but she is sho 'nuff pretty
Her skirt is short but Lord her legs are sturdy
To walk to school she's got to get up early
Her clothes are old but never are they dirty
Living just enough just enough for the city

Her brother's smart he's got more sense than many
His patience's long but soon he won't have any
To find a job is like a haystack needle
Cause where he lives they don't use coloured people
Living just enough just enough for the city

Living just enough ..
For the city .. ooh .. ooh
(repeat several times)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• stevie
• wonder
• living
• for
• the
• city
• innervisions
• yamaha
• motif
• xs
• adobe
• audition
• keyboard

[jeevespreston]

If I may ask, what function are you using to do the drum ghost notes, crashes, and fills? I can't for the life of me figure it out a decent way to do it... Did you hit them yourself in song mode vs using an arp? Nice rendition, btw....

[oysterlovers]

thanks - i did it live, the bass and snare first, then the cymbals on a separate track then the hi hat and then the hand claps and the shaker,so i used about 5 tracks for the drums

[SgtPlmFry]

This is cool! I tried to play Living For the City on the piano at my friend's party last week and failed... miserably. :-( Yeah, this is really great though. Do you have a tutorial for it here?

[JoeChrisMorris]

Great!

prepare for TAKE OFF!!!!

[tenor175]

Not bad. not bad.....I think Stevie would be proud! Good Job! :)

[fenMJ]

very good! Discover our Stevie Wonder Tribute on my profile!!

[theriddlemo]

loved the way your shadow was rockin' out on the wall, bro. nothing like when you feel a good piece of music

[JoeJimipac112742]

What are the main chords?

[mozeppel]

come show me... my motif is collecting dust

[mozeppel]

i got a yamaha motif xs88... what a waste... come teach me how to use it... i refuse to read the manual...lol (your version of this song is wonderful)

[angemibeth]

that was awesome.

[Earlbein]

this is pretty damn good. great playing!