Recycling Existing Melodies
To recycle a public domain melody, use one or more of these techniques
- Change the tempo
- Change the time signature
- Use the significant motive of the original to craft a wholly new melody
- Add new elements of introduction and transition
- Change the chord structure
- Re-craft the piece in a different mode
- Re-craft the piece with Part A in one mode and Part B in a different mode
- Try playing the tune against a drum machine that has a different rhythm than the original piece
- Use the technique of retrograde motivic development - rewrite the piece backwards - reverse the melody, or the rhythm or both
To Recycle a Copyright protect musical work is illegal.....most of the time....
It is legal to use a copyrighted song as the basis of a parody. No mechanical license is required. No performance rights can be charged for a parody. This means that you could take a copyrighted song such as The Beatles Hey, Jude as the basis of your new song "Hey, Dude". The words must be different and your new words would have to be seen as a parody of the original song or a satire of some current event or personage.
It is STRICTLY illegal to recycle a copyrighted melody.
You cannot simply slap a new title on a copyrighted melody and call it your own. Changing the key, or tempo is not sufficient to break the copyright. If it is not a NEW work it is an illegal work.
However, a copyrighted melody may be used as the basis for a new variation. Perhaps the most successful technique to use when attempting to recycle an existing copyrighted melody is retrograde motivic Development.
Just remember, the ice is THIN when you are messing about with copyrighted material. Your work must not be an obvious clone of the original piece. It must be original. So, IF you walk down this path, be careful and be original. Treat the original copyrighted work as inspiration, not as a template.
It is legal to use a copyrighted song as the basis of a parody. No mechanical license is required. No performance rights can be charged for a parody. This means that you could take a copyrighted song such as The Beatles Hey, Jude as the basis of your new song "Hey, Dude". The words must be different and your new words would have to be seen as a parody of the original song or a satire of some current event or personage.
It is STRICTLY illegal to recycle a copyrighted melody.
You cannot simply slap a new title on a copyrighted melody and call it your own. Changing the key, or tempo is not sufficient to break the copyright. If it is not a NEW work it is an illegal work.
However, a copyrighted melody may be used as the basis for a new variation. Perhaps the most successful technique to use when attempting to recycle an existing copyrighted melody is retrograde motivic Development.
Just remember, the ice is THIN when you are messing about with copyrighted material. Your work must not be an obvious clone of the original piece. It must be original. So, IF you walk down this path, be careful and be original. Treat the original copyrighted work as inspiration, not as a template.
Recycling Examples
1. Scottish song, Farewell to Tarwatie, morphs into Bob Dylan’s Farewell to Angelina
Farewell to Tarwaite was written in the late 1850s in northeast Scotland. The composer was a miller who chronicled the movement of young men away from farming and into whaling. The song has been recorded by many artists here is one version.
In Bob Dylan’s version of Farewell to Tarwatie, new words replaced the original and the tempo increased. The groove changes. This cover by Tim O’Brien puts the Dylan version into a bluegrass vibe.
Very few listeners recognize Dylan's Farewell Angelina as Farewell to Tarwatie.
Farewell to Tarwaite was written in the late 1850s in northeast Scotland. The composer was a miller who chronicled the movement of young men away from farming and into whaling. The song has been recorded by many artists here is one version.
In Bob Dylan’s version of Farewell to Tarwatie, new words replaced the original and the tempo increased. The groove changes. This cover by Tim O’Brien puts the Dylan version into a bluegrass vibe.
Very few listeners recognize Dylan's Farewell Angelina as Farewell to Tarwatie.
2. A traditional Irish ballad becomes a 20th protest song
Star of the County Down has been performed as a rollicking pub song, a Celtic-rock piece, a traditional folk song, as a big production piece by Celtic Women, as a slow, and a dignified instrumental. The melody and structure are extremely versatile. This solo version of the song may be true to the original style. This ballad-style version of the song is serious, even heavy, certainly sad. Celtic-punk versions of the song are available that are…. Well…. Celtic punk!
Star of the County Down
The Irish writer, Brendan Behan, used the melody of Star of the County Down to create a broadside criticizing how young Irish men were treated by the British after WWII. Behan changed the tempo dramatically and gave the love-song- ballad an angry feel.
Compare the Star of the County Down John Doyle’s version of Brendan Behan's Crooked Jack
Star of the County Down has been performed as a rollicking pub song, a Celtic-rock piece, a traditional folk song, as a big production piece by Celtic Women, as a slow, and a dignified instrumental. The melody and structure are extremely versatile. This solo version of the song may be true to the original style. This ballad-style version of the song is serious, even heavy, certainly sad. Celtic-punk versions of the song are available that are…. Well…. Celtic punk!
Star of the County Down
The Irish writer, Brendan Behan, used the melody of Star of the County Down to create a broadside criticizing how young Irish men were treated by the British after WWII. Behan changed the tempo dramatically and gave the love-song- ballad an angry feel.
Compare the Star of the County Down John Doyle’s version of Brendan Behan's Crooked Jack
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3. A traditional Irish waltz becomes a Turkish dance.
South Wind is a popular Irish Waltz. This first version is a segment from the track Irish Wind from my CD 12° of Separation. It is played in a slow, traditional style of an air. South Wind part A To give the melody a different vibe, I changed the time signature to 6|4 from 3|4 and I played the melody in the mode A-Aeolian. I added a rhythmic introduction. I also added a sneaky one-measure of 5|4 at the end of the 12-string guitar pass through the melody. Leading into the final pass of the melody (in a new key) is a short transitional melody played on 12-string guitar. The Scamander River is the ancient name of what is now called The Meander River. This wandering river lies in western Turkey and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. The Trojan War was fought on the flood plain of the Scamander. 4. American Folk Song Becomes a Protest Song
Wayfaring Stranger [Roud 3339] is a well known American folk song that musicologists believe was written in the early 1800s. Listen to a version performed by Jack White. This has a strong "mountain" quality to its sound. It's very sad. It's very powerful. I used this powerful, traditional,public domain song to create Lost to Coal - a protest song about the sinking of Marine Electric. The ship sank during a mega-snow-storm in February 1983. Thirty-one men died of hypothermia. Three men survived. The ship was a WWII T2 vessel that had been "jumboized". It was a rusty, overage vessel that should have been sent to the scrap yard a decade or more earlier. As a result of the official inquiry into the sinking the Coast Guard created the Rescue Swimmers School, began the requirement that all American flag vessel carry survival suits for all crew members, and de-certified more than seventy merchant ships. Those dangerous vessel went right to the scrap yard. The Marine Electric lies in 125 feet of water approximately twenty-three miles off the coast of Assateague Island, Virginia. The words of the Lost to Coal chorus were taken mostly from transcripts of the ship's distress calls. Marine Electric's call sign was "WOOH". You'll hear that three times at the beginning of the chorus. This audio clip is a work in progress. It was created as an audition track for my trio. The recording is rough in many ways. I hope the raw quality of the recording will show how a recycling idea gets started. The trio is working on the song. A final studio version will be completed soon. 5. An Irish Reel Becomes a Pop Song
Steve Earle enjoyed a big hit with his song Galway Girl. The lyrics are his. The melody is a traditional Irish reel. Listen to both the original reel and Steve Earle's pop version. The melody of the original reel is virtually unchanged. Most listeners thought the song was entirely original. Truth is, it's half-original. A case of very successful recycling |
Watch and listen to Galway Girl as a pop song
June 11, 2016 Lead Performers: Sharon Shannon, We Banjo 3, Munday, Amazing Apples, and others And "15,000" backup singers | ||||
6. One More Nickel
One of the anthems of the 1960s folk era was a song called The MTA - or get poor Charlie off the MTA. The Kingsont Trio had a huge hit with this song. Many groups covered it. Everyone playing folk music at the time learned it. But the song is a recycled 19th ballad about a ship wreck. It was turned into a political message for the Mayor's race in Boston in the late 1940s. This one page PowerPoint will explain the history. Youi'll hear the original 19th century song and a portion of the Kingston Trio's version.
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