So let me explain the process that led up to these two compositions I call “remixes” of Pete Seeger’s a cappella performance of “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?” I bought a MIDI controller keyboard last week so I can use it in the classroom for teaching GarageBand. The challenge was to learn it well enough to begin to teach after the February break. I used to compose using an ATARI and Notator music program so GarageBand is relatively simple and intuitive.
Spotify sent me an email to the effect that they have the Seeger performance, so I listened to it and immediately imagined a rock anthem version. The challenge was taking Seeger’s freeform phrasing and creating an alternative phrasing that could be set to a click track and didn’t sound cut and pasted or stilted. Excited about how quickly I put together the rock version, I took on the challenge to orchestrate a more formal version that included Pete’s signature instrument, the banjo. I hope you like them.
