Debut Album Released!

I would like to recap on my progress regarding the goals I wrote about in my last post.

First and foremost, I am very pleased to say that I have released my debut full-length album titled "Milestone." I was having a very difficult time uploading the tracks to the Record Union website. Thus, I contacted them and they assisted by uploading the tracks for me. I officially released the album this past Tuesday which coincides with the day of the week that the music industry releases new material. I did not plan it that way. My original intentions were to release it by Thanksgiving, but due to the lack of success I had in uploading to Record Union it was pushed back. The good news is that it is finally out which means that 3 out of 5 of my goals have been met.

The other 2 goals included recording a cover of a traditional Christmas song and recording an original Christmas song. I thought the former would be the easier task but it turns out that lyric ideas were flowing rather nicely. So for about the last week I've been working on recording this brand new Christmas song called "Christmastime." Making Christmas music just feels so good. I really enjoy it. You can keep it so simple. The real importance of it is in the lyrics and in an easy yet memorable melody. A lot of new Christmas music that I hear tends to be overproduced, schmaltzy and sad. To each his own but I can't go for that. I like the songs "White Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." I realize those songs are more reflective in nature and as such are more slow-tempo. But some artists just make those songs sound so depressing that I cannot listen. Nowadays it seems that Christmas music in general has become nothing more than a vocal showcase for many popular recording artists, providing the public with uninspired, contractually-obligated holiday music. I much prefer to hear original Christmas tunes, such as Coldplay's "Christmas Lights," as long as it's not schmaltz.

As far as when my new song will be finished--all I can say is sometime next week. You don't have a lot of time to spend on a Christmas song when the big day is only 12 days away. And of course I want to have it on rotation at ChristmasSongsRadio.com so I have to give it to them early enough. Currently I'm working on some piano parts for the song. Planning on some electric guitar. Probably add some sleigh/jingle bells. Also considering the possibility of some bells sounds and harpsichord. One of the main issues will be drums. Will I actually play drums or will I use the drum sounds from my Yamaha S90? Its drum sounds are very authentic-sounding. But it's so hard to get a perfectly timed beat in sync with the song. Much better playing actual drums but, as I've ranted so much about before, it's so hard to get a good snare drum sound. So I don't know what I'll do as of yet.

So when I'm done with "Christmastime" I may have enough time to do a cover of a traditional x-mas song. I have been strongly leaning towards doing a cover of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" with the lead melody played on a mini-moog.

Until next time.

End of the Year Goals

Once again we are here in the final one-sixth of the year and I've got a plate stacked full of musical ambitions. Why do I do this? Not sure but I do know that there are some times throughout the year when I'm just not interested in working on my music. And it's not because it is some kind of a fleeting, semi-passion for me. It has more to do with a general malady of frustration and at times a quiet desperation at the thought that maybe--probably, in fact--this is not going to ever go anywhere. Those are hard sentiments to deal with and can be very paralyzing when it comes to creating or even forcing oneself to work on unfinished projects. In addition to that, I'm easily carried away by other interests I have and can easily devote hours to those things, which although not being bad things they are things nonetheless which will not necessarily take me where I want to go. Thus, another year almost over and quite the unproductive one at that.

So how do I make up for precious time lost? By creating a long laundry list of things to accomplish by Christmas. The list includes:

-Finish recording the new song I've been working on for release on the album
-Make final touches on some of the other songs for the album
-Release the album (by Thanksgiving)
-Record a cover of a traditional Christmas song
-Write & record a brand new Christmas song

What do you think? All this along with keeping my other interests/obsessions in check. I think everything but perhaps the brand new Christmas song is feasible. My top priority is doing whatever needs to be done in order to finally release my first full-length album by Thanksgiving. That means finishing up recording the song I'm currently working on which will be the 10th track on the album. I have just about 3 weeks to do that AND tweak some of the other songs. Once that is done I can devote the next few weeks to recording a Christmas song or two. I plan on doing my take on another traditional Christmas song. Something in the public domain of course so I don't have to concern myself with copyrights and licensing and all that holiday-spirit stuff. There most certainly are some contemporary ones I would love to do but many of my favorites are so definitive-sounding that I don't think I could add anything to them. And there's that issue of licensing. Public domain it is.

But getting back to the album.
I decided on a new, original tune to fill out the album. With that I don't mean to say that it's filler material. But I was severely lacking in terms of a solid 10th track. I tried going back and rewriting lyrics to some solid tracks I had; however those did not pan out well. If you keep going back trying to fix the old material you will never move forward and produce new material. I wrote that this new song is the 10th song but not referring to it in a way of significance. It is the last song I needed for a somewhat cohesive album, but it will also be featured as the last track on the album. It is a song of hope. Thus the project closes out on a high note.

Here is a tentative track listing. I am trying to pick the song order as if it were to be released on a vinyl LP:

Side 1
1. Another Morning (What a Drag)
2. Tomorrow
3. The Moment of Truth
4. Call On Me
5. Doesn't That Blow Your Mind

Side 2
1. You Are So Good
2. Where I Belong
3. The Rain
4. Erie's Song
5. We're Gonna Make It

In conclusion, as much as I would love to start tackling all those things at the same time, I need to first finish recording "We're Gonna Make It" in a manner which is quick yet as pleasing as possible to me. I do not plan to go all-out-production on this song so within several days it should be completed. Then, if at all constructive and possible, I want to go back and 'touch up' about 6 of the other songs. Some have very minor issues. Others have a bit more work. Some of those songs have been previously released on my EP a few years back so I would like for these to have a slightly different mix at the very least.

Well, it's time to get to work. And I don't mean wage-slavery-type work, LOL. I mean work that matters. The kind of work that each one of us was placed here to do. Mine is music. What's yours? I will provide more frequent updates on my progress. Thanks for reading!

Goals for the Remainder of the Year

So as the title implies I am going to discuss what plans I still have to fulfill within the few short weeks left before this year goes into the books.

I had announced on Facebook that I was going to record a Christmas album (or several songs at the very least). I made this announcement on November 29. From that day hence I've been working on the same 1 song. So I believe it's very unlikely I'll be able to do a whole album before Christmas. Thus I'm going to set some more realistic goals for the remaining 20 days.

Here they are in order of importance:

First, I am going to finish up recording "Silent Night." I have a funky little version I have been working on since November 29 and all I need to do is lay down a guitar track and the drum track. The drum track will be left for last so I can finish up 2 songs in the same session. Saves a lot of work setting up the drum set and doing several takes to get a good sound.

Second, I'm going to finish writing an original Christmas song and begin recording it soon. Nothing long or fancy. The simplest stuff works best for Christmas music. Look at all the classics that have stood the test of time. Mostly all short and simple.

Third, I'm going to finish up "Call On Me." Yes, the song that should have been completed months ago. I have yet to record the bass track, harmony/falsetto track and some electric guitar here and there. No if's, and's or but's about it--this song has to be finished within the month and after the Christmas tunes.

Fourth and finally, I've got to release my first full-length album which I announced in September. I originally planned for October or November but time has been flying by and it's just not ready. And it won't be ready until "Call On Me" is finished. I also have to go back and create a new mix of "Tomorrow" for the album, and possibly a new mix of "The Rain" and "Now and Then" also. And I'll also have to decide how many and which tracks will make it to the album. If I had anything resembling a fan base I could have them vote for which songs should be on there.

Sound feasible? I think so. But only time will tell.