2016: Year End Goals

Around this time of year, I usually write about my end-of-year goals for Exit World music. This year is no different except that I don't really have any goals. Well, nothing crazy like the last few years. I would really love to get a Christmas album out there (read: a 10-song collection), but it's not going to happen in 2016. Technically there is enough time if I put together some simple covers. But I like to indulge in my music and doing things quickly is not how I like to work on it. Next year though is a very real possibility. Let's just say that things have fallen into place and I am more optimistic for the coming year than I was for the current one. And definitely more optimistic than the tone of some of my other posts this year.

Last year around this time I recorded a unique version of "We Three Kings." It didn't take me very long and I was pretty pleased with it. It was an instrumental and that has a lot to do with my having completed it rather quickly. Vocals are a weak spot for me and not having to record take after take of lines and phrases saves a ton of time. What I am considering for this year is recording another instrumental cover. I have not written any new holiday tunes nor do I anticipate being able to write and produce one in time. In all truth though the two original songs I did make the last few years were started around this time so I could still do it. I'm not going to place a lot of emphasis on that though and just focus on getting a cover done. I am leaning towards "O Little Town of Bethlehem," as it's a song I've been wanting to do for quite some time.

In my previous post I wrote that I was considering not renewing to have my music available on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc. At this point it looks like I will keep it up for at least another year. Recently I was with some people and I wanted to hear my music through a new piece of gear. Not having my iPod on me it was really really convenient to be able to have them find me on Spotify and play my music from there. That was pretty nice. It was also pretty cool to have my music playing there and most people around not knowing it was me. And then seeing how surprised they were to learn it was me. I took that as some small sign that I should continue on. So I'm going to keep my music up and available for streaming and purchase.

I did not do very much musically this year. I guess that's nothing really out of the ordinary for me. Just about two songs, possibly a third coming, and a half-minute rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" which has been played a lot. It's really hard to accomplish a lot when you're working this alone and you don't always have necessary time & space to do it. I could easily become an electronic musician and put out lots more music but I do not want to go that route.

One thing I did do recently was publish a new song on Soundcloud & YouTube called "If I Told You." I had been working on this song for several years. You can look back on some of my posts from some years ago when I first talked about it. Well, it's finally done and it's one of my favorite songs. The recording quality is so good IMHO and it shows how my production skills have really improved tenfold over the years. It is so good to see yourself grow, not old, but in ability, skill, knowledge and expertise.

I still want to remix the song and just tweak it a bit here and there, but I did make a video and uploaded it to YouTube:




This was my pièce de résistance for 2016. Surely this song (in slightly remixed format) will be on my next album of originals. 

In the meantime between now and the new year I will try to churn out a new recording of an old Christmas song. I know many of these tunes are tired and overdone but many people still love Christmas music as do I. I'll just come up with a unique take on it like I did with "We Three Kings."

Instrumental Song "The Way Home"

Some years ago I was just recording some ideas I had in my studio. I did some overdubs and left them as is for some future projects. This is actually nothing new. I still do this nowadays whenever I have ideas for new music. Well, I revisited that piece of music that originally was only acoustic guitar and electric guitar with lots of reverb. It just was just less than a minute long. But I added hi-hat, bass, piano and some percussion to it recently and I extended the song so it clocks in at just over 2 minutes. It's an instrumental and I titled it, "The Way Home." I don't know but this song has always had an on-the-road feel to it for me. And kind of a late 1970's soft rock sound to it. Perhaps even a TV theme song potential going on there. What do you think? Here is an abbreviated version I uploaded to YouTube. I had to edit it to fit the video:





Here is the unedited version that I uploaded to soundcloud:



I like how it turned out. I am considering putting it on the final draft of the album. Or I may just save it for my instrumentals album. Whatever the case I want to make it an official release.

I decided to work on this song even though I was not fully finished with "If I Told You." I just needed to take a break from that song as I was having difficulty with a small vocal part that I have now thankfully completed. The only thing remaining is the drum track. I may wait till I have another song ready for drums before I add them to this song. It's just way too much effort to set the drums and mics up for less than 2 minutes of playing time. At this point I will either continue working on that 10 minute song I started recording last year that is still without complete lyrics or I will move on to something else brand new. Stay tuned!

We Three Kings - A Christmas Offering

I have thus far released two versions of my new recording, "We Three Kings", out on social media. First I put one out there on Soundcloud which is this one:





This is also the version I have sent to ChristmasSongsRadio.com and is currently on their playlist. After listening many times to this version I went back and touched up a few things and remixed it. This 2nd mix I uploaded to YouTube a couple of days ago, although it is a fold-down mono version. Here it is:




To the average ear both mixes will sound nearly identical. Perhaps even to most listeners. But there are some subtle differences.

So why did I make a fold-down mono version for YouTube? Because it was quick and easy and gives it more of a vintage vibe. The way I arranged the song already gives it a 60's/70's feel. Putting a mono version out there adds to it. But it's not a true mono mix. Will I create a dedicated mono mix? Probably not. Making a stereo mix is hard enough and, as is usually the case, I'm still not completely satisfied with either one of the two I have already released. Still have a few tweaks to make. When I do decide to officially release a Christmas album I want only the best mixes & masters on it.

But that's what I have for now. I'd still like to get a new Christmas song written and recorded within the next two weeks. I guess it's possible but I don't know if it's probable. Fortunately, the last two original Christmas songs I wrote did not take very much time to spill out onto paper.

Or should I record another cover of a classic? That would probably take less time. I'm not sure what I'll do at the moment. I was actually planning to do a version of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" for this year. Problem is I was intending to mimic Kenny Burrell's 1966 version too closely. Not so much the arrangement and instrumentation used on his but the slower note phrasing and 3/8 time feel. I also considered making a medley out of this song and "We Three Kings." Finally, I decided on "We Three Kings" with a 4/4 time signature instead of its original 3/8 time.

Stay tuned for news of the next endeavor!

'Song For A Friend' on YouTube

I still want to post here with some level of regularity despite the hardship I am going through right now. Writing here and focusing on my music is actually quite therapeutic. I just wish I had all the time and energy necessary to be devoted to these things. I notice that many of the blogs that I follow post a lot more frequently than I do. I really do hope that things work out to a level where I will have the necessary means in all respects to keep all this going.

Recently I uploaded to YouTube a song I made several years back. This song has been on soundcloud for a while but I never really spread it around that much. This was a special project creation for a young friend who died from cancer in his teens. Some mutual friends decided to create a tribute to him on what would have been the commemoration of his birthday. I decided to contribute a song. Some songs come fast--words and melody--other songs come very slow. This one came fast and it's a good thing it did because the target date for this tribute was his birthday which was not very far off. The recording and everything was finished rather quickly and in time.

I have thought several times about changing some of the lyrics to make for less specific details and perhaps creating a wider audience appeal. I feel the song has tremendous pop sensibilities and I drew inspiration from at least 2 songs--'Leaving Ninety-Nine' by Audio Adrenaline and 'February' by Ten Shekel Shirt--that I like very much. (In fact, the title of the Ten Shekel Shirt song influenced me to originally title the song in a similar fashion. I have gone on to change the title several times). However, as I mentioned before, I'm not very keen on trying to re-work old songs, or at least old songs which have already been recorded. There are a few things I could do to make the recording sonically superior. But as far as a re-write, there are no plans for that unless I received a professional suggestion to do so.

As it stands the song is officially called "Song For A Friend." Here it is:




On this recording I used 2 guitars which I no longer own. One was the emerald green Carvin CT-6 and the other was a Rickenbacker 350V63. I'm not completely sure but there may have been a third guitar used. I did not keep recording notes at that time so I can only go by memory. Bass used was a Fender Jazz bass. This song also features some prominent slide guitar playing which I incorporated during a slide phase I was going through. I certainly do plan to add more slide to my recordings as I see fit.

So what do you think of the song? Someone upon hearing this song for the first time said it sounded like the Beatles. I found that to be interesting.

To Create or Not Create...That is the Question!

My last post here was over 3 months ago. Sadly I don't have any news regarding music. First of all because where I do my musical work is very hot during summer and not really conducive to spending hours being creative. Not safe either. And second because of general discouragement, disillusionment and disappointment.

Yes, making music is fun and great and rewarding if that is what one is passionate about, as I am. But I think one of the necessary elements of art is sharing it with others. Letting it be seen or heard. What's the point in painting portraits but keeping them all in your room and never allowing anyone else to see them? Or learning how to dance all the different dances there are but never performing them but to yourself in front of a mirror? Or creating music that no one else ever gets to hear, either because you don't share it or your options for sharing it prove futile? (And it does not even have to apply just to art. How about science? If you found a cure for something what is the point if you don't share it?)

Which brings me to YouTube. I am tempted to upload more of my songs on this website but I look at the number of video views and I say, "What's the point?" The numbers are pathetic. It seems people are more interested in watching other people's reactions to viral videos and video games. What is this? We have gone from doing things ourselves to watching other people do things to watching other people react to other people doing things. I don't understand this. Why would anyone want to watch anyone else's reactions while playing a video game? Where is the entertainment value in that? Why not just play the game yourself? God forbid I recommend that though seeing as how I believe video games in general are a curse upon young people (not to mention those not-so-young who still indulge).

But there is no way to compete with all the mindlessness out there. I can upload a new song today and it will have a negligible amount of views for most of its life. Every time I upload a new video I tell myself that this will be the one that does well. It's all bogus. No one's interested. Everyone is looking for something that is controversial, has shock value or is celebrity-related. Reverbnation, Bandcamp, soundcloud and other websites are really no different. I seriously don't believe anyone fans you on those websites for any reason other than wanting you to fan them back and increase their audience, or worse yet, trying to sell you a product or service. The only websites that have brought my music any exposure is this very blog where I write (discovered by The Basement Tapes) and also Podshow Music Network. Some of my songs have been picked up as a result of these 2 websites and have been played in various areas, including as far away as Germany.

I wish I had better news or a more optimistic outlook. If anything I still intend to release my full length album this year--this fall actually. It's still a major goal and I'll consider it a milestone for me when it does happen. And it will allow me to have my songs on Spotify and other music streaming websites, even if they're not played ever. But just knowing that they are there gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Before I sign off I do want to say that I have been fiddling around with my Christmas song a little. Just trying to improve it in time for the holidays. I have been trying to add a second snare drum track from my Yamaha S90 synth over my original one to make it stronger and more modern sounding. I'm not a huge fan of using 'fake' drums on my recordings but until I can figure out how to get a great recorded snare sound in my studio space I must use whatever resources I have at hand to make the best recordings I can. Also I had an idea for a tubular bells track to replace the original horns track but that has not gone very well.

In closing, I want to share this quote from an episode of "Night Gallery" which struck me from the first time I heard it and has come to signify reality more and more each time I hear it. Just to put this quote in context, it was uttered inside a funeral home in regards to the outside world:

"Out there is the graveyard! Out there--the slaughterhouse where they kill and bury dreams. A whole world full of lonely pallbearers."

 Yes, I see this manifesting itself on a daily basis.

Re-visiting Some Previously Recorded Tunes

What have I been up to lately? Well, revisiting some of my old tunes and re-working them so to speak. Last week I went back to "Another Morning (What a Drag)" and attempted to create a stripped-down mix of it for a special purpose. Recently the thought of going back to many of my older songs and just completely stripping them down to acoustic guitar and vocals has crossed my mind. I guess I feel like experimenting a bit. But even something like that can distract me from getting my album released as part of my springtime goal.  So in reality the reason I went back to "Another Morning" was for a very good reason and not just to kill time. Anyway, here is the mix that I came up with.




The last few days I have gone back to working on "Tomorrow." A music comrade had suggested I do a little more with the vocals so I added some extra layers of complimentary vocals. It was a great idea that I'm glad he suggested and I really like how the new version now sounds. I also took the liberty of moving around a few parts that for years I have left alone; reason being that I felt I had spent enough time on it already and needed to move on. So this new yet-unreleased version will sound different from the one I released on my EP in late 2011 which can be heard on Spotify if you look hard enough (or on my YouTube channel).

It was interesting going back to these recordings from 2009 and 2010. I realized I was quite reverb-happy during that time. I still love reverb but the amounts I used in these songs were pretty excessive. Additionally, I was using the built-in reverb which is very digital sounding. I exclusively now use reverb pedals or vocal pedals that have good-sounding reverb built into them. The reverb on these pedals don't sound so processed as does the one built into my 16 track Boss recorder.

So not only will "Tomorrow" sound different from the EP version but "Another Morning" will as well. Not as much however. But there will be reduced levels of reverb and I'm going to remix the drum track to mono. The current version features the drums really up front in the mix due to inadvertently recording the drums onto a stereo track. After having recorded the drums I played it back and noticed that the kick drum was panned all the way to one side while the rest of the drums were panned to the other. Needless to say that was not the effect I was going for. At the time I thought the only way to remedy that (without playing the drum part all over again) would be to double the drum track and pan it all the way left or right in order to balance out everything into the middle. But that resulted in a really in-your-face drum part. So I'm going to mix down that drum track into mono and take it from there.

In other news, I'm still working on the lyrics for the final song on the album. Stayed tuned.

New Song Finally Finished! (Almost)

Started recording "Call On Me" back in December of 2012. I'm finally at the point (I believe so anyway) that I just have to mix and master the song now. I am considering re-recording a couple of guitar parts that feature the Leslie speaker sound. I'm not 100% sure if I will but it's pretty minor stuff regardless. So here is the mix/master I came up with as of last night:





I'm actually pretty happy with the sound. Everything can be clearly heard. Drums sound pretty good. I am however planning to move the background vocals during the choruses to either side instead of in the middle as they are in this version. And I may give the electric bass a little boost in volume.

For anyone who may be interested, I played an Epiphone Les Paul for all the electric guitar parts through a Fender Super Sonic stack, a Fender J-bass and a Yamaha S90 for the Rhodes sound.

My inspiration for this song was actually The Bee Gees. I was going through a time where I was listening to their early songs and checking out all their late 60's and early 70's videos on YouTube. I was just messing around on guitar and trying to come up with a melody over the guitar chords and some of the words just started flowing out. After I had the main theme of the song I started writing the lyrics to match. And then I spent way too long on recording it. Truth is I abandoned it for a long, long time and didn't finish it up. I had spent a lot of time on (Doesn't That) Blow Your Mind and you might say I was creatively exhausted. Excuses, excuses. I pretty much blew off 2013 but in all honesty I did some a pretty good reason. As I look through my recording log book--which I'm not very consistent with keeping up to date--I see that all of 2013 is blank except for nearly the very last month, which is when I managed to cut those 2 Christmas recordings. So it wasn't a complete waste. Pending all things possible, I promise myself to make 2014 a much more productive year. I Already have this song done. "Already". LOL. Album will be on the way as soon as I finish up recording one last song and go back and remix some of the others.

But for now I want to enjoy all the work I put into "Call On Me." If anyone should happen to give it a listen (Bootsy) I hope it sounds like music to your ears. I'll be back in the studio tonight tweaking and making adjustments.

(Doesn't That) Blow Your Mind

I finally uploaded my song, "(Doesn't That) Blow Your Mind" to YouTube. Hadn't done much in terms of uploading my songs to YouTube lately because of the difficulty in trying to make videos that would complement the songs. I don't have the equipment or any willing volunteers nor do I want to 'borrow' other people's photos and videos out there due to copyright issues. So I finally decided on just making the video a still photo of the forthcoming album.

Even though "Blow Your Mind" has been out there on my tumblr and perhaps Soundcloud, I don't really consider it 'out there' until it's on YouTube. Additionally this is a great way to release a single to promote the album.due soon. (I'm not sure if they still put out singles before albums nowadays. I don't really follow the industry and I don't buy much new music. I do know that back in the 1960's and 70's they would sometimes put out singles before the albums they appeared on and other times they would release albums first then put out singles from the album. I never understood the latter because if you had the album you wouldn't need to get the singles. But I digress...)

I guess we'll have to go back to the days before music videos where you would listen to music and come up with your own imagery. So listen to the song and use your imagination:

Next Song: Thank You (For Loving Me)

This is the first recording I made that I actually was pleased with the overall sound and balance of instrument mix. Even to this day I can listen to it and feel that the sound quality is pretty high. One of the measures for me of how good the quality of a recording is is the sound of the drums. In this song, the drums sound very good, from the snare to the bass to the toms to the cymbals. A badly recorded drum set sound can turn a great song into something pretty awful. I don't remember how many mic's I used to record the drums. Seeing how this is another one of the songs I recorded on the Boss BR-8 it is very possible that I only used 2 mics. The BR-8 has a 2 mic input capability and unless I used a mixer which would allow a greater number of mic's to be used (which I really doubt), that's all it was. It's not impossible to get a very good drum set sound with only 2 mics. I can to this day get a pretty solid recording of drums with only 2 mics as long as the drums are tuned well. I recorded this song sometime around 2002 and the drum sound still impresses me. To be honest, I'm pleased with all the instrument tracks. The vocal tracks needed some more work.

So this song was my second attempt at a gospel song. I called it "Thank You (For Loving Me)." I do believe this one was a lot better than "God of Love and Peace" in every way. It definitely showed progress on many levels. And it didn't sound country. Well, maybe still a little. But I blame that on the vocals. I don't think any of the instrumentation or guitar playing sounds country.

The guitar solo in this song is quite different from the solo in "God of Love & Peace." It's clean and loaded with reverb and delay. The electric guitar used for most if not the entire song was an Ibanez Artcore AF75 hollowbody guitar, which I no longer have. Here is a photo of it:

The instrument tracks include: a couple of electric guitar tracks; an acoustic guitar; electric bass; drums; electronic keyboard (organ sound); tambourine; and some vocal tracks.




This song placed in the top 1500 and won an honorable mention in the 12th Annual Billboard World Songwriting Contest.