Holiday Music Plans For 2020

 It's the holiday season and in terms of having new holiday music ready for this time, I have learned my lesson. Well, not really. Neither is it officially the holiday season--though to me it is because it really starts to feel like it even before Thanksgiving--nor have I learned my lesson in terms of releasing new holiday music. Can I just add that the holiday season to me starts with Halloween? There's no denying that Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year's are all very much related with some fascinating parallels in the subject matter of endings and new beginnings. The last quarter of the year really is my favorite time. 

Anyway, I am working on new holiday music. Considering my history of timing I'd say I'm pretty early. But I cannot guarantee I'll have anything new. I will try, however. The good thing is that I have plenty of time to keep 'promoting' last year's tune, "You Know It's Christmas Time." That was another late release--December 11 to be precise. Traditionally, holiday albums are released in October though I don't know who buys them that early. I have to admit that I'm not quite in a Christmassy mood pre-Halloween. And nobody plays it that early either. ChristmasSongsRadio.com started playing holiday music before Thanksgiving this year and I'm grateful to hear the wonderful, diverse variety you can find there which includes my very own songs.

I have no problem with recording and releasing an electronic tune. "You Know It's Christmas Time" was virtually such a recording with the exception being a real guitar track and my vocal. While I was able to get the music tracks down rather quickly, it was the vocal that held the release up. But one thing I didn't know was that as a result of releasing that song through CD Baby as a "Pro Single," I was granted a free membership into ASCAP. That was cool. 

Another song I have nearly ready for release is "Christmas In The City (reprise)". The problem is I don't have the non-reprise version of the song anywhere near completely written! The reprise version is a 6-minute track featuring a repeating 4-part harmony of "Christmas in the city, lookin' so pretty" trading off with instrumental solos. It was just meant to be a fun, 70s funk inspired song. But I need the main song it's based off with a lot more lyrics than that. Have you ever heard of a reprise being released without the song it was based on?

So that's something I can work on. I also wanted to do a minor key version of "Jingle Bells." That may be something I could do quick if my vocals don't fail me too much. But I'd prefer doing something original. 

As I write this I have a working demo song titled "A Winter's Day" playing in the background. I like its mellow sound and feel but I've been stuck on writing for a few years. And it's another 4 part harmony song so it surely would take me quite some time to finish up a recording.

So there's lots to do. I will be seriously thrilled if I can just have a new recording released in time for Christmas. It's just about 4 weeks away so there really is no time to waste. Wish me luck.

New Christmas Song Finished & Released

I find it mildly amusing that I had forecasted the completion of my new Christmas song within a few days of the end of November. I did not finish the final mix and mastering until December 11. And by the way, I'm still not thrilled with the final mix. I would have kept remixing and remixing until I got it just the way I wanted--were that possible considering it's an unattainable goal--but it's already so late to be releasing a Christmas song that I did the best I could under the circumstances. The good news is that it is now both at CD Baby and Bandcamp and also at iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and everywhere else. I just hope it gets to those places well before Christmas.

I started this new song well before Thanksgiving. Mind you the intention was just to create some background music for videos. But as I really liked how it was turning out I thought it would be a waste to just leave it as background music, though it could still well serve that purpose. However, once again the vocal part is what created such a delay. Not getting everything sounding up to par. And unfortunately the released version is still not perfect vocal-wise but it's the best I can do under the circumstances.

I must admit--I seriously considered giving up vocal music during my many takes for this song. It became so frustrating to record the same lines over and over and not get them just right or even just good enough. I honestly cannot understand how some people can sing and hit the right notes every time. I started thinking along the way of doing instrumental music exclusively. I would definitely get more music produced more frequently if I were to only do instrumentals. But I also enjoy writing lyrics even though it's hard for me to sing them. And I cannot ask anyone to sing for me due to legal reasons. Whatever I create musically has to be 100% mine. The last thing I want to deal with is legal issues.

Anyway, here is the newly finished song found on my Bandcamp page:

You Know It's Christmas Time

Hope you like it. It's radically different from any Christmas song I've made before. But again, it wasn't initially planned to be such. The good thing is that not only is it a Christmas song but it also fulfilled the initial desire of being background music if I only remove the vocal.

Regarding the youtube issue--I tried to appeal the deconstruction of my Exit World channel but youtube only responded by saying that I need to get the Fred Rogers Company (FRC) to rescind their copyright strikes. Like that is going to happen. So as someone suggested I could move to Vimeo and carry on there, or I could just create a new email through Google and start my new youtube channel that way. (Actually I just found out I can create a new channel with my existing Google account).

I nearly forgot--this has also put a damper on my plans to release my old lo-fi recordings from many years ago. This makes me angry the more I think about it. I was not a multiple violator of their policies. I uploaded material that was not banned immediately. It was all up for quite some time before this happened. Had they taken all the FRC videos down initially I would not have uploaded more. All I received were copyright claim notices. Those are not bad. They serve to inform that someone has claimed the right to the video in question. But they gave me no chance. It was 1-2-3 and I was done. I blame both the FRC and youtube for this. I did not continue to upload claimed content after receiving any of the strikes. That's the part that is not fair. They make it seem as though I continued to upload videos after receiving the first 2 strikes. Why didn't they just take down all the Rogers' videos with the first strike? Why did they need 3 strikes to do it?

Anyway, I sent the FRC a few more emails with the final one giving them a piece of my mind. I stated that they handled this situation in a very unprofessional manner. I said a few more things as well. Surprisingly, I did get a response with an offer from them to talk to youtube about my Exit World channel. As I relayed this to youtube they refused to accept it and kept giving me the runaround. Like a broken record all they keep saying to me is that I need to resolve the copyright strikes on my Exit World channel when I don't have any on that one. Their reason for shutting it down was that it was linked to the channel with the strikes (JustGoodStuff). So I wrote them a not-so-pleasant email as well and I haven't heard from them anymore.

As far as I'm concerned that matter is done and I'm not going to hear from either party any further. So I'll just come up with another channel for my own personal music (which I will probably call "Millions of Me" as this is a possible new recording artist name for me). The other one I already made is called "AllTheBest". The only problem I'm having with the AllTheBest channel is that I cannot upload videos longer than 15 minutes since I'm not verified. My 2 most popular videos were just over 15 minutes each. Under 16 but over 15! I left the computer on all night long to upload one of them just to get a message that said it couldn't be processed since it was over 15 minutes. Couldn't they warn me ahead of time? So frustrating! And I'm hesitant to verify my account since that may lead to getting the new channel(s) shut down as well. I don't know what's involved in 'verifying' so I can't take any chances right now. I may just have to create a third channel with a brand new email.

Most importantly though is that I released a new Christmas song in 2019 and much earlier than in previous years. Also it's on my Exit World - Topic channel created by CD Baby.

In my next post I will discuss some goals for 2020, as is in keeping with tradition. If it weren't for "You Know It's Christmas Time" I would not have had a new song in 2019. I had a few background music recordings I made and I guess those should count especially if I am seriously considering working exclusively on instrumental music.

This post took way too long to write. It's pretty much after the fact now since it's been sitting here since mid-December.

2017 - The First Post

This is my first post of the new year. So far I've only been writing some lyrics. They're not all holiday or seasonal related however. I guess you really can't force certain ideas when there are so many other things going on around you. Thoughts start flowing about other subjects no matter how focused you try to stay on others. But it's not a bad thing. We'll just see what comes of it. If it turns out to be more incomplete lyrics and unfinished songs then it's a waste. I remember starting to write a song in 2008 after the election. Well, that went nowhere and it's going to stay there at this point. I'm not saying it is not worth finishing up, but it has lost some of its meaning and its relevance at this time.

What does help is that it's still winter and cold outside. I can work on my 'winter' songs. It is very difficult to work on winter & Christmas songs in the summer. Which reminds me--I must make the most of the first 5 or 6 months of this year before it gets summery hot in my recording studio and then I cannot do anything there. The period from about June to September is generally a wash for me when it comes to recording. It is a huge loss of precious time. I wish I had a private, climate-controlled facility where I could leave everything set up and ready to be played and recorded. I would get so much more done. This is seriously something that has stunted my recorded output.

I listened to the "Tubular Bells" album by Mike Oldfield recently. If you don't already know it is a two-song album. Just one 20+ minute song on each side of the record. I liked some of it, but I didn't care for a lot of it. It did plant an idea in my mind to do something similar. Not exactly the same. But I like the idea of some long, drawn-out jams. Not that those two tracks were exactly jams in the traditional sense of the word. There were hardly any drums at all on this album. And there were plenty of unnatural sounding instruments, such as sped-up guitars and mandolins and basses that didn't sound like basses. And some very strange vocals on part two. I think Oldfield had a good idea with the album. It started off strong but then strayed and became weak. By the time of the second side I was longing for its conclusion. It was a pretty long album for its time as well. At 48 or 49 minutes it was rather lengthy for 1973.

So the seed was planted. Maybe just come up with two long jams that would produce some really nice clips. Maybe have some instruments come in at certain times and others fade out. Perhaps some vocals but no real words. I like the experimental music era of the early 1970's. A lot of the progressive rock, psychedelic & R&B bands took full advantage of that time and produced some really cool pieces. Pink Floyd and Yes come to mind; the ultra-long instrumental section of "Do Your Thing" by Isaac Hayes; "Papa Was a Rolling Stone" by the Temptations; "Imagine" by The Happenings; "Dorian Benediction" by The Free Design. I read that early Genesis was another in this category. I will have to check them out.

So this is a bit of a problem with me. I find it hard to commit to any type of musical style or genre. When I listen to Christmas music, I want to make Christmas music. When I listen to Coldplay, I want to make songs like Coldplay's. When I listen to Gordon Lightfoot or Jim Croce, I want to make music like theirs. When I listen to Pink Floyd I want to make music like theirs. Or the Moody Blues. Or countless otherse. Problem is, I don't sound like any of them. No one will ever listen to any of my songs and say, "Hey! This sounds like Coldplay!" While I would certainly be flattered I would think there is definitely something wrong with their hearing.

I guess I'm talking about vocal styles here. I could probably make music that sound like theirs but when it comes to singing I would not even be close. I don't have the vocal prowess of any of those singers. Christmas music is Christmas music. As far as I know there is no one known as a "Christmas music recording artist." There is no defined sound of a Christmas music singer's vocal. It's an open field. And it's still the best method of breaking into the music industry. But it is very hard to remain focused on Christmas music when the world around you is long done with the holiday's festivities.

Like all the years before, I have no idea what this year will produce musically for me. Things never seem to be where you want them to be. I honestly believed 2017 would be more of a breeze compared to the past few years. Not looking that way. Getting less and less studio time. Can't accomplish anything at this rate. We'll see what happens.

Exit World Christmas EP Available on CdBaby

Yesterday I released my Christmas EP and it was titled just that. It contains the four songs that I have recorded the last few years. My intention was to include a new recording or two but due to an overlook on my part when I was completing the submission I did not leave the option to include any extra tracks. Thus, I had the option of contacting cdbaby so that they could make the necessary changes and waiting on them to get back to me probably after Christmas, or going ahead and submitting the album with only the aforementioned four songs. Which would you choose? I didn't want to wait another twelve months to do this so I went ahead and submitted what I had. I had a fifth song all ready to go but it just didn't work out for this year. By the way, I had to make this excruciating decision late last night even after sending cdbaby an email. I'm glad I did not wait for a response from them since they neither have responded nor will they till after it's too late. I guess my fifth track will have to wait for next year. So once again it's been a learning experience and I now what to do for next time.

Speaking of next year, I have already decided that I will spend all of next year making Christmas & seasonal music. Yes, I'm going to take a break from making my non-holiday music. I really like Christmas music and I hate the feeling of getting into recording it so late in the game. I don't know about now but in the past most holiday albums were released in October. I'm not aiming for that early but definitely November or early December. And the plan is to release two albums--one of original songs and one of instrumental classics. I know it will be hard to stay focused on Christmas music in the summer. Heck, it may be hard in a month or two when the world is fully back to it's pre-Christmas sentiment and it seems as though there never had even been a Christmas. But I tend to keep the holiday music playing for quite some time even beyond New Year's Day. And I have winter around me so that should help, too. I may start working on some new stuff as soon as Christmas passes this year.

Here is the just released Christmas EP on cdbaby in case any of you good folks want to make a purchase:

Exit World Christmas EP

A Christmas Album in the Future?

I really love Christmas music and these last 2 holiday seasons where I have come up with a couple of original Christmas songs has led me to seriously consider making a whole album of original Christmas tunes. Sure, the classics and traditional songs are wonderful but there is always more that can be said. There are always new perspectives and different ways of saying some of the old expressions. Certainly "deck the halls with boughs of holly" can be updated to reflect our modern methods of decorating and making merry.

Some writers like mixing the subject of Christmas with romance. And some of those songs are very good and memorable--Merry Christmas Darling, All I Want for Christmas is You, Merry Christmas Baby, etc. Many songs have nothing to do with romance and instead focus on the aspects of Christmas or the season itself. Some are religious in nature. Some are just plain silly. Others are serious. Some are upbeat and festive. Some are low-key and reflective. Others are downright depressing.

As a writer, I prefer the non-romantic, upbeat and low-key, reflective compositions. The two songs I made I consider to be mid-tempo numbers that are somewhat reflective in nature. I think this is the best formula that works for me. That's not to say that I will never experiment with some of the other categories. I don't intend to produce an album of 10 or 12 sound alike songs. In fact, the 2 songs I have already recorded are quite different musically from each other. "It's Christmas" is an all-acoustic and guitar driven song with verses and a bridge and a guitar solo. It would probably be categorized as folk-pop. "Christmastime" on the other hand is not all acoustic and not at all guitar driven. It's more of a piano driven song and would probably classify as pure pop. Verses and chorus. No solos. Both songs do time in at about 3.5 minutes, though. That's something that I can trim down, as some of the moved loved Christmas recordings are 3 minutes long or less.

If I intend to make a Christmas album in time for Christmas 2015 I would probably have to spend much of next year writing and recording. Could I do it? I'm sure I have the ability but the motivation to work on Christmas music during the spring and summer might just not be there. Even now that Christmas is so close I've already lost some drive to try to come up with new holiday music. It's challenging to want to work on something that after tomorrow no one will want to hear until 12 months later. I keep listening to Christmas music sometimes into March but I know most people do not share that kind of passion for it. I continue to listen throughout the winter. Why not? After all, many of those songs are just about the snowy season anyway.

I might however still work on making a cover of "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" for now. An instrumental. I may make a medley of it and "We Three Kings" just to keep it from being too short and repetitive.

Christmas Songs - Final Versions

Merry Christmas, readers!

Yes, it's Christmas and here I am blogging. The reason being that I have made some better mixes and masters of my Christmas tunes and I want to get them up here before the day is up because many people will not want to hear holiday music anymore after Christmas. Funny though, because I continue to play Christmas music well into February. I don't like winter very much so playing Christmas music throughout the winter months makes the season more tolerable for me. Besides, many classic songs labelled as Christmas music make no mention of the holiday and are really just winter songs. That's my story. Well, let me get on with this because depending on where you're reading this it may not even be Christmas anymore!

I made a few tweaks here and there on both songs. Most of it will not be noticeable. But comparing my finished products to what I hear on albums just makes me yearn for better equipment and/or funding to have my music professionally polished up.

So here they are.





Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them. Now off to working on my other goals for the remaining week of the year.