Something's Wrong

I've been working on recording a new song called "Something's Wrong" the last couple of weeks. It's all written out. I just have to make a few changes. I am going for a 60's garage rock sound on this song. The simplicity and lo-fi of some of those 60's recordings beat the over-production of many later recordings hands down.

This is going to be my shortest complete recording that features lyrics so far. Just under 3 minutes. There is no specific song that serves as an influence for this one. It's more of a sound thing that is the inspiration. As of right now I've got an arpeggio electric guitar track with tremolo and the electric bass track completed. Today I did a piano track just for effect and I may add another just to fill out the sound. Not quite sure yet. I am also looking to add an organ track and/or a minimoog one. Of course there will be vocal tracks--at least 2. And I will play real drums for this song.

Other than this song I have ideas for at least 3 other songs. I know musically what I want to do with them. I just have to write out the lyrics. At this point I am thinking they will all be relatively short songs at 3 minutes or less just to keep that 60's vibe going. Once I start to arrange the songs the times may change. I don't want to stray too much from that though because the longer the song the more time it takes to produce it. And if there's any chance I am to release another album this year I cannot spend a lot of time on long productions.

Ideally I think I can finish up this song in about another week or 2. There are 2 things which may not corroborate this. First, the vocals may take me a while to get right. Vocals are always a problem. Second, I'm not sure if I will record the drums as part of the sessions for this song or if I will wait until I have another song or 2 and then just record drums for all of them at the same time. I don't like keeping a song on the side that just needs one more component to it. If I could get a song done in a week or two then I wouldn't mind waiting to get drums recorded. But since I never have a certain timeline for getting a song done I could end up keeping an earlier one unreleased longer than I'd like.

Stayed tuned for updates.

Spring Update

So we're into the final third of April and I have not written any holiday or seasonal tunes! And to be honest, I don't really feel like it! I knew this would happen. I have not able to immerse myself into that genre of music as I had wanted to. But fear not--I have been working on other music. I have about four songs I am working on right now. One is lyrically complete and ready to start recording. The other three are more in the infant stages of writing. But I feel good that ideas are flowing. And at this time, I feel as though I'm going in the direction of shorter songs. The bulk of the music I love is pop & rock of the 1960's & early 1970's. If I had to sum it up into a range it would be 1964-1972. The majority of the hit songs of that era were all just about under three minutes long. So I'm probably going to keep them short and (hopefully) sweet. I'm also considering mixing all the songs in mono just to give the project that extra 60's sound. Some of my all-time favorite songs are in mono and only available in mono (as far as I know). Here are some of them:

Heart Full of Soul (The Yardbirds)

Gimme Some Lovin' (The Spencer Davis Group)

Can't Be Still (Booker T & The M.G.'s)

Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)

Take a Heart (The Sorrows)

Down Home Girl (The Stones)

You Need Lovin' (The Small Faces)

Baby Don't Go (Sonny & Cher)

Barefootin' (Robert Parker)

Good Time Charlie (Bobby Bland)

I realize some of those may fall outside the specified range, but it's not an exclusive range. Anyway I'm not a huge fan of mono but it does give a recorded song more of a vintage, lo-fi feel. Plus, when comparing mono mixes to stereo ones of the thousands of songs I have in my library, the mono mixes usually sound louder and more balanced. Of course, that could have to do with mastering techniques as well. In the 60's most singles on 45 were punchy mono mixes made specifically to sound loud over the radio and on your home turntables. The Beatles released all their albums in both mono and stereo up through 1968. They involved themselves in the mono mixes and left the stereo mixing up to the studio staff.

I'm going to do this. And it's cool because I will still have access to make stereo mixes whenever the mood strikes or if need be. That's the difference between my recordings and the ones listed above. Many of those were recorded on two or three-track tape with the masters no longer available. Thus they are preserved for posterity in mono and nothing else. But it is fun to think about how they would have been mixed in stereo. I got used to a lot of The Beatles' earlier stereo output where most instruments would be panned to one side and the vocals on the other, with nothing much in the center. Those stereo recordings helped me better hear and figure out the different instrument parts so I could learn to play them. That's one of the reasons I prefer stereo overall--there is a lot more to be heard that mono mixes do not permit.

I think the four songs I'm working on will be interesting. If I can get really serious about finishing them up and doing a few more things I may actually have something to release this year.

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