2017 Is Almost Over!

Here we are in late 2017, two weeks before Christmas and I don't have much to say. This is the point--or rather even a few weeks earlier--where I would be writing about end of the year goals. This year I have none.

Yes, there is still that song "Something's Wrong" which is unfinished and I could probably easily finish up before the year is through. I really dislike going through a year and not having anything musically to show for it. So if I could get at least that done the year wouldn't be a total waste.

Also, two weeks is plenty time for me to do another Christmas cover, but in reality I don't have two full weeks as no one will be listening to holiday music beyond two exact weeks from today. Unlike me.

I had dedicated this year to working exclusively on holiday music but changed my mind along the way (again) and was caught up in other distractions, and believe me, this year there were plenty of distractions. Not too long ago I had even decided I was going to start writing--check this out--love songs!! Yes, love songs. I never really wanted to get into that genre but there are a great many benefits that come of it, some musical, some non-musical. Everybody loves a love song. And to tell you the truth, a lot of the best and most memorable songs are love songs. So yes, I will follow that road and see where it takes me.

In actuality I have about one week if I really want to do a Christmas cover. So I'd have to pick out a tune almost immediately and start coming up with an arrangement. I really hate not being able to choose from the entire pool of great holiday music that's out there. Nothing can stop me from making my own version of any song but once I publish it online is when potential problems can arise. Getting licenses and paying royalties is not my cup of tea. On the other hand, I did publish that version of "Hey Joe" I created a few years ago and never got a license or anything. The difference is that I never plan to include "Hey Joe" in any of my future albums, whereas if I do a Christmas cover you'd better believe I intend it to be part of a future official release. Thus, I guess I could record "Silver Bells" or "Winter Wonderland" and provide it as a free release on YouTube but it would never go any further than that.

Speaking of YouTube, for the first time ever I uploaded to my channel a video of me singing and playing "How Deep is Your Love" by the Bee Gees. Not the entire song of course. Surely no one wants to see me struggle through the whole thing. Just to do one verse/chorus required many takes and I'm quite surprised I played and sang rather decently. But it was in keeping with all my cover videos where I never do the entire song, with the exception of "Barney Miller."

But I will see what I can get done in the remaining nearly-three week period we have for 2017. And if I make any resolutions for the the new year of 2018 it will be that the year turns out to be my most productive in terms of recording and songwriting. While I didn't do much recording in 2017 I did get a lot of ideas for songs this year which, if I am diligent enough, will turn into a new album.

Something's Wrong (lyrics)

Something's Wrong


Something's wrong
I can feel it in the air
I can hear it in the silence
I can see it in the troubled faces

Something's wrong
I can feel it in the wind
I can see it in the angry sky
I can hear it in the rolling thunder

Something's wrong
I can see it in the eyes
I can hear it in the voices
I can feel it in the heavy tension

And I can't make it right
No matter how I try
I can't make it right
No matter how I try

No I can't make it right
No matter how I try
I can't make it right
No matter how I try

Something's wrong
I can see it in the flame
I can hear it in the crashing waves
I can feel it in the ground below me

Something's wrong
I can feel it in my soul
I can see it with my mind's eye
I can hear it in the desperation

And I can't make it right
No matter how I try
I can't make it right
No matter how I try

No I can't make it right
No matter how I try
I can't make it right
No matter how I try


©2017 Ren D, Exit World Music, all rights reserved

Handmade Guitar

Today I found some more of the early 'gear' I used in my beginning stages of recording music and sound. I want to share some photos of that equipment just to show the experimentation and creativity of those early days. There is a lot of stuff from my childhood days stored in my garage and I hope to get to them all this year. That is, provided they still exist. I have a large amount of drawings I used to do and I really long to find them.

My first guitar was one my father carved out of wood for me. It's a flat piece of wood with no sound box so it isn't really a playable guitar. It had fishing line on it as strings and I used it more for percussive effect than melodic. Also it's only eleven inches long so it was never really meant to be a 'just for fun' type of thing. Here are some photos of it:

I have many recordings that feature this little guitar. Back in those days my other 'instruments' included:

- a tiny Casio keyboard
- a 4 thick rubber band bass instrument
- a multiple rubber band electric guitar instrument
- coffee and candy cans for drums
- small jingle bells for a tambourine
- tree seed pods for maracas

Some of these things no longer exist. Others do and as I find my 'vintage gear' I will post it here. I do however still have most of the recordings I made from those days. But in connection with Father's Day today I wanted to show the first guitar I ever had, made by my father.

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.