Holiday Music Production Underway

I have been working on Christmas music this year. Yay! This is the longest into the new year that I have ever worked on holiday music. So I am really serious about doing this in this new year.

So far I have been recording one song. I am envisioning it as being the last song on the album. The working title is "Christmas in the City" which was inspired by the Marvin Gaye instrumental of the same title. Basically this song's lyrics are, "Christmas in the city, looking so pretty." And it's just that repeated over and over with some occasional breaks for instrument solos. Originally, I planned to write this song with more lyrics--and I still may--but this version has turned out to be a reprise of sorts. So if I do still write another with the same title there will be more lyrics and the music will be slightly different. But I am having a great time with this one. I'm going for that late 60's/early 70's funky sound and thus far I have some Wurlitzer piano, a couple electric guitars, electric bass, sleigh bells and vocals. This will also mark my first song that features four-part harmony. Still plan to add some organ, minimoog and horns. Ahh yes, and drums. I would like to believe that I'll have the large majority of this song completed sometime this month. I really cannot afford to spend too much more time on it.

Which brings me to my next point....

Do I realistically have the time to present a full-length album by the holiday season for 2018? I have a solid 8 months to get it done. However I don't have another 8 or 9 songs all written and ready to go. That's where I need some improvement. Also, the summer months is usually when I don't do much recording because of the extreme heat of my upstairs studio. I am strongly considering having a small window-unit air conditioner installed just to keep it comfortable enough for me to do my work there. But I need to do as much as I can before that scorching heat arrives, as adding an a/c unit is nice but also another expense.

The good news is that I have ideas for songs. I just need to build on them. I have a tune I started working on last year which is where I first got the idea for doing some 4-part harmony. There are also two winter season songs I wrote quite some time ago and they would fit in nicely on this album. As a last-minute effort, I could make new versions of my two previously released songs and include them as well. That's an idea that just came to me now so I haven't given any previous consideration to it. But it may work. Actually it's a very real possibility!

One thing I have come to realize is that it's not very hard to work on holiday music once the holidays are over. It is just music like any other and as long as you stay focused and it does not feel irrelevant or out of season. I am just as enthused working on this as I would be on anything else I make.

There is plenty to do. Let's keep our fingers crossed that everything goes well and I can accomplish this labor of love this year.

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.