Apologies to everyone who's in my Facebook group. I accidently spammed you with a bunch of messages on Friday.
In my defense though, every time I sent the group message I was told there was an error so I was under the illusion the message hadn't been sent. Oh the lies and treachery! 0 Comments
SONG 7 -THYLACINE
Friday, 30 May 2008, 19:25
Plug your earholes by hitting the play button below:
If the player above doesn't work for you, download the MP3 here.
This week's song is about the Tasmanian Tiger, or Thylacine. Inspired by this news article, it seemed like an apt subject to write about, and I was not disappointed. Especially after reading the Wikipedia entry which claims the last Thylacine in captivity died in 1936 as a result of neglect! I was shocked, as I'm sure you are too.
Its a fairly simple song, that drove me up the wall towards the end. I mixed it almost immediately after finishing a 12 hour shift which may show. You'll let me know though, right? 2 Comments
08:15
Just a quick note to say that the song might be up a bit late today. I want to re-record the vocals when I get back from work, and with my voice that could take a while...
I also need a haircut. Big time. Those who know me in person can vouch for that. 0 Comments
Thylacine
Thursday, 29 May 2008, 15:02
This is what tomorrows song is about. If you have time to read the whole thing its actually a very sad story, which is always a good basis for song.
Its coming along nicely, a very simple arrangement that should be finished later today, which will hopefully give me a bit of time to polish tomorrow after work.
Heaven forbid I don't have a post in between songs. Allow me to rectify this now:
Was quite busy over the weekend socially which is quite unusual for me. I've been working early shifts this week to which means I've been ridiculously tired every day when I get home. Nevertheless, the song is written and just needs to be recorded. Shall hopefully get the guitars done later today, and then shall have all day tomorrow to mess around with it.
After last week's personally disappointing product I'm determined to make this one good, which I think it will be. Fingers crossed. 0 Comments
SONG 6 - GIANT LASER
Friday, 23 May 2008, 13:30
You know the score, hit the play button below to hear it:
Now, there were previous songs that I wished I had another week to perfect, fine tune and improve. And there there is this song...
I'm not going to lie, I'm glad this one is over with! The initial idea was fun: A song about building the world's most giant laser. I find them fairly interesting and so was excited to write a song about it. However, with no firm idea about the music (which changed styles about 3 times) it's kind of turned into something strange.
The vocal style; I prefer to think of this as talking fast. Others may disagree.
The samples come courtesy of DJ Snyder, who released a sample pack on ccMixter which is a "community music site featuring remixes licensed under Creative Commons where you can listen to, sample, mash-up, or interact with music in whatever way you want."
Seriously, if you make music you have to check out Creative Commons. It just makes sense.
Please fire away with comments/criticisms/advice regarding the songs. Its all greatly appreciated. E-mail me, leave a comment here, hunt me down in person; whatever takes your fancy. 0 Comments
Purple Rain, Purple Rain
Wednesday, 21 May 2008, 03:11
Big news everyone! I know I'm excited.
Jake Gyllenhaal has been officially cast as the Prince of Persia! Apparently Gemma Arterton will play Tamina, which is pretty cool. I know literally nothing about her, but it seems she's the new girl on the scene and will most likely become huge after the new Bond film comes out.
Enough Hollywood gossip for now, lets talk about this week's song. Ah yes... the song. It's a strange one this week as you shall all find out on Friday. All I'll say is that it started life as a lo-fi indie ballad, and has turned into a different beast altogether. I'm still not sure where I'm going with it to be honest... 0 Comments
The Things We Do
Tuesday, 20 May 2008, 01:28
Just a quick note to say that this week's song is coming along very slowly. Still not sure where I'm going with it, but we shall see! 0 Comments
SONG 5 - THE YEAR 2243
Friday, 16 May 2008, 12:51
Whoop, here it is. Hit the play button below and have an aural gander:
If your computer doesn't like the above flash player, you can download the mp3 directly HERE.
This song is inspired by a conversation I have on a regular basis with people at work. In the future when humans have colonized space and the polar ice-caps have melted, flooding the earth, where would you rather live? In space or underwater? I choose space every time.
So I watched Iron Man yesterday for the 2nd time. Its good! Well I can't guarantee that you fine people will enjoy it, but I certainly did. Downey Jr. was a joy as usual. It really helps having someone who can act to play the superhero, unlike some films... Also, how on earth did Jon Favreau land that job? Kudos to him, he's money.
You'll see what I mean (or should I say hear?) tomorrow when the song goes up. 0 Comments
Fine works
Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 05:32
It's late (or early, depends on how you look at it) and I just got back about half an hour ago but I felt an urge to link the following site.
If you're a fan of prose in it's rawest form then you need to check this out. Brendan Atkins writes 101 word stories, Monday to Friday, and it is simply awesome. 0 Comments
00:12
So its been crazy hot in London over the weekend. So hot in fact that I've barely spent any time in front of the computer recording. Which has been quite nice really. While I'm not a big fan of the heat, it is refreshing not having rain.
I did get a chance to lay down a drum track though, so at least something was achieved. I also re-stringed my guitar finally; again something that I had been meaning to do before I started this project but never got round to! I'm such an amateur... 0 Comments
Site changes
Saturday, 10 May 2008, 17:58
Just some minor changes to the site;
You'll notice some links just below my name. The basic stuff really, meant to do it ages ago but better late than never right?
This week's song is coming along slowly. The basis is there and now I'm just adding 'interesting' bits. Then all I have to do is record it! 0 Comments
SONG 4 - VAGUELY YOU
Friday, 9 May 2008, 15:28
It's Friday and here it is, Song 4 - Vaguely You. Click the play button on the flash player below to hear it:
Download the MP3 here If you're an iTunes subscriber it should be downloading whether you want it or not!
So I've taken it down a few notches after last week's upbeat rock affair. It's essentially a love song by a guy whose girlfriend has recently left him. His memory isn't particularly good (which may be why she left) and he's just trying to remember the good times they had.
In other news, I've got big plans for next week's song. Basically after listening back to my first 3 tracks I realise that they're pretty half baked. I have a few ideas floating around but essentially what I want to do is:
Make it sound good. I have so much to learn about music production its scary.
Take my time with the lyrics. This is the area I spend least time in to be honest! I think I need to slow down and make them flow better etc.
Sing better. This is probably my Achilles heel. Now I'm an average singer to begin with but I need to start forcing myself to do more takes and get it as perfect as I possibly can.
One of the reasons for doing this JoCo inspired song a week malarkey was to improve as a musician and songwriter. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be a bit happier with the results. We shall see! 2 Comments
iTunes
Wednesday, 7 May 2008, 13:43
Just a quick note to say that JoCo inspired song a week exploits are now available via iTunes!
If this is your preferred method of music gathering then simply hit the link below to go to my podcast page and subscribe:
Of course, if you are not an iTunes user you can still listen and download the songs directly from this site. The choice is yours! 0 Comments
More Art
Tuesday, 6 May 2008, 21:13
No.3 of 52 pictures for my Song a Week project by Kirsten Murray:
This is for the song 'We Own the Night'. I love it, its so surreal it hurts my head. In the nicest way of course. My favourite part? What looks like milk bottle seals as their heads... 0 Comments
14:09
So indeed, things do happen. I've recorded pretty much all the guitar for this week's song. It took me a while to get a continuous take that I was happy with, especially since I'm not very good at finger-picking. I want to keep this one as minimal as possible, so I think it'll just be vocals now which I'll do today.
Mice are interesting creatures. No reason for that statement, its just amazing what websites you end up on during a night shift by yourself.
So I'm quite excited about this week's song. Haven't got a name for it yet but its an acoustic love song involving a guy with a terrible memory.
I've also been listening to 'So Frenchy, So Chic' a lot in the past few days and now I've got an overwhelming urge to write a French jazzy/bossa-nova style song. We'll see... there's still 49 songs to go so I'm sure it'll turn up soon enough.
On a side note, my friend John will be attempting the 3 Peaks Challenge for charity at the end of the month. Essentially this involves climbing 3 mountains within 24 hours... crazy fool!
So this song just flew together when writing. A sort of classic pop-punk progression with gang vocals thrown in the chorus for good measure. It was very tempting to go over the top with them and indulge my teenage passion for bands like Warzone and Agnostic Front, but I resisted. Still not sure if the mix is right but I'm happy enough. unfortunately time is not a commodity I have.
And yes, the title was nicked from Sony Picture's recent movie of the same name. I tried my hardest to come up with a different name but it just seemed so fitting. Please don't sue.
Again, comment away. Either here, via Facebook or e-mail.
On a side note, I've added a new link to the right which leads to a page with all my songs so you can find them easier. Also, Kirsten Murray is rocking my socks with her art. 3 Comments
04:04
Ok, so there's only 5 hours difference but I'm still jet lagged! Add to that the flight home was at night and I found it near impossible to sleep on the plane. I tried my best to stay awake but I eventually passed out around 6pm and woke up around 11pm. Now its the middle of the night (quite fitting since this week's song is about working night shifts) and I can't record the vocals since I share a flat with 3 other people.
So I spent a bit of time tweaking the mix and even started writing a song about Jean-Claude Trichet... thats what happens when you're sleep depraved.
If you haven't visited JoCo's website recently, and I can't think why you wouldn't, then you're missing out on some awesomevideos from his recent gig. 0 Comments
Back in Town
Thursday, 1 May 2008, 12:09
Got back from New York this morning. Such an amazing place, I think I'd like to live there one day...
Anyhoo, shall be getting to work on this week's song later this afternoon once I've taken care of a few things. Just need to add another guitar track and vocals so shouldn't take too long... 0 Comments
Saturday, 31 May 2008, 09:47
Spam spam spam spam
Apologies to everyone who's in my Facebook group. I accidently spammed you with a bunch of messages on Friday.
In my defense though, every time I sent the group message I was told there was an error so I was under the illusion the message hadn't been sent. Oh the lies and treachery!
Friday, 30 May 2008, 19:25
SONG 7 -THYLACINE
Plug your earholes by hitting the play button below:
If the player above doesn't work for you, download the MP3 here.
This week's song is about the Tasmanian Tiger, or Thylacine. Inspired by this news article, it seemed like an apt subject to write about, and I was not disappointed. Especially after reading the Wikipedia entry which claims the last Thylacine in captivity died in 1936 as a result of neglect! I was shocked, as I'm sure you are too.
Its a fairly simple song, that drove me up the wall towards the end. I mixed it almost immediately after finishing a 12 hour shift which may show. You'll let me know though, right?
08:15
Oh Time, my old enemy
Just a quick note to say that the song might be up a bit late today. I want to re-record the vocals when I get back from work, and with my voice that could take a while...
I also need a haircut. Big time. Those who know me in person can vouch for that.
Thursday, 29 May 2008, 15:02
Thylacine
This is what tomorrows song is about. If you have time to read the whole thing its actually a very sad story, which is always a good basis for song.
Its coming along nicely, a very simple arrangement that should be finished later today, which will hopefully give me a bit of time to polish tomorrow after work.
That is all good people. That is all.
Wednesday, 28 May 2008, 11:49
As time goes by
Heaven forbid I don't have a post in between songs. Allow me to rectify this now:
Was quite busy over the weekend socially which is quite unusual for me. I've been working early shifts this week to which means I've been ridiculously tired every day when I get home. Nevertheless, the song is written and just needs to be recorded. Shall hopefully get the guitars done later today, and then shall have all day tomorrow to mess around with it.
After last week's personally disappointing product I'm determined to make this one good, which I think it will be. Fingers crossed.
Friday, 23 May 2008, 13:30
SONG 6 - GIANT LASER
You know the score, hit the play button below to hear it:
Now, there were previous songs that I wished I had another week to perfect, fine tune and improve. And there there is this song...
I'm not going to lie, I'm glad this one is over with! The initial idea was fun: A song about building the world's most giant laser. I find them fairly interesting and so was excited to write a song about it. However, with no firm idea about the music (which changed styles about 3 times) it's kind of turned into something strange.
The vocal style; I prefer to think of this as talking fast. Others may disagree.
The samples come courtesy of DJ Snyder, who released a sample pack on ccMixter which is a "community music site featuring remixes licensed under Creative Commons where you can listen to, sample, mash-up, or interact with music in whatever way you want."
Seriously, if you make music you have to check out Creative Commons. It just makes sense.
Please fire away with comments/criticisms/advice regarding the songs. Its all greatly appreciated. E-mail me, leave a comment here, hunt me down in person; whatever takes your fancy.
Wednesday, 21 May 2008, 03:11
Purple Rain, Purple Rain
Big news everyone! I know I'm excited.
Jake Gyllenhaal has been officially cast as the Prince of Persia! Apparently Gemma Arterton will play Tamina, which is pretty cool. I know literally nothing about her, but it seems she's the new girl on the scene and will most likely become huge after the new Bond film comes out.
Enough Hollywood gossip for now, lets talk about this week's song. Ah yes... the song. It's a strange one this week as you shall all find out on Friday. All I'll say is that it started life as a lo-fi indie ballad, and has turned into a different beast altogether. I'm still not sure where I'm going with it to be honest...
Tuesday, 20 May 2008, 01:28
The Things We Do
Just a quick note to say that this week's song is coming along very slowly. Still not sure where I'm going with it, but we shall see!
Friday, 16 May 2008, 12:51
SONG 5 - THE YEAR 2243
Whoop, here it is. Hit the play button below and have an aural gander:
If your computer doesn't like the above flash player, you can download the mp3 directly HERE.
This song is inspired by a conversation I have on a regular basis with people at work. In the future when humans have colonized space and the polar ice-caps have melted, flooding the earth, where would you rather live? In space or underwater? I choose space every time.
There are a couple of not-so-subtle references in there, mainly to the excellent game Bioshock and also to Jonathan Coulton's song The Future Soon. See if you can spot them!
Thursday, 15 May 2008, 17:09
I Am Iron Man
So I watched Iron Man yesterday for the 2nd time. Its good! Well I can't guarantee that you fine people will enjoy it, but I certainly did. Downey Jr. was a joy as usual. It really helps having someone who can act to play the superhero, unlike some films... Also, how on earth did Jon Favreau land that job? Kudos to him, he's money.
You'll see what I mean (or should I say hear?) tomorrow when the song goes up.
Tuesday, 13 May 2008, 05:32
Fine works
It's late (or early, depends on how you look at it) and I just got back about half an hour ago but I felt an urge to link the following site.
If you're a fan of prose in it's rawest form then you need to check this out. Brendan Atkins writes 101 word stories, Monday to Friday, and it is simply awesome.
00:12
Hot hot heat
So its been crazy hot in London over the weekend. So hot in fact that I've barely spent any time in front of the computer recording. Which has been quite nice really. While I'm not a big fan of the heat, it is refreshing not having rain.
I did get a chance to lay down a drum track though, so at least something was achieved. I also re-stringed my guitar finally; again something that I had been meaning to do before I started this project but never got round to! I'm such an amateur...
Saturday, 10 May 2008, 17:58
Site changes
Just some minor changes to the site;
You'll notice some links just below my name. The basic stuff really, meant to do it ages ago but better late than never right?
This week's song is coming along slowly. The basis is there and now I'm just adding 'interesting' bits. Then all I have to do is record it!
Friday, 9 May 2008, 15:28
SONG 4 - VAGUELY YOU
It's Friday and here it is, Song 4 - Vaguely You. Click the play button on the flash player below to hear it:
Download the MP3 here If you're an iTunes subscriber it should be downloading whether you want it or not!
So I've taken it down a few notches after last week's upbeat rock affair. It's essentially a love song by a guy whose girlfriend has recently left him. His memory isn't particularly good (which may be why she left) and he's just trying to remember the good times they had.
In other news, I've got big plans for next week's song. Basically after listening back to my first 3 tracks I realise that they're pretty half baked. I have a few ideas floating around but essentially what I want to do is:
Make it sound good. I have so much to learn about music production its scary.
Take my time with the lyrics. This is the area I spend least time in to be honest! I think I need to slow down and make them flow better etc.
Sing better. This is probably my Achilles heel. Now I'm an average singer to begin with but I need to start forcing myself to do more takes and get it as perfect as I possibly can.
One of the reasons for doing this JoCo inspired song a week malarkey was to improve as a musician and songwriter. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll be a bit happier with the results. We shall see!
Wednesday, 7 May 2008, 13:43
iTunes
Just a quick note to say that JoCo inspired song a week exploits are now available via iTunes!
If this is your preferred method of music gathering then simply hit the link below to go to my podcast page and subscribe:
Of course, if you are not an iTunes user you can still listen and download the songs directly from this site. The choice is yours!
Tuesday, 6 May 2008, 21:13
More Art
No.3 of 52 pictures for my Song a Week project by Kirsten Murray:
This is for the song 'We Own the Night'. I love it, its so surreal it hurts my head. In the nicest way of course. My favourite part? What looks like milk bottle seals as their heads...
14:09
Things happen
So indeed, things do happen. I've recorded pretty much all the guitar for this week's song. It took me a while to get a continuous take that I was happy with, especially since I'm not very good at finger-picking. I want to keep this one as minimal as possible, so I think it'll just be vocals now which I'll do today.
And below is Kirsten Murray's No.2 of 52 pictures for my Song a Week project.
Saturday, 3 May 2008, 17:40
Of Mice and Men
Mice are interesting creatures. No reason for that statement, its just amazing what websites you end up on during a night shift by yourself.
So I'm quite excited about this week's song. Haven't got a name for it yet but its an acoustic love song involving a guy with a terrible memory.
I've also been listening to 'So Frenchy, So Chic' a lot in the past few days and now I've got an overwhelming urge to write a French jazzy/bossa-nova style song. We'll see... there's still 49 songs to go so I'm sure it'll turn up soon enough.
On a side note, my friend John will be attempting the 3 Peaks Challenge for charity at the end of the month. Essentially this involves climbing 3 mountains within 24 hours... crazy fool!
So if you feel this is a noble endeavour please open this link and sponsor him.
Friday, 2 May 2008, 13:22
SONG 3 - WE OWN THE NIGHT
Here it is, Song 3 - We Own the Night. Click play on the flash player below to hear it:
So this song just flew together when writing. A sort of classic pop-punk progression with gang vocals thrown in the chorus for good measure. It was very tempting to go over the top with them and indulge my teenage passion for bands like Warzone and Agnostic Front, but I resisted. Still not sure if the mix is right but I'm happy enough. unfortunately time is not a commodity I have.
And yes, the title was nicked from Sony Picture's recent movie of the same name. I tried my hardest to come up with a different name but it just seemed so fitting. Please don't sue.
Again, comment away. Either here, via Facebook or e-mail.
On a side note, I've added a new link to the right which leads to a page with all my songs so you can find them easier. Also, Kirsten Murray is rocking my socks with her art.
04:04
Jet Lag
Ok, so there's only 5 hours difference but I'm still jet lagged! Add to that the flight home was at night and I found it near impossible to sleep on the plane. I tried my best to stay awake but I eventually passed out around 6pm and woke up around 11pm. Now its the middle of the night (quite fitting since this week's song is about working night shifts) and I can't record the vocals since I share a flat with 3 other people.
So I spent a bit of time tweaking the mix and even started writing a song about Jean-Claude Trichet... thats what happens when you're sleep depraved.
If you haven't visited JoCo's website recently, and I can't think why you wouldn't, then you're missing out on some awesomevideos from his recent gig.
Thursday, 1 May 2008, 12:09
Back in Town
Got back from New York this morning. Such an amazing place, I think I'd like to live there one day...
Anyhoo, shall be getting to work on this week's song later this afternoon once I've taken care of a few things. Just need to add another guitar track and vocals so shouldn't take too long...
Inspired by the wonderful Jonathan Coulton I have decided to embark on my own epic adventure of recording 1 song each week for the next year.
I've spent too much time procrastinating for the past few years and never doing anything with my spare time, and so this was the obvious solution. By doing this I hope to become a better musician in general, and learn a whole lot about music production.
Whilst I've always been musical I've never studied musical theory for any substantial length of time. Even when playing cello in my early teens I would commit songs to memory, learning by ear rather than digesting the sheet music in front of me.
This continued when I played in various bands as a teenager. I started out on bass and though I had lessons, very little theory was taught to me (although I did learn to play slap bass, for which I am thankful). Ok, so thats a technique rather than theory, but you get the point! I then picked up the guitar, and self taught by doing what a lot of teenager probably do; learn to play their favourite songs. This is all well and good, but when your entire CD collection comprises of nothing but punk and metal, I found myself somewhat limited in my song repertoire. Only in the last few years have I expanded my musical horizons and at risk of sounding corny, its really opened up my eyes. Ears. Again, you know what I mean.
So thats it. A year long voyage to discover more about music, write songs I've always wanted to write, work night shifts as a broadcast operator and hopefully not have a breakdown in the process!
