Well I felt I had to get the synths out of my system this week. I really had nothing up until about midday today and literally had to force this song out. It not one of the best, but at least its a little different, and I learnt a hell of a lot from doing it!
Oh, the song's sung from the point of view of someone who is super tall. I'm talking over 8 feet. I don't imagine it'd be much fun...
It started out as a song about how difficult it is to tell what things are good for you and what aren't. Now I'm not sure what the song's about. Musically I was really trying to do something different this week and I think I've achieved that. Its the first time I've used synths and boy are they addictive! I really had to stop myself from going over the top. I've never been a big fan of synths, mainly because they scare me. But thats what its all about. Trying new things, especially things that scare you.
The song will be up later this evening, do not fret. I have a bit to finish off when I get back from work. Was quite a bit behind this week due to various reasons, one of them being that I'm using a different program to record this week.
For those that are interested I decided to give my copy of Ableton Live LE a go this week as I heard it was quite good for loopy type things. I really like the interface and picked it up fairly quickly. Might use it again in the future! 0 Comments
Sort it out!
Tuesday, 16 September 2008, 09:18
Well, I'm not promising but I'm hoping to deliver some music gold this week. None of this remixing my own songs malarkey. Quite frankly thats just cheating.
Honestly I just wasn't in the mood to do a song last week after returning from a 3 week holiday. I'm in the mood now, so don't fret! 0 Comments
SONG 22 - CALENDAR GIRL
Friday, 12 September 2008, 15:40
Well, I promised something different and here it is. It's kind of a remix of my song 'Thylacine', but taking advantage of Creative Commons I've remixed it with an a capella of Calendar Girl.
Its dead simple, a bit hypnotic in a way. I didn't want to cram it full of noises as I think Calendar Girl's vocal melody is enough. Anyhoo, let me know what you think!
I've got a couple more collaborations in the pipeline which I'm quite excited about. You should be hearing them in the next few weeks.
Phew, since getting back from holiday I thought I'd be spewing with song ideas.
WRONG!
For some reason everything sounds the same, or sounds stupid or quite simply sounds bad. Whilst this never stopped me in the past, part of the reason for doing this Song a Week thing was to try new musical ideas to stretch me as a musician. I've got to the point now (almost mid-way through) where I believe a new approach is needed.
I also seem to have an affinity for breaking my PC. More specifically my audio interface. My first one conked out before I went on holiday and I was kind of hoping that it would magically spring back to life on my return but alas, this was not the case.
So I bought a new one, which worked fine last week, but now the software I use refuses to recognize it for some reason. Bad times.
Which leads me to this conclusion: I need to do something different. I think some sort of remix is on the cards. And now with Creative Commons I have no excuse.
Skip to the end.... expect something different on Friday. 0 Comments
SONG 21 - H2O
Friday, 5 September 2008, 14:09
So I'm back from my holidays and here's the next song:
After 3 weeks away I honestly was not in the mood to write and record a song. I had written lyrics for this song before I went away but didn't get a chance to write the music, so this one was kind of hashed out in a hurry. It was intended for DoTheGreenThing, a website encouraging people to be environmentally friendly things. The theme for August was to drink tap water rather than bottled water and so this is what I came up with. 0 Comments
Friday, 26 September 2008, 17:29
SONG 24 - NOT BIG ENOUGH
Carrying on the theme from last week of a more electronic feel, this week's song doesn't even have a guitar in it! Outrageous, I know.
Well I felt I had to get the synths out of my system this week. I really had nothing up until about midday today and literally had to force this song out. It not one of the best, but at least its a little different, and I learnt a hell of a lot from doing it!
Oh, the song's sung from the point of view of someone who is super tall. I'm talking over 8 feet. I don't imagine it'd be much fun...
Friday, 19 September 2008, 20:52
SONG 23 - BAD THINGS, GOOD TIMES
Well, its a lot later than I usually finish the song but its finally done. Song 23 'Bad Things, Good Times'.
It started out as a song about how difficult it is to tell what things are good for you and what aren't. Now I'm not sure what the song's about. Musically I was really trying to do something different this week and I think I've achieved that. Its the first time I've used synths and boy are they addictive! I really had to stop myself from going over the top. I've never been a big fan of synths, mainly because they scare me. But thats what its all about. Trying new things, especially things that scare you.
13:38
It's coming...
The song will be up later this evening, do not fret. I have a bit to finish off when I get back from work. Was quite a bit behind this week due to various reasons, one of them being that I'm using a different program to record this week.
For those that are interested I decided to give my copy of Ableton Live LE a go this week as I heard it was quite good for loopy type things. I really like the interface and picked it up fairly quickly. Might use it again in the future!
Tuesday, 16 September 2008, 09:18
Sort it out!
Well, I'm not promising but I'm hoping to deliver some music gold this week. None of this remixing my own songs malarkey. Quite frankly thats just cheating.
Honestly I just wasn't in the mood to do a song last week after returning from a 3 week holiday. I'm in the mood now, so don't fret!
Friday, 12 September 2008, 15:40
SONG 22 - CALENDAR GIRL
Well, I promised something different and here it is. It's kind of a remix of my song 'Thylacine', but taking advantage of Creative Commons I've remixed it with an a capella of Calendar Girl.
Its dead simple, a bit hypnotic in a way. I didn't want to cram it full of noises as I think Calendar Girl's vocal melody is enough. Anyhoo, let me know what you think!
I've got a couple more collaborations in the pipeline which I'm quite excited about. You should be hearing them in the next few weeks.
Thursday, 11 September 2008, 03:20
Ideas!
Phew, since getting back from holiday I thought I'd be spewing with song ideas.
WRONG!
For some reason everything sounds the same, or sounds stupid or quite simply sounds bad. Whilst this never stopped me in the past, part of the reason for doing this Song a Week thing was to try new musical ideas to stretch me as a musician. I've got to the point now (almost mid-way through) where I believe a new approach is needed.
I also seem to have an affinity for breaking my PC. More specifically my audio interface. My first one conked out before I went on holiday and I was kind of hoping that it would magically spring back to life on my return but alas, this was not the case.
So I bought a new one, which worked fine last week, but now the software I use refuses to recognize it for some reason. Bad times.
Which leads me to this conclusion: I need to do something different. I think some sort of remix is on the cards. And now with Creative Commons I have no excuse.
Skip to the end.... expect something different on Friday.
Friday, 5 September 2008, 14:09
SONG 21 - H2O
So I'm back from my holidays and here's the next song:
After 3 weeks away I honestly was not in the mood to write and record a song. I had written lyrics for this song before I went away but didn't get a chance to write the music, so this one was kind of hashed out in a hurry. It was intended for DoTheGreenThing, a website encouraging people to be environmentally friendly things. The theme for August was to drink tap water rather than bottled water and so this is what I came up with.
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!
