work and work and work. sheesh.
'We're Just Dropped Here' is a sad acoustic number, with a sad little chorus that i really liked. it has a neat turn of phrase.. emily played piano on it solo after we tried a four-hands approach, which was real busy and cluttered. it's a nice sorta country shuffle thing, which reminds me of norah jones, kinda. which means i'll probably win a grammy. there's also some background vocals, me trying to sing a higher harmony, but i got kinda shy and they're low in the mix, with a neat plate reverb on 'em.. which i thought might give them space, but it might've just masked them further.
but there's no time.. on to the next song. today i work both jobs, and find a way to finish a song.. wednesday is the worst.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Sunset & Rapture
i gotta go to work really soon -
today i finished 'Sunset & Rapture', but i had to stay up pretty late to do it.. after a fairly good new mex rev practice, so i'm a little tired.
it's a rock out middle eastern sorta thing, in 7/8. it's mostly drumset, piano, and trumpet.. but i played a doumbek over it and put a guitar solo in the outro bit. emily's trumpet part is the cool thing, but the drumest stuff is alright. one take!
almost done with 'fend off the autumn' and 'were just dropped here'.. but they're both kinda loney acoustic numbers. maybe i can write something else tonight.
today i finished 'Sunset & Rapture', but i had to stay up pretty late to do it.. after a fairly good new mex rev practice, so i'm a little tired.
it's a rock out middle eastern sorta thing, in 7/8. it's mostly drumset, piano, and trumpet.. but i played a doumbek over it and put a guitar solo in the outro bit. emily's trumpet part is the cool thing, but the drumest stuff is alright. one take!
almost done with 'fend off the autumn' and 'were just dropped here'.. but they're both kinda loney acoustic numbers. maybe i can write something else tonight.
Monday, November 28, 2005
Rain & Rain & Rain
monday morning, and it's frozen over here.. all ice and such. which is tough, 'cause i gotta go drive all over town for my job, in the cold and dangerous world.
but last night i finished 'Rain - Rain - Rain' - which is a kinda lonely modern psychedelic thing, with a swirly noise rock guitar part that reminds me of a smashing pumpkins tune 'spaced'.. i played piano and banjo and guitar, and then sang over the tail bit of it, while emily made kitchen noises in the back. i like it, it's weird and a little creepy - very atmospheric. and the guitar solo has all these little bits of static and sometimes sounds like a wolf howl, very lonely.
also spent a bit of time on this middle eastern-eque thing in 7/8.. (which isnt really a fraction, hmm). and it's turning out pretty cool. and i wrote a new song about leaving your dog behind and not taking responsibility in your life and getting high to forget about your own weakness. although the lyrics sound a bit more hopeful than that descripton. that'll get finished soon.
but last night i finished 'Rain - Rain - Rain' - which is a kinda lonely modern psychedelic thing, with a swirly noise rock guitar part that reminds me of a smashing pumpkins tune 'spaced'.. i played piano and banjo and guitar, and then sang over the tail bit of it, while emily made kitchen noises in the back. i like it, it's weird and a little creepy - very atmospheric. and the guitar solo has all these little bits of static and sometimes sounds like a wolf howl, very lonely.
also spent a bit of time on this middle eastern-eque thing in 7/8.. (which isnt really a fraction, hmm). and it's turning out pretty cool. and i wrote a new song about leaving your dog behind and not taking responsibility in your life and getting high to forget about your own weakness. although the lyrics sound a bit more hopeful than that descripton. that'll get finished soon.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Don't Hang Up On Me
sunday morning, after going out to the Mississippi Pizza Pub last night and seeing Cicada Omega.. whew. those guys did well last night, somehow the sound worked out well for them, and Barry puts on a good show. nice. hot stuff.
lets see here - woke up and worked on piano for 'set yourself on fire' - but then emily came along and played it better, so we recorded that. maybe a solo on the end of that.
and then i spent time mixing down 'Don't Hang Up On Me' - which is the song i finished today and put up.. it's kinda funny, a sad song with echo-drenched guitars and some drumset stuff.. big silly drum fills and such. plus piano. i think i played everything on this song, and took an epic acoustic guitar solo from one version and grafted it onto this one.
theres also an open tuned arpeggiated guitar for the outro which i was kinda proud of, but it's not very loud in the mix.
i think theres probably a glaring mistake in each and every part, but we've got deadlines.
lets see here - woke up and worked on piano for 'set yourself on fire' - but then emily came along and played it better, so we recorded that. maybe a solo on the end of that.
and then i spent time mixing down 'Don't Hang Up On Me' - which is the song i finished today and put up.. it's kinda funny, a sad song with echo-drenched guitars and some drumset stuff.. big silly drum fills and such. plus piano. i think i played everything on this song, and took an epic acoustic guitar solo from one version and grafted it onto this one.
theres also an open tuned arpeggiated guitar for the outro which i was kinda proud of, but it's not very loud in the mix.
i think theres probably a glaring mistake in each and every part, but we've got deadlines.
Saturday, November 26, 2005
the Words You Meant
today i got 'the Words You Meant'...
it started off as a joke song for Emily that was kinda like Green Day or Bright Eyes.. but then it took on a life of it's own and i had to take it kinda seriously..
it's got some topical lyrics, all about a girl and dumb stuff like that, with a few clues to cocaine abuse and demons in the past.
i ended up playing the snare drum with brushes in the kitchen on this one, really just joking around, but it came off kinda neat.. lotsa cool rolls and ruffs and such.. i sang and played guitar, then layered a banjo in there.
and to top it off: a trumpet solo!
i had tried to put a mandolin solo on there, but it was too frustrating.. i gave up gladly when emily came in, and now it has a Belle & Sebastian thing. nice.
it started off as a joke song for Emily that was kinda like Green Day or Bright Eyes.. but then it took on a life of it's own and i had to take it kinda seriously..
it's got some topical lyrics, all about a girl and dumb stuff like that, with a few clues to cocaine abuse and demons in the past.
i ended up playing the snare drum with brushes in the kitchen on this one, really just joking around, but it came off kinda neat.. lotsa cool rolls and ruffs and such.. i sang and played guitar, then layered a banjo in there.
and to top it off: a trumpet solo!
i had tried to put a mandolin solo on there, but it was too frustrating.. i gave up gladly when emily came in, and now it has a Belle & Sebastian thing. nice.
Friday, November 25, 2005
an obvious sort of satori
alright. i finally got enough of this sorted out to try and start posting stuff..
the game is to get a song a day finished, and a song a day on the net.. maybe not the same song, though.. we shall see.
today i'm posting 'An Obvious Sort of Satori'.. based off a poem i wrote a few years back about trying to be an enlightened buddhist monk and then fathering a child. i didn't think much of the poem at the time, but the music i was recording had an odd country samba mix going on.. it reminded me a lot of Beck, and the lyrics seemed to fit.
anyhow, i recorded a couple of guitars over this drum machine samba beat, and did the vocals a few times, trying to layer them up kinda oddly.. then i put the harmonica on for the breaks.. and then went back and distorted one of the vocal overdub tracks.. and then i programmed a little hi-hat percussion track - it's pretty subtle but i liked it enough to keep it in.
emily's been working on trumpet parts for a few things, so maybe i'll get one of those up next.
the game is to get a song a day finished, and a song a day on the net.. maybe not the same song, though.. we shall see.
today i'm posting 'An Obvious Sort of Satori'.. based off a poem i wrote a few years back about trying to be an enlightened buddhist monk and then fathering a child. i didn't think much of the poem at the time, but the music i was recording had an odd country samba mix going on.. it reminded me a lot of Beck, and the lyrics seemed to fit.
anyhow, i recorded a couple of guitars over this drum machine samba beat, and did the vocals a few times, trying to layer them up kinda oddly.. then i put the harmonica on for the breaks.. and then went back and distorted one of the vocal overdub tracks.. and then i programmed a little hi-hat percussion track - it's pretty subtle but i liked it enough to keep it in.
emily's been working on trumpet parts for a few things, so maybe i'll get one of those up next.
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