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Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Song: For Wrong Or For Right

Posted in Music, musicians, songs on October 31, 2007| Leave a Comment »

A few years ago, I was going through a very hard time: Couldn’t find a job, and financially, I was flat broke with six kids and a huge mortgage. I hocked practically everything I had to just stay afloat. But to make a long story short, at what was probably my lowest point, I suddenly got the resolve to fight, to ignore the advice of close friends on selling my house and leaving the area my wife and I both grew up in. Thus this song was born, inspired by something I said to a friend, “Look, it’s my struggle to face, for wrong or for right…”

I know my friend meant well, but the point of my reply to her several suggestions was that she was simply a spectator to what I was going through at the time. I have to live wit the choices I make. This song is about self-awareness and integrity, and knowing what’s important in life. I hope you enjoy it!

For Wrong Or For Right (http://www.icompositions.com/music/song.php?sid=76544)

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A Letter from the Future Me…

Posted in guitar, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians on October 27, 2007| 2 Comments »

Ig wrote a great article last week, and challenged his readers to write letters to themselves that they’d read some time in the future; a lot like Marty did for Doc in “Back to the Future.” So I’m going to take a crack at this.

Hey!

Looks like you’ve come a long way. I know you were thinking about giving up playing, but knowing you, you just couldn’t keep away from your passion. Hopefully, you’ve kept driving towards incorporating different kinds of styles into your playing. I know you started a bit late with improvisation on the guitar, but I’m hopeful that you are now a master of it; or short of that, can work your way around the fretboard instinctively, switching modes to suit the musical phrasing.

Speaking of musical phrasing, you must have written a few hundred songs by now. I wonder what style of music you’re writing? It’s a good bet that rock and roll is still your staple, but I hope you haven’t given up your dream of finishing your concerto. I can only imaging what it would be like to combine a full orchestra with a rock band, and a huge choir. While I know that you originally thought that you’d hire a big name to play lead guitar, at the rate you’re going, I hope you decided to play that role yourself.

You’re probably not a shredder – that’s not something that you ever aspired to being. Though I know that learning various techniques to incorporate into your playing have always been one of the earmarks of your learning experience on the guitar. Never forget though, you always need to sound like yourself, be it on guitar, or vocally.

I know it has been a rough road to get to where you are. But what’s life without struggle? How can you learn without making mistakes? But just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep pushing the envelope with your skills. Be happy with all you’ve accomplished, but don’t settle with where you are. Complacency leads to boredom, both inside and out; and you are far from being boring.

Cheers!

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Sometimes you just need to take a break…

Posted in guitar, Guitars, Music, musicians on September 27, 2007| Leave a Comment »

If you’re an avid musician – and I don’t necessarily mean “pro” or anything like that – a good piece of your free time is spent playing your instrument. Like, every day. But sometimes you just need to take a break and do something else to get your perspective back.

A couple of weeks ago, I had to go out of town on a family emergency. Usually, when I go out of town, I have my trusty acoustic guitar with me to fill up my free time. But because I had to leave and hop on a plane at pretty much a moment’s notice, I didn’t have time take my guitar. Up to that point, I had been busy in my home studio, writing and recording songs for a few weeks, and I found that I was hitting a state of emotional and mental block. It was taking me longer and longer to motivate myself to set up my gear and play as the days wore on.  Then this emergency came up (it wasn’t anyone sick or hurt, but it did require my presence), and that was probably one of the best things that happened to me with respect to playing guitar.

On the return leg of my trip, as I was sitting in my seat on the airplane, I really looked forward to playing. But by the time, I got home, I realized that I just wanted to sit at home with my wife and kids and just enjoy being with my family. And I did that for the rest of the week!

The net effect was that by the time I picked up my guitar, I had a renewed verve and appreciation for playing. I got just a tad bit rusty, but 10-15 minutes of warm-up exercises got me right back into the groove.

So if you’re feeling blocked with your music, take a break and do something else entirely. You’ll be surprise at your renewed strength!

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Song: I Will Sing (of Your Salvation)

Posted in GarageBand, guitar, Guitars, Music, musicians, recording, songs, Worship Music on August 30, 2007| 2 Comments »

In my latest GarageBand project, I just finished recording a song that I wrote back in 2004, but never managed to record it until now. The song is called “I Will Sing (of Your Salvation).”

While the song is very special to me, the recording was actually a bit of an experiment as I wanted to see if I could replace my synthesizer using only vocals. As far as the whole album of which this song is part, I wanted to take a very minimalistic approach to instrumentation to see how full a sound I could achieve with as few instruments as possible.

As always, I welcome your comments!

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A New Journey ~ Part III

Posted in Guitars, iMac, mac, Music, musicians, recording, songs on August 20, 2007| Leave a Comment »

I finally got a couple of songs to a mostly finished state though I have to tweak the vocal volumes on one of the songs.

You Stir My Soul
Great God

For the past week, I’ve been ever so tickled by the ease of recording that GarageBand provides. But no matter how easy the recording process has become, it’s still a very tedious process. In fact, the easy part is actually laying down the tracks. What takes the longest time is the post-production stuff that gets my songs to a finished state. I probably spend at least 4 to 5 times more time tweaking what I’ve recorded than actually recording.

But that’s the beauty of music production. The artistry is not just in the recording or the song. There’s also an incredible amount of artistry in how your sound is ultimately presented to your audience. The original recording is much like a line drawing or a pencil sketch on a canvas. That forms the basis of the picture. Then like using paints, you apply color and shading to the raw sketch to make it come to life, resplendent with colors that give the picture a “mood” of sorts. A touch of reverb here, some delay there, perhaps some pitch shifting, or time correction. It’s all part of the “painting” process.

So why all this focus on recording in this series? Well, I haven’t mentioned it distinctly, but I’m working on creating an album of the religious music I’ve written for the Catholic Mass. The album is entitled “You Stir My Soul.” You can listen to the title track here. Note that this is not in a finished state. I have to bring down the lead vocal volume a touch because it totally steps on the instrumentation. I put this out on my band’s website so my cohort Dave could see what I did with the harmony, and how I slightly restructured the song from its original form. I also laid down a groovin’ song called “Great God” that is mostly finished, though I have to re-record the guitar solo because of some bad string plucks on my part. 🙂

To tell the truth, I’ve been working on this album project for a couple of years. My wife has been bugging me to get my music out, and I’ve just given her the excuse that I’m so busy that it’s hard to find the time to record. But that’s not really the truth. The real truth is that I purchased much more advanced equipment than I actually needed to create spec recordings. I mean, it was total overkill, and on top of that, I’ve spent tons of time just learning how to operate the softaware! Don’t get me wrong: I love ProTools, but it’s so much more software than I need right now. For specs, you want to get your songs to a good enough state so that when you submit them to a music publisher, they have a good idea of what you’re after in your music. And as I’m doing this myself, ease-of-use and a short time-to-production are absolutely key!

This is where GarageBand is literally a God-send. Most of the hard sound engineering stuff like EQ and mixdown is either done automagically, or is incredibly easy to tweak. It has allowed me to concentrate on producing my music rather than spending inordinate amounts of time learning how to use the recording software. The net result is that where it used to take me a couple of weeks to get a song close to a finished state, it now takes a couple of days; or in the case of You Stir My Soul, I produced the mostly-finished recording in a matter of hours! I can finally see the end of the tunnel to create my spec recordings and get my demo album out!

I used to scoff at GarageBand as not being “real” recording software. But the the sheer quality of the recordings it produces rivals any recording software I’ve used in the past. It may not be as full-featured as “Pro” recording packages, but for what it offers and what it can produced, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better solution for home recording.

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A New Journey ~ Part II

Posted in GarageBand, guitar, guitar gear, Guitars, iMac, Music, musicians, performing, recording, Worship Music on August 18, 2007| Leave a Comment »

All I can say is WOW! GarageBand is absolutely OFF THE HOOK!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was going to be using GarageBand to create song foundations for performing live. But to get myself more familiarized with the application, I decided to lay down a groove for a worship song that I wrote to see how easy it would be. I was not at all disappointed. I first auditioned a bunch of drum loops (BTW, I went out and purchased both iLife ’08 and the Rhythm Section Jam Pack today), found a fill, then inserted the loop into a new track. I then found a decent bass line, and dropped that in as well.

Software instruments such as the bass in GarageBand are actually software MIDI instruments. GarageBand makes it so easy to work with software instruments by providing a MIDI grid to adjust note pitches, duration, velocity, etc.. So once I selected a bassline, I could move notes around to fit to my song. Then it was a simple copy/cut/paste affair to get the bass “measures” into their proper places.

Once I had those two things laid down, I recorded my Strat for the rhythm track. Now here is where things got interesting. For my home recording studio, I use a DigiDesign MBox 2. It turns out that DigiDesign provides a Mac driver for the MBox 2 that you can download from their site. So now, I have my trusty MBox 2 hooked up to my iMac through a USB port, and I can switch from guitar to vocals or add some keyboard tracks with ease.

A totally cool new feature in GarageBand is the ability to loop record; that is, selecting a region in a song, then play several takes while looping over the same region. This is an awesome feature that I’ve appreciated in ProTools, but it’s here in GarageBand! With multi-take loop recording, you can dial in a section until you have it perfect. This saves so much time in the recording process because you don’t have to get to a spot, record, then splice the end. You just keep on playing that section over and over again until you’ve got it right. It also allows you to approach a particular phrase in different ways.

I’m really jazzed right now because I’ve finally found a music production tool that is incredibly easy to use. It’s so easy, it’s almost scary.

BTW, I need to put in a plug for GarageBand ’08. If you’re already a GarageBand user, YOU NEED TO GET iLife ’08 now! It is head and shoulders far more powerful and feature complete than the previous versions of the software. For a mere $79.00, it’s a cheap investment.

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A New Journey ~ Part I

Posted in GarageBand, guitar, Guitars, iMac, mac, Music, musicians, performing, recording on August 17, 2007| Leave a Comment »

I’ve been a gigging musician for several years, playing in all sorts of venues. 90% of my gigs are just me singing and accompanying myself with a single guitar and keyboard, which has worked for me for a long time. But as of late, the artist in me has yearned to stretch his wings and produce a more sophisticated sound when I’m solo. It’s frustrating to play songs that have a lead in the middle of the song, and I’ve just got to strum along, or if it’s on the piano, I’ve just got to stick with the chart (I can’t improvise very well on the keys). So what to do?

Since I’ve made the switch to the Mac, I’ve discovered a wonderful little program called GarageBand that allows you to record music on your Mac. But interestingly enough, it also includes audio loops of all sorts of instruments, so you can literally create a song using just loops. The ramifications are clear: I finally have a way of easily creating song foundations for when I play solo. All I have to do is move the songs to my iPod! So begins my latest journey of creating song foundations. It’s very exciting to me because it’ll allow me to arrange songs for a wider genre of music than I’ve been playing. Talk about having a “band in the box.”

What inspired me to start doing this was seeing a guy at Downtown Disney a few months ago using an Akai MPC1000 Music Production Center for his background stuff, and playing guitar on top of his laid down tracks. I don’t have an extra $1000 to spend on something like that so it has been difficult getting started down this road. But with GarageBand, I should be able to lay down tracks really easily. Oooh I’m excited!

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Need to spec a song quickly? Do it on your Mac!

Posted in guitar, guitar gear, Guitars, iMac, mac, Music, musicians, recording on August 16, 2007| 2 Comments »

For those of you who’ve known me for a long time, I’ve been a PC devotee for as long as I can remember, and used to scoff at the Mac as being a toy. But a few months ago, I decided to try out a MacBook Pro at my previous job, and what I thought would never happen happened. I fell in love with the Mac. I have to say that it really boils down to falling in love with OSX, which is an incredibly usable operating system. Anything before that, I’d still be scoffing at the Mac as being a toy. There were lots problems with OS9, and I just didn’t like the interface. But with the new version of the OS, it’s just incredible! But I digress…

To make a long story short, my former company closed its doors 3 months after I arrived – yikes! But the fortunate thing for me was that I had to opportunity to get some equipment in the company’s fire sale. I ended up with two G5 iMacs, and real nice Dell laser printer.  Included with my iMacs is a nice little music composition program called Garage Band. I’ve been playing around with it for a couple of days, and I just love it! It doesn’t have the features of my ProTools, but for spec’ing out songs, it is incredible!

Central to Garage Band is the ability to drag and drop loops onto the workspace to create the foundation for a song. It’s a very easy process. You can drop guitar loops, organ loops, percussion and bass loops – there’s lots to choose from, and within minutes you can have a full song constructed on your workspace. Then you can add your own instruments by plugging direct into your Mac, or using the built-in microphone (not really recommended as it’s a very sensitive condenser mic and it picks up EVERYTHING).

For instance, this evening, I got an idea for a new song. I browsed around the loops till I found an acoustic guitar, bass, and percussion loops that I liked, dropped them onto my workspace, and arranged pitch and tempo as needed. Then I plugged my ES-335 directly into my iMac using a 1/4″ to 1/8″ adapter cable. Now here’s the cool thing about plugging directly into your Mac: Garage Band comes with built-in amp modelers and effects such as a noise gate, reverb and even delay. There’s even two manual slots available to add distortion and specific types of amp models. As to the amp models, they’re not all that good, but they get the general idea across. I wanted to get kind of a Tube Screamer effect on top of a clean amp, and with a couple of clicks, I had it.

The great thing about Garage Band for me is that I now spend less time getting the foundations of a song laid down, and can concentrate on my compositional ideas. Looks like I’m going to have lots of late night dates with my iMac… 🙂

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Performance: Keeping Your Focus

Posted in guitar, guitarists, Guitars, Music, musicians, performing, playing live on August 9, 2007| 1 Comment »

I read this great article by Tom Hess at Modern Guitars (thanks go to IG at igblog for turning me on to this online mag!) about the “little voices in your head” that talk to you when you’re playing, and it prompted me to write on something that I’ve never covered in any of my blogs; at least in a dedicated entry…

Tom pointed out some really good things to keep in mind, but I wanted to extend it even further; especially for those who play in much smaller venues than Tom, like myself who plays in restaurants and at corporate events and parties. So here are a few more points to add to Tom’s list:

  1. When you’re playing in smaller venues such as providing music for an event or party where you’re not the focus, don’t take it personally if you perceive that people aren’t paying attention to you. Remind yourself that you’re not the focus of the event, and are playing a more supporting role; however, that doesn’t mean that you play any less toned-down. What I’ve found is that if you continue to play at the standards you know you can play at, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the results. I’ve gotten a bunch of extra gigs merely by playing background music, and singing and playing my heart out. People may not seem to give you the time of day during the event, but believe me, they notice when you’re putting your heart into it.A good example is when I play at my weekly gig at a local restaurant. Diners want to eat their meals and converse with each other, and pretty much consider me to be an added treat (though over the last few years, I’ve gained a loyal following). They don’t look at me, or will only occasionally make glances, but all in all, I’m not their primary focus. But time and time again, at the end of the evening, my tip jar is filled with bills, and I’ve given out several business cards. So the point of this is that people may not give you their direct attention, but your music remains in the periphery of their consciousness, and that’s very powerful.
  2. Always pay attention to the energy of your audience, and perform your music that will work with that energy. I no longer use a set list when I’m gigging at parties and restaurants, and let the energy of my audience dictate what songs I play. The same goes when I’m gigging with my band. We may have a plan in place, but we can also turn on a dime if any of us detect that what we’re playing isn’t working.
  3. Many years ago, my dad once told me, “People don’t really respond if you’ve shined your shoes, but they certainly notice if you walk around in shabby-lookin’ ones.” I didn’t really think too much of it at the time (though I do keep my shoes polished now 🙂 ), but my dad was trying to teach me about “excellence” and doing your best; not thinking about doing your best, but doing your best. I’ve taken that little saying with me, and applied it to everything that I do. Don’t settle for less than excellent, and at least for me, never give your audience less than your very best. They’ll appreciate it. Does that mean play flawlessly? Not at all. We all make mistakes, but it’s the total package that counts, not little mistakes that occur. Tom covers this well in his article.

So there are three extra points to add. Keep on playin’, and rock till you drop!

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Miss Misery Chord Chart

Posted in guitar, Guitars, Music, musicians, songs on August 7, 2007| Leave a Comment »

Posted the lyrics here the other day, and worked out the chords to the original version of the song. You can listen/see to how it goes here. If you want to listen to the actual original version, go to iTunes and search on “Miss Misery.” You’ll find “Miss Misery (Early version).”
Capo IV or V

Am   G       F           C

I'll fake it through the day

F/C                     Dm

with some help from Johnny Walker Red

C    Em

and the cold pain

F       C

behind my eyes that shoots

Esus-E

that through my head

Am  G       F       C

Two tickets torn in half

F/C               Dm

and a lot of nothin' to do

C   G/B

but it's all right

Am     G       D/F#

some enchanted night

F       C

I'll be with youEb    Gm            C           AbM7

Tarot cards and the lines in my hand

Eb        G/B       Am

tell me I'm wrong but they're untrue

G         F       C

I got plans for both of us

F/C                 Dm

that involve a trip out of town

C         Em        F   C

to a place I'd seen in a magazine

Esus-E

that you left lyin' around

Am      G       F      C

I can't hold my liquor but

F/C             Dm

I keep a good attitude
C   G/B
'cause it's all right
Am     G       D/F#
some enchanted night
F       C
I'll be with you

A                          F
I know you'd rather see me gone
C                 D/F#
than to see the, come the day
F           G      E/G#
I'll be waiting for you anyway

Am   G        F    C
Next door the TV's flashing
F/C                Dm
blue frames on the wall
C          Em          F    C
It's a comedy from the seventies
                     Esus-E
with a lead no one recalls

Am G F C
To vanish into oblivion
Dm
it’s easy to do
C G/B
and I cried to sleep
Am G
when you talked to me
D/F# F C
the day you said we were through

C G/B
but it’s all right
Am G D/F#
some enchanted night
F C
I’ll be with you

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