"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

Finally got in touch with B. tonight... she sent me the verse & chorus that she's been working on. Said she sees it more as a quiet, album ending type track. I really liked what she sent me, and I suspect that with a little work and a little polish, we can possibly include it in the list of "keepers." The old pattern emerges... I wrote the music, and she came through on the lyrical side. That means that both she and J. have gotten a lot done recently, and I'm kind of feeling like I haven't done my share of late. That's a horrible feeling to be left with at the end of a day where I had hoped to get a lot done. On the plus side: I did get the progression I've been fighting with recorded and sent off to B. She likes it, and she hears it as a verse... which helps me out immensely just from a song structure point of view. Also on the plus side, was out running a few errands today, and stumbled across a book on arranging songs at Half Price Books. Not su...

It was an interestingly odd day today. Was listening to random stuff on the listening stations today, and somehow I wound up on the discography of Fountains of Wayne. Admittedly, all I really know of them is "Stacy's Mom," which I am quite certain any fan of theirs would say does not adequately represent them. Nevertheless, I previewed all of their records, and quite enjoyed what I heard. I think I might just have to pick up some of their stuff. Here, however, is the important part of all that: IT REMINDED ME HOW MUCH I'D LOVE TO MAKE A POWER-POP RECORD. Not that it will happen anytime soon, of course, too many irons in the fire at the moment to even think of doing such a thing, but it will happen one day, oh yes, it will. The second half of my day was devoted to 50's rock and roll. Considering that I am off tomorrow, and my day will be occupied only by activities of my choosing, I wanted to have something new to listen to. Choosing was easy. I picked up that ...

Well, I didn't get around to the recording today. On the plus side, however, I DID teach a guitar lesson. A co-worker's grandson had expressed an interest in guitar, and said co-worker came to me because they knew I played. He might be a bit young to take lessons, but I'll definitely give the teaching thing a shot again, because the prospect of introducing in someone a love of music while further cementing my own knowledge is too tempting to pass up. Besides, I found some really cool resources online for teaching guitar to kids. At the very least there's another lesson set up for next week, so we shall see where this goes. I found some other cool stuff online today too, including a very involved guitar chord/scale generator. It looks like it'll be a nice way to re-familiarize myself with the naming process for all of the odd chords that we've been using in the songwriting process for the band. It's already helping me out with intervallic relationships and ...

I finished up a six day run at work tonight, and celebrated by taking a little bit of time to work on the record tonight. Nothing in comparison to what I hope tomorrow (a mostly open day) will bring when it comes to results, but still. I kept working on the progression that has occupied my thoughts for the last few days. I'm trying to refine the chorus progression as best I can. I'm currently searching for one more chord change that can show up late in the chorus to offset the rest of the progression. Some of the tricks & theories are coming back to me, now that I'm working on this regularly. I'm hoping it won't be too long until I can crank out the music with ease again. I'm still not sure where the verses are going to come from for this particular song, but that, I suspect, will be easier to determine once the chorus progression is set in stone. This one is falling together slowly, which is making me a bit impatient, but I suppose I ought to be happy the p...

As with seemingly every night this week, I sat with the acoustic this evening. I dropped the acoustic a half step to mess around with the acoustic part that J. wants guide tracks on. I'm fairly certain I've got the verses down, I've just got to recall the chorus progression, and then I'll be able to blast through the whole thing right quick. After that, I wound up messing around with another progression instead. Made a tiny bit of progress on that front too. Still, I managed to burn the CD with the demo mixes, and then the drum & bass tracks on their own. This way, I can listen to it in the car, and burn into my mind where the entrances are. I know the others are waiting on me, and either tomorrow night after work or Tuesday during the day I will get the tracks recorded and toss them in the dropbox. I had a couple of people tell me this week that I need to be playing open mics. They're right. And possibly because they're right, I sat down with the binder...

I sat with the acoustic again this morning. And I found some old photos buried in the pages of a novel I evidently hadn't looked at in two years. That's the kind of thing that leads to a bunch of old memories. Those memories burn less now than they used to, but they will still be good fodder for the music. Again today, I played around with the idea of these guide tracks J. wants. In the process, I figured out a different way to play the progression I really need to be recording. It'd be an electric part if anything, and I'm not sure that we really need electric in that spot. It was cool anyway. I'm wishing I was off tomorrow, so I could lock myself in the back bedroom with a notebook, a pen, and my acoustic. I could really use an entire day to myself to just try and write. It seems like my days off lately (aside from the ones where people have been in from out of state, of course) have been spent doing things for others. Maybe that sounds selfish. Maybe it is. B...

I got up late this morning, but still had time to sit down with the acoustic before work. Something tells me that B.'s songwriting adventure last night may have inspired a small journey for me today. I didn't get a lot done, but I did find chords for a small bit of lyric that had stayed with me for the last few years. It's a quicker progression, and one that feels a bit different for the band (and take it from me, we write some pretty different stuff). It's only a three chord progression over a couple of lines, but I like it. I tried to work on recording that guide track this morning, too, and found that it was quite tough for me to not throw in all kinds of embellishments as I played the progression. I didn't get the track laid down, because I worked on that second, and when I went to listen I discovered that the original track was in a different tuning, and I didn't have enough time to re-tune and record before I left. I did, however, peel back all of the la...

I'm in a Decemberists sort of mood today. I'm really, really liking their latest record. I enjoy all of their stuff, but The King Is Dead is far and away the record of theirs that I listen to the most. Skyped with both J. and B. today. J. wants guide tracks on acousitc for the two songs that we have drums and bass for. Nothing intricate, just a way to block out the changes and give the feel of the song. It's tough for me to not get into it when I record, so this ought to be fun. Strip things down to the core, and just get the bones of the song. If that hangs together, then everything else we put on top should work just fine. B. and I chatted for about an hour. She broke down and opened up the box with her mic. in it while we chatted, and I've got to say that it looks like she's got a pretty cool setup. It's basic, bit it seems like it will be exactly what she needs to lay down some vocals, and probably some acoustic parts as well. Also, apparently the place ...

So, I've had family in town for the last two days, and yet I still managed to accomplish a couple of band related things today, and things that will help me out in general when it comes to music. The first thing: I've finally gotten my studio set up and organized in a way that it ought to be really productive! I went ahead and sorted through everything that was spread out in various places around the corner of the living room that doubles as my studio, filtered it all down to the most vital stuff for advancing beyond where I am as a player, and then organized it in such a way that it's all accessible at the drop of a hat. That includes all my tab, my other resources, and all of my books about the music industry/assorted musicians. Of course, the best part of organizing everything (other than having it the way it should've been two years ago), was the chance to look through everything as I was doing it. And what did I find? Something that might just be the original t...

One of the really cool things about working on this record is that it gives me the chance to dissect exactly what it was we did all those years ago. Whether it's J. needing progressions in order to lay down a bassline, or B. wondering what it was we played on a certain song, or my own questions as to how we laid down a certain part, it has been fun in the last two weeks to go back and try and investigate 5 year old decisions. Why do I mention it tonight, you ask? Because, following up on my run throughs last night, I played along with the demo of the song tonight, and discovered that it was one of the ones we recorded a half step down. I had re-tuned to standard before trying it, because B. had never really written in anything other than standard, and was I ever surprised when it didn't exactly sound right. That had been her progression, and my only thought is that she must have written it at my place, on my acoustic, because there's no other way the song could've been...

Just a couple of quick hits today... 1) J. sent the drum & bass tracks for two of the three songs tonight. Still waiting on the drums & bass for the potential big single, but now we at least have something to work off of! My plan tomorrow is to not only upload the tracks to my ipod, but also to burn a CD with everything, so I can listen both at home and in the car. Demo first in the order, then just the drums and bass. Easier to hear where the parts will fall that way. Thankfully, J. also left a series of written notes on the way he has set up the tracks. I glanced at them as I was downloading the music earlier. I'll have to go through them more carefully tomorrow. Can't wait to get started on my parts. 2) Apparently B. went out today and picked up her USB Microphone, along with a pop filter and a mic stand. And apparently the guy who sold her the gear wants to hear the record when it's finished. I haven't had a chance to talk to her yet, I just got a text m...

I had really hoped to have those bass & drum tracks waiting for me when I got home tonight, but apparently it was not to be. Waiting for stuff like that is so hard, especially when you already know that the tracks were close to being done. Got up early enough today to sit with the acoustic for a little while before I had to dash off to work. As is usually the case, I had plenty of time to get to work on time when I sat down "just for a minute or two," and the next time I looked up, I had to run to get there as quickly as I did. It's true what they say about 5 minutes equaling three hours. Don't remember if I mentioned it last night, but the music world lost another legend yesterday. Clarence Clemons, sax player for Springsteen's E Street Band passed away due to complications from a stroke. I didn't really need a reason to spend the rest of the week blasting The Boss, but now I have one anyway. And the saddest part? Now I feel like I'll never reall...

Chatted for a bit with J. this morning, heard the drums for the alleged future big single. It sounded amazing! I was hoping he would've had the time to finish it up and send it off tonight, but no luck. We did, however, get the first two songs sent our way. Drums & Bass and the original demos over the top. Still waiting on the rhythm tracks by themselves. He sent a giant message with his thoughts while we were all away from the computer. He seems to like talking to himself when none of us are around. Oh, and he seems to think that my best option, recording-wise is to combine my BOSS 1180BR-CD with ProTools 8, and an M-Audio Interface. I suspect he's right, I've just got to see how much that will set me back. In a perfect world, I'd find a way to get myself a Les Paul too, but now I'm just dreaming. Skyped with B. tonight too. We talked cover songs, writing sessions, and chord progressions from the original demos. She figured out what it was she had played on t...

So, I spent about an hour this morning before work sitting with the acoustic working on the song B. and I were talking about last night, worked with her friends lyrics, and was making some solid progress when B. texted to say that we wouldn't be able to use the words. I'm torn here. Bummed because there were some cool ideas there, lyrically, but happy at the same time because I'd selfishly like the whole record to come from she and I. Besides, the more I play around with the progression we were thinking of using, the more I feel it isn't quite ready for the big time yet. So, I'm thinking the next piece of news is official enough that I can mention it... as opposed to yesterday's co-writing news. But anyway... I'm going to see Alkaline Trio in July!!!! R. found out about the show when she went to see Mumford & Sons. Apparently it's at a small (500ish people) club in Omaha. The gig will be two days before the release of their new record (Damnesia, du...

Let's see, I had a list yesterday of things I wanted to get done, music-wise today. Here are my results (hopefully in order). 1) I made it to Guitar Center after work to check out interfaces. The main one that the sales guy talked about would set me back about $150, which, to be honest, is more than I want to spend right now. However, apparently which interface I buy is somewhat dependent on which version of ProTools J. has (some will only work with certain versions, I guess). So, before I buy, I'll want to check with him on which version he's got. Truthfully, I was going to consult him about the purchase anyway, but I might not have thought to ask the "which program" question. 2) Snagged a copy of "Juice" at Guitar Center as well, R. and I didn't make it into the print version... but we ARE on the website. 3) Would've told her all about it when I dropped off her CDs, but I did the first two things on my list on my way back from stopping to...

I've spent most of the day pondering track order. As the day has progressed, I've resigned myself to the fact that pondering such things is crazy, and I still find myself listening to countless "track ones" in the itunes (I have tried to limit myslef to the records that might fit in well with what we are working on). They all seem to have the following things in common: 1) Major Key 2) Uptempo 3) Heavy Guitar/Prominent riff I haven't looked at it from a lyrical standpoint, and I won't. Too personal to make a judgement call on. I've got to say, I'm really tempted to go the opposite way from all these other records, just to make ours stand out a bit. Did a bit of reading tonight, both on what we're getting ourselves into, and in the Keith Richards bio. On the list of music-related things to do tomorrow after work: 1) Guitar Center to see about interfaces 2) Trying to find a copy of Juiced, to see if R. & I are in it. 3) Drop off a c...

The initial conversation between B., myself, and J. happened this evening. It was only a twenty minute conversation, but it was great for us to finally all touch base. The best part of the whole thing? B. got to hear what J. has been working on. I was glad to hear the drums and bass behind things again too, considering that it's going to be at least a few weeks (I think) before we get to hear the drums and bass mixed and ready for us to record over. His plan is to start with things as simple as possible. Drums, Bass, 1, maybe 2 guitars, and a vocal. The guitars will be acoustic in almost every case, just strip everything down to the basics to make sure the songs hold up (they will) before we go back in and add a bunch of stuff. We went over a bit of the nuts & bolts of how we're going to be approaching the recording with B., although I was glad to have the refresher myself. It clarified a few things in my mind. I asked how B. & I should proceed next, he gave us each o...

Texted B. today regarding the conversation between she, J., and myself that is currently scheduled for tomorrow night sometime. Just wanted to let her know that all was proceeding as planned, and to tell her that J. liked her vocals on a tune that he and I had written 10 years ago. She and I had thrown her part in there, on the choruses, back when we were writing the first time. We considered using the song back then, but would've needed J.'s approval. Now that he's producing us, I think that'll be easy to get. My theory also happens to be that we ought to re-cut the entire vocal with her singing the lead, and then have her harmonize with herself for the record. We've wanted to try that on the hard rock stuff for a long time now, so I figure, why not there? The other band related thing that happened today also came out of my text conversation with B. Apparently she was going through stuff in her condo today, and stumbled upon a box of old cassettes. Recordings of ...

R. & I saw Warren Haynes tonight at Simon Estes Amphitheater. Weather got nice just in time. Perfect night for a show, although it got a bit cold near the end, but hey, who's keeping score? What an amazing venue! Right along the river, downtown in the background, awesome scene. Haynes and the band were smoking, fresh off of their set at Bonnaroo. They did at least 5 tracks off of his new record, a few Mule tunes ("Beautifully Broken," and "Soulshine," which closed the show), and one song for sure off of his first solo record. I can't wait to find the setlist online. I really don't have enough Gov't Mule. That will change in the not too distant future. There will likely be more on the show tomorrow, but other stuff to discuss, plus I'm starting to fade a bit here. Spent 3-4 hours Skypeing with B. today, catching her up on what has happened this week. She was (as I expected) wildly jealous that I got to hear stuff with drums last night. It...

Today was big. It seems like I've been saying that a lot lately, but once again, it also seems that it's true. So, what I missed last night was the chance to hear the first run through of the drums and bass that J. put behind the first song we started working on. I caught up with him late this morning, and got to hear it before heading off to work though. It wasn't perfect, but then again, it wasn't supposed to be. He's trying to get close with the drums and bass so that we have a rhythm track to go back and lay new parts over. So what if it wasn't flawless, it was progress. Then we got down to the serious business. Talk of copyright and a brief mention of contracts before I had to dash off to work. All of the business stuff makes sense to get out of the way early, we all want to make sure we protect our interests in this whole thing, just to be on the safe side. Besides, I need to better educate myself about that side of the business anyway. To that end, I lo...

So, after another twenty four hours and a bit of information gathering, I'm ready to discuss the Iron & Wine portion of last night's gig. Everything I'd gotten by them in the weeks leading up to the show had been the early stuff, where it was essentially Sam Beam and an acousitc guitar. Consequently, that's what I was expecting when we went to the gig. And Beam shows up with a full band and a horn section. A horn section! Which, usually, I would love, mind you. He did most of the show completely electric. Talk about feeling totally thrown. Some of it I really loved, other stuff, not quite as much. Granted, I'm not sure how much of what I didn't like was because it wasn't what I had expected, or what the situation is on that one. Needless to say, I had Iron & Wine related discussions with G. at work today. She's a fan, and she basically told me that what I heard was the really, really early stuff (which I sort of knew), and that he had expanded...

Iron & Wine tonight at People's Court. Had never been to a gig there before. Don't know what I was expecting, but I was thinking it would be a bit bigger of a venue. In the end, I'm glad that it wasn't. It's a really cool small room that hosts a lot of acts. Now that I know where it is, I'm totally going back for more shows! It was definitely an interesting show. The Head & The Heart, a band out of Seattle, opened the show, and I've got to say, having heard the hype about them months ago on NPR.com, I kept waiting for a CD to come out... well, finally it's out, we have it at work, and I will absolutely be buying it! They were spectacular live. Lots of space for the acoustic guitar in their music, and yet I still walked away with the impression that they were a drums, bass, and piano centered band. If their CD is as good as their live show, I'll be in for a treat. Also, they made me feel like we ought to start all of the band stuff with drum...

I've been trying really hard to focus in on one progression from the list per night. In my head, the record will get done (or at least the initial music part of it) quicker. Whether or not this is actually true is still open for debate, however. What I should have worked on tonight was the Double Drop D progression(s). Between figuring out how the structure breaks down for the suggestions that J. had (which I am at least going to consider, if not embrace), and then figuring out how the bigger progression in that song will be used outside of it, clearly there is a lot of work that needs to be done on that front. What I did do was look back at another of the progressions in progress, and spend some time trying to work on that. Made a little bit of progress, but not as much as I would have liked. I think what I really need is a knock-down, drag-out writing session with B. Y'know, one of those things where we both sit in a room with acoustic guitars, and... oh wait, we're in ...

I opened today. On a Tuesday. I never get to open on Tuesdays, and I really enjoyed it, partly because it let me look at everything that came out this week. This morning, that brought back a time in my life that has drifted away, and inspired a purchase. Peter Murphy, who has now put out more studio albums as a solo artist than he did as the frontman of Bauhaus (3 more, actually), released his first solo record since 2004 today. The album's called "Ninth," and it was a much simpler purchase than buying the last one was. More on that story in a second. Maybe I was looking for musical ispiration today, or maybe subconsciously I needed a short walk down memory lane. Either way, I got what I needed. Not that anything B. and I are doing references Peter's solo work or Bauhaus directly, but there is a sense of openness, of haunting, even to Murphy's most rocking stuff, that I wish we could find a way to bottle. Sat down with the acoustic tonight, trying to work on...

My Romi Mayes record came in today. I just put it into itunes. I'm listening to it as I type this. Really digging it so far, but then again, based on what I watched on YouTube, I'm not surprised by my reaction. Given that R. and I are going to Iron & Wine on Thursday, I probably ought to be listening to that , but this just came in, so... Played some acoustic today before work. In doing so, I found a cool riff to go underneath one of our unfinished progressions. I was all set to lay it down before work, but then other things intervened, so that will have to be a project for another day. Tomorrow perhaps. I also tinkered for a few minutes with the progressions from the list, much like yesterday. Truthfully, All I wanted to do today was putter in the studio. Texted with B. a bit today. She was unsuccessful in her search for a microphone the other day, but I'm not all that worried about it yet. That's really all for today. Long day at work. More tomorrow, I hope.

So, apparently B. accepted my Dropbox request tonight. It's always cool to get band stuff accomplished without knowing it, and that's the way it happened today. I do wonder if she got out and found her mic, but I guess I can send a text tomorrow and find out. Also of note, J. kept messing around with ProTools and that song, and when I talked to him for a minute or two tonight, he said he was almost done with it. Can't wait to hear it, but I'm guessing it'll be a bit longer before I get to, considering his exact words were that he'd "catch up to me in a day or two." As for me, I got home from a walk tonight, and hunted down the legal pad with the list of songs/ideas on it. I wanted to lay out each idea individually, see what we had, and where it could/needed to go to be finished up. It all started with me wanting to go through the Double Drop D progression all the way, just to confirm what J. and I were talking about the other night. I'm pretty ...

Three music related things happened today. Seems like not much happened, given the previous 48 hours, but here it is anyway. 1) Skyped with B. tonight. Updated her on everything that happened in my conversations with J. the last few nights. She's really excited. I can tell. It makes me smile. Apparently, she tried to do a bit of recording today, and wound up with a bunch of background noise. She needs to go out and buy a microphone tomorrow, she tells me, "otherwise it sounds like shit." She also said that she feels the project has been "waiting on her" to get something recorded so we can move forward. While I have been curious if things will work from her end of things, I assume they will, so I'm not terribly worried about the when of that part. In fairness, I feel like I've been holding us back by not having enough familiarity with Music Maker. This was the first time I've really heard her talk about "after we finish the album..." typ...

If yesterday felt big, I'm not sure what that means for today. Jason sent some messages from the train this morning as he was listening. His initial reaction? He wants to start with the very first song we ever wrote and recorded. He said he knows it isn't a single, but he hears a lot of potential in it, and sees it as a starting point for seeing what it is we can accomplish. He thinks that we are best served starting out slowly and working our way up to the bgger stuff. He hears the two that B. and I thought were singles as singles (which is awesome). He also suggested breaking up the Double Drop D progression and trying to make it into two different songs. I think he's right about that one, truthfully. We've had that progression for 4+ years, and we've never really gotten lyrics over it. He broke down the first few parts of that progression into sosmething completely different than what I considered to be the main part of the song. Also, we've got a rough d...

Today feels big. Whether it actually was or not remains to be seen, but it feels that way. Here's why: I got a response from J. this morning to the message I sent last night, saying that he was up for whatever I had planned. He mentioned that he was re-working the solo stuff we had worked on last year, but that he "would rather do something new and make it demo-worthy." Secretly, I'm hoping for "album-worthy," but that's just details right now. Then, tonight, J. and I sent messages back and forth on Skype, just sort of opening the discussion on the project. The first question he asked was whether the demos were tempo correct (meaning, will he just be able to drop drums in behind them). I told him I doubted that they were, but I sent him the files anyway, so he can see where we're at, and try to figure out where we go from here. Apparently, he'll listen on the train tomorrow on the way to work, and we have another discussion planned for tomorrow...

I've got to be up early tomorrow, so of course I can't sleep. I've been sitting up with the acoustic for the last hour or so. Tried to do some recording, but the progression I was after just wasn't sounding the way I wanted it to, so I put that aside for another time, and just sat and played. As is always the case, my fingers started working through the chord progressions that are on the big list for the band. I stumbled onto one of the two progressions we have that just go back and forth between two chords (at least for right now). Tried to finda third one. Almost succeeded, but not quite. I don't know what it is about this project and getting stuck for a third chord, but it seems to happen frequently. Never did connect with B. tonight. Probably good, since I didn't have enough time to really play around with Music Maker. I did, however, send a message to J. regarding his offer of production for the hard rock stuff. Next phase of that: convincing him to pla...