I do have a bit of a time crunch happening right now, as we (myself and some family) are planning on going to Texas this week (Friday). I am working on 2 songs for the Weekly Wallop as I will not have access to my studio next week, and I am working on a new gig producing a cable TV jingle and sound bed for an infomercial. I also have a guest coming in to record some songs of his own Wednesday – and my own band is going to practice. Right. You know the old saying – if you want to get something done – give it to the busy guy.

really cutting this one to the wire…I was looking through my audio sketches, and saw “bacon song” and the rough vocal track was there. I remember I had this idea while I was upstairs cooking bacon, and I had to hurry and get in down – before the bacon burned …this is one of the reasons I think it is important to have a user friendly recording environment – switch, switch – record – done…. I finally had a chance to work it out in this weeks WW (Wednesday Wallop) I tried some different drum grooves and simply wasn’t happy until I hit this fat stompin house kick, a kind of 4 on the floor – with complementary bass. the water and wine lyric fell into place as the chorus came together…I originally wanted to do a megaphone type vocal – but not really sure I pulled it off…anyway…In case you are wondering – I am not a music snob, I am happy to try almost anything if it might make the idea work – same with equipment – I will use almost anything, and sometimes do, to execute the idea. lyrics here…listen here And download here.

I have to tell you, this song posed some new challenges. It was one of the first songs I did where I sat down and kind of felt like just going out to the hot tub and saying…why bother? There was not a particular reason, it was just one of those motivational challenges. No inspiration, no enthusiasm, no motivation – and that folks is a recipe for trouble no matter what you are trying to finish. Thankfully I managed to roll up my sleeves and catch a wave…and what a wave we have here today. Lay it down…Some of the notable firsts; very chillin groove, clocking in at 63 beats per minute, any of you drummers out there know that a slow groove is hard to maintain – and that was the case here. If you have a decent stereo system and get the cd audio (when I make it available), you will find your house rumblin from the bass on this song- very full and clean low end there… I decided to beef cake the outro with a kind of drum solo – but in order to keep the vibe I had to really mix down the drums…it almost sounds like a thunderstorm to me. I let it go vocally too on the outro – why not? So, you can hear the song here . You can download it here. The lyrics are here. Finally – I have been told that I need to take care of the player / lyrics issue, i.e. – when you play the song and click the lyrics the song stops – the way around this is to have 2 browsers open – I will try to get set up so the lyrics just sit in the window – if anyone of you has an easy solution I’m all ears.

I was watching the Olympics last night with my daughter and I was struck with the similarities between competing for a medal, and performing and releasing music. Apart from the fact that a gold record and an Olympic gold medal are icons of success, I was thinking more along the lines of the “behind the scenes”…The downhill skier as an example spends their days, weeks, and years perfecting a downhill regime that allows them to better their time. Daily, persistently and, to a large degree anonymously, they train, tweak and work to shave another fraction of a second off of their time. As a musician writing songs, or playing an instrument – there is a lot of old fashioned work involved too. Learning theory, running scales, hours of repetitive practice to better understand a song, or countless listens to a song one tries to complete… I think in the ideal of both scenarios there is a romanticizing. A downhill skier out in the nature, experiencing the thrill of downhill, sun shining, birds chirping, awe inspiring mountain scenes…the musician by their bay window, sitting at the piano, passionately expressing the tongues of angels (or demons as the case may be). Granted – there are truths to both, and the analogy continues. Years go by – the big day arrives, and all is thrown into a few minutes of performance – for which the athlete has striven…do they rise?…are they defeated? How about music – the big record for which thousands are invested is released, does the public care? Is there a tap into the public in the form of a hit? Hit or stiff? Flight or flounder? And then – after time, back to the routine of improving, and, as a Christian musician, celebrating the mere act of creativity as given by a loving God. Too often the “big thing” is seen as the objective – and the process of acquiring it is miserable…I submit – that though the gold is certainly desirable and worth striving for, you had better enjoy the simple act of the process in which you strive ( and this applies to all disciplines artistic or not), because if you don’t – your arrival will only bring a bitter realization that that wasn’t what you really were seeking to begin with. Finally – anytime anyone ventures out of the socially accepted norms of occupation (occupation being defined as how you use your time – much more valuable than money) you need a will of uncommon veracity.

this song started out with an experimental drum sound I’ve been chasing – then with the ring of the snare being more or less in the key of the song, the decision was made to emphasize that, and save the other sound for another day… there was a total 4 mics on the snare (top, bottom, off center – floor, room), and to me it sits good in the mix…as the lyrics were worked out I found myself enjoying the harmonizing…I might have gotten carried away – but it was fun to do. There was also something I am calling subtractive drumming…there is probably a proper musical name for it – but it is essentially doing less rather than more…instead of a fill pause – instead of a build, silence. I also really fought the desire to play anything other than straight 2 and 4 on the drums…it was hard to do. This might be a subliminal revolt against hotbeds extravagance – dunno… There is a total of 1 cymbal crash on this song, and I believe 1 kick drum fill (gasp) – the bridge introduces a rather hyper panned drum fill – which you can decide if it balances the rest nicely…you can decide that right? I’m not going to get a lot into the rest of the song – if you read around my blog you should have a good idea about what “dust and divine” is getting at…and the music on this is very straightforward too… anyway – this is dust and divine, you can stream it here . You can read the lyrics here. Those of you desiring so can download the song in mp3 here.

I am working on the next song and I find myself really wanting the “right” snare sound. It is a bit strange – since I am often flying fast and furious while recording, and will use various mics and placements – just to execute the idea…but not this time. The last time I really spent a lot of time trying to get the right sound was at Paisley Park, Princes studio – and I had about 15 snare drums, and Tom Tucker had me work through them ad nauseum. Nothing against Tom, I had em, he wanted to hear em. at the time I was a bit in awe of Paisley, and found things a bit over thought. Gordy Knutson (amazing drummer) happened to be doing a session at the same time and wrote on my drum set (which was a single head Tama Mahogony) “GET BOTTOM HEADS”…which is like saying ADD SALT TO YOUR SOUP… he might want more salt – but not me…it is truly a taste bud issue.
The more I learn about music and recording, the more I learn that there are a lot of ways of doing things, many I find disagreeable as far as the final sound, but not necessarily wrong. One of my favorite snare sounds is actually from a sample CD Brian Eno did, with Neil Conti, Dark Side Of the Groove…but there again, sometimes the ” Salvation Army Snare” sound of Bonham is the cats meow…FYI I will be using a SM57 on the snare – which is probably the most used snare drum microphone in recording studios worldwide…and I will play with an AKG C414 under and around a Noble and Cooley 14″ maple…additionally I am going to use a cheap condenser ambient mic – with lots o’ compression stay tuned…

this is a song I started in September…it has about 20 different drum / percussion tracks – a tuba bass line, horns galore, clarinet, whistles, marimba, and a general feeling of New Orleans…aiming for and hitting that vibe I hope. I did not have a lot of time to spend on this one- as we got back from Europe yesterday at 2:30 a.m. – not to seek pity, but I am sick too, and feel it crawling into my lungs…hey – you do what you gotta do right? Lyrics will be forthcoming. Listen here

we have been in Holland for 5 days and it has been really incredible. If you are here for the first time – feel free to look at the music section, where I post songs that are more or less finished. I think the most popular song I have done so far is “Glorious Day”… keep in mind, I have written a variety of songs…and I try to do the self – production thing…stylistically I really don’t have a hard direction yet, and even the next song I do this Wednesday is up in the air. I hope you enjoy your visit, and if you want to drop a line, it is always nice to hear from visitors. One more comment – I have just discovered that in Holland my streaming button does not show up – not sure why this is – but it forces a download if you want to hear anything…I am putting it on my “to do” list for things to fix.

The definition for squank is (as defined by the urban dictionary);

1.(n.)An unseen energy or force said to be the basis of all music creativity. From pre-macedonian lore related to those that are deeply driven by musical ambition.

example;

It must be the squank that drives those musicians to play with so much heart and passion.

personally I believe that any time anything good is created, it comes from the creative core (God Himself)…but if you have read this blog for any length of time you know who that would be, and how I see this. It is an old story of musicians creating music and taking the praise onto themselves…as if they have the ability to create a single thing without God giving them what they have. I think deep down most musicians know this, and that is hard to ignore, especially when one tries to deny the existence of God from the get go. However, anything that falls short must needs be taken on my own back as my own imperfections…right? I mean after all – music is moving air, and there are a lot of ways to do that… … I named this piece squank – because it feels squanky, it has undertones of squank – a certain squankish flavor if you will.
This song is a bit frantic, and the sounds seem to me appropriate for the week, air raid sirens, technology amock, backward masking, scream of rage, a synthesized voice with the only lyrics…”drum”, “the drumbeat goers like this”, and “funky drummer”.. There is in my life currently a concern for an acquaintance possibly using drugs (a complete surprise to me), a grandfather dying, haste in overseas plans and preparation, and a seeming deluge of other distractions, and so these sounds come into my mind. this is less a song and more a mood. It is definitely a departure, but I did enjoy it, and may visit the land of some of these genres more. I haven’t really ever been a big euro / techie guy – but there is a vibe to explored in some of this. Probably not many will like this…is it good? For me to say something is good means it is what I meant it to be. After that too many variables come into play – and I would rather not go there. Without further ado – I present to you, squank.