November 29th, 2011
this song goes back to summer 2010…it was part of the weekly wallop series. Every now and then I recorded a rough or scat track on vocals…and left it, and this song was a case in point. Rarely did I spend more than a few “takes” on vocals…(and I hear the jokers / real singers already laughing OH REALLY in fake surprise) yes…and sometimes I just left the track with a one take vocal without even sussing out the words. Lazy? Nah – more like constrained for time and needing to go my son or daughters competitive sport of the week. Anyway, I did a one take vocal and copied some mangled background voices and called it a day. I liked the hey yo bit, and the basic flow of the melody – and so that was the songs name (it is still up as a demo if you want to go under the music section). To me it has a kind of tribal electro feel. I was going to play around with “lime and coconut” but the next thing I knew I had another song to deliver. Forward a year and some months and enter Trina B and some very fine full singing. I really like her voice, it reminds me of someone circa Phil Spector, but haven’t been able to nail it down yet. Apart from taking the song to a new level – she knocked the hey yo outro out of the park. Anyway – here for your pleasure is Hey Yo – with lyrics.
hey yo
Hey Yo
ahhhh – ahhhhhh
took a little time for the both of us say
hey now maybe its a love so true
oh now I see in the cold and lonely
oh now baby I’m looking at you
ahhhhh – ahhhhhhh
oh everything we are sending on through
wait now baby what you want to do
its round and round and we be wound so true
I say I feel everything with you
ahhhh ahhhhhhh
hey yo hey yo
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November 22nd, 2011
It is the one great weakness of journalism as a picture of our modern existence, that it must be a picture made up entirely of exceptions. We announce on flaring posters that a man has fallen off a scaffolding. We do not announce on flaring posters that a man has not fallen off a scaffolding. Yet this latter fact is fundamentally more exciting, as indicating that that moving tower of terror and mystery, a man, is still abroad upon the earth. That the man has not fallen off a scaffolding is really more sensational; and it is also some thousand times more common. But journalism cannot reasonably be expected thus to insist upon the permanent miracles. Busy editors cannot be expected to put on their posters, “Mr. Wilkinson Still Safe,” or “Mr. Jones, of Worthing, Not Dead Yet.” They cannot announce the happiness of mankind at all. They cannot describe all the forks that are not stolen, or all the marriages that are not judiciously dissolved. Hence the complex picture they give of life is of necessity fallacious; they can only represent what is unusual. However democratic they may be, they are only concerned with the minority.
GKC
The Ball and the Cross, part IV: “A Discussion at Dawn”
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November 11th, 2011
If I remember tonight – I’ll add a post @ 11:11 p.m. – worthy of a post don’t ya think?
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November 9th, 2011
Albrecht Durer Melencolia 1514
This print, along with St Jerome In His Study, and Knight Death And The Devil is considered one of the 3 Meisterstiche, or Master Works of Albrecht Durer. This particular image was originally engraved on copper. It really does show an unsurpassed excellence in Durers artistic power. There are a lot of interpretations around what Durer “meant”. I will only say you and I can do well to look at his work as a whole, and the Master Works in particular, and draw what conclusions we can. The one obvious clue we have is the word meloncolia or meloncholy which has its roots in a gloomy, pensive demeanor often associated with creativity. Who knows? Maybe Durer expressed a kind of frustration with the gloom of an artistic block – and then in expressing it made one of his greatest engravings.
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October 25th, 2011
inspiration;
c.1300, “immediate influence of God or a god,” especially that under which the holy books were written, from O.Fr. inspiracion “inhaling, breathing in; inspiration,” from L.L. inspirationem (nom. inspiratio), noun of action from pp. stem of L. inspirare “inspire, inflame, blow into,” from in- “in” (see in- (2)) + spirare “to breathe” (see spirit). Literal sense “act of inhaling” attested in English from 1560s. Meaning “one who inspires others” is attested by 1867.
You want inspiration? Here are 10 tips;
1 ) Seek God first in all endeavors (prayer, bible study, obedience) for unexcelled inspiration.
2 ) Seek inspiration outside of your trade. Go to artists that work in mediums you don’t specialize in.
3 ) Get out in nature. You will never run out of inspiration in taking in this wide, bold, wonderful and sublime world God has created.
4 ) Be truthful / honest / real
5 ) Consider learning a lifestyle rather than a title.
6 ) Celebrate the amazing diversity we are surrounded in with the human experience, walk wide eyed in your daily gift of the present, fight evil at every opportunity overtly OR quietly.
7 ) Enjoy a deep and meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ, be it in a building called the church or not.
8 ) Fellowship with authentic Christians.
9 ) Make your goal to please God not man.
10 ) Admit you don’t know yourself.
sedit qui timuit ne non succederet
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October 25th, 2011
just got back from an absolutely epic roadtrip…taken in our Town and Country (yes we drove)…over 4,800 miles in about 8 days stops included; Pikes Peak, Painted Desert, Painted Canyon, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Yellowstone, a very safe and enjoyable time was had by all.
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October 10th, 2011
some years ago when I lived overseas I was on a long walk…can’t remember right now if it was between 2 cities or just a long distance in one city, but it took a while. Given the tempo of my steps, a chorus kind of naturally broke out “keep on walkin”. I remember thinking at the time it was worth developing…but I pretty much forgot about the concept after that walk. The idea popped up once or twice since then, but I don’t believe I ever wrote it down – and it was again dismissed. Recently the idea resurfaced and this time I acted. Enter steps, percussion, light keyboards, bass, a dash of vocoder and the inimitable Trina B on BG vox and we have a song. The video was a first take of (surprise – surprise) walking. Conceptually it is built around Job (as in though the Lord slay me, yet will I serve Him” Job) with a slightly modern vibe. You can click on the button to stream the audio only, or the video below for the audio/visual effect. If you click in the black frame you get a flash stream – and if you look under that there is a quicktime link for stock (flashless) ipadders.
keep on walkin
I wanna
keep on walkin (3x)
don’t know where to go
lost my job
lost my cash
lost my girl well it went so fast
gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
lions I’ve seen
lions they come
everybody run but I won’t go gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
well my health left me a long time ago
every day the sheet around me a gown now
keep on walkin (2x)
well I’ve been bleedin up and down the street
got cut like a rat and left on my feet gonna
keep on walkin (4x)
well look around for a little bitty friend
ain’t no messin day to day don’t send gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
well everybodys gone, I’m all alone
feel those chains to dead been sown gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
well the sun comes up, sun goes down
nothin ever changes in this old town gonna
keep on walkin (3x)
gonna bang my gong
gonna be like this
gonna cry my river
gonna need a little kiss gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
well I don’t know if its ever gonna change
but I trust the good Lord to lay His own thing gonna
keep on walkin (2x)
ohhhhh yeahhh
keep on walkin baby
keep on walkin
well I don’t know if it’s ever gonna change
give me tho soul give me tho chains gonna keep on walkin
I ain’t gonna stop now
gonna keep on walkin
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
Quicktime small 15MB
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October 5th, 2011
my my my what a busy month it has been…I have registered about 125 works with my PRO (BMI), I have been getting some good news on download and feedback from my licensing company, I have been working with some different singers and been very pleased with the results…just finished “keep on walkin” which I’ll put up in the next couple of days. “Wait” you might say “where are the new songs?”…well to be perfectly honest I don’t know that I will put everything on the site, I am already putting a lot of material on the music page. Not to mention the occasional “sketch”. But don’t fret – the M initiative will (hopefully) be bringing plenty of music to your collective ears… in addition to this I have rolled out a new media player that you can see by clicking on any of my audio links, this will be getting hacked to my specs soon… 
it really is amazing being alive in the digital age isn’t it?
Tags: music production
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September 7th, 2011
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August 26th, 2011
Don’t ask me to play your cocktail hour… I got my hands on a steel drum (soprano) for a first (thanks mom!)…. and wrote this basic melody pretty much 15 seconds out of the box….what I have here is with and without vocals……steel drums – they bring one straight to the island don’t they? Honestly – they are a bit hard to record – so hopefully my technique there will improve as time goes on. If you want the vocals they are below the music player links. And as always – click the arrow to stream – and download to download.
play da pans mahn
with vocals
Download
without vocals
Download
psalm 118:24
oh Lord i want to thank you for this day
Your love endures forever
i want to lift my voice unto you and praise
share joy together
this is the day the Lord made (2x)
oh Lord sometimes i get so tired and i
i lose my way from the folks out there and
i hear some folks they do conspire
but with You i know im ok
well when im down i know you lift me up
give me hope and make me feel better
oh Lord i know you’ll never let go no -
and so i’ll praise your name forever
this is the day the Lord made (2x)
i will rejoice…i will be glad
im not gonna be afraid
im not gonna be sad
im gonna lift up my hope
im gonna lift up my prayer
im gonna kneel down before the throne of my Lord
i got myself a brand new start (3x)
scat
this is the day the Lord made (out)
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