david hill

By shade and shadow from unseen beginning;
Far, far apart, in unthought mysteries
Of thy own dark, unfathomable seas,
Thou will’st thy will; and thence, upon the earth—
Slow travelling, his way through centuries winning—
A child at length arrives at never ending birth.

GM

so here we are in the big summer 4th of July break. I really hope each and every one of you is having a great time this summer! Funny little side story, this was actually one of the weeks I wondered about when I decided to do this project last year. The reason why is that I knew – or thought I knew at least, we would go out of town over the 4th (we did) and going up North where there was no recording studio (there isn’t) how could I deliver the wallop? Impossible!… I thought, better not even try, forget the whole thing. Then again – I could just get the idea down before I go – and tweak out the rest Wed when I get back. And so I did. I am kind of shrugging my shoulders on this one – I am happy with the groove – drums and bass – and there are several very heavily arpeggiated instruments – maybe too much motion – maybe not…dunno…played with vox, no vox, choral vox, vocoder, djembe, sound effects – and here we ended…a kind of stream of consciousness thing; getting stronger

I don’t know if I have ever mentioned this, but when I set out to do this project of writing a song (or wallop) a week, the only caveat or parameter was that I will not do cover songs, or songs other people wrote. All “pieces” must be original. Every thing else is pretty much open. Music, spoken word, songs, all formats / styles – whatever captures the old muse. I am at the half way point – and continue to enjoy myself immensely. A lot of very cool things have happened since I started this project. I have had offers from publicity folks, musicians…collaborated with various artists, done commercial jingles and even got signed to a very cool New York agency that has a broad and impressive client list…but more on that later. This week we have a rather unusual piece called a voice. It is a kind of spoken word format with percussion, synths and a rather unorthodox musical bed. A voice is really something to be in awe of – we all have them – externally and internally, and they can offer great blessings – and the potential for great wrath. how are you using yours? a voice

you can breathe a collective sigh of relief this week my friends…it is officially the closest I came to not delivering a weekly wallop. The distractions, appointments and things “other” were, to be frank, almost insurmountable. I think the World Cup Africa thing has had an influence on the feel – but that is a distant memory – I have been unable to watch because of “things other”. I heard today America did an outstanding overtime finish – with the victory being so exciting Twitter crashed. I have to go even now – but leave you with hey yo .

OK – so this week we have the World Cup in full force. I never was much of a fan as far as watching soccer before I lived in Europe, but since then I have come to really appreciate the sport – and I have been keeping up with the games. What this means in terms of music production is that I have had a little less time in the studio than I might normally. No harm though – the WW must march on, and on it marches this week with a little something else. Lively percussion, processed guitar, synthesizers, house bass and drum, vocal choir, and a melody that keeps on going on. I also ran a snare drum sample as a clap effect – and at the end of the song actually utilized all 61 keys on my keyboard & in various configurations, extremely low, and high – with the very last thing you hear being the original sample. The sample is played properly only once thus. Why – you might ask, do I do this? I guess the answer is I like to experiment with sounds, I mean – this one snare sample sounds like claps, thunder and a gunshot – as well as as picking teeth and even a snare drum in the space of 30 seconds…isn’t sound cool? Plus, how else would I end up with electro monk ? If you would like to download – go here.

there must be some kind of relationship between the songs I end up wanting to do, and the thing I said or did the week before…as I look over the weeks there seems to be an almost pendulum like swing in styles and directions…don’t you think? It might be hard for you to say – you did not hear the accordian piece I started…yep – accordian…sadly, that song has been set aside for two reasons…1) I want to use a live accordian and I don’t have one, and 2) I might bring an accordian player if I can find one, do you play? It is a matter of routine lately that I start one song, and then go somewhere else. Anyway – this weeks wallop is called “my paradise”. The original idea actually is from a song I wrote years ago – but this approach is much different. We have some choral stuff, some stacked harmonies, some of this, and a little of that…a lot of that actually, and while I’m talking about that – getting the birds to cooperate from the bridge out was probably one of the most difficult aspects of the song. I am putting the lyrics here too. Click the blue arrow to stream my paradise If you want to download go here.

my paradise

something in me gets me fired up
giving me a chance to see yeah
see through all the lies and hate oh all that misery

something in me brings me to my knees
making my spirit breathe yeah
closer to my Lord
to the King of Kings

I’m down low lifted high
help me Lord see with your eyes
set me free from my sin
and any place that you aren’t in
to my Lord I aspire
burning with a holy fire

bring me to my paradise

I’m so lost without you Lord
this worlds making its claim on me yeah
making that gold and silver shine
trying to make me blind

I’m so glad you are here right now
Christs blood set me free yeah
free from all I have defaced
all my horror and dismay

I’m down low lifted high
help me lord see with your eyes
set me free from my sin
and any place that you aren’t in
to my Lord I aspire
burning with a holy fire

bring me to my paradise

oh my paradise (out)

what a day…what a week even! Thanks so much to all of you that have written or responded to the article…it has been, and is a lot of fun! I suppose I am not alone in the amping up of sports and various activities as Summer rolls its golden face our way. School is winding down, I have had some very cool things happen musically that I will be sharing with you a little later. However, for now, we must do the wallop # 22…and I must say, this was finished with some plates spinning in my private and social life that…well…made me feel somewhat acrobatic. Tonight for example – after a baseball game – I had to run to the kabobs on the weber grill, the rice in the kitchen, and down to studio pajamas for the last drum arrangements before vocals. The vocals on this are 1 take, 1 track – and somewhat unusual one might say. There is a morph using a vocoder that you’ll have to hear – better than me explain….drums and percussion bounce all over the place on this piece…right and left panning and effects everywhere, ghost notes abound…as far as the music goes – I messed around with the pitch bend and modulation a lot – it almost sounds Eastern at times – with something more than a scale – and less than a tune and I don’t mind…neither does my label..so here it is between raindrops
and download here.

by now you shouldn’t be surprised that I had another song planned. I had the tracks laid down and the basic melody in place, and then I shrugged. I asked my daughter and wife what I should write a song about… “sunshine” they both replied. So, I sat down to start over and play with that idea and lo, and behold, sunshiny day came out. Once the melody idea was in place – I decided to write about the last couple of sunshiny days we have had as a family, click on the blue button to stream the song sunshiny day . If you want to download this song, or listen to other Wednesday Wallops go here and the lyrics are here. if you would like to purchase an album – go here. If this is your first time at the site, you will notice a style in this song which is quite different from the “norm”…but one of the joys of this project is that I don’t really have to worry about a label or others expectations – I just write and publish – and you are welcome to join me on this journey. If you would like to see some top picks from the fans go here. The only thing I can say for now on this whole topic of songs, good VS bad, inspired VS routine, successful VS failure is a quote from Leonard Cohen I read recently “I don’t know where good songs come from, if I did, I’d go there more often”…have a great sunshiny day!