This is another one of my poems I pulled out of the archives recently. Written back on April 2nd, 1984 (what a good year!) and it has a few lines I like.
I want you to stay For the moments that last forever Like seasons that always change.
Not to change you But to watch you grow. Not to hold you Or to let you go.
It’s too late to cry Much too long since you went away Sometimes you just can’t look back.
Don’t need to know why Something beautiful goes the wrong way But you can never go back
Not to change you But to watch you grow. Not to hold you Or to let you go.
I want you to stay For the moments that last forever Like seasons that always change.
I found this poem in my archives that I wrote on June 26th, 2016 and I would like to share it with you.
I have a pretty long list Of all the things I love I can do any of them with you Or, if you prefer, none of the above.
Family, friends, writing music, singing songs Winter walks, coming home, sky full of stars. Solving problems, helping strangers, reading a book Practicing yoga, sometimes riding my bike too long.
Learning something new, teaching what I’ve learned Laughing at jokes, sharing good food, colorful sunsets Writing on my blog, sharing a story, liking a post Being silly, going for a swim, getting praise that I earned.
With you I can do anything And add it to the list of things I love With you I can do anything Or, if you prefer, none of the above.
Cuddle and watch a movie, listening to you breathe at night Playing games no matter who wins, a weekend unplugged Hearing from co-workers, dancing like a fool, laying in the snow There are so many other things I’ve added to my list tonight.
With you I can do anything And add it to the list of things I love With you I can do anything Or, if you prefer, none of the above.
I’m with you sometimes when you stay up late at night Watching a show or reading a book and you start to cry. I try not to interfere, so rarely ask if you’re alright It ruins the tears if you have to stop and tell me why.
Your eyes just light up as you get the widest grin Whenever animals or an old couple stop to chat. You never judged an animal by the color of their skin And I’ve never had the chance to thank you for that.
What Is It that makes you smile? What does it take to make you cry? How do you keep focused on those in need? Whatever it is it becomes obvious Because I love what I see.
Sitting on a hillside as the sunset puts on a show Looking forward to early morn’ to see the blooms. There are many things about you I still don’t know. Grab it before it becomes lost in ashes and fumes.
You look at things in ways I will never understand No interest in paybacks or evening the score. Never guaranteed things would go just like we planned. Saying life is a thrill a minute so keep looking for more.
No interest in paybacks or evening the score. Saying life is a thrill a minute so keep looking for more.
What Is It that makes you smile? What does it take to make you cry? How do you keep focused on those in need? Whatever it is it becomes obvious Because I love what I see.
The Next Step is yours, my friend But I’d think about each and every one. You never cared what bridges you burned By the grin on your face you were just having fun.
The Next Step is yours, young man But all you can think of is where you should run. Acting like some man of war Only to find out you need a bigger gun.
The Next Step is yours, for now Though your choices are worse than none. You kept crying ‘how did I get here’ And failed to notice when the journey had begun
The Next Steps are yours, again In the race you invented you have nowhere to run. You stop and turn around half way through Cursing the world because you have never won.
The Next Steps are yours, don’t look back Don’t worry, a few more steps and you’re almost done. The Next Steps are yours, always were Can’t wait to see how the stories are spun.
Sonar Track Panel Wave and MIDI files that generate sounds from computer programs called plug-ins
I mentioned experimenting with an on-line jamming program. It became the clipboard for a few guitar sections I created while waiting for one thing or another to work. I titled each as verse, bridge, chorus, etc. I had to give it a project name to save the clipboard and I came up with “Not Now”.
I used those short pieces and assembled them into a song arrangement. Once the chords and arrangement were in place I naturally started thinking of lyrics (as I have a tendency to do). The file was named Not Now so I kept it as my Cakewalk (BandLab) project name. So it becomes the theme of the lyrics. In one hour they were written. Getting them to match the odd rhythms and sparse instrumentation became a challenge. It took me a few days to come up with the melody and then practice it enough to get the rough tracks down. To all just joining; I get things down to rough tracks and then write another song, poetry, lyric or instrumental. When I was young I hoped some band would do my songs correctly in a studio. I am not young now.
Here is a rough mix of “Not Now”. I used a Martin Acoustic/Electric guitar for the guitar track. Using my MIDI keyboard I pulled up a plug-in for drum sounds. I imported the original noodling guitar parts I did from the clipboard but they were not recorded to a metronome or drum pattern. I listened and figured out the tempo of the segments and set Cakewalk to match. That way I could listen to the short guitar segments as I created the basic drum parts and arranged all the segments in order. I pulled up a bass guitar sound and played the MIDI keyboard to generate the bass line.
Next, I Muted the original guitar tracks and recorded a new track to replace it. The song seemed to cry out for strings but that is usually just me. I like good sounding strings in various styles of music.
I use two monitors as there is a lot of information to keep ‘track’ of even for a small project.This is the Piano Roll view. Each color represents different instruments. The lower group triggers drum sounds.
I gave a link to BandLab above. Full disclaimer this is not a commercial and I do not get paid for anything I do here. However….. if you are interested I used to pay hundreds of dollars every year or so to keep this great recording program updated. They now offer the program and all updates for FREE. No kidding.
I hope you enjoy “Not Now”. Each time I listen to it I like it more. Again, this is just me as each new song I write becomes my newest favorite.
I have been working with a few friends to set up on-line jamming from separate locations. I will go into this a bit later for anyone interested. I did spend some time on-line with a program for live sessions. During my testing I had a bit of a wait time so I noodled around on my guitar. While waiting I used a record feature in the program and captured a few segments of my noodling that I liked. It required a name in order to save and in the mood I was in I called it Not Now.
As you know I am not good with names – of any kind – and my song titles usually show that weakness. So now that I had a name for the music pieces, I had to write lyrics sooner or later and was stuck with Not Now as the title!
I finished the basic music tracks in a couple days. Listening to the arrangement I got out my writing tools and came up with the following lyrics. I will smooth out the music and post sooner or later. Here is “Not Now”:
I really can’t wait
For you and this weekend.
Seems like forever
Since we had a minute alone.
No more than a boy
Paralyzed in an ice cream store.
Or that time I cried…..
Until we had to leave the zoo.
Not Now.
I’ve heard it all my life.
Not Now.
Don’t want to hear it again.
Not Now.
It can’t be now, it won’t be then
Not Now.
So many situations
I can’t come close to understand.
More and more people
Have nothing else to say to me.
Not Now.
I’ve heard it all my life.
Not Now.
Don’t want to hear it again.
Not Now.
It can’t be now, it won’t be then
Not Now.
Still
I don’t complain.
Everything I have
I can give away.
Hello
Tell me your name.
You make me smile
Hope I can do the same.
Ask
I do it all day.
It really doesn’t matter
Or what time of day. Still
I don’t complain.
Everything I have
I can give away.
Following my earlier video project for Cincinnati Microwave Inc., I helped in another project for the new version of the company now called Escort Incorporated. I was an employee during the collapse, and it took a couple of years before the company built itself back up and I was re-hired. New owners but it still had the same family feel as more of the original employees returned to work.
In this project I was asked to write music for the soundtrack of a short info-commercial for Escort Inc. I also assisted where I could and eventually appeared in the video as well.
Our company designed, built and sold radar detectors for decades. For years it was a factory-direct order stream. No real resellers. We held a majority of the patents in the industry and manufactured them locally in southern Ohio. I worked in the Call Center starting part-time in Sales and then managing the Sales and Customer Service Departments over the years.
Out newest model was named the “Passport Max” referring to the maximum range it had. Our detectors had great range compared to most competitors, but this was the best to date.
Here is “Take It To the Max”
I wrote the soundtrack for this Escort Inc. Info Commercial as an employee.
This is a dated video I did while I was working at Cincinnati Microwave Inc. My boss knew I was involved with audio and video so they asked me to coordinate the video company they had hired for the project. So instead of my normal job there, I attended meetings to get and idea what management/sales wanted from this project. Then to all the departments to find out what they do and what looks really cool.
Soon I was given a hand full of details, stats and messaging material and the target length. After all the ingredients were there, we had the video company come in for the raw shots. I orchestrated each shot and got our footage while the plant was in production. The Surface Mount Technology (SMT) lines were pretty amazing.
My next step was to write the script gained from the meetings. I selected one of my instrumental original songs for the soundtrack. I showed up to the editing sweet and had each shot planned out and sequenced. They pretty much watched as I lined up the scenes, audio and soundtrack. After video and soundtrack were correct length and finalized, they recorded my voice for the narration track.
There were no cameras allowed inside CMI, so I do not have any pictures through all the years I worked there. Again, the video is dated and the soundtrack warbles enough to give away it’s age, but I still get a kick from seeing old friends, and remembering those days. It was a great place to work and I am still friends with many a former employee.
