Bucket lists have been a recurring thing now and then. In the earlier days I would think about crossing off something on the list before I die. Now my list has a bunch of things to do before someone else like the artist or performer dies! Back to the song, it is trying to inspire us to think of life as short for some but death happens to all of us as they say. What would you like to do? One of those was just to finish something to be proud of. To actually accomplish something good. But whatever it is, I want to take you with me when I do it.
Archive for January, 2024
Is there Anything? MSK 2004
Posted: January 30, 2024 in PoetryTags: #audio, #Cakewalk, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midicontroller, #mididrums, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #recordingstudio, #singer, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #sound
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If there is a Heaven MSK 2007
Posted: January 23, 2024 in PoetryTags: #audio, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #recordingstudio, #relationships, #religion, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #sound
I read these lyrics and know this is a compilation of feelings about my direct family. Many have suffered a bit over the years. I am sure most of it went untold and unshared. We are just like that. Back to the topic of heaven and death with this song. Great people are not forgotten. Good people give me reason to think of a heaven where I will indeed see them again. We have a strange way of dealing with extreme pain toward the end of life. We treat it like it is the last test or challenge you need to complete before you pass on.
One By One
Posted: January 19, 2024 in #poetry, My Tunes, PoetryTags: #lucky, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #one-by-one, #personal, #poem, #poetry, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #writing, creative-writing, poems
I’ve been told that I am So Lucky
Doesn’t seem that way
From my point of view.
My history with women
And faith in mankind
Just to name a few.
I keep hitting myself on the head
Love that got away……
Again, nothing new.
Still searching for solutions
The world’s so unkind
Soooo, unlike you.
So Lucky, in life and in love.
So Lucky, in ‘everything SHe does’.
So Lucky, SHe rises above
So Lucky, it’s easy because……
Good things just seem to fall in my lap
All I do is ask
And my dreams come true.
Where it seems incredible
I pull off my mask
Become who you want me to.
So Lucky, in life and in love.
So Lucky, in ‘everything SHe does’.
So Lucky, SHe rises above
So Lucky, it’s easy because……
I keep writing, I don’t know if I can stop. I put things together while waiting for them to drop. We all know it’s meaningless to try to get things done, so let’s enjoy life’s pleasures……
…….. One by One.
One by One.
One by One……
I’ve been told that I am So Lucky
Doesn’t seem that way
From my point of view.
My history with women
And faith in mankind
Just to name a few.
I keep hitting myself on the head
Love that got away……
Again, nothing new.
Still searching for solutions
The world’s so unkind
Soooo, unlike you.
So Lucky, in life and in love.
So Lucky, in ‘everything SHe does’.
So Lucky, SHe rises above
So Lucky, easy for them because……
…….. One by One.
One by One.
One by One……
Until we’re done.
…….. One by One.
One by One.
One by One……
Until we’re done.
I Gave it Back MSK 1980
Posted: January 16, 2024 in PoetryTags: #audio, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #recordingstudio, #reeltoreel, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #sound
I don’t remember a time when these lyrics and the music were separate. It has always been a slow groovin’ piece I usually played when no one was around and I was just jamming. Learning how to play sing with more power, but controlled. I must like juxtaposition and odd perspective observations but the thought that someone would give you their love that you would give it back. It can be taken both ways. Is giving their love back in addition to yours or does the word ‘but’ in the Chorus mean it is a rejection and you are refusing their love or a meaningless phrase? You can be the decider on that one.
Music for ‘Caretakers’
Posted: January 12, 2024 in #poetry, Holiday, MUSIC, My Tunes, Poetry, projects, technology, VideoTags: #audio, #caretakers, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poetry, #resolutions, #reward, #rewardyourself, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #Studio1+, #studioengineer, #StudioOne+, #takecareofyourself, #video, #vocalist, #YouTube #newyearsresolution
I recorded a nice version of this song to share with all. I edited the lyrics a bit to make things match a bit better but I like the final arrangement. I also had a little fun with some of the percusssion tracks. The chimes and hi hats are from a MIDI keyboard, but the bongo like percussion starting about the middle of the song I am using the top of my Yeti mug – filled half-way with green tea to be exact – as the drum.
Here is ‘Caretaker’:
‘Caretaker’ (C) MSK 12-31-2023
As a biproduct, I wanted to see if the spatial audio affects mixing with ATMOS would work with a YouTube upload.
So I made a video (pictures is all) and posted it to see if my surround sound home theater system will be enhanced using ATMOS for short videos. You will not hear anyting in the mix move at all until the end of the song. But I want to see if it distributes the channels automatically. So, before I test it and find out it doesn’t work and delete it, you can hear the ATMOS mix and pictures of my studio rooms. Or better yet, close your eyes and try to imagine where each player (instrument) is sitting on stage. With ATMOS, they could be……… behind you or ……… on a ladder in front of you. Or sitting next to you.
Happy New Year.
In the Middle of the Day MSK 2005
Posted: January 9, 2024 in PoetryTags: #12string, #Cakewalk, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midicontroller, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #ovationguitars, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #recordingstudio, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #sound, #vocalist, #Yamaha DX7
I remember writing this when I was at work managing the call center at CMI. Everyone joked you could tell when it was a full moon – even in an underground bunker – just by listening to the calls we would get. People are just nuts sometimes and many times it is predictable. You can talk plainly and truthfully and make sense and they act as if you are torturing their grandparents or something. So coming back to work from lunch I notice there is a full moon.
New Years Resolution
Posted: January 6, 2024 in #poetry, Holiday, My Tunes, PoetryTags: #caretakers, #family, #Healthcare, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #musician, #personal, #poetry, #resolutions, #songwriter, #YouTube #newyearsresolution
I don’t make New Years Resolutions. I never have. The whole concept seems ill directed. Like celebrating Valentine’s Day. Why would you do that only once a year? Don’t you love them all the time? Then show it all the time.
Why focus on making resolutions to do things better on one day? Each waking day is an opportunity. But as usual, I digress. This year I have made a resolution, and it happened to be on New Years Day. I realized that along with all the other adjectives I use to describe myself here and elsewhere, (musician, performer, writer, engineer, geek, you get it) I have always been a caretaker.
I take care of things in my job. I take care of animals and plants. I try to solve relationship problems I see my friends sliding into. I took care of my younger brother when he had no more fight left in him from years of cancer treatment.
I helped my mother through her decision to deny treatment for her cancer to the end. Just last November my older sister died after an illness no one knew of but it decided she was a good home. She survived what I call a year of medical torture as things started shutting down from the massive doses of antibiotics needed to keep her alive when it hit. I have never seen anyone more relieved to know that the government ‘would let them die’. I hope to never see that again, to be truthful. Even writing that sentence makes me feel bitter.
Along with all my other titles it occurs to me that maybe above all of them, I am a Caretaker. So, from one Caretaker to another, and to all the Caretakers out there, I offer my song as a suggestion for your next resolution;
Caretaker MSK 12 31 2023
A houseplant with a lot of sunlight
Needs a little water to make it grow.
Doesn’t take but a minute,
And you can make it so.
Walking down the sidewalk shopping
There’s another piece of trash on the ground.
Bend down to pick it up
Without looking around.
Caretaker. Caretaker.
Taking care of everyone.
Most animals seem to just know you
They see what I do; the look in your eyes.
You calm them down
And the owners always act surprised.
Life’s a simple dedication
Pass it on, give more than you take.
When Life flashes before you
It stops on every mistake.
So much to do if you stop and care
Lately, you’ve been feeling a little worn-thin.
Do you want to save the world?
You got to start from within.
Caretaker. Caretaker.
Take care of yourself: Have some fun.
I have decided to take care of myself for a while. To do something fun here and there. It is OK. I still care. But until I can recharge my internal batteries, I will not have the energy for anyone else’s emergency. I am old and emotionally exhausted. I just don’t know what would fun be anymore. I will have to figure that out.
Music for “The Feast”
Posted: January 5, 2024 in My TunesTags: #korgnautilus, #lyrics, #Martinguitars, #michaelskennedy, #midicontroller, #mididrums, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poetry, #Presonus, #songwriter, #vocalist
This was an unsusual song-writing project for me. I was experimenting with some guitar chords and came up with an interesting progression. I often start a song by messing around with the keyboards or guitar and work out an arrrangement as a scratch framework for drums and other instrumentation. Then I record just the basic raw instrument with all of it’s flaws, but keeping as much of the ‘vibe’ as I can.
From this track I figure out the tempo I am using and get an idea of the arrangement. With ‘The Feast’, I started with a really slow tempo at first. This allowed time for the chords to open up to harmonies and musical tension. Then I usually archive the original track, and start building the song. After I worked out the arangement and had the basic rhythm tracks finished, I started playing with a melody line for my lyrics.
Often, I will just sing as I walk throughout the house and do regular chores when no one’s around. For ‘The Feast’, I had some ideas but nothing stuck. I decided to use the keyboards and a flute sound to noodle around with the melody line. Later I decided it didn’t work and changed the sound to an acoustic bass guitar part and it seemed to fit!
But when I added all the MIDI tracks, guitar and vocals, it seemed pretty dull. Yes, it had melodic texture, but did not have the feel I was looking for. As an experiment, I changed the tempo to make it much faster and this is the version below:
The lyrics were a bit difficult to fit into the much shorter spaces, but I got used to it soon enough and it seemed to work well enough for rock and roll. So I had to re-recorded all the tracks after the tempo change. Not the most efficient way to record a song, but as I always say – ‘any port in a storm’!
I had my 70th birthday last week. I am not sure how many more songs there are waiting inside me. I just get fascinated by almost every aspect of writing, recording and producing music. There are enough people on the planet now that there is a fairly large audience for almost any style of music. The recording software of today is MIND BLOWING compared to when I first started recording when I was 15 years old.
It is too bad that the music industry intentionally crushes novel styles and creative talent while pushing the same vanilla – overproduced – cookie-cutter garbage that is easy to sell (when there aren’t many options available). It is like going to the grocery stores now and seeing fewer and fewer products that are not the ‘store brand’. You can’t buy your favorite bread there anymore (because it is not AS profitable for them to sell), so you settle for what is there.
Don’t settle.
Play time for me?
Posted: January 2, 2024 in My TunesTags: bloganuary, bloganuary-2024-02, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1805
Do you play in your daily life? What says “playtime” to you?
I was really hoping that these daily prompts would improve. The idea of inspiring someone to write is good but every topic is about personal habits. Do you do this? Do you do that? What’s your favorite this? What’s your favorite that?
There are so many important questions in life and so many more important topics that we can write about. That’s why I usually don’t respond to these. Practicing writing about topics that have no real value do not help anyone.
I also usually don’t read responses from bloggers. These are not interesting subjects to the bloggers and they’re not interesting subjects for me to read. Better luck next time.
I’m Positive MSK 2020
Posted: January 2, 2024 in PoetryTags: #audio, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midicontroller, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #Presonus, #recording, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #sound, #studioOne
I think I originally titled this I promise, until a real song from a real singer released one. That has happened to me before so on we go. But now I am positive about it. A simple pledge of better times when there is nothing left to hold you back. A point of no return.
MidiMike 