#blog | MidiMike

Posts Tagged ‘#blog’

The Answer

Posted: November 12, 2018 in Poetry
Tags: #blog, #brother, #conversation, #creativity, #family, #friends, #inspiration, #life, #opinion, #people, #personal, #poetry, #politics, #question, #questions, #truth, #writing, Art, pictures

MSK GS 4

MSK GS 1

MSK GS 2

MSK GS 3

Intelligence is not the answer,

Though wisdom certainly is.

I might be waiting for the cows to come home

But I don’t have time for this.

It doesn’t take a genius to know,

Facts are the same for everyone.

That doesn’t mean it’s all black and white

Or can be changed with a gun.

It’s often a matter of perspective.

And that makes it hard to understand.

Why someone turns grey into black or white

Without experiences of the other man.

If you have been supported by faith

Then religion can be your guiding hand.

Survive Jihads, Inquisitions and pedophile priests

You might begin to feel nothing but hate.

The police are always there to serve,

And get you home safe at night.

In my neighborhood it ain’t like that at all

So it’s safer to take your chances and run.

Intelligence is not the answer,

Though wisdom certainly is.

I might be waiting for the cows to come home

But I don’t have time for this.

All the experts seem so smart,

Until you hear from the others.

Sooner or later we have to realize

It’s time to stop killing our brothers.

Smart people become rich people,

Their answers bring cash and fame.

The poorest will always be poor; just look at them.

There’s no one else to blame.

Happy Halloween

Posted: October 31, 2018 in Holiday
Tags: #blog, #Halloween, #life, #personal, #photography, #travel, Art, Camera, Cemetery, Fall colors, pictures, Tombstones

Some of my recent pictures from Spring Grove Cemetery: Enjoy!

“What Will We Be Like?”

Posted: October 29, 2018 in Poetry
Tags: #blog, #conversation, #inspiration, #life, #opinion, #people, #personal, #photography, #poetry, #question, #questions, #science, #truth, #writing

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MSK 10-29-2018

Wise as an owl

And sly as a fox.

Hungry as a bear

Majestic as a whale

Strong as an ox

Hung like a horse.

Fast as a cheetah

And quiet as a mouse……..

What will we be like

When none of them are around?

Loyal as a dog

But finicky like a cat.

Soaring like an eagle

And happy as a clam.

Nutty as a squirrel

Still playin’ possum

Silent like a snake

Climb like a goat

And sing like a bird.

What will we be like

When none of them are around?

Tall as a tree

Bright as a star

Deep as the ocean

And flow like the river.

Whisper like the wind

And sing like a bird.

What will we be like?

What will we be like ?

When none of them are alive?

Deep Inside

Posted: October 8, 2018 in My Tunes
Tags: #audio, #blog, #conversation, #creativity, #friends, #inspiration, #life, #media, #music, #opinion, #people, #personal, #poetry, #truth, #writing

This song has taken a while to finalize the arrangement. It is only part of the song it started out as. Diced, sliced, edited and rewritten, I hope this first mix sounds like it belongs! Sometimes you are guided.

I will play other sections in the future.

Please enjoy “Deep Inside”

Deep Inside me, Deep inside the eye of the storm

Deep Inside you. Deep Inside the eye of the storm.

Deep Inside me, Deep Inside.

Sometimes you are guided

And sometimes you are not.

The road is long; it never ends

No matter what you thought.

The place you are standing

Was never meant to be.

Lost when your memories

Created what you see.

Pound after pound

Life gets laid upon you hard.

Sound after sound

As the dealer plays his cards.

Sometimes you are guided

And sometimes you are not.

The road is long; it never ends

No matter what you thought.

Deep Inside me, Deep Inside the eye of the storm

Deep Inside you. Deep Inside.

A Few Pictures

Posted: July 30, 2018 in Photography
Tags: #blog, #family, #inspiration, #life, #media, #personal, #photography, #travel

Just thought I would share a glimpse at the last week or so. These are a few of the pictures my grand daughter MJ took at the Krohn Conservatory in Eden Park.

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A cute smile and humming birds to lighten your day!

Cover Tunes from The Chase Part 3

Posted: July 16, 2018 in MUSIC
Tags: #audio, #blog, #creativity, #friends, #inspiration, #life, #media, #music, #opinion, #people, #personal, #photography, #tech, #work, #writing

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The songs in this session are simple two-channel recordings. These are not multi-tracks of isolated instruments to be mixed down later. This is down and dirty history. I enjoyed recording and listening to each of the gigs. The rest of the band were ok with it, but they were really into the performance and live audience vibe. As a result, I did not get much assistance or cooperation with my projects. We never did a sound check for recording levels. We did not set up differently or use additional gear. I usually taped separate mixes from their sound board or by using a combination of mono mix and single hi-quality microphone up on stage. See my LSR series for recording configurations.

Unlike the other players I have jammed with, I had not been playing in bands since I was a teenager. I did not start playing in front of a ‘real’ audience until I was probably 31 or older. I started playing keyboards (technically different than playing a piano or organ) when I was 30. Before that I wrote songs and played my 12 string guitar for parties and such but that was about it.

Lacking confidence and years to sharpen my skills, I tried to make up for it in other ways. I practiced a lot compared to the other players.

I helped in tech – light – sound – marketing. The recordings were for me, LOL!

This is a live recording of a medley we came up with. None of us really liked disco, but no rocket science to keeping guys in the club is to keep the girls on the dance floor! We smashed together popular dance songs and other select songs toward the end of the 2nd set. Enjoy.

Studio Way

Posted: July 9, 2018 in MUSIC
Tags: #audio, #blog, #brother, #creativity, #family, #friends, #life, #media, #music, #people, #personal, #photography, #poetry, #tech, #work, #writing

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Here is another song my brother David recorded at a studio years ago as part of his Studio Way project. My brother wrote the lyrics and is the vocalist on these tracks. Terry Boehm played keyboards. Tom Collier wrote the music and played guitar. This one is called, “Focus On Your Feet”. A fun toe-tapping song that sticks in your head!

The songs were being finalized in the studio as each came up to record. The rhythm tracks were recorded first, with lead instruments and vocals added later that day. A lot of people ‘freeze up’ their first time in a studio with the tape rolling (yes, this was back in the days when they used tape!) so recording can be very stressful – but with a bit of focus you can come out with great memories.

Cover Tunes from The Chase

Posted: July 2, 2018 in live Sound Reinforcement
Tags: #audio, #blog, #computer, #life, #media, #music, #personal, #photography, #tech, #work, #writing

I have live recordings of almost every band I have in. I record a lot of practice sessions but mostly live performances in front of audiences. Many recordings are less than ideal situations and often I experiment with unusual techniques searching for a method that will get great results in almost any stage setting. I threatened to share some of these with you and this is a good a time as any to start! Some will sound better than others, and some performances will be better, but all should give you a little blast from my past! Please check out my Live Sound Reinforcement series for the big picture, or if you are interested in learning about LSR.

This one is “Run Like Hell” From Pink Floyd.

“Bookin’ Inst” Made to Order

Posted: June 30, 2018 in My Tunes
Tags: # mixer, #audio, #blog, #computer, #conversation, #creative, #creativity, #digital, #guitar, #inspiration, #keyboard, #life, #media, #music, #musician, #people, #performance, #personal, #photography, #poetry, #recording, #song, #songwriter, #story, #studio, #studioengineer, #tech, #work, #writing

MSK Studio

Part of the challenge in writing songs is how difficult it might be to convey a particular feeling or message to studio musicians. All players should be heading in the same direction, playing the same tune, moving at the same tempo and so on. Creating soundscapes must be a lot like painting. Drawing the lines and forms are one thing, but which color is best? There are so many available yet each one conveys a unique mood or feeling. Sounds can be like that. We asked a guitar player/friend of ours to come up with guitar tracks for a project I was working on. This was for a cable TV project looking for sound tracks for an automotive enthusiast series. We wanted to give the guitar parts a bit of mood setting so we asked him to create tracks that would generate the feeling of …

an engine or racing car, crunchy, powerful

drive – movement – acceleration, fast, fluid

Using basically no more than the above “instructions” he gathered toys and used the word imagery to shape the sound and the playing style for these tracks. We used the same list to come up with the basic tracks for the song. This song is an adaptation of a song I wrote a long time ago and we called it The Big D Jam. I originally composed this song using the Arp Odyssey synthesizer. I programmed a pretty cool sounding bass patch and came up with the bass line and skeleton of the song. This song in its original version was performed when I was with The Personal Touch years ago. If it was a rockin’ crowd we would let Ric Ahlers jam a bit on the solo parts. I put some simple lyrics to it and it was a really fun song to play out.  Recently I pulled it out of the song closet and re-wrote the chorus. I also used new software plug-ins from my computer for all the sounds. This was amazing for me because I have all this fancy gear with cool sounds and I am not using them at all. In this post, I wanted to give you an idea how the song progressed. The new sounds are just amazingly clear and natural. I will post in the near future the complete mix with vocals and effects. When the sounds and the performance match the request or target, the song seems like it was made to order.

Studio Way

Posted: June 13, 2018 in My Tunes
Tags: #audio, #blog, #brother, #conversation, #creativity, #family, #friends, #inspiration, #life, #media, #music, #opinion, #people, #personal, #photography, #poetry, #stories, #tech, #truth, #writing

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I may have some free time for a little bit and I would like to catch up on a bunch of things that have been on the back-burner for a while. I also hope to pull up old band and other video projects and push them hard into the hi-def age. It will be a lot harder than it sounds as some of my media is very old tech. We shall see.

I also wanted to share with you some of the songs my older brother David did in a studio years ago. I was not involved in writing or recording these songs. My home studio was meager by today’s standards and I was only set up for one-man songwriting stuff. I was not able to record an entire band at one time back then.

My brother’s band was doing some original songs and jamming pretty often. Tom Collins and David had an inspired writing session for a couple of hours before practice. The band mates were so excited with the new material they made calls and booked time in a recording studio the next week!!##!!

I will detail the studio experience and give the band members and authors their due in future blogs. Here is a tune from the Studio Ways session that will kick things off well. “My Dog Loves You Too” is a heart-warming love song with a pleasant twist of humor. David was faced with a challenge to write a funny love song. His ex-wife Cynthia came up with a few guitar parts and the song writing took off! Like this one, all the songs were literally finished and arranged in the studio the day they were recorded. It gives a great live feel to the collection. Tom Collins wrote most of the music for this recording and my brother wrote the lyrics.

Please enjoy “My Dog Loves You Too”.

MidiMike

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MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#blog’

The Answer

Happy Halloween

“What Will We Be Like?”

Deep Inside

A Few Pictures

Cover Tunes from The Chase Part 3

Studio Way

Cover Tunes from The Chase

“Bookin’ Inst” Made to Order

Studio Way

Archives

Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#blog’

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