I thought I would share this little piece with you. I am just experimenting with new sounds to see what I come up with. There is no real structure or drum tracks to speak of. Just a bunch of cool textures and visions of other worlds. Or, maybe it is this one in the future?
MIDIMike
I recently added vocals to the instrumental “It Only Takes One‘. This is just a fun song in my opinion. It has a toe-tapping beat with a fast pace to it. I like the simple chord changes and the way it just sticks in your head after you have heard it a few times.
I sent this to my band mates from ‘The Merchants’. We may have a real version at some point in the future. This version is just me and my toys lol.
I have been preoccupied lately with family and life style challenges, though I have still managed to be productive. It is just difficult for me to put things together in a post. Hopefully in the future I will catch you all up, and visit my amazing followers again. I hope you are all having a great New Year.
MIDIMike
Write about your first computer.
Unlike other computers available at that time, it had built in MIDI ports! This allowed musicians to connect the computer to the new generation of MIDI keyboards, sequencers and drum machines. MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface.
Later I got a job at a music store selling musical equipment and was given the nickname MIDIMIKE!
I still have the Atari and my Yamaha DX7 MIDI keyboard.
Midimike
What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
Recording musicians and other projects live or in my studio. I have always had a regular job, so this actually was a hobby for me as MIDIMike. I often recorded a band or solo artist for free because they were really good.
A little while ago I posted a poem called “Reflections”. I recently turned the poem into lyrics.
This might be a good time to detail my recording process a bit. As I write and record my own songs, I am trying (in my mind) to create a working demo of the song. Something you can listen to and get a good idea of the song and it’s potential if performed and/or recorded by an established band or artist. Because I play most of the instruments on my recordings and I do most of the singing, I know there is a lot of room for improvement. I am not the best guitarist, pianist, or vocalist around, but I write really good songs. I get them ‘good enough’ and then I move on to the next song I am writing or to the next project I am working on.
When I post my songs they are fresh from the mixing board and have not been edited and cleaned up like a formal studio version. As with my new release on CDBaby called, “The Enemies in Your Head”, the versions available on-line through Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, Youtube Music, Pandora and the rest have been mixed but also mastered to make them sound a bit more professional.
“Reflections” will be on my next release, but if you use any of the services above and dozens more, you can listen to my music by searching for my name or CD names.
Hint: If you search for Michael Kennedy you will probably not find me. There are a lot of us!
If you do an artist search for Michael S ——- or —– Michael S. Kennedy you will see my releases. They are available for download and the entire CD sounds better streaming after the mastering process.
Any way, here is “Reflections”, hot off the press.
MIDIMike
Continuing on in this series, the cover band I performed with is trying out new vocalists. Fortunately I record often and want to share with you some of the live performances during this time with The Chase. The songs were performed by James Fidelli and he also played a bit of electric rhythm guitar.
For a quick recap, I have been going through archived recordings I have made over the years. Recently reviving performances with the bands I have played in, I want to give you a few samples of recordings I made with The Chase.
For a period of time we were reforming the band Euphoria and looking for a new vocalist. These recordings were during that transition period working out with different vocalists. Short story for new visitors, I worked at a local instrument store as a salesman when asked by The Chase to fill in for their sound man while he was on vacation for a few weeks. I had never run sound (with the exception of one hotel gig band that was in desperate need for one night.) I filled in, loved it and the band, the sound man could not return and I became their regular sound guy. The band was smart and paid the sound engineer the same as the other members of the band. They knew the house sound was important.
Once running sound, the keyboard player took a break for a few years and I worked really hard to fill in for him. Soon after that I started playing rhythm guitar too………. and yes, in the early years I ran sound, played keyboards, rhythm guitar, back-up vocals and percussion all at the same time from stage. For a period of time I ran sound from the audience and had my instruments next to me. Not as strong a player as the others in the band I tried to “earn my keep” by being a jack of all trades.
I have recorded music since I bought my first four-track reel-to-reel when I was around 13 years old. I am closer now to 70 years old. When working with bands as a sound engineer or member, I record for a lot of reasons. Some were not intended to be hi-quality recordings and often were stereo cassette or DAT machines connected directly to the main outs of the sound board. Usually there was no level test and the band members would not know I was recording at all because it was so basic.
In the next few posts I will share cover songs we played live with three vocalists. In some I am playing Keyboards, rhythm guitar etc., and some I am running sound using various techniques to find quick ways to get a decent live recording. Many of these I have detailed here in my Live Sound Reinforcement Series.
Here are a few samples, starting with Gary Jefferson as the lead vocalist.
I just posted another vintage video to YouTube. This is a live recording of Euphoria in my early days with the band. We are playing live at Hollies in Springfield OH. for some of this post. This was a transition period as members of Euphoria took time off and a new band formed later to be called The Chase. I did use some video from the events but compared to hi definition available today, it just looks dated, because it is! Enjoy at night at home and some great live music:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAW_cJVFFog
I posted songs from the first half of our live set when I was playing with The Chase earlier. Today I would like to share with you select songs from the second half of our set. The recording is decent – though this is ancient as it was recorded on a cassette tape!!!
Anyway, people all over the world are having tough times. Stuck indoors is the least of our concerns. Sit back, stay at home and listen to a live band performing classic rock songs from Jethro Tull to Santana and Creed.
As a note of mild interest; I have no pictures of the vocalist in this particular recording. I have video, but compared to the hi-res available today, the videos just don’t look very good. Sean (Shoeless Shawn) Bandy is the lead vocalist this evening.
Have a drink and a great evening in and stay safe!
Thanks for the visit!
Thank you for your continued friendship. The story of friends and talented musicians, artists of all kinds was fun in the telling. Followers will know the names and projects I have been thrilled to be involved with. Sacrifices. Heart break. Overwhelming joy.
I have told the story but I also have my archives to share. I started recording with a reel-to-reel tape deck when I was 14. I recorded everything. Everyone. Everywhere (once I had portable recorders lol!)
The medium has changed many times over. Some of the video, for example, was amazing on a small tube television. It just does not stand up to the quality of large screens with high resolution. I did not include the ancient videos on this post because it just looks bad/old.
For some reason I did not take a lot of photographs in this time frame. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the lead vocalist in this recording….. Shoeless Shawn was not with The Chase long before we stopped playing out. So I collected more recent pictures I had taken of group shots of friends, family and fans we have known over the years.
With a little free time on my hands, I have been going through my archives. This is an old recording from my Nakamichi stereo cassette player! I think it is straight off the board. I did not run sound for this recording. Our friend Dave Houston was at the helm.
Everyone stay healthy, and with social distancing, stay at home, grab a drink, and put up your feet. Press play and listen to some live music!
MidiMike 