#love | MidiMike

Posts Tagged ‘#love’

My Original Tunes on ITunes and a Heartfelt Thank You to My Followers

Posted: April 21, 2015 in MUSIC, My Tunes
Tags: #audio, #band, #cdbaby, #creative, #daughter, #dreams, #family, #genres, #itunes, #keyboard, #life, #Liveband, #love, #lyrics, #midimike, #motivation, #music, #musician, #performance, #performer, #personal, #piano, #poetry, #recording, #recordingstudio, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #stage, #studio, #vocalist, #vocals

As demonstrated in the past, I have shared my compositions and songs with friends and family. When asked by a blogger (and now a good friend) in a comment on my blog if my songs were available on i-Tunes, I replied that I believed they are but have not checked. I know this sounds strange and it is! Of the number of things I have learned and accomplished over the decades, I have not learned how (or desired…..) to promote my own work. That is one of the reasons why my daughter had to give me a big KICK to start this blog and get my songs out there.

It appears I need another big KICK! I placed my songs on CD Baby as I am an independent songwriter/performer and I do not have the backing of a major label (Yet???!!). Thank all of you for checking out this blog and for comments I truly feel are precious and thoughtful. Many of you are encouraging and supportive and I very much appreciate it. I want to help others understand the music environment and cut to the root of many systems or procedures we use that seem too mysterious or challenging to beginners.

I did check and I want to make sure you know that my songs (individually and as CD’s) are available on i-Tunes, and they can be found in streaming services like Pandora, Spotify, X-box and many other channels. If plans go well I will also be releasing more songs this year and early 2016. My daughter posted the i-Tunes links on the midimike blog recently, and I wanted to let you know if you are not familiar with CD Baby that the songs are available in other channels. Deep down, maybe everyone wants to be a famous rock star, but I simply want to create original music, help others do the same and share them with people that are as passionate about life as I am.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/retrograde/id962542260

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dark-energy/id962943592

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/touch-down/id962542289

The Touch Lyrics

Posted: April 18, 2015 in MUSIC, My Tunes
Tags: #family, #genres, #guitar, #humans, #keyboard, #life, #Liveband, #love, #lyrics, #Midi, #midimike, #music, #musician, #observation, #performance, #personal, #piano, #poetry, #recording, #recordingstudio, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #Soundengineer, #touch

That stars in the sky don’t matter to me.

The crescent moon at night, I can not see.

Living for a future, that’s never there.

All I know are the feelings that we share.

CHORUS: But I can feel the harmony

Feel the truth no one can see.

Don’t have to see to know that it’s true,

When you touch me, I touch you.

When you touch me I touch you.

No sun to begin each and every day,

And so many words have nothing to say.

The difference between tears and a smile,

To know these things if only for a while.

CHORUS: But I can feel the harmony

Feel the truth no one can see.

Don’t have to see to know that it’s true,

When you touch me, I touch you.

When you touch me I touch you.

An easy smile and a touch of mystique

But strength alone is what makes us unique.

As long as you touch me, I will touch you.

As long as you touch me.

CHORUS: But I can feel the harmony

Feel the truth no one can see.

Don’t have to see to know that it’s true,

When you touch me, I touch you.

When you touch me I touch you.

“The Touch” – Understanding Humans

Posted: April 15, 2015 in MUSIC, My Tunes
Tags: # mixer, #atari, #audio, #band, #bass, #demo, #digital, #drummer, #drums, #guitar, #keyboard, #life, #Liveband, #love, #lyrics, #Midi, #music, #musician, #performance, #piano, #poetry, #recording, #recordingstudio, #retro, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #Soundengineer, #soundman, #story, #studio, #studioengineer, #synthesizer, #vocalist, #vocals

Ideas from songs can and should come from all sorts of things. I try to observe experiences from other people. Too many writers base their material on their own personal experience. This is powerful but has serious drawbacks. One has to experience nirvana or tragedy in order to write about it. This can be limiting unless you have a very tumultuous life. Not good for health and well being of the artist. So I try to empathize, sympathize and understand the thoughts, mood and feelings of others as they experience life changing events.

I had been a musician with limited access to toys for most of the early years. Lots of time and not much cash or resources available. That did not stop me from observing others, and in fact probably offered me the time to observe. Anyway, a friend of mine and I were walking around and I noticed a person in a wheel chair. There was another person behind pushing the chair, but something seemed a little unusual for some reason and I kept watching the pair. IWE naturally thought the person pushing was there to help the person in the wheel chair. They went up to one of those bank ATM’s and much to my surprise, the person in the wheel chair moved out of the way and the walking person went up to the ATM display. What moved me to write this song was the fact that I had originally assumed the person walking was assisting the person in the wheel chair. The person standing started to use the ATM and they searched by hand for the braille instructions! The person walking was blind, and being assisted by the person in the wheel chair! We can touch others in so many different ways. That lead me to the lyrics and a better understanding of human beings. Not just their ability to assist others in ways we might not think of, but also how we (I) perceived something and came up with the wrong conclusion. I use a phrase that describes that effect; Many people have the correct observation but come to incorrect conclusions. This song, the lyrics and the music, mean a lot to me personally. I truly hope you find something here you can relate to.

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/perigee

What I Do At Night – The Driving Song

Posted: April 8, 2015 in family, MUSIC, My Tunes
Tags: # mixer, #atari, #audio, #band, #bass, #daughter, #demo, #digital, #dreams, #driving, #drummer, #drums, #family, #guitar, #keyboard, #life, #Liveband, #love, #lyrics, #Midi, #mixingboard, #motivation, #music, #musician, #performance, #piano, #poetry, #recording, #recordingstudio, #retro, #runningsound, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #Soundengineer, #soundman, #speakers, #stage, #story, #studio, #studioengineer, #synthesizer, #tech, #vocalist, #vocals, #Yamaha

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/perigee

**This is MidiMike’s daughter. I help my dad out with his blog. I wanted to tell all of you that this is, by far, my favorite song that my dad has ever written. If you stop to listen to any of the original tunes, I would highly recommend this one!! Thanks.**

And now a message from my dad:

On most of my tunes, I play all the instruments and sequence the drums and other sound effects. I usually sing lead or I have my wife take the vocal lead. Once I started working in music stores selling instruments and sound equipment, I asked friends (and customers at the time!) to come over and lay down guitar solos or I might have a guest vocalist. What I do at Night was one that we did ourselves. I play all guitar parts and the back up vocals. I think at this time I had graduated from a Yamaha MT4X (I think they were called and this was a 4 Track double speed cassette recorder) to the Alesis ADAT. So now I had an amazing 8 tracks to record on! Actually I needed one track to record the SMPTE time code so the Alesis ADAT would sync up to the computer (now I actually have a PC and put the Atari in deep storage). I can go into this details on this system for a later post when I am feeling nostalgic, but it allowed unlimited MIDI tracks on the PC or Atari and connect to the playback of the ADAT.

The song itself reflects my thoughts on a number of topics. I really like to drive. I don’t have a fast or luxury car. I just like to drive. When I have some free time or just want to think, I often find myself cruising the local country side. I would listen to music while driving and that sometimes adds to the frustration. Most of the music you hear on commercial radio is garbage or re-packaged songs and ideas I have heard for the last few decades. Like a lot of us struggling artists and performers, we see a bunch of bands with lots of air-play and they are just so-so. OK music, but nothing special. As a songwriter, I get so tired of the same theme or idea in every song on the radio and they seem to get played non-stop.

One line reflects this fairly well…. ” so I turn the radio over to the right, playing the same songs as the other night”. Originally titled – “Rainy Day”, What I do at Night has become one of my favorite driving songs. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday Billie Holiday and Strange Fruit

Posted: April 7, 2015 in MUSIC, Opinions and Observations, Reviews
Tags: #audio, #band, #Billie Holiday, #birthday, #genres, #life, #love, #lyrics, #music, #musician, #performance, #petergabriel, #piano, #poetry, #recording, #singer, #song, #Song review, #songwriter, #sound, #stage, #story, #studio, #vocalist, #vocals

I was way to young to know why or when I developed an aptitude for music. I always enjoyed the musical landscapes around me. Not just the notes; with all the talk and technique, notes are still only half the picture. But I think I can tell you when I developed an appreciation for popular music. I have many influences but these are different times. Again, I am not trying to be a learned historian, and as a young kid the timing of events were hazy at best and are not clear to me even now. You were lucky to have one radio station that played your favorite songs. Three major network TV stations and no Internet, no cable, no Wi-Fi, no downloads, no digital. Hard to imagine now. WE had limited choices. But there were pockets of musicians and savvy citizens, sharing, listening and teaching, just as there are now.

If you were into astronomy, you could find lens grinders or professors or local enthusiasts that could show you the universe. Photographers, carpenters, everyone searching for their own needs. I started searching for new music. I could say new styles, but in a way they were all new. I am drifting a little here as I think back. I have been interested in anything that was beyond ‘standard, normal, traditional, formal or cookie-cutter songs’. Old movie musicals, TV show and commercial jingles, and the various music cultures (Country, Broadway, Classical, ancient “Pop”…) might have been cute, but after I listened a few times, there was no excitement in listening to the song. Kinda’ like; I already know the punch line, so why listen to the joke? I can be a harsh critic. But fair is fair, I throw stones at my own glass house.

There have been many songs that lead up to this. I hate to give credit to one song. I hope I remember the name of a song from Billie Holiday called “Strange Fruit” recorded around 1939. At the time I did not know what it meant. I was still innocent. This was devastating poetry mixed with liquid emotion.

From this point on I knew… I knew there was some thing that could reach my core. I don’t mean to say ‘soul’, but that is the closest and easiest word to use. Find me at my depth and talk to me. And that meant I could also talk to others from those depths. I found a language and at the same time not necessarily a family, but a culture of musicians. I still have a weakness for female vocalists that make their own way. I am a succor for a Hammond B3 Organ and a great brass section too. I would like to share a few of them with you from time to time.

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 10 – Now, to make it glitter

Posted: April 6, 2015 in Live Sound Reinforcement Series, music technology
Tags: # mixer, #audio, #band, #bass, #digital, #drums, #guitar, #keyboard, #Liveband, #livesoundreinforement, #logical, #love, #Midi, #mixingboard, #music, #musicequipment, #musicequiptment, #musician, #performance, #piano, #recording, #recordingstudio, #runningsound, #singer, #song, #sound, #Soundengineer, #soundman, #speakers, #stage, #studio, #studioengineer, #synthesizer, #vocalist, #vocals

When you start off with well-balanced levels on all inputs, you can make changes in confidence. During sound check; which is AFTER Gain Staging and setting up the board for the current event, you added each band member and their related instruments to the process and you have good levels on all tracks/channels. I try to grab a few minutes once all drum inputs (including drummer vocal pic or other percussion and tone generators) are set properly to have the drummer play for a few minutes without other musicians. This helps get the feel of the entire drum kit and this is when you would balance all the levels. The hi-hat for example, might not be hitting the meters in the upper range but it sounds really loud if its fader is up to the nominal level. It is helpful to know once the board is set you can turn the volume on any track DOWN any time you want. You just do not want to turn anything up beyond the sweet spot except for the occasional solo or special piece that might need additional reinforcement or boost out in the audience. And as always, try to return to the sweet spot area once the section is over.

Some mixing consoles allow you to assign tracks to separate signal paths or additional outs. These can be grouped to a single sub fader when running system in mono. You can then take the individual drum tracks out of the house mix and send them only to the bus for your drum kit. Assign this bus 1 for example to the Mains and the fader now for bus 1 will allow you to adjust the volume level of the entire drum kit (not the drummer’s mic if he or she also sings) with one fader! If you need to change the volume of the kit as the event goes on, you can keep the blend and balance of all levels by using the bus 1 fader. This might come in handy more than you might think, and it is easy to set up.

Then I do the same thing with the vocals if you have more than two vocalists on stage. They can also be grouped to bus 2 for example and you can adjust vocals with one fader and not worry about changing the balance of the singers/vocalists on stage. Brass and string sections and even a number of guests sitting at a table can also be grouped the same way. You can still change the EQ setting for each channel in a group or bus and you can still change effects levels anytime you want without affecting the balance.

Now if you think about it, we have grouped similar instruments together, set them up to control group volume with a single fader and we have the tracks and effects returns that might need minor adjustments during the event isolated and easy to see or adjust. Your job now consists of only a few faders out of all the channels plugged into the mixer. You are now in auto-pilot. Do not change anything major unless the performance or venue dictates a change. From here you coast and make things better with ever smaller adjustments. Time to add the glitter.

For most situations the process above will set you up in a comfortable area where things can all be heard at balanced levels, not too loud and instruments do not compete for the same frequency space. For this step it is better to think of sound from low frequencies on the left and higher frequencies on the right. In many ways like a piano; lower notes are on the left and increasingly higher notes as we go to the right keys. Have your drummer hit one of the cymbals really hard with no other noise and see if it produces tones or frequencies like the lowest key on a piano. It cannot. It is in a much higher range. Have the drummer punch the kick drum a few times and see if it makes frequencies as hi as the cymbals just did. This is a simple explanation that gets applied to all instruments and vocals being blended into a smooth mix. When using EQ, you can shift the range of frequencies for each sound so it does not compete or collide with other sounds in similar frequency ranges. Often vocals and guitars are in neighboring groups. Try using EQ to edge one signal a litter higher in the frequency group and the other a little lower. So they still sound good and accurate like they are on stage, but just enough so the listener can more easily hear the two sources as individual elements in a wider landscape. Similar situation with kick drums and the bass guitar. Both occupy the very low end of our hearing spectrum. If they are both deep in the low end, they might not be discernable as two performances. You can try lowering the low end EQ a little on the bass guitar for example, but add some hi-mids and or a little hi end frequencies so the strings pop in the mix a little when struck. It will still support the low end for that punch, but you will be able to hear the individual bass notes better without a lot of added low-end volume that can cloud or muddy up the low end.

Slick As A Dream

Posted: April 1, 2015 in family, MUSIC, My Tunes
Tags: # mixer, #audio, #band, #bass, #daughter, #demo, #digital, #dreams, #drummer, #drums, #family, #guitar, #keyboard, #Liveband, #logical, #love, #lyrics, #Midi, #mixingboard, #motivation, #music, #musician, #performance, #piano, #poetry, #recording, #recordingstudio, #retro, #runningsound, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #Soundengineer, #soundman, #speakers, #stage, #story, #studio, #studioengineer, #synthesizer, #vocalist, #vocals

Plain and simple, the lyrics are about my daughter. As a proud parent, I am often overwhelmed by the innocence, beauty and unlimited potential when holding a new-born in your arms. Not to get weird here, but there is nothing like it. As I cradle, rock or talk baby-talk, it is difficult not to think about the new life I am holding, how fascinating they are and to drift into thoughts of what will happen in their future and how we can make that path easier. This song also features Gary Jefferson on vocals. You will hear him a lot on my tunes, and he was the vocalist in the demo recording the band did in the studio. He has pulled me into a number of projects and I often ask him to help me with mine. There are so many musicians I depend on and work with regularly. I will introduce you to them and the work they have done in future posts.

Most of the music is sequenced along with the drum tracks, I play the rhythm guitar parts and had a friend come in for the guitar solo, while my wife adds back-up vocals. All grown up and with children of her own, the meaning of this song gets deeper and closer to the heart every year.

“Slick as A Dream” (c) MSK 1988

Slick as a dream, this beauty machine

Sharp and so cold, young – just as old.

Moving so sweet you can feel the heat

Smiles of sorrow can’t wait ‘til tomorrow.

One thing you’ve learned: love has to be earned

Pain must be shared, embraced if you dare.

Nightmares are gone, but she carries on

Can’t forget her, love lasts forever.

Tender love cries slowly hypnotize

The helpless day now melting away.

And if you dare she’ll become aware

Give those who bleed whatever they need.

She knows exactly who she is.

And exactly what she needs.

The Safe Seven

Posted: March 20, 2015 in Music Theory
Tags: #audio, #band, #keyboard, #love, #Midi, #motivation, #music, #musician, #performance, #piano, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #Soundengineer, #soundman, #speakers, #stage, #studio, #studioengineer

Each key on the keyboard represents what we call a half step. if you play the adjacent key (above or below the key you just played) you have moved another half step. I am not very good at math, but fortunately the math is simple and two halves equal one whole. So if you start with any note twelve consecutive notes you will have reached the octave. (The first note we will call the Root. 12 half steps above that root note is the same note but an octave higher when adding notes to the right and lower when adding notes on the left) Here we have all 12 notes as referenced earlier. After this they will repeat again and again.

There is a lot of music theory out there and it seems to scare most people into thinking this is going to be work and not play. There is always some learning or practice involved, but it can still be fun.

Out of the 12 half steps in each octave, most scales will include only 7 notes (8 including the octave). When using the keyboard as an example it is visually easier to use the white keys and this happens to be the Key of C for the piano. If you play the C note, and then play each consecutive white note and ignoring the black keys, you are playing the C Major scale. This is not very mysterious once you know the pattern. A simple count of each note played and the notes ignored gives us the pattern that can be applied to every scale. When finished, all we will have to remember to figure out other scales is the pattern;

Two/Half, Three/Half

In slightly more detail, two Whole notes, then one Half note, followed by three Whole notes then one Half.

In the Key of C, the Root note is the lower C. Move two half steps up (or one whole note) and you have D. Two more half steps up and you have E. ( —– no black key here, so we move up a half step to F. (That is the first part represented by two Whole notes then one Half note—-). now move up two half notes and you have G, two more and you have A, two more and you have B. (—– no black key here, so we move a half step to C or the Octave. (That represents the Whole – Whole -Whole – Half portion)

C D E F G A B C 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 These notes are The Safe Seven in the Key of C Major

So to find any major scale, start with the Root note, go up a whole step, up a whole step and up a half, then up a Whole, up a Whole up a Whole and up a Half step and you have arrived at the octave. This is the Major scale and there are others, but they all start here. For those of us that had music lessons in school or “The Sound of Music” fans, this will be familiar as the Do Re Me song we learned. You can reverse the process when moving toward the lower octave.

Remember the saying practice makes perfect?

WRONG! Only PERFECT practice makes perfect. Focus on position and form at first and work on speed later.

Play with this for a while and I will be back with more!

St. Patrick’s Day – A Part of Me

Posted: March 17, 2015 in Holiday, MUSIC, My Tunes
Tags: # mixer, #American, #audio, #band, #demo, #digital, #dreams, #family, #Irish, #Liveband, #livesoundreinforement, #love, #lyrics, #Midi, #motivation, #music, #musician, #recording, #retro, #runningsound, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #Soundengineer, #soundman, #St. Patrick's Day, #stage, #studio, #studioengineer

Speaking about lyrics that never become songs, etc., sometimes I write and record a demo or rough track of a song and it just never seems to go anywhere. Some of them do get resurrected, many don’t. For some it may be as simple as a tempo change or a different arrangement. Other times for me it is mysterious. In honor of Saint Patrick’s Day, I would like to post lyrics to a song in the making. As this platform gives us access to followers around the globe, I do not want to leave anyone out, so please take this as intended. If I don’t mention your country, other people’s songs will!

Then in a later post I can bring in the recorded demo tracks. I like the lyrics for the most part and I love the idea behind the song, but it is not there yet. Maybe after a pint or two of Guinness and some suggestions from you I can finish this song. And of course, that could be a topic in and of itself. We hear phrases like “final mix”. Some people say there is no such thing. Others say you just have to stop at some point and let it go. Much of this may depend on your final goal. Are you a singer/songwriter trying to get a break and some air-time? Are you shopping for places your band can perform your unique style? Do you want to have a clean demo to send to your favorite artist? Is this a sound-track for video/YouTube? Do you make sound effects for games?

We can always say make it as good as possible but that is very subjective. Hire 50 sound engineers and you will get 45 different mixes (there are always people that look over your shoulder!) Tip for today; it takes a really long time to fix it in the mix even if you know what you are doing. It is much easier and preferred to get the great sound first, and then record it properly (using gain staging and other procedures mentioned earlier). When you record a great sound it will sound great. As a sound guy for a local band I would get compliments on the sound (House from the audience but almost always monitors from the band). I thank them and tell them the band sounds great, I just let everyone hear them.

“A Part of Me” © 08-2000 MSK

American Indians gave me my soul,

A spiritual guide for all living things.

Each man’s fate is his to control

Peace with Nature, the warrior sings.

A Part of Me belongs to all of Them

From the Germans strength was my first lesson.

Trial and precision as you master these.

Pride that’s passed down from son to son.

Built in each hand crafted Masterpiece.

Oriental neighbors have shown me the light

Truth, Balance, Eternal harmony.

The beauty of patience and delight

Traditions deep within history.

A Part of Me belongs to all of them.

I’m proud to be an American.

Sisters and brothers from every shore,

That’s what makes us Americans.

Part of Me belongs to all of Them

From the Irish I inherit my pride

I stand my ground and I will speak my mind.

I will honor the lands and the tide,

And I’ll never leave a neighbor behind.

My English side embraced nobility.

Dry humor in the face of foes

Hardy enough to capture the seas.

Portraits legends and heroes.

African Americans forced to become

A torn people of two nations.

Tribal tales and melodic rhythm

Passed onto the next generation.

The French helped me understand

Style and grace can be nurtured like wine.

To believe there is no better place

Life shared with friends, bread and wine.

A Part of Me belongs to all of them.

I’m proud to be an American.

Sisters and brothers from every shore,

That’s what makes us Americans.

Part of Me belongs to all of Them

Year after year

They want to raise their children here.

Because sweat blood and tears

Can amount to something here.

There’s a lot of people in my life

A part of Me belongs to all of Them.

Your song may be different and that’s OK.

Sing it with your fellow American.

Per request – Lyrics to “Our Bodies Move.”

Posted: March 5, 2015 in MUSIC, My Tunes
Tags: #audio, #band, #digital, #DollyParton, #dreams, #fan, #guitar, #KennyRodgers, #keyboard, #love, #lyrics, #motivation, #music, #musician, #recording, #singer, #song, #songwriter, #sound, #stage, #studio

Our Bodies Move aka FOR THOSE WHO WAIT” ^(c) 12/1987

Lyrics Michael Kennedy

Music by Ric Ahlers

So many people look for love and affection

Think they’re heading in the right direction.

They go searching through the heat of the night

Alone again in the morning light.

I’ve seen a lot of selfish devotion

Hopelessly lost in mixed up emotion.

Opening; then closing every door

Never know what they’re looking for.

CHORUS: I’ve never felt a woman feel this good before.

I’ve never listened to her whispers

Or knock upon the door.

Nothing to hide, nothing to prove,

Its love that makes our bodies move.

In the beginning there were many pretenders

Holding on ‘til everyone surrenders.

Strangling the love they create.

Love is For Those Who Wait.

CHORUS: I’ve never felt a man feel this good before.

I’ve never listened to his whispers

Or knock upon the door.

Nothing to hide, nothing to prove,

Its love that makes our bodies move.

MidiMike

Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#love’

My Original Tunes on ITunes and a Heartfelt Thank You to My Followers

The Touch Lyrics

“The Touch” – Understanding Humans

What I Do At Night – The Driving Song

Happy Birthday Billie Holiday and Strange Fruit

Live Sound Reinforcement Series Chapter 10 – Now, to make it glitter

Slick As A Dream

The Safe Seven

St. Patrick’s Day – A Part of Me

Per request – Lyrics to “Our Bodies Move.”

Archives

Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#love’

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