#music | MidiMike

Posts Tagged ‘#music’

Music for “The Wrong Thing”

Posted: September 1, 2023 in MUSIC, music technology, My Tunes, Poetry
Tags: #guitar, #korgnautilus, #lyrics, #Martinguitars, #michaelskennedy, #midicontroller, #mididrums, #midimike, #midimike.com, #mixingboard, #music, #musician, #personal, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #Studio1+, #studioengineer, #vocalist, #vocals

I put lyrics I posted earlier to a new piece I am working on. This song also originated as a mathematical idea. Based on rhythm or patterns this time. Specifically: drumming my fingers on the top of a dinner table. Percussion is so deep in my history it is hard to separate it from the real world. So I tap out a rhythm that is slightly difficult until I get it consistent. This drum pattern is short and repeated with slight variations over time. As you might imagine from listening to music, even drums are ‘tuned’ for specific songs or projects.

Each tom in the drum kit is tuned to a specific pitch (the good drum techs will match the tuning to the current song/project/session). Now transfer those notes to a piano staff and you can play ‘melodies’ on the drums. My finger tapping pattern became the basis for an arpeggio of sorts when I used it to play different chord formations on my Korg Nautilus keyboard. That meant that I would use the repeated pattern for each chord in the song progression. Then I added new parts and changed a bunch of stuff until presto-chango! A new song!

I got out my cheapo 5 string bass guitar and added a back up feel for the keyboard melody. I like to add guitars to most of my recordings and used my brother’s Martin 6 string to add the chord structure and main rhythms throughout the song.

Once the arrangement was settled for the most part I started to write the drums. This gives me the opportunity to match or follow the accents and rests in the guitar parts. I can make sure the drum beat is matching my song and not the other way around. I often add rhythmic nuances to each verse and chorus. I use a MIDI drum pad to trigger sounds in software I have in my recording suite and created each segment’s drum track. After way-too-much-editing, I got a reasonable drum track with good balance and lively feel.

You guessed it. I do all of this myself so now it is time to come up with a melody and try to do the best I can to sing it. Most often the melodies I write reflect my limited vocal range and power. I would have a real vocalist sing what they were able to and felt inspired to sing. Same with all the other instruments I play as well. I get out my Audio Technica 4033 microphone to work out melody, timing, phrasing and harmonies. It takes me a number of practices just to find where my voice can fit in and what notes I can (and can’t) reach. All prepared and organized it still takes me an hour or so of trial and error to record what you will hear even though it is not quite right.

Package it all up with solid mixing levels and some processing or effects added to individual tracks and I have a quick mix ready for you. I might not add anything else to this song personally. As usual, I will play this song for friends and see if they feel like adding to or replacing my tracks.

There are so many ways to create music. Take your MIDI melody line and make it the bass guitar part. Use any drum pattern to trigger piano notes or other samples. Play with the rhythm by starting the drum pattern on beat 2. Listen to birds chirping or wind chimes in the breeze. Make it easy to get started and see where things go, but rule number one: don’t wait for the vocalist to show up!

MIDIMike

Felt this way Before MSK 2005

Posted: August 22, 2023 in Poetry
Tags: #audio, #Cakewalk, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midicontroller, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #recordingstudio, #songwriter, #sound, #vocalist

I really love the twist in these lyrics. They have a push-pull effect as you go through each verse. It reminds me of the excitement and fear sharing the same space as you find yourself in a new relationship….. each new step scary and thrilling. Afraid to share too much or hold too tightly.

The Wrong Thing

Posted: August 11, 2023 in #poetry, My Tunes
Tags: #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #mistakes, #music, #musician, #personal, #poetry, #singersongwriter, #songwriter

Maybe I’ve been lookin’ for the wrong thing.
Searching for the perfect harmony,
When I can’t even sing.

Maybe I am way out of my depth.
Thinking; just another minute
Right when I lose my breath.

I have banged my head against every wall:
Waited for anyone I know to call.
Listened to the righteous, but above all
Followed those thought of as weak or small.

Independent, courageous and defiant;
Yet I can’t seem to help myself.
Beat the dumbest giant.

So sure of myself all those years ago.
Put everyone that I love on hold.
Places I’ll never go.

I can solve everyone else’s problem.
Yet can’t even see my own.
The Wrong Thing lives again.

I have banged my head against every wall:
Waited for anyone I know to call.
I have banged my head against every wall:
Waited for anyone I know to call.

The Wrong Thing lives again.
The Wrong Thing lives within.

Eye of the Storm MSK 2017

Posted: August 8, 2023 in Poetry
Tags: #audio, #lyrics, #midicontroller, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #Presonus, #recording, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #sound, #vocalist

These lyrics are a sister version of Deep Inside. Writing the song I think I had too much to say so I ended up writing two songs with similar themes and lyrics. Neither is what I had planned and I am not convinced it worked out for the best, but I like the lyrics for each. The meaning is too complicated to get into details. We all hold a lot deep inside. Life is a journey full of traps with no signs to tell you how to get out.

Evolution of Emotion MSK 2003

Posted: August 1, 2023 in Poetry
Tags: #alesisadat, #audio, #guitar, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midicontroller, #mididrums, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #songwriter, #sound, #vocalist

A spin off from an afternoon contemplating how many people get the basic premise of evolution wrong. I often hear descriptions as if the organism intends to branch off or enhance a trait or feature. Anyway, I wondered what was the first emotion and how quickly did the others develop. While I am at it, in what order? Did humans and other primates have dreams before experiencing emotions?

Everything has its Place MSK 2006

Posted: July 25, 2023 in Poetry
Tags: #audio, #korgnautilus, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midicontroller, #mididrums, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrytolyrics, #Presonus, #recording, #songwriter, #sound

At times I think I am a bit OCD, but it is probably just an organizational fixation I have developed. Mostly because I walk throughout the house without lights on all the time. If something is out of place I can find myself stumbling to the floor. Mistakes are made, wonders go unobserved, people search for the wrong thing. It’s easy to do.

Enemies in your Head MSK 2022

Posted: July 18, 2023 in Poetry
Tags: #audio, #korg, #korgnautilus, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midicontroller, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poetry, #Presonus, #recording, #recordingstudio, #singer, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #sound

Every decade or so I think I have written the best song I will ever write. Then I get older and write another. That is how I feel about Enemies in Your Head. It is a simple, powerful, emotional and deeply moving piece for me. I recorded the song with a piano, bass guitar and one vocal track. A capsule of desperation and futility. No end in sight. Often the price is paid, though there is no reward.

Music for “Take Away One”

Posted: July 14, 2023 in Music Theory, My Tunes
Tags: #korgnautilus, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #music theory, #musician, #musicismath, #musictheory, #poetry, #recording, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #songwriting, #studio, #studioOne

I posted a poem called “Take Away One” recently. I knew this one was a song in the making so I started working on writing music around the theme. I tell my friends that I ‘feel’ music theory more than I know or understand it. Sometimes I look at the patterns and rhythms, often I get fascinated by melodies that twist within the chords. Often I get distracted by simple mathmetical relationships in music – ’cause that’s what it is.

There are many tonal relationships between chords in any arrangement. For background, two notes played simultaneously is an interval. With three or more individual notes you can form a chord. The more notes within the chord the greater the potential for complex tones. Some combinations sound calm, delightful and inspiring. Other combinations are uncomfortable or have a lot of dissonence. Some are downright ugly by themselves if truth be told.

Not to get too deep here, because I can’t swim in these waters, but the arrangement uses the relationship when you have a 4 note chord (of any root note you prefer). Start with a G Major 7th chord as my example. It consistes of 4 individual notes: G (the root here by definition of the chord name), B, D and F#.

If you Take Away One – the G in this example as root note of the chord – you have a 3 note chord called B Minor. The arrangement consists of alternating between pairs of Major 7th chords and their relative minor 2nd chord. (or is it its 2nd relative minor?). Then I pick another random pair of Major 7th/2nd Minor chords and continue. Hence the name of the song.

I am working on the melody line and recording the vocals but here is the instrumental version of “Take Away One“.

Eight Letters MSK 2017

Posted: July 4, 2023 in Poetry
Tags: #audio, #lyrics, #Martinguitars, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midicontroller, #mididrums, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #recordingstudio, #songwriter, #sound

A cute association I made when it looked like I was finally going to get a divorce last year. This song blends ideas over a number of years as many of my lyrics tend to do. Screaming over nothing. Saying stuff she knows isn’t true. But the reflections of a love that got away was from a past relationship decades ago. What are your Eight Letters?
I love you
I am sorry
A B C D E F G A

Doin’ the Don’ts MSK 2005

Posted: June 20, 2023 in Poetry
Tags: #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #songwriter, #writing

Pretty obvious theme here! Self-restraint has a long learning curve.

MidiMike

Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#music’

Music for “The Wrong Thing”

Felt this way Before MSK 2005

The Wrong Thing

Eye of the Storm MSK 2017

Evolution of Emotion MSK 2003

Everything has its Place MSK 2006

Enemies in your Head MSK 2022

Music for “Take Away One”

Eight Letters MSK 2017

Doin’ the Don’ts MSK 2005

Archives

Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#music’

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: