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.
Posts Tagged ‘#recordingstudio’
Felt this way Before MSK 2005
Posted: August 22, 2023 in PoetryTags: #audio, #Cakewalk, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midicontroller, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #recordingstudio, #songwriter, #sound, #vocalist
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Take Away One Lyrics and Music
Posted: July 21, 2023 in #poetry, MUSIC, Music Theory, My TunesTags: #korgnautilus, #lyrics, #math, #mathematics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music theory, #musician, #musicismath, #poetry, #Presonus, #recording, #recordingstudio, #singer, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #studioengineer, #studioOne
I wrote lyrics for Take Away One based on the idea of removing a particular note from a 4-note-chord. This leaves you with a specific 3-note-chord. Hence the name of the song and also the foundation for the original poem. I had to add a verse to the poem converting them to lyrics because for a few weeks one band member or the other could’t make a scheduled music jam. Often three members would drop out one by one leaving me as the only bandmate that made it for the jam! Sometimes we travel and jam in person, but more often we use a program for on-line musicians and connect from our homes. That is how we survived the Covid-19 lock-down.
You will notice the difference right away. This is another example of a song that came together really fast because it was based on a mathematical theme or idea. The chord pairs were based on the idea above, but the progression was completely random. The arrangement was pretty basic so it wrote itself. Once I had the title it was easy to think of examples in life where things get taken away. You’re probably doing it right now.
If you get writers block, try starting from a different point. I’ve never had writers block in my 50 years of writing and recording songs, so maybe I’m on to something.
I had fun with the ending and the arrangement has a few twists as usual. Enjoy Take Away One.
Enemies in your Head MSK 2022
Posted: July 18, 2023 in PoetryTags: #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.
Eight Letters MSK 2017
Posted: July 4, 2023 in PoetryTags: #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
Country Rag MSK 1981
Posted: May 16, 2023 in #poetry, PoetryTags: #audio, #lyrics, #Martinguitars, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #personaltouch, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #recordingstudio, #songwriter, #sound, #vocals
Here are lyrics I wrote to be as much a country song as a parody of country songs. Even back in 1981 I was reflecting on spending most of my time growing old. Another song of mine performed with my first real band, The Personal Touch.
Music for “Reflections”
Posted: March 25, 2023 in My TunesTags: #cdbaby, #enemiesinyourhead, #guitar, #keyboard, #keyboardplayers, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midicontroller, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #perigee, #personal, #poetry, #recording, #recordingstudio, #singer, #singersongwriter, #songwriter
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
Before We Fell In Love MSK 1994
Posted: March 7, 2023 in #poetry, PoetryTags: #audio, #lyrics, #Martinguitars, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #recordingstudio, #songwriter, #sound
I have witnessed a lot of beautiful relationships that seemed as solid as anything I will ever know crumble into bitterness and hate. A couple that I knew for example, infatuated with each other. Over the years each flaw and glance became unbearable and cruel. What was once cute is disgusting. From my point of view nothing had changed. They were both the same people as always. How they are seeing has changed, not what.
Baby, You’re so Beautiful
Posted: December 17, 2022 in My TunesTags: #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #ovationguitars, #poetry, #recording, #recordingstudio, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #vocalist
Going over old recordings I finally found one of my gems from 1977. Back then I was learning to play guitar and my friend TR would jam with me. I knew a few musicians even back then and on the weekends we would gather at my place for dinner and a fun evening.
We would have about a dozen friends come over and after meals and a few drinks we would inevitably pull out the guitars and other toys. I didn’t spend much time learning or playing cover songs. That happened, but most of the time we wrote our own material. Our songs ran the gambit between topics of the day and the humorous things in life. I recorded on state of the art technology in those days: reel-to-reel tape recorders. I had a Tascam (Teac) 4-track machine back then so we could record an AMAZING 4 tracks at one time!
This song is one of our funnier songs. It wasn’t like we were trying to be like the Smothers Brother’s Comedy Hour from 1967, but we enjoyed humor in our music. This take starts with TR vocals and Ovation guitar introducing the theme of the song as I join in with my Ovation 12 string guitar.
Here is the only recording of that song. It is just the two of us jamming late after most others had crashed or gone home or to work. I learned a lot about harmonies during these sessions and still get a kick listening to us making up the arrangement as we go along.
Enjoy a funny blast from the past and wait for the end of the song for the lyrical punch line.
Pictures and Info
Posted: May 4, 2021 in PhotographyTags: #aprilfools, #CincinnatiParks, #flowers, #lindnerpark, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #naturepics, #nikon, #photography, #pictures, #recording, #recordingstudio
I have been pretty busy lately. I have been jamming on-line with my originals band “The Merchants of Death”. We have not played together in almost forty years! They were champs with handling the technology, but the latency or delay you get is a bit frustrating. A couple weeks ago – after all of our Covid 19 shots and waiting periods we got together and played live – IN THE SAME ROOM!
That was really very neat. Our on-line sessions have been a blessing during the lockdown and restrictions. Playing our old original songs and mixing them in with current cover tunes is just a perfect environment for me. I will share some of our recordings soon.
I also did a live recording session a few weeks ago. It was a cool project. I was to record the drummer playing in isolation as the drummer listened to a mix of the other recorded instruments and vocals! The drummer did an excellent job in following the band as drummers usually try to lead the band. The recordings were clean and after a little post production I sent the final tracks for assembly and final mix.
I have also been doing a lot of long-needed outdoor yard work and landscaping around my house. This winter and spring were bizarre. I wish I had posted these pictures earlier, but it is a challenge sometimes deciding which project to focus on. I hope you enjoy a look back at this year’s snow and blooms. All of these pictures were taken within a few days of each other. It was an amazing sight.
Setting up my drums for the first recording project of 2021!
Music for “Peanut Butter Hill”
Posted: February 19, 2021 in family, My TunesTags: #bass, #childhood, #lindnerpark, #memories, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #musician, #recordingstudio, #songwriter, #songwriting, #thelittlehippies, #themerchantsofdeath, #TMOD
This is a song I co-wrote with a friend of mine from Xenia, Ohio. I sent him the basic tracks via the Internet and he uploaded to his home studio. Scott Hadley from “The Little Hippies” then sang the vocals and helped with arrangement to make this song click. Then he added keyboard parts and harmony tracks and sent individual tracks back to me……
To help me with this song I asked a friend and The Merchants of Death band-mate Mike Wheeler to play bass guitar. He is in Dayton and got the tracks back to me faster than I could have driven there and back! He has a way of finding grooves within the melody of a song that ties it all together.
I wrote “Peanut Butter Hill” on 1-21-2021 as I was walking through the woods near our home. I take walks in the same park almost daily now that I am retired. We spent a lot of time here when our kids were growing up. Walking past a steep hill in the park next to a creek I thought I should write a song about this park. (Well, what about?) As I walked I started thinking that this song is not about me but about the kids that tried climbing the bare-mud side of the hill. A fence stood at the top where the real path was and at the bottom of the hill was a creek that remained mostly dry. Soon the melody hit me and I knew this was a song about peanut butter hill.
Decades ago I challenged my kids and all the neighborhood friends to climb up the hill – but they could not use their hands! When they failed and said it could not be done, I put my hands in my pockets and climbed to the top. So did my daughter TK. The hill is not what it was back then, but I think we were the only ones to meet the challenge, but everyone had fun trying!
MidiMike 