#songwriter | MidiMike

Posts Tagged ‘#songwriter’

Holiday Tradition Past

Posted: December 11, 2020 in family, Holiday, Midi Series, My Tunes, projects
Tags: #Christmas, #family, #familytraditions, #holiday, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midimike, #midimike.com, #recording, #recordingstudio, #SMPTE, #songwriter, #vocals

Holidays are fun with creative people.

I often mention my talented wife and children sprinkled within posts over the years. When the girls were very young we made Christmas and the holidays a creative fest whenever possible. From pumpkin carving parties with over 200 pumpkins, costumes and haunted houses, we put our own flair into everything. We avoided the commercial and traditional.

Each year we would send our many friends a hand-made original Christmas ‘Card’. We would start two months before Christmas to imagine, design and create a unique holiday greeting from our entire family. Many are still hung up or placed on mantels to this day. It is hard to describe so you can get an idea of the projects. One time we made small cloth trees decorated in style with a hook on them so you could hang them as an ornament. Another year we took clear glass ornamental globes and other shaped bobbles and poured paint inside making them sparkle with bright colors and/or glitter on the inside of the glass.

As a musician I built up a small home recording studio over the years. In the lyrics we reference “7 tracks and SMPTE”. I had a digital recorder back then but advanced as it was at the time it only had eight tracks, and one of them you used to record a clock signal so it would sync with the MIDI instruments I had controlled by a hardware sequencer (RECORDING WAS A LOT HARDER IN THOSE DAYS!!!). Every few years I managed to work in a family musical project. Here are two audio recordings we sent as that year’s ‘card’.

This tradition really became a thing and people looked forward to getting their next card, knowing it would be unlike any other they would receive that year, or ever again.

Here is my family recording two Christmas carols for our annual card project. One is a traditional cover of a song you are familiar with. The other is our version of a classic. Even if you aren’t ‘all about Christmas’ and everything, I think you will find this cute and maybe hilarious at the same time.

I wish you all well and hope we can keep lost loved ones close to our hearts and friends and family in our thoughts.

MIDIMIKE

The Kennedy’s carol

The Kennedy’s Original 12 Days

Bodies In Motion

Posted: December 4, 2020 in Poetry
Tags: #bulliesandbrats, #life, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike.com, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #school, #songwriter

Thinking of the times we were both in school
They said I was an idiot and called you a fool.
In high school you created a vaccine that kept thousands alive
When I was bored I solved problems for the first warp drive.

One time I saw a kid push you around
I thought you would never hit the ground.
I went over to help you up and when I reached out a hand
With a smile you said. “Bodies in motion. Now I understand’.

In class I was asked for money and I had to refuse
That week I came home with cuts and a bruise.
Forget the bedside manners and dispense with the charm
That’s what you meant when you would yell, ‘First, do no harm’.

Bodies In Motion pushed in so many different ways.
Bodies In Motion simply can’t be measured in days.

Bullies and jerks are really nothing new
Feels like so many but there’s only just a few.
Beauties and brats seem to roam free across the range
They appear successful but soon that will also change.

Bodies In Motion pushed in so many different ways.
Bodies In Motion simply can’t be measured in days.

What You Want is now a song

Posted: November 10, 2020 in My Tunes
Tags: #melody, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midimike, #midimike.com, #mixingboard, #musician, #original songs, #singer, #songwriter, #Soundengineer, #vocalist, #vocals

After smoothing out the timing and lyrics to match the mood I was after for this new song, I wrote a melody that seems to fit pretty well.

I squeezed some of the lyrics as I mentioned and cleaned up the instrumental glitches (a technical term for anything that isn’t right) and added a few parts to the instrumental verison I posted earlier.

Minor changes go on for a long time in the final tracking stage. A lot of it will not be used at all and some will be low in volume so as not to hear distinctly. But similar to color splashes added to the face in a painting, it can really bring out the rest of the ‘image’.

What You Want:

Unused Words

Posted: October 9, 2020 in Poetry
Tags: #analogandunnecessary, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike.com, #poem, #poetry, #poetrytolyrics, #songwriter

I’m feeling a little analog and unnecessary
Like Unused Words in a lost dictionary.
Not forgotten but so unimportant
A millionaire who never spent his fortune.

Worthless as a solar panel on a rainy day
A scarecrow that can’t make birds fly away.
The star of the show that forgot his lines
Lost with no direction in a field of mines.

The only one still listening on the telephone
The circus clown that wants to be alone.
Every day everyone feels the same
You look and look and never find the pain.

Unused Words become a forgotten language
Only the ancient and the wise will recall.
No one else will ever hear for no one will speak
Images fade in both the strong and the weak.

It seems I’m just a handle without a door
Without knowing what I’m searching for.
A fantastic painter but I forgot my brush
Left in a hurry but I forgot to rush.

Unused Words become a forgotten language
Only the ancient and the wise will recall.
No one else will ever hear for no one will speak
Images fade in both the strong and the weak.

A bit like a ticket taker on the last show
Or a great teacher students will never know.
Best-selling writer who’ll never publish a book
A telescope to the stars but no one will look.

The Intersection of Karma and Irony

Posted: September 11, 2020 in Poetry
Tags: #karma, #karmaandirony, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #poem, #songwriter, irony, karma, poem, poetry

It didn’t take long to get here but it never does.
Every answer I get lately is, ‘just because’.
It takes so long to retrace steps carelessly made.
No winners or losers whenever the game is played.

A never ending stream of lies like burning arrows
Directed at the innocent as the fire grows.
Family or friends you’d throw anybody under the bus
Hard to believe who could but someone always does.

The Intersection of Karma and Irony
When everything gets thrown back in your face.
The Intersection of Karma and Irony
Your empire demolished and a temple in its place.

Thinking you’re so clever with all the right things to say
Hoping the pretty dance you do makes it all go away.
With power you didn’t earn you push and shove the weak
The sheer weight you have has now left you up a creek.

The Intersection of Karma and Irony
When everything gets thrown back in your face.
The Intersection of Karma and Irony
Your empire demolished and a temple in its place.

It’s not like we believed you, no one could be that dumb
The hidden agendas just make us a little numb.
The pedestal you stood on was never really there.
And the truth of the matter is that we never even cared.

Your words are meaningless and soon forgotten
But the bitterness remains as the fruit becomes rotten.
With power you didn’t earn you push and shove the weak
The sheer weight you have has now left you up a creek.

My Mistake

Posted: August 30, 2020 in Poetry
Tags: #guilt, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #realization, #songwriter, personal blame

It’s not like I planned it
Much of life is under handed
I didn’t really understand it.
And all of it demanded.
The rest of my life branded
My soul reprimanded
Heart and thoughts now commanded
Hope forever abandoned.

Not like I didn’t have a choice
When I needed it I lost my voice.
The true cost is not on the invoice
But everyone loves their toys.
There are those who will rejoice
Not just women or their boys
Their words thick and moist
It is the silence that destroys.

My Mistake
And I made it so long ago.
My Mistake
Took me this long to know.

Passions and hope and dreams
I made them all routine
Rather leave than make a scene
Hide behind another machine.
Standing tall and in between
Excuses and lies on a trampoline
Drinking cool-aid from a canteen
Pretending what I did wasn’t mean.

My Mistake
And I made it so long ago.
My Mistake
Took me this long to know.

Music for “The Next Step”

Posted: July 13, 2020 in My Tunes, Poetry
Tags: #bandLab, #DAW, #drums, #guitar, #Ibanez, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #mididrums, #midimike.com, #original songs, #poetry, #singer song-writer, #sonar, #song, #songwriter, #vocalist, #voice

Earlier I posted a poem (although poems and lyrics are often interchangeable with me) called “The Next Step”: https://midimike.com/2020/06/22/the-next-step/

This shuffle will take a while to get used to. Really, there is no groove here. No comedic relief either, but I do like the strangeness of it. How about that for an intro?!!

The recording was simple and there is a lot of open space in this one that makes most listeners a little uncomfortable. I played my Ibanez 6 string electric guitar and used effects from my PC after the recording to get the delay and chorus effects. I created the MIDI drums to match the odd beat in the guitar strums. After laying down a simple bass guitar track using computer plug-ins and the song is almost done.

The Next Step by MSK

“Let You Go”

Posted: July 7, 2020 in My Tunes, Poetry
Tags: #lostlove, #love, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #relationships, #singer song-writer, #songwriter, MIDI Mike, poem, poetry

This is another one of my poems I pulled out of the archives recently. Written back on April 2nd, 1984 (what a good year!) and it has a few lines I like.

I want you to stay
For the moments that last forever
Like seasons that always change.

Not to change you
But to watch you grow.
Not to hold you
Or to let you go.

It’s too late to cry
Much too long since you went away
Sometimes you just can’t look back.

Don’t need to know why
Something beautiful goes the wrong way
But you can never go back

Not to change you
But to watch you grow.
Not to hold you
Or to let you go.

I want you to stay
For the moments that last forever
Like seasons that always change.

“None of the Above”

Posted: July 3, 2020 in My Tunes, Poetry
Tags: #love, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #relationships, #songwriter, #writing #poem, poem, poet

I found this poem in my archives that I wrote on June 26th, 2016 and I would like to share it with you.

I have a pretty long list
Of all the things I love
I can do any of them with you
Or, if you prefer, none of the above.

Family, friends, writing music, singing songs
Winter walks, coming home, sky full of stars.
Solving problems, helping strangers, reading a book
Practicing yoga, sometimes riding my bike too long.

Learning something new, teaching what I’ve learned
Laughing at jokes, sharing good food, colorful sunsets
Writing on my blog, sharing a story, liking a post
Being silly, going for a swim, getting praise that I earned.

With you I can do anything
And add it to the list of things I love
With you I can do anything
Or, if you prefer, none of the above.

Cuddle and watch a movie, listening to you breathe at night
Playing games no matter who wins, a weekend unplugged
Hearing from co-workers, dancing like a fool, laying in the snow
There are so many other things I’ve added to my list tonight.

With you I can do anything
And add it to the list of things I love
With you I can do anything
Or, if you prefer, none of the above.

“What Is It?”

Posted: June 30, 2020 in My Tunes, Poetry
Tags: #life, #love, #midimike, #original songs, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #relationships, #songwriter, #thrillaminute

I’m with you sometimes when you stay up late at night
Watching a show or reading a book and you start to cry.
I try not to interfere, so rarely ask if you’re alright
It ruins the tears if you have to stop and tell me why.

Your eyes just light up as you get the widest grin
Whenever animals or an old couple stop to chat.
You never judged an animal by the color of their skin
And I’ve never had the chance to thank you for that.

What Is It that makes you smile?
What does it take to make you cry?
How do you keep focused on those in need?
Whatever it is it becomes obvious
Because I love what I see.

Sitting on a hillside as the sunset puts on a show
Looking forward to early morn’ to see the blooms.
There are many things about you I still don’t know.
Grab it before it becomes lost in ashes and fumes.

You look at things in ways I will never understand
No interest in paybacks or evening the score.
Never guaranteed things would go just like we planned.
Saying life is a thrill a minute so keep looking for more.

No interest in paybacks or evening the score.
Saying life is a thrill a minute so keep looking for more.

What Is It that makes you smile?
What does it take to make you cry?
How do you keep focused on those in need?
Whatever it is it becomes obvious
Because I love what I see.

MidiMike

Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#songwriter’

Holiday Tradition Past

Bodies In Motion

What You Want is now a song

Unused Words

The Intersection of Karma and Irony

My Mistake

Music for “The Next Step”

“Let You Go”

“None of the Above”

“What Is It?”

Archives

Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#songwriter’

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