I posted lyrics earlier for this new song and I have a mix of the music ready for “It Only Takes One“
I am working on the vocals now and will have some ‘filler’ tracks to add at some point. I used drum loops (edited and a bit tortured at times!) for the rhythm tracks. I play all the guitar tracks and added a MIDI bass guitar part from my keyboards ……. until the band can make it in for a session.
But for now, here is the instrumental version.
Happy New Year!
I recorded a nice version of this song to share with all. I edited the lyrics a bit to make things match a bit better but I like the final arrangement. I also had a little fun with some of the percusssion tracks. The chimes and hi hats are from a MIDI keyboard, but the bongo like percussion starting about the middle of the song I am using the top of my Yeti mug – filled half-way with green tea to be exact – as the drum.
Here is ‘Caretaker’:
‘Caretaker’ (C) MSK 12-31-2023
As a biproduct, I wanted to see if the spatial audio affects mixing with ATMOS would work with a YouTube upload.
So I made a video (pictures is all) and posted it to see if my surround sound home theater system will be enhanced using ATMOS for short videos. You will not hear anyting in the mix move at all until the end of the song. But I want to see if it distributes the channels automatically. So, before I test it and find out it doesn’t work and delete it, you can hear the ATMOS mix and pictures of my studio rooms. Or better yet, close your eyes and try to imagine where each player (instrument) is sitting on stage. With ATMOS, they could be……… behind you or ……… on a ladder in front of you. Or sitting next to you.
Happy New Year.
Again using Dolby Atmos for the spatial audio mix, I have another song for you to listen to. Using headphones will give you the best dimensional effect, though the speakers will also reflect some clarity and each instrument or vocalist will be heard a bit easier and clearer – more distinct.
I imagine this to be similar to being in a small crowded room with lots of people talking. It is hard to make out any of the conversations going on around you. Now, Imagine the room much bigger and everyone spaced further away from each other and you. Now you can hear conversations and know who is laughing or singing. Something like that. Instead of mixing so all the instruments are ‘sitting on top of each other’ in the stereo field, the listener can be part of – or completely removed from the sound scape. We can now give the listener the illusion of sound coming from anywhere in the ‘room’ we create.
Here is another song I wrote and recorded recently called “The Dream”. The spatial effects in Atmos do indeed, give a new dreamy sound to the mix.
MIDIMike
I am not really finished with this song. Many of my songs move on to the ‘finished’ shelf when there is a lot more to be done with the song and/or recording. Being the jack-of-all-trades singer-songwriter/engineer-producer and all the rest means I can generate decent versions of my original music without waiting for band mates, schedules, funding and studio availability.
I realized long ago I cannot make them commercial or ‘radio-play’ worthy on my own. But here you can see early versions of a song or two developing or maybe ones I pushed out into the lime light too soon. I’m OK with that because most of my songs are not ready for prime time. Still, I think I have a bunch of great tunes posted on this blog. Some of my tunes are progressive folk, some lean towards alternative, some are a bit on the soundtrack side. Maybe not your style of music, but there’s something for everyone.
I hope you enjoy an early glimpse of “When In Doubt“.
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
MidiMike 