#vocalist | MidiMike

Posts Tagged ‘#vocalist’

Lyrics for ‘First Move’

Posted: June 27, 2025 in #poetry, My Tunes
Tags: #acoustic, #beforethechase, #closerlook, #easysong, #firstmove, #folk, #localbands, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #midimike, #midimike.com, #msk, #music, #musician, #ovationguitars, #poem, #poetry, #progressivefolk, #recordingstudio, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #Soundengineer, #syncopps, #takeacloserlook, #thechase, #vocalist

For a bit of prospect work, I wrote lyrics to an old 12 sting guitar jam of mine. I released ‘First Move’ as an instrumental track on my cd ‘Before The Chase‘ on February 25th, 2016.

(As a side note, one of the great cover/original bands I performed with live was ‘The Chase’. I also released a title called ‘After The Chase‘ in 2017. In both cases, auto-spelling correction wants to make the title : Before the Chase and After the Chase. Some on-line distributors would not accept the capitalized version in their listing. The reference to my former band mates does not jump out if it has a lower case ‘t’ for the. Now, back to my previous train of thought).

I really like the way the tempo and the groove combine to make an interesting driving-sports-workout jam. I use open tuning for the guitar, and that allows me to get those really clear harmonics to stand out. The lyrics reference the many people in my life that are truly amazing. Dedicated, hard working, dependable friends and strangers in the background making the world a better place for others. Doing the right thing – for no real reward and little recognition. Heroes are all around, they just don’t make that much noise.

‘Take A Closer Look’

“Take a Closer Look” © MSK 6/25/2025 (First Move)

It’s difficult to get going
Usually, it’s too hard to stop.
Heroes rise up against the wind
In spite of the inevitable drop.

Everyone has their place in life
But can not see it most of the time.
Not all of us become astronauts
Or Sherlock with the unsolvable crime.

Take A Closer Look
And you will see.

They guard over you silently
Yet never seem to get in the way.
Easy not to see them at first
But they are always ready to play.

One of them might be an artist
Musicians you truly understand.
A friend who has never failed you
Or strangers that gave you a helping hand.

Take A Closer Look
Take A Closer Look and you will see.

MIDIMike

‘It Only Takes One’

Posted: February 15, 2025 in MUSIC, My Tunes
Tags: #guitarist, #keyboard, #keyboardplayers, #korgnautilus, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midicontroller, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #original songs, #poetry, #Presonus, #song, #songwriter, #studioOne, #themerchants, #themerchantsofdeath, #universalaudio, #vocalist

I recently added vocals to the instrumental “It Only Takes One‘. This is just a fun song in my opinion. It has a toe-tapping beat with a fast pace to it. I like the simple chord changes and the way it just sticks in your head after you have heard it a few times.

I sent this to my band mates from ‘The Merchants’. We may have a real version at some point in the future. This version is just me and my toys lol.

I have been preoccupied lately with family and life style challenges, though I have still managed to be productive. It is just difficult for me to put things together in a post. Hopefully in the future I will catch you all up, and visit my amazing followers again. I hope you are all having a great New Year.

MIDIMike

Music for ‘Caretakers’

Posted: January 12, 2024 in #poetry, Holiday, MUSIC, My Tunes, Poetry, projects, technology, Video
Tags: #audio, #caretakers, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poetry, #resolutions, #reward, #rewardyourself, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #Studio1+, #studioengineer, #StudioOne+, #takecareofyourself, #video, #vocalist, #YouTube #newyearsresolution

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.

Caretaker Video YouTube

Happy New Year.

In the Middle of the Day MSK 2005

Posted: January 9, 2024 in Poetry
Tags: #12string, #Cakewalk, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midicontroller, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #ovationguitars, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #recordingstudio, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #sound, #vocalist, #Yamaha DX7

I remember writing this when I was at work managing the call center at CMI. Everyone joked you could tell when it was a full moon – even in an underground bunker – just by listening to the calls we would get. People are just nuts sometimes and many times it is predictable. You can talk plainly and truthfully and make sense and they act as if you are torturing their grandparents or something. So coming back to work from lunch I notice there is a full moon.

Music for “The Feast”

Posted: January 5, 2024 in My Tunes
Tags: #korgnautilus, #lyrics, #Martinguitars, #michaelskennedy, #midicontroller, #mididrums, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poetry, #Presonus, #songwriter, #vocalist

This was an unsusual song-writing project for me. I was experimenting with some guitar chords and came up with an interesting progression. I often start a song by messing around with the keyboards or guitar and work out an arrrangement as a scratch framework for drums and other instrumentation. Then I record just the basic raw instrument with all of it’s flaws, but keeping as much of the ‘vibe’ as I can.

From this track I figure out the tempo I am using and get an idea of the arrangement. With ‘The Feast’, I started with a really slow tempo at first. This allowed time for the chords to open up to harmonies and musical tension. Then I usually archive the original track, and start building the song. After I worked out the arangement and had the basic rhythm tracks finished, I started playing with a melody line for my lyrics.

Often, I will just sing as I walk throughout the house and do regular chores when no one’s around. For ‘The Feast’, I had some ideas but nothing stuck. I decided to use the keyboards and a flute sound to noodle around with the melody line. Later I decided it didn’t work and changed the sound to an acoustic bass guitar part and it seemed to fit!

But when I added all the MIDI tracks, guitar and vocals, it seemed pretty dull. Yes, it had melodic texture, but did not have the feel I was looking for. As an experiment, I changed the tempo to make it much faster and this is the version below:

The lyrics were a bit difficult to fit into the much shorter spaces, but I got used to it soon enough and it seemed to work well enough for rock and roll. So I had to re-recorded all the tracks after the tempo change. Not the most efficient way to record a song, but as I always say – ‘any port in a storm’!

I had my 70th birthday last week. I am not sure how many more songs there are waiting inside me. I just get fascinated by almost every aspect of writing, recording and producing music. There are enough people on the planet now that there is a fairly large audience for almost any style of music. The recording software of today is MIND BLOWING compared to when I first started recording when I was 15 years old.

It is too bad that the music industry intentionally crushes novel styles and creative talent while pushing the same vanilla – overproduced – cookie-cutter garbage that is easy to sell (when there aren’t many options available). It is like going to the grocery stores now and seeing fewer and fewer products that are not the ‘store brand’. You can’t buy your favorite bread there anymore (because it is not AS profitable for them to sell), so you settle for what is there.

Don’t settle.

Hearts of Stone MSK 2016

Posted: November 14, 2023 in Poetry
Tags: #audio, #Cakewalk, #lyrics, #michaelskennedy, #Midi, #midicontroller, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #personal, #poem, #poet, #poetry, #poetrypod, #recording, #recordingstudio, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #sound, #vocalist

Even islanders from eons past knew there are other lands. Birds would cross continents in yearly marathons in the air. Most of us in the US know so little about anyone or anywhere not contained by its political borders. Beyond the ocean is of little consequence to many here. That leads me to consider what I would be like in a place with no rivers or lakes. How could I survive a frozen tundra or tropical swamp? If evil were the ruler would I want to live in torment? Would I be in a prison for the rest of my life? We judge from so far away on many levels and the laws of man are easily corrupted.

“The Dream” Dolby Atmos Mix

Posted: October 22, 2023 in #poetry, music technology, My Tunes, technology
Tags: #audio, #dolby, #DolbyAtmos, #lyrics, #Martinguitars, #michaelskennedy, #midicontroller, #mididrums, #midimike, #midimike.com, #music, #musician, #poetry, #Presonus, #recordingstudio, #singersongwriter, #songwriter, #spatialpanning, #Studio1+, #studioOne, #StudioOne+, #thedream, #vocalist

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

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.

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.

MidiMike

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MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#vocalist’

Lyrics for ‘First Move’

‘It Only Takes One’

Music for ‘Caretakers’

In the Middle of the Day MSK 2005

Music for “The Feast”

Hearts of Stone MSK 2016

“The Dream” Dolby Atmos Mix

Music for “The Wrong Thing”

Felt this way Before MSK 2005

Eye of the Storm MSK 2017

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Available on iTunes and CD Baby

Social Media

MSK original Songs

Posts Tagged ‘#vocalist’

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