There's no offense intended here toward anyone. Nor is this some kind of ploy to get folks to visit my pages.It's just that....I'm curious by nature about differences between human beings. Anyone who knows me or has read my writings knows I'm just that way.
What I'm referring to is my predilection for searching out new & undiscovered talent on the Internet. I really love to hear what other artists are doing, especially independent and/or unknown musicians, painters, writers, etc. I often follow these links on a whim, curious about what hidden gems may be there...And if there are no gems (only unpolished stones...or even pieces of...well, never mind...)
I still give it enough attention to try to get into that persons head. Why did they write that? How do they see their own work? Are they in control of their statements? Are they laboring under some sort of delusion of grandeur? I find this fascinating, the only down-side being there is so much material put out these days of all levels of quality, that it becomes overwhelming & discouraging that you'll ever get a sense of it all.
Even more fascinating, is why many people don't have that same fascination. I know there can be many reasons...their internet time may be limited, they may be content just socializing or whatever. I perfectly understand. Virtual society purports to be all things to all people and that's OK with me. Yet I am still amazed at how little I see people perusing these. Many folks seem to bypass links wholesale without a glimmer of curiosity about what may be hiding there.
Maybe it's me. It may be just a family trait; I am that way about other things as well. I often complain to my wife that my biggest problem is I want to know everything about everything. I love knowledge. The internet, to me, is like having the biggest library in the world in my room. I can't pass that up.
And when I find someone I know personally who is struggling to be an independent artist, I will support them anyway I can. Though you'd be surprised how often I get turned down...the world has become a cynical place. Everyone's motives are suspect.
While I respect people's rights to do whatever they feel comfortable with, I often wonder when someone tells me that they would be interested in hearing what I do...I say it's just as simple as clicking a link. Yet they never come visit any of my pages...It's OK, it's their right to change their mind or get busy or whatever...just hard for me fathom, since if the situation were reversed I would make it a point to visit them, my curiosity would not allow otherwise! And if I liked what I found I would make sure everyone knew I supported it.
But I guess we come in all kinds....!
(I would like to add at this point, that I am equally surprised when someone appears out of nowhere and "Likes" one of my pages! That's fun and excitement!)
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The Making of "Circular Flight"....
As I have written elsewhere, this album began to take root during a time when I had quit writing songs (which for me was like quitting breathing). A number of forces converged on me in a short period which swept me up like a whirlwind and sent me off in an opposing direction.
So despite the fact that I have good recall for most events, I cannot relate this period in any kind of orderly fashion. But two major elements were at work: First the return of a flood of songs in a relatively short period; and second, my discovery of the new developments in recording technology.
And that removed an huge obstacle in my path. When the first songs began to come, I naturally asked myself, "What the heck am I supposed to do with THESE?!". This led to me researching new methods for recording, and everything began to snowball.
You must understand that my last project was the 45 rpm record that I produced back in the mid-80's. A year and a half and way too much money was spent on that project. It was exciting & educational but in the end the outcome was quite dismal.
While I was anxiously awaiting the finished product to arrive, the TV announcer intoned, "The vinyl record is dead, killed by the new wave of the future, the "CD" or compact disc! Goodbye to those old 45's!"
Now, I wasn't completely out of touch with what was going on in the music biz, but I wasn't an "insider" either. Only a couple of years earlier, my teachers at Berklee had spoken of the coming of the CD, but always in terms of "something way down the road".
I could only console myself that when they had asked if I wanted to order cassettes as well, I had said, "No".
The last I had known, digital recording was very promising, but there was no way to edit effectively. It was still being recorded to tape, not hard drives. But now it had caught up and a small desktop unit could do everything that the big studio could & more at a small fraction of the cost of even the cheapest place.
If I had attempted to make an album back then, it would easily cost $20-30,000, impossible for me without label backing. Now making your own album was in the realm of possibility.
Still, when I told my wife I was going to make an album, I explained that I might as well have said, "I'm going to flap my arms and fly now". Along with all the chores of daily life, I would have to add writing, arranging, recording, mixing, mastering, graphics as well as being my own engineer/producer. Building a moon rocket might be easier.
That's only a slight exaggeration. When I told a friend of mine, "I'm going to make my own album" he also told me, "I'm going to build my own house."
A year later, his house was essentially finished and he was living in it. But I was still in the process of sorting out tracks and would be for several years. "Losing Game" alone took six months to complete, and several other tunes nearly as long. There are six months in the first mastering just to get the tunes transferred, spaced, levels correct and match them sonically. Later on I did a second mastering on "top" of the first one after living with it and becoming more familiar with the results. But I don't want to give away all my secrets.
There was one tune, "Empty Spaces", that at the time I really began to think that there were "evil forces" bound & determined to see that it never got made. Not only did the most impossible, ridiculous, and outrageous things happen to foul up production, but after that I got deathly ill and thought I would never finish it.
I must be nuts: I am looking forward to getting back into making the next album!!
So despite the fact that I have good recall for most events, I cannot relate this period in any kind of orderly fashion. But two major elements were at work: First the return of a flood of songs in a relatively short period; and second, my discovery of the new developments in recording technology.
And that removed an huge obstacle in my path. When the first songs began to come, I naturally asked myself, "What the heck am I supposed to do with THESE?!". This led to me researching new methods for recording, and everything began to snowball.
You must understand that my last project was the 45 rpm record that I produced back in the mid-80's. A year and a half and way too much money was spent on that project. It was exciting & educational but in the end the outcome was quite dismal.
While I was anxiously awaiting the finished product to arrive, the TV announcer intoned, "The vinyl record is dead, killed by the new wave of the future, the "CD" or compact disc! Goodbye to those old 45's!"
Now, I wasn't completely out of touch with what was going on in the music biz, but I wasn't an "insider" either. Only a couple of years earlier, my teachers at Berklee had spoken of the coming of the CD, but always in terms of "something way down the road".
I could only console myself that when they had asked if I wanted to order cassettes as well, I had said, "No".
The last I had known, digital recording was very promising, but there was no way to edit effectively. It was still being recorded to tape, not hard drives. But now it had caught up and a small desktop unit could do everything that the big studio could & more at a small fraction of the cost of even the cheapest place.
If I had attempted to make an album back then, it would easily cost $20-30,000, impossible for me without label backing. Now making your own album was in the realm of possibility.
Still, when I told my wife I was going to make an album, I explained that I might as well have said, "I'm going to flap my arms and fly now". Along with all the chores of daily life, I would have to add writing, arranging, recording, mixing, mastering, graphics as well as being my own engineer/producer. Building a moon rocket might be easier.
That's only a slight exaggeration. When I told a friend of mine, "I'm going to make my own album" he also told me, "I'm going to build my own house."
A year later, his house was essentially finished and he was living in it. But I was still in the process of sorting out tracks and would be for several years. "Losing Game" alone took six months to complete, and several other tunes nearly as long. There are six months in the first mastering just to get the tunes transferred, spaced, levels correct and match them sonically. Later on I did a second mastering on "top" of the first one after living with it and becoming more familiar with the results. But I don't want to give away all my secrets.
There was one tune, "Empty Spaces", that at the time I really began to think that there were "evil forces" bound & determined to see that it never got made. Not only did the most impossible, ridiculous, and outrageous things happen to foul up production, but after that I got deathly ill and thought I would never finish it.
I must be nuts: I am looking forward to getting back into making the next album!!
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The "Art" of Country Music...?
Perhaps this post is "ill-timed" in that I don't plan to put out my "country album" for some time yet, perhaps years, if at all. But the subject has been on my mind lately. I feel like I want to dig into it and get it all out in the open.
The last year or so I have been exposed to a LOT of country music due to circumstances all but beyond my control. To be more precise, my wife is an incurable country music fan, and the circumstances we've been in lately have made country music and videos available for consumption virtually anytime, with the inevitable result. If you're married you'll probably understand.
My last comments concerning that style of music (if you dig back in my blogs) were about the state of country radio back in the 1980s. My general opinion was that country music was "80% throwaway" material and only a small portion of any value. I feel this needs further explanation, not to mention updating because of the changes to the genre in the last 30 years or so.
Firstly, in some sense I stand by the "80%" assessment, but it must be understood that I was relating it to music as a whole. Or to be exact "music as art". But this isn't entirely fair, because country music fans don't use this scale of judgement as I do, which I'll explain shortly.
Secondly, having gained a sense of this "different scale of judgment", I now have a better affection for some of the tunes I was inclined to dismiss as "not being artful". In fact, similar to some old rock'n'roll tunes, they can even bring a tear to the eye being deeply connected to a particular time in one's life despite not being "great art".
I believe the root of this "different scale" for country tunes is the result of a difference in character of what Country is all about. At it's heart, country was ever only marginally connected to "the art of music". What it is mainly about, is "the art of story-telling", set to music.
Any country artist or fan could tell you that, but it was hard for me to see because of my musical perspective.You see, music is a very unique art. It's such a great medium for human experience, especially songwriting: the music evokes/imitates human emotion, while the lyrics express human thought. At their best, they work together to create something larger than either poetry or instrumental music alone. Something transcendent. So when viewed this way and new to C&W, one must ask oneself, "what in the heck is the point of this stuff?"
Add to this, in most music, there has always been a division between "consumer music" and "art".
This could be the subject of a very long treatise, but to keep it simple I'll just make a passing reference to the Beatles. I recall some critic or critics saying that until "Sgt. Pepper", they were just making "dance music". From "Pepper" on, it was art.
My point is that most country music is consumer music. It's story-telling for cash. This leads one to deal with it harshly in terms of art. But as I always say, the definition of art is a very personal thing. The scale to measure it on is "what has meaning for you?" And country music (aside from the "drinkin' an' dancin'" tunes), has a lot of meaning for a lot of people.
Modern country is far different from what it once was. Unless you know the tunes, it's very difficult to tell if you are on a country, pop or rock station anymore, they sound so similar. Even steel guitar isn't the give-away it once was, as many country tunes cross over onto pop stations.
Being now very familiar with the play rosters and the artists, I have to say I have heard a respectable number of tunes these days that, for me, easily make it into the category of Art with a capital "A". Country is not necessarily something to be ashamed of anymore. Looked at from it's own perspective, it often never was.
The last year or so I have been exposed to a LOT of country music due to circumstances all but beyond my control. To be more precise, my wife is an incurable country music fan, and the circumstances we've been in lately have made country music and videos available for consumption virtually anytime, with the inevitable result. If you're married you'll probably understand.
My last comments concerning that style of music (if you dig back in my blogs) were about the state of country radio back in the 1980s. My general opinion was that country music was "80% throwaway" material and only a small portion of any value. I feel this needs further explanation, not to mention updating because of the changes to the genre in the last 30 years or so.
Firstly, in some sense I stand by the "80%" assessment, but it must be understood that I was relating it to music as a whole. Or to be exact "music as art". But this isn't entirely fair, because country music fans don't use this scale of judgement as I do, which I'll explain shortly.
Secondly, having gained a sense of this "different scale of judgment", I now have a better affection for some of the tunes I was inclined to dismiss as "not being artful". In fact, similar to some old rock'n'roll tunes, they can even bring a tear to the eye being deeply connected to a particular time in one's life despite not being "great art".
I believe the root of this "different scale" for country tunes is the result of a difference in character of what Country is all about. At it's heart, country was ever only marginally connected to "the art of music". What it is mainly about, is "the art of story-telling", set to music.
Any country artist or fan could tell you that, but it was hard for me to see because of my musical perspective.You see, music is a very unique art. It's such a great medium for human experience, especially songwriting: the music evokes/imitates human emotion, while the lyrics express human thought. At their best, they work together to create something larger than either poetry or instrumental music alone. Something transcendent. So when viewed this way and new to C&W, one must ask oneself, "what in the heck is the point of this stuff?"
Add to this, in most music, there has always been a division between "consumer music" and "art".
This could be the subject of a very long treatise, but to keep it simple I'll just make a passing reference to the Beatles. I recall some critic or critics saying that until "Sgt. Pepper", they were just making "dance music". From "Pepper" on, it was art.
My point is that most country music is consumer music. It's story-telling for cash. This leads one to deal with it harshly in terms of art. But as I always say, the definition of art is a very personal thing. The scale to measure it on is "what has meaning for you?" And country music (aside from the "drinkin' an' dancin'" tunes), has a lot of meaning for a lot of people.
Modern country is far different from what it once was. Unless you know the tunes, it's very difficult to tell if you are on a country, pop or rock station anymore, they sound so similar. Even steel guitar isn't the give-away it once was, as many country tunes cross over onto pop stations.
Being now very familiar with the play rosters and the artists, I have to say I have heard a respectable number of tunes these days that, for me, easily make it into the category of Art with a capital "A". Country is not necessarily something to be ashamed of anymore. Looked at from it's own perspective, it often never was.
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