Month: August 2015

As a writing instructor, I appreciate how much a composition can change from rough draft to “final” draft. I use air quotes there because I’m not sure songs are ever done.

Anyway, here’s my draft of Love Me, which was recorded on an iPad. The final draft is on SoundCloud. I determined the tempo and recorded the bass drum so as I recreated the song, the tempo would match. THe acoustic guitar part was recorded after that and then a guide vocal, so I could visual where to come in. The other parts were added afterwards.

Sometimes I am amazed just how much a song evolves from a demo to the finished version. And again find myself looking back sometimes and saying “what if”.

Sounds like the demo had a bit of Fab in the recipe, not sure just how the final version came to be. Think I wanted the chorus and verse to have more contrast. Still, there was a spirit I like in the first try.

Choices Demo

The posted version for comparison:

OK. A quick scan of my almost 100 SoundCloud collaborations reveals about 40 different musicians from roughly 20 different countries and five continents. (What’s up Australia? Was it our song about Antarctica before we even spoke about your great BBQ?)

Now, I do a bunch of totally solo creations, or songs with John’s lyrics and only me playing. I am convinced it is the human interaction that gives music it’s magic. We humans like to know what is going on in our fellow followers-of-the-sun heads.

So, to illustrate my point. John and I put out our original,version of Get Down with That about a week ago. The song idea came up in a phone call. I had written a few potential verses as a possible idea. John completed the those verses and conjured up a meaningful set of lyrics from that start. I already had the music, but had sent a note to Kyo asking if he had time to participate. I didn’t hear much back, so I assumed he was busy. He is a very important person in real life.

This morning, a week later, this fantastic guitar part appears in my SoundCloud email. A wonderful guitar part, so different than the one I had put on the song. I just had to see what it sounded like. I had to cut most my guitar work out and modify the lyrics to give his guitar room to breath. Long story short, the music took a new life.

Music gives us a new, different life. In music, we can share emotions freely. All is required is friendship and a little fun work. Nothing wrong with sharing the love. What’s that lyric….And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make?

With Kyo’s cool vibe

Earlier version

Spoken word version of blog:

I think it was the French poet Paul Vallery who said there are no new ideas, only variations of old ones. I wonder if he was thinking of his own poetry when he said that.

It’s hard to imagine The Beatles’ Let it Be being a variation of an old theme, or the intro to The Moody Blues’ Nights in White Satin being music we have heard before, but the same and different in subtle ways from other compositions.

This is difficult to argue against for me as I am often inspired to write lyrics after having listened to a song. I can imagine I am not alone in doing so. In fact, I once got a tip from someone I consider to be a premier songwriter, a person whom I give my highest respect. He said, when writing lyrics, put a melody in your head from a song similar to your idea, and then compose the music different from the melody you used as a model.

A novel idea, one I have used from time to time. Now, of course, I am not the one composing the music, but it works just the same.

When I first started writing songs, they were quirky, original, but lacked rhythm. My songwriting partner, Ed, didn’t notice or care. He would occasionally change something to make it fall into place better, and had the green light to do so. I swear, Ed amazes me how he comes up with melodies.

Then I got to know John Delk. If you don’t know his work, check him out on Sound Cloud (link below).

We occasionally write songs together, and whenever I am stuck I call upon him. He is always a joy to work with, and a real gentleman.

John writes these wonderfully rhythmic lyrics. When listening to one of John’s songs I have great expectation what the next line will be, the next rhyme, and his choruses are always spot on. Just wonderfully melodic.

Give a listen to Broke Down in Tupelo, Coupe deVille and A Gallon at a Time, or any of his songs. I aspire to write lyrics as beautifully rhythmic and melodic as these.

John Delk on Sound Cloud

But if you listen to Monsieur Vallery, all of John’s songs have been done before, kinda sorta.

Nah…no way!!!

John’s lyrics, Probably goes in my Songs About Nothing playlist. I was going to record this on my iPad last night, so I wouldn’t forget the idea. Long story short, no sleep. Should I take the time to record properly or mow the lawn this weekend?

The Night

UPDATE:
OK. I decided to stick with the original vocal and guitar take, recorded sitting on the bed using my iPad. The drums were replaced, Ric licks added, and some harmony vocals. To lift the vocal out from the guitar in the mix, I recorded a second “lead” vocal. Also added a new bass part. Luckily, using Cubasis on the iPad allowed me to send the original recording with the tracks I kept over to a Mac.

Nights are for the darkness
The emptiness of lost time
Time we could have had
Without toeing the line

The night is for lovers
And loners alike
I’m one of the two
The one without you

I still see your face
Suspended in my dreams
Surrounded by my sleep
Backlit by moonbeams

I reach out into space
Wanting to corral the stars
To frame your memory
And cover all the scars

It’s a lonely place the night
A view shrouded by pines
Which reach for the sky
Their failure God’s design

I still see your face
Suspended in my dreams
Surrounded by my sleep
Backlit by moonbeams

Imagination gives way
To vault above the limbs
Send a message to the universe
That buoys and swims

There amongst the stars
I see your smiling face
Casting its aura
Over time and space

I still see your face
Suspended in my dreams
Surrounded by my sleep
Backlit by moonbeams

It happens. I sit down and cut a demo, but hear all the warts. So, after a few hours, a shiny new version version is done. Yeah!!! Then I go back and listen to the original take. There always seems to something I like about that first version better. Maybe I over-think these things!!

So Here’s the “demo” fo Red Hot Rhonda:

 

 

And here’s the polished, new version:

I’m not sure!!

Actually, it gets worse. There was another version!!