Here is a song I am simply calling nice. All it is is an idea with some drapery around it. I felt funky at the time. I can’t really explain how I wrote it - I was drunk. I think it started with the drumbeat, then I recorded those weird bell sounds, played some funkass piano, then played the funky ass bass over the top of it.
Nice:
short post this time.
Newness: Sack of Bones from no album yet
So, I am currently writing new stuff for a new album.
I feel like it will be a good motivator for me to post these and write about the process I am going through to compose it.
Here is one I’ve been working on for almost 3 years now, off and on. I am currently calling it Sack of Bones, but that will most probably change.
I wrote the melody, or more exactly, the chord changes, for this song on the guitar in 2005 during an unusually productive period in my life, in all facets: children, work, etc. I had no lyrics or vocal melody, just the changes.
Here are the various phases it has gone through to get created:
First, the guitar line I recorded when I was inspired to write the the song:
Then, I recorded more guitars, and a bass along with it:
Then, I added vibraphone to it, which I could hear in my head before I played it:
Then, I recorded a really spooky version with all keys, which I kind of like
As you can see, I wrote this one from the chord changes on up. After these were recorded, I began to actively play in Major Major, and this song fell by the wayside, to be forgotten among the electrical remains of my computer.
Fast forward 3 years: I have now returned to this song after finding it on my hard drive by searching for .wav files.
This is the version as of two days ago. I have re-recorded almost all of it, and really focused on the piano. I have recently begun to love the piano more than ever, and write most of my songs there now.
Since this version was recorded, I have been chopping it up to add a nice beginning that also ties in with a new bridge I have added. I will post the changed version when I am satisfied with it.
I would like to point out that this is a VERY rough recording that I am making in order to write the song. It is a process that involves alot of ugly stages until it is finished. Keep that in mind.
The most recent version:
The lyrics for the chorus in this song came from nowhere. I was just standing there with a microphone, and the melody just popped into my head, and those words came out. Don’t ask me how, it just did. These are not part of this recording, as I am not happy with the lyrics or the sound of my vocals so far.
Also, you might immediately notice that I blatantly ripped off a very well known classical musician for my chord progression during the chorus. I’m cool with it, I just hope no one pulls a steve vai on me.
I like to record many many tracks over the entire song for each instrument, and then I will slowly mix in and out various parts that I like to hear. There are basically two or three tracks for every instrument you hear. If you make it to the end, you will hear the slow decay of all the instruments, and can notice all the various different sounds and melodies that I’ve added.