Day 30: The Fire and The End.

The final day.  In some ways, I'm relieved that its over.  It can be really stressful trying to write a song and get it recorded in just one week, especially if you have to organize other musicians to make it happen.  However, that is not to say that the blogrimage is an experience I couldn't wait to have end, or it somehow produced agony within me.  When I look back over the 4 songs I noticed that it became easier and easier each time, as if with each passing week my song writing muscle grew stronger.

If you have a desire to write music, the number one thing I can suggest to you is this: just write!  Even if its not that good, just write and finish something!  That doesn't mean that the song has to stay that way forever, in fact I fully plan on going back and completely changing the melody and lyrics to Red Herring, but every time you finish a song it will get easier the next time.  Your song writing muscles will get stronger and stronger.  It reminds me of Jeff Buckley playing every Monday at Sin-e'.  In the DVD for Live from Sin-e' he talks about how it was incredibly challenging playing a 3 hour set once a week, but it stretched him and it forced him to continually be creative, and continually write more music so he could perform more original songs instead of doing covers.  The fire of Sin-e' is what forged Jeff Buckley into the spirit of music that he was.

The blogrimage experience this year has been a very positive one for me, and I feel it has accomplished the goal it was designed for, to put a fire under me to finish songs!  I'm so thankful for everyone who has taking this journey, this "pilgrimage".  I love the community that has been cultivated through this process, and I'm excited to see where future blogrimages will take us.  Well done Blogrimes, until next time!

hasta la próxima vez  :)

Day 29: Reflections on States and Songs

It warmed my heart greatly to see the comment that Amy Ellison posted on yesterdays blog.  From the time I was 10 till I was about 18 our families would go up to Hubbard Lake and vacation for a week in a group of cabins sitting on the edge of the lake, and those memories are incredibly precious to me.  The goal of the song was to try and capture the experience of growing up in Michigan and the connection that one can feel with the land.  I remember growing up and my parents would call the trees in our backyard my "best friends" because of how much time I spent under their branches and climbing their magnificent trunks.  I'm sure many people have these experience where they grow up, but there is something uniquely romantic about Michigan.

Because of this, I love music that connects with the state.  I remember I fell in love with my wife all over again when we went to Michigan for the first time and were listening to Sufjan Steven's "Michigan" CD on a long drive and she said that she didn't fully understand or appreciate the CD until she listened to it in Michigan.  I also remember listening to that CD when driving up to Hubbard Lake the last year we went and my friend Adam went with Josh and I.  On the way we showed that CD to Adam for his first time and I remember him saying, "Woah...this sounds like Michigan...that's incredible!" 

This sounds like Michigan. Amazing.

Day 28: The Final Song...

This week I did something completely different than my previous songs.  The other songs I tried to make somewhat polished in the short time I had to make them, however this weeks song is very lo fi.  I recorded the entire song on my iPhone's voice memo app, and did it in one take.  Its not perfect, but I think its endearing.  I put the link for purevolume below so you can hear it, let me know what you think!

http://www.purevolume.com/SeldonMusic

Tuebor.

Day 27: What is Seldon Music?

I'm a little surprised that thus far in the blogrimage no one has asked me what Seldon Music is or means.  Well, as for the "what is it" question, its just a name I chose one day when I was selling something on ebay and needed a seller name.  Decided to use it again for the Blogrimage and see what comes of it.



As for the meaning, that is a much more interesting story.  Hari Seldon is a character from Isaac Asimov's masterpiece, Foundation.  Seldon develops a study called psycho-history, which is the science of using mathmatical equations with sociological and historical patterns to predict future events.  In the book, Seldon lives on the fictional planet of Trantor, which is the capital of a galactic empire at the height of  its growth and development.  Trantor is the greatest civilization that man has even known, however Hari Seldon, using psycho history, knows that a collapse is imminent.  His findings show that the empire is headed for a dark ages that will last for 30,000 years, but Seldon believes that if they take the right precautions and prepare adequately, they can lower that time period to 1,000 years.  The Empire rulers are greatly offended by the thought that their mighty empire could ever fall, and Seldon is given the choice between execution, and banishment.  In the banishment, just in case he is right, they allow Seldon to take 100,000 scientists with him , which Seldon uses to preserve science, art, philosophy, and all other forms of learning.  Seldon passes away a short way into the series, which takes place over the course of a couple hundred years, however he appears every couple of decades through time delayed recordings, and either congratulations, encourages, or advises the people of Foundation.

Hari Seldon is a figure that tells the world that all is not right, even though they don't believe it.  When the world is so full of itself that they can't see their imminent demise, Seldon is the voice of reason calling people back to what truly matters.  In many respects I believe this needs to be done within the world of music, and I am trying to fulfill that role in whatever small way I can. 

"The real way of mending a man's taste is not to denigrate his present favorites but to teach him how to enjoy something better"  -C.S. Lewis

Day 23: Reflections on Songwriting

Here are a few thoughts and feelings that I've had since working on song 3, First Draft:

Something that Dominic and I discussed after recording is that we believe that true artists are never satisfied with their work.  Even when I show people these songs and they enjoy them, all that I'm hearing when I listen is the things that could be better.  I've noticed that each time I listen to the songs again, I can let go of more and more of these things, and can enjoy the song more and more, but the knowledge of what could be better is always in front of me.  Dominic noticed that people that show you their music and immediately brag about how great it is typically are terrible artists.  So true!  Convexly, we have Jeff Buckley, one of my primary musical influences, who only recorded one studio album and was never satisfied with it even though Grace is on most critics top 10 CD's of the 90's and is one of Rolling Stones top albums of all time.  Thanks Jeff, that's encouraging. 

Something else I noticed from this songwriting experience is that its getting easier and easier for me to write songs!  I've sat down and tried to write Katelyn a love song numerous times, but never could make it happen.  However because I've been exercising my songwriting muscles, this song was actually really easy to write!  That's a good lesson for you ladies with a man who is a musician.  It can be HARD to write a love song, but just give them time and it will come. :) 

I'm excited for the future, I really feel like each song is stretching me, but also making me a better song writer and musician.  Like recording a guitar solo, never done it before, and it was kind of strange, but I know next time I'll be more comfortable with it.  It wasn't really planned out, we just did about 5 takes and picked the one we liked the best.  Anyway, here's a quote from Dominic Leon that was made after talking about how frustrated we were with our limitations of resources, skill, musicians, and whatever else when it comes to music:


"Let your limitations be your muse." - Dominic Leon

Selah.

Day 22: Song for Week 3

This weeks song marks three milestones in my life: #1 This song contains the first guitar solo I've ever recorded  #2 This is the first love song I've ever written  #3 This is the sexiest song I've ever written.

If you'd like to hear the new song, please follow the link below!

www.purevolume.com/seldonmusic

The Story:  As I mentioned before, we recorded drums, bass, and guitar all together at once in my living room.  There were problems with the guitar track, so I had to redo them tonight over at Dominic's, however the other reason for recording at Dominic's was so that Katelyn wouldn't hear the lyrics.  I brought the song home and surprised her tonight with my first love song!  I hope you enjoy this song as much as she/I did.  :)

Day 21: Recording...and rerecording (Sexy Song)

This week I pulled together Dominic Leon and Jesse "Avalanche Suck" Mutzebaugh and we recorded a live song at my house.  We set up in the living room because it has carpet and space, and we were all really pleased with the song after our 15th take (which really isn't that much).  Dominic was on drums, and Jesse on bass, the result being an incredibly sexy song, which for right now is also the title of the song. 

However after the guys left I went back to listen to track and something happened on that take that made my guitar "clip" in the recording.  Clipping means that the recording volume was too high and made this annoying buzzing sound whenever I would get too loud.  So tonight I'm going over to Dominic's and rerecording the guitar, adding a solo, and recording vocals.  Should be a busy night, hopefully we get it done quickly!

Here is a picture of Jesse on bass.  Since I couldn't find a picture of Dominic playing drums, please also enjoy this complimentary picture of my cats cuddling on our couch.  

Day 17: Downloads Available

Today I created a purevolume account and make our songs available for download! How exciting! If you want to download either of the songs go to www.purevolume.com/seldonmusic

With a basic account you can upload 4 songs, which is perfect since we'll have a total of 4 songs by the end of the blogriamge.  Perfect!

I'm considering doing a live song for this weeks song.  Thoughts? 

Day 18: Inspiration part 2

Sometimes when I need inspiration I watch this video. Its just...great :)


Sigur Ros - Við spilum endalaust - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Day 16: The lyrics

I've had a few requests for me to post the lyrics of the second song, Two Plants. Here they are:

Like two plants planted too close together we compete,
and we say there's only one food source and this one's for me.
But if we'd all tie ourselves to Jesse's Root,
We'd all come out with our hands full of perfect fruit.

You are the vine, we're the branches
You are the source, we're the sum.
You made the sun out of darkness,
now were photosynthesizing your perfect rays.

Like two plants planted too close together we can't grow,
In this cramped little backyard garden we call home.
If we'd raise our heads to look over the garden fence
We'd see that filling other gardens just makes sense.

You are the vine, we're the branches
You are the source, we're the sum.
You made the sun out of darkness,
now were photosynthesizing your perfect rays.

Day 15: Song for Week 2!

I'm MUCH happier with this song. :) I sang and played the ukulele, and my lovely wife sang and played the glockenspiel. Let me know what you think! The name of the song is Two Plants.

Also, if you have any advice as to how I can make this available for download, I'd love to hear it. For some reason this html messed up my design template, and you can't post comments. I don't understand, but if you have feedback or help please post it on my wall or the 30 Day Blogrimage wall. Thanks!

Day 14: Controversy 2011

I decided to just do English titles because I felt the Spanish was discouraging people from reading since they didn't know what the post was about. Well, here are my thoughts on the last song: I really like the music, but I'm not satisfied with the lyrics or melody. I wrote the lyrics about 2 hours before I posted that song, and I think they're lame and basic.

DISCLAIMER: Even though I don't necessarily agree with the President, this next part is not about a man, but about an idea. I could have used any number of examples, including examples from the Bush admin, but this is one that comes to mind.

I really wanted to write a song about an idea I've been thinking about recently. I believe that because the internet has provided us with so much information, and its such an accessible and easy way to disseminate information, that in order to "cover up" things the government has had to create "red herrings" or things that will distract our attention away from whats really going on. One example of this is that in this last election there was so much attention on Barack Obama's birth certificate, which is an easy thing to dispel...just show the birth certificate. Why did it take so long for the party to publish this easy to find document? I know there are many logistical thoughts as to why it took time, such as it taking time to go through the Hawaiian system, but if you are running for President of the US, and you have as much charisma and favor as Barack Obama, then you can typically get these little logistical things ironed out pretty fast. I guarantee Barack Obama doesn't wait in line at the DMV.

My thoughts are that it was to take the attention of American's off of real issues, such as Obama using government money to campaign for Raila Odinga. The birth certificate was a "red herring" if you will, some piece of information that can be controlled, has limited access, and can serve to shift attention from other issues. Since they can't control all information anymore, they have to divert attention to a piece of information that only they control. Just a thought, but I think it has validity.

So anyway, that concept is what the song was supposed to be about, but it wasn't executed well in my opinion. I hope to rewrite the lyrics and the melody at some point, hopefully before the blogrimage is over.

Day 8 and 9?

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. The next song I'm working on will be much simpler, but the week just slips away so fast! Just to peak your interest the next song will include ukulele and a choir. I'm exited.

Day 7: The First Song

Well, the lyrics and melody are really basic, I don't like the vocals (voice wont work today), the rhythm (that word has no vowels?) is off and I'm terrible at mixing, but here is the first song.  Haha!  It took a lot of work and tons of time, even though the actual recording part probably only took about 6 hours total.  Let me know what you think.

Just so you're not confused, the drums drop out after the 2nd chorus.  There was a miscommunication between Dominic and I at that part and I thought it was finished.  Dominic does the drums on the verses and chorus's, and then I do the drums on the bridge part.  Drum are SO fun!  I would like to rerecord every instrument on this song at some point, but for right now I think its a good start.  

de seis días: el equipo (part 2) "la guitarra es muy feo"

Inspired by "yesterdays" post, I thought I'd show you my electric guitar. 

Meet Frank.  Because of all the different pieces that have been put into him, and because of all the different people that have worked on him, I named him Frankenstein, Frank for short.  This guitar was given to me by the gracious John Hutton as a Fender Squire Stratocaster, but has since transformed.  I've put new locking tuners on it, and put nashville telecaster pick ups into it.  The pickup at the bridge doesn't work, but I've kept it in there anyway.  I'm considering putting a new stock stratocaster bridge pickup in there with the white cover, because then my guitar would have chrome, black, and white pickups and I think that would look sweet.  But then David Chin, who professionally set up the intonation of Frank said that if I just replaced the tele pick up in the bridge that he could change one of my tone knobs to be a volume knob for the middle pickup, so I could instantly transform my guitar from a strat to a tele.  That also sounds like an awesome idea.  What do you think I should do?

I've sanded off the squire logo, and tried my best to sand the rest of the headstock so that Katelyn can eventually paint something awesome on it.  I'm excited to see what she comes up with!  When I first got this guitar I was borrowing a friends American Telecaster, which was a really nice guitar with this gorgeous maple neck, which I've always preferred but have never owned a guitar with one.  So when I received this guitar as  a gift from the Lord, it was really tough for me to get into it since I was comparing it with how easy it was to play that Telecaster.  Then I saw It Might Get Loud (talked about in "yesterdays" blog) and heard Jack White and it changed everything.  I immediately put away the telecaster, and started the long, arduous process of taming Frank.  Now, I am happy to say, that Frank and I are at peace with one another and have formed a mighty bond.  I've gone to guitar center recently to try out other guitars and see how they compare, but because of the long hours of bonding with Frank, I can play him better or the same as any other guitar in the store, even the $1k guitars!  Frank is my Montgomery Ward guitar.

la guitarra es muy feo, pero es mío

de cinco días: inspiración (part 1)

SO close to being done with this song.  I went through a slump where I didn't really like the song anymore, but I laid down bass and started doing vocals yesterday and I'm getting excited about it again.  When Andy, Josh, and I were in the band Exceeding Rubicon I specifically remember us talking about how we need to make sure that WE enjoy the songs were making, because were the ones playing them over and over again.  If you don't like the music you make, or you just write music based on what you think others will like, I can't imagine the pain and boredom of your musical life.  Anyway, I almost slumped into that, but now my passion for the song has returned!

That being said, I wanted to talk about one of my musical inspirations.  Jack White is a newer inspiration for me, but the effect that he has had on my musical life has already been great.  If you can, watch the movie "It Might Get Loud", which has interviews and tells the back stories of three generations of guitar players signified by the lives of Jimmy Page, The Edge, and Jack White.  The Edge's portions are actually really boring, but Jimmy Page and Jack White are incredibly interesting.  The movie talks about how as a teenager growing up as the youngest of 10 siblings, Jack had very limited space, but he was so passionate about music that he moved his bed out of his room and slept in a sleeping bag on the floor so that he could fit his music gear in his bedroom.  I love that image, what a lover of music!  That kind of dedication and love for music can be heard throughout all of The White Stripes albums, and its that passion that has made them great.

I also love another thing that Jack says in that movie.  He says that he likes to buy really beat up instruments that don't quite play the right way, and then just plays the heck out of them until he has pounded them into submission.  He feels that this struggle is where the best music comes from.  In fact, the guitar he's playing above was bought at a department store called Montgomery Ward for less than $100 and is made almost completely of plastic, but its been his main guitar all these years in The White Stripes.  He's also a Detroit musician, and as a Detroit musician listener, I can hear the city in his music.

gracias Jack

de cuatro días

Its been really tough for me to write lyrics and melody.  I have two more days in which to record this.  Drat.

Borrowed the bass from our church tonight and plan on laying down some bass tracks tomorrow.  Sweet!

later.

de cuatro días: recepción

Showed the initial recordings to a few friends and got generally positive reviews.  I'm already learning A LOT and I think this initial experience will greatly effect future songs.  I really like the song I chose to do first, and almost wish I would have saved it till the end so that I had a better knowledge base to work off of.  Oh well, these songs are just a first draft so I can get something down, better recordings will come in the future.

bendiciones

de tres días: el equipo: por una parte (The Equipment: Part One)

Just so were clear, I don't speak Spanish.  I use the google translator, and then post it directly as my title.  The reason? Everything sounds more epic in Spanish. 

I'd like to take a few posts to talk about the equipment that we're using in the blogrimage.  The first featured item is the Presonus FP10 Firewire Interface.  This is what we plug our instruments into in order for the computer to be able to record our music.  Neat! 

Here's a poorly shot video, filmed by an incredibly tired Joe Schmidt of an also tired Dominic Leon after recording drums:



As I said, we recorded drums last night.  We only had short amount of time to do it, and we didn't quite finish.  Dominic played for the verses and chorus's, then I took over for the bridge.  Even though Dominic is a much better drummer than I am, we determined he had too much soul to play the bridge.  Below is a pic of our set up. 

For those of you that are recording nerds, we used 6 mics: 1 kick, 1 snare, 2 Tom, 2 overhead.  We couldn't find any hardware to attach the cymbals to the stands, so we had to make do with whatever we could find, which included "Life" bracelets, tape, and hair ties.  Oh, and we recorded in our churches storage area.  Classy. 

cambio y fuera

dos días de: el equipo (the team)

I've assembed an all star team to help me with the blogrimage.  Here are the players:


El Equipo

Katelyn Schmidt

keyboard, glockenspiel, vocals, beauty

Dominic Leon

producer, percussion, soul

Jesse Mutzebaugh

drums, bass, charm

Joe Schmidt

guitar,  drums, glockenspiel, bass, vocals, detroit

Last night Dominic and I recorded all of the electric and acoustic guitar tracks for the first song.  After getting used to a metronome again, success was achieved.

hasta mañana

un día: la misión

The mission of my Blogrimage...hmmm, blogspot's spell check doesn't know the word blogrimage...that will have to change.  Ok, now then....hmmm, blogspot also thinks the word "blogspot" is a typo.  Interesting.

ENOUGH DISTRACTION!!!  The mission of my blogrimage is to record one original song a week.  At the end of the week, I'll post the song to my blog so we can all enjoy, hate, love, criticize, process, deconstruct, and talk about the life change the song has brought to us.  Just kidding, they won't be that deep.

The reason I chose this as my blogrimage is because I write a lot of music, but I have a very difficult time putting lyrics to the songs and essentially "finishing" them.  I'm mostly of the shoegazer persuasion that vocals are simply another instrument that shouldn't be given more importance than any other instrument, but I also understand the power of vocals and lyrics that appeal to us on a primal level.  The "living instrument" as it were.

How do these two view points reconcile themselves?  While I understand the very human amusement of vocals and lyrics, which we all enjoy and can connect with, I believe that the music industry has placed too high a value on vocals, thus resulting in people that can sing, but can't write music or think critically about music. Our music has become cheap because all that matters is who is singing, not even what they are singing about necessarily, just that they are beautiful and "on pitch".  A perfect example is American Idol, no one is judged based on music they write, or even the instruments they play.  For those American Idolites, I recognize that contestants do play instruments sometimes, my point is that they aren't judged on their instrumental skill or aptitude, just their voice, because that's whats important.

With all that said, I do believe that great vocals and thoughtful lyrics can connect us to a song and a band on a very deep level, and they can do this more easily and more often than music can.  I do believe that great music can touch us in a very deep, even intimate way, but its just harder for most people to connect and puts words to.  So with that said, lyrics and vocals are not my strong suit, but I am willing and ready for the challenge.  In the coming days I will introduce you to the crew, the equipment, the songs, and the inspirations.  Till then!

al final