4/5/09 Help Me Roll Away the Stone
Spring is here. I saw a lizard soaking in the sun yesterday on my deck. I named him "Biff", and I don't know that I'll see him again. That's okay.
I've been on an early Pink Floyd kick lately. There was a brief part of this band's career where it seemed they had no idea what they were doing. They hadn't shaken the sound that formed them, and hadn't yet formed the sound that made them what they are known for. In the mean time, they'd just make nice songs. I had this one simple song in my head and took a crack it it.
This was before the bad taste in my mouth morphed into something bigger and more painful. "Sadness passes in a while". And now spring is here. Few things make me this happy.
3/31/09 Speechless
I have a bad taste in my mouth. I'm sure it will pass.
Here's a song I made a while ago that is supposed to sound like the feeling of falling forever after the fear subsides. It was made with bass, ebow on electric guitar, and some keyboard voice I don't recall. Hopefully it will become part of something larger, specifically, my fresh attempt at a pseudo-ambient album. But I suck at finishing things.
11/25/08 Do You Want Some Breakfast?
Sometimes my job is boring. This is something I did when I had free time a few months ago. The song itself was written and recorded in El Cerrito with help from Kathy and Russ, respectively. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see...
11/15/08 Leftovers
Since I'm finally sharing stuff I've been working on again, I thought it only made sense to post some quality stuff that didn't ever go anywhere. So, here's the first of several leftover tracks to be posted.
Hallelujah 2006 is how the sixth track of Another Seven Tracks was supposed to sound like. I guess I couldn't get over the fake drums. It's very, very different than the somber acoustic one I posted a month ago. I'm not sure which way sounds better...
Spent (and Livestock) is pretty much part of what I sent Scott from SF when we were trying to figure out how to play the 2004 songs live for our friends om 10/10/05. This single-mic, heavily reverberated recording is the only one of Spent that I have posted. Livestock might the most collaborative of the 2004 tracks, and hearing what it sounds like when only one of us is doing it is, well, interesting...I guess. Forgive the white noise, the missed vocal notes, and the lack of Scott.
10/27/08 What was that?
One more thing about Another Seven Tracks. I'm aware of the imperfections in sound quality and not overly concerned. After wrestling with some of these songs for a couple years now, I thought it wiser to wrap up some loose ends and call 'em done. This mindset allowed for occasionally recording guitar and vocals with the same mic at the same time, not compressing the guitar, bass, or vocals from time to time, a weird ticking sound in one song, and not "mastering" anything. Oh well, I hope you can still enjoy them.
10/26/08 One Post a Year?
I better make it a good one. How about an album? I guess it's an album. Or is it an e.p? Either way, I'm going to call this collection of songs done. Four years after working with Scott and putting out those other 7 tracks, I offer out the familiar sounds of Another Seven Tracks. Like our old e.p. it's just over 20 minutes.
Happy Birthday Jennifer Hughes. Happy late birthday to those mentioned below and to my father. and obviously, happy late 10/10 to all!
10/11/07 New Beginnings
Happy Tenth Ten Ten to all. Congratulations to Matt Larson and our first 10/10 baby: Finnley Beckett Larson. Just two days prior, Juno Lecky Morales was born to Carlos and Morgan. And finally, welcome to the United States, Mulita Rosarito!
Good Luck to all who are starting something new, leaving something old, or just breathing differently.
There is no Slow Clap. But hopefully, all songs that were intended to be finished by Slow Clap will be completed and "released" by their respective authors. I'm starting to envision where my new material is going and am looking forward to completing and sharing the whole thing as a complete work. At the same time, I want to share the works in progress. I have disciplined myself quite well all year, but I feel this....thing...right now. If you don't feel it I hope you have...or will. If none-of-the-above, well, it sounds like this.
Finally, Happy Birthday Scott Shute, Nathan Bello, and Nathan Hoxie.
3/29/07 Noteworthy Tracks
OK, as I continue to work on new stuff that may or not be a part of the Russ/Scott/Dave thing, I thought I should get around to posting something.
I came across a disc in Kathy's cd collection called "Dave's Stuff." It was a collection of short pieces I composed on a program called Noteworthy Composer when I was 19. I haven't written 4-part music like this since. I always say I'm going to, but never get around to it. It was easier to stay motivated at that time because I was learning so much about composition and theory, as I was, at the time, studying music theory. I did not perform these pieces, I merely composed them.
F#m Unfinished is a simple piece that was supposed to be much more epic. Some theme and variation, use of triplets, Alberti bass, secondary dominant modulations, and I think a augmented sixth chord can all be found in this. This leads me to believe it was in my first year of theory that I wrote this.
Curtains was the first piano piece I wrote, aside from homework assignments and whatnot. I enjoy the dramatic modulation introduced early here. It's interesting to see how some of the tonal and rhythmic ideas have continued into more recent works. The use of the tritone in a natural minor is something that continue into most of the "circusy" sounding things. Also the simple syncopation towards the end is something that can be found in any of the "ska" things I've done or in other songs such as part of "Zing," "Mouthful," and "Hallelujah!" (I have not posted the last two yet).
Twelver was, in fact, a homework assignment. It is my first and only 12 tone piece. To many, this will sound like random notes or poorly written music. Just know there was more thought that went into this brief composition than probably anything else that I have EVER written. I am interested in doing another, and to a greater extent and duration.
Inexcusable was a track that seems to outline the begining of my fascintaion with minor seconds and, to some degree, odd metered music.
Railroad Cafe was a place in the Central Coast were local hippies and such got together and jammed on a random evening. Joel and I attended one night. There was this super hippe who busted out a "heart song." I flat out stole his alternating chord progression and made one of my first multitrack recordings. I also made my first ska song.
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