#Frail Autumn,, #music, #songwriting, Health Matters

Musical Journey. Changes along this ever so recent project. So far? Naivety to….naivety.

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As the title says. There are changes that truly matter that can only be realised bit by simple bit. A simple four stage comparison below of new trials. I will revisit this blog over the weeks and months ahead and add the progress by updating the blog. ‘Technology will allow this’ said in a Dalek voice in my head.

Latest attempt with realisation that I am about 1% into learning this new recording malarkey. Still a long way to go. Autumn to early Wintertime should show a mass of improvement.

First.

Asked last year to get a band called The XCerts back together from my past? I began the relearning process of playing my old songs. Initially. To seek confidence I chose a song, see below, that I really liked which I wrote way back in 1981. What followed was a simple attempt to sing the song and play acoustic guitar into my iPad. Very naive. Very stuttering. But. An initial attempt of remembering how to revisit and capture my past songs. The song chosen is called ‘Trust Me’. I wrote this song to be performed with the band Team 23. I played bass and backing vocals on this song, even though I had written it. So this little ditty below is trying it out on acoustic guitar and to begin with finding out the chords I wrote back then. I played it on the EKO acoustic dreadnought/jumbo guitar I originally wrote the song on back then. I never sang the song with lead vocal in the band. The lead vocalist, Jerome, sang the song in the Team 23. Did a great job. So I had to try my own main vocal version here with trepidation. So started with a bit of nervous endeavour. It has improved confidently since on subsequent playing. I feel I definitely want to get it recorded again by myself.

As said, I will keep improving this one and definitely record it later.

Secondly.

I own a condenser microphone called the Shure MV88. A wonderful, but very sensitive microphone that could pick up a sniffle at a hundred miles distance. I used the new Apple Mac technology I purchased and began experimenting with it for the very first time. I was playing anything that came to instant mind to capture something that could, not be built on, but understood. A questioning of ‘How does this modern technology actually work!’ scenario. The microphone picked up the sea waves from five miles away! Joke. But I could hear cars going by on the road and the loud tick tock of the clock in the room…..insistently. So screened the microphone from interference. Results were very naive. But gave a buzz that progress was being realised.

Below. Used the Guild acoustic guitar for chords and a little single notes tune, tapped on the square key pads on the Akai for finger snap sounds and a side drum, then keyboard for a tune with mild synth sound. Five separate track recordings over about 50 seconds. Nice gentle exercise of springboard learning.

Recorded on this system.

Then added vocal. The reality of adding vocals on this one was that I couldn’t hear them through the head phones against what had been instrumentally recorded. Found myself singing by ‘listening’ to the music in my head, and hearing my voice faintly from outside the headphones. Imagine you yourself, wearing earbuds or headphones, listening to a song and singing along to it. What do you hear of your own contribution to the song you are listening to. Later down the line of trial and errors I found you can hit a ‘monitor’ button to hear your voice inside the headphones.

Thirdly.

I love vintage. I own, amongst many vintage acquisitions, an old 1972 VeeDub Bus (camper van) and many old fountain pens. I needed to find vintage vibe by using my Shure SM58 1970s microphone. But with use of modern technology.

Seeking to use the original microphones from back then for vintage vibes, I attempted to use my love of the iconic Shure SM58 dynamic cardioid microphone. Many past recordings of our songs were made on that model and its partner the SM57. When coupled with my modern system of an Apple mini M2 Mac, the recording produced a background of annoying ‘humming’ which could be heard on the recorded GarageBand system. So changing to a more modern Shure MV5 microphone I found a lack of depth. But recorded anyway.

The Shure MV5.

Fourth-rightly.

I found a way to get to using the Shure SM58 microphone with perseverance of getting connections that worked. I played a simple acoustic guitar 3 chord riff over a drum pattern off GarageBand. And was really happy with its vintage vibe of deepness and richness of tone.

And so…….so far? My past recent blogs will give a complete picture of this journey. This one here is a simple overview. I have started this blog so that I can revisit and update progress by showing the naive reality of recordings from the beginning and hopeful improved sounds for the future. I hope you are enjoying this retirement project as much as I am.

I do not, 100%, want to revisit my youth. Been there, done it and sent my ‘got the T-shirt’ to a charity shop long ago. I am simply a guy who writes little songs and has found playing my songwriting music again (in retirement) that assists my well being. But then, music in itself assists well being to each and every one of us doesn’t it.

So with this in mind, this project, again, for my own well being, has been won before it even started. I could simply hum my fave self written tunes into the local Welsh air whilst walking in the surrounding environment of beach and forest……and still find peace. Who needs technology! Well….. I suppose I do to share this journey with you folks.

I’ll leave you with these little Pentax camera captures from 25 years ago of a song called November, the Stereo and You…….my Friend. Maybe it’ll find its way into the FRAIL AUTUMN project.

Thank you (all of you) for being a friend…..as a genius songwriter called Andrew Gold once wrote.

I’ll leave you with a ‘go and look for’ YouTube search.

Andrew Gold wrote one of my all time favourite songs. I sing it often on guitar.

It’s called ‘Never let her slip away’. Go on…..it’ll make you happy.

20 thoughts on “Musical Journey. Changes along this ever so recent project. So far? Naivety to….naivety.”

  1. I don’t hear someone revisiting his youth, rather a vibrant musician who remains young to making music and now is discovering new ways to produce it. that’s where I see you are and it seems to me like an exciting place to be.

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    1. Thanks for this cookie. I think it was the initial request from an organiser asking to get our old band from the 1970s back together last September. To do a gig this July. At that time it was exciting to get back into the music again. Then began the thoughts to change and update lyrics and music dynamic. Also, I didn’t want to revisit my youth and do it badly. Or seem to be an older guy regurgitating ‘That was then’. With the whole project being cancelled due to the original guitarist pulling away, I had caught the bug of songwriting with purpose again. I suppose the ‘youth’ comment is based upon not taking the momentum of youthful ambition and wanting to be famous/successful. A band called ABC sang ‘That was then, but this is now’. That’s it in a nutshell cookie. Enjoying music and writing songs just for the vibe it gives. You are spot on with every point you wrote here. I have a happy vibe in what we produced back then. Now, it would be great to build on songwriting and song production. Having this time in life to have the opportunity to do it all again is priceless. Hope you are enjoying your own journey in writing your new songs cookie. All the best.

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    1. Thanks Danny. You are spot on. In many ways you have, in a concise and profound way, said what is how I have felt re: this interesting music journey. I did reply to cookie. Fantastic of you both to provide this positivity. It is really appreciated. All the best.

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    1. Thank you Destiny. It’s a sit and learn about how it all works presently. Then the uploads of rough recordings. It is the realisation of….this is all too deep to understand before starting, that allows being honest and just presenting the ‘so far journeys’.

      With this being happily accepted, it becomes a ‘now…just relax and try it out anyway’ situation. No need to achieve a finished article. I have a hashtag that is ‘the journey itself, or the destination’. The journey every single time. Just describe findings of failures and successes as they materialise. But not in a too deep technical way. Where’s the fun in writing a bunch of second rate technical observations when I am a technophobe. The simplicity of how to actually get over the barriers, by pure luck as opposed to true insight, means that anyone can have a go at this. Cheers Destiny. Lovely comment as always. 🙏🏽

      Oh! I do love your poetry uploads and still read avidly. I see and read very many of the comments on each one of your uploads. You have a fantastic response from your followers. They actually cover and describe what would be my own intentional responses. So it is fantastic to read others’ reply energy and positivity in your skills.

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      1. Thank you ,Gray … apologies for the late response but I had read your response and wanted to think over it…lol each to our understanding as per current standings in life perhaps.
        Thank you for this.

        ah ..the poetry… enjoying still… fighting time to still🤭. pleased you enjoy and appreciate your encouraging words. Thank you as always 🤍🙏

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    1. Hi Destiny. Thank you for dropping by. Recently I have been going full on housework as we have some visitors arriving today. So a massive clear up really. The quick self drop ins here to WP have been through bloggers notifications to me on drop down banners and quick responses. After this weekend, it will be great to be able to sit and relax and read my fave bloggers. I like to read the uploads properly that many of you have taken time and effort to write. It is acknowledging people’s brilliant contributions to their sites.

      I have had a Bandcamp notification about cookie nieves with her new songs. Really nice follow up to her first album. So have been replying to her latest blog. Great voice.

      Talking of reading bloggers’ contributions properly. I have seen, and still do, that some bloggers ‘like’ my blogs on about a dozen blogs at a time. Random bloggers, not my followers or people I follow. Quick succession of one after the other, with a dozen likes within a ten second time frame. Quick readers hey! 😆 I have no idea why people do that.

      Be nice to catch up on your poems next week. As said before, very enjoyable to read them out with accompanying voice. Poetry and book reading works perfectly that vocal way for myself.

      Gosh! That just brought back a memory. I had a musician friend back in the 1970s who wrote a lyric. ‘Hear me now, you’ve got no choice. I love the sound of my own voice.’. The band were called God’s Toys. Once again, thank you for your dropping by. Much appreciated Destiny. 🙏🏽

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      1. after a while it seems that Cookie shared something here on WP…. I was glad too , to see and hear.

        Oh …the “likes” lol…I have that too …and wish I could speed read like that😂 besides… having the notifications flooded unnecessarily… another issue to deal with.🥴

        The time spent away from WP can be good lol…enjoy it. I think some of us live a dual life….one in reality and one here🤭one reality itself is hard to manage… imagine we have the (nerves) to take on another one lol.
        Enjoy your time off and time spent with your guests. I suspect we’ll still be around when you get back lol…

        will give that song a search and listen.
        thank you , Gray….take care 🤍🙏

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      2. I knew cookie was writing and finishing off her songs. I listen to them on the Bandcamp platform. Need to get a file sorted for them on the Apple Mac set up and am seeing how to get it done later today. Housework finished now. 😊

        I see I am getting hundreds of Spam comment sends over a week presently. Am deleting over and over! I have to balance WP with recirding and writing currently. I spent a fair few days away two weeks ago for a bit of a holiday break. So with that and the cleaning……nothing productive.

        And it will be nice to see family tomorrow. You may not find that song easily. I know that Dill, the singer’s name from those days, now using his real name Stephen, has been recording and uploading to Bandcamp under the name Daffodil. I know the God’s Toys songs are amongst his ones on there. But not sure which song title has those lyrics.

        Take care too Destiny. 🙏🏽

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      3. Cookie had mentioned such in the last post when we chatted….and I need to take a look at this Bandcamp lol…

        thankfully my spam has reduced to just the dogs and diets now lol🤣…I am wondering how they will send me the dog through WP lol…

        Enjoy….and thanks , Gray🤍🙏

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      4. Have just looked at my Spam list. 97 comments from a ‘bot’ with various names, but all with name ‘bokep’ included in the name. 97 in three days! Also, similar typed sentences with stupid little scenarios of how they are sitting at a cafe, walking on a beach, on an aeroplane, etc. and telling some stranger why they love my blogs. Fed up with this to be honest.

        Bandcamp is an app that allows all musicians to upload their songs. I will be opening up an account later in the year. Cheers Destiny. 🙏🏽

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