#Frail Autumn,, #music, #songwriting

Little morning experiment. A song.

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Simplicity is key…….

Well. Explanations required. Last night I thought it would be quite nice to write a self written introductory piece of music for a YouTube site intro. Later down the line, intentions are to make a YouTube site for the future themes of songs and chat. With the VeeDub Bus (camper van) as central to the ‘Summers and friends‘ vibe.

I wanted a bit of an upbeat feel. Positivity intro to get into the YouTube atmosphere of what’s to come with music and conversation.

A bit naive and not yet mixed properly! But a few of my good WP blogging friends on here have asked for a bit of new music.

Drums from the GarageBand library.

I played the rest. Fender Jazz bass guitar. Hohner Les Paul electric guitar. Trumpet and trombone played on the Akai midi keyboard. The rest is a few ‘Dreamy’ add ons from the synthesiser options played on the Akai keyboard too.

I’m going to look forward to getting real musicians to play improved parts in this little ditty. String, wind, brass players. A drummer. Get more melody to these basic one note Summers’ naive ramblings. Just a more fun filled musical intro to introduce the YouTube uploads. More swing vibes than flat footed plodding.

I’ve been listening to it on headphones. So have no idea what it may sound like through little phone or iPad speakers. Hopefully okay!

So……here you go. Fingers crossed you like it.

27 thoughts on “Little morning experiment. A song.”

  1. Great first attempt, Gray! I know how much effort and art you put into it so I won’t critique—and we use drum tracks too, and now I see why live makes a song come alive! So funny that I can be more objective when it’s not Richard’s music. Ha!
    I dig the little melody! 🎵
    And though I haven’t asked, I have been missing your posts! Great to see/hear this. Figured you were busy working with the keyboard.

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    1. It was a simple exercise Sheila. Just kept adding bits and bobs on it. The ‘tune’ was ad hoc. The real songwriting is still going nicely. But does need more learning re: the GarageBand technicalities to record it properly.

      I am basically trying to get to grips with catching sounds from external amps and the mics are so sensitive that I’m capturing unwanted external noise. Cars outside, clocks ticking inside, scratching my head sounds like an aeroplane taking off…… 😊

      So this morning I just plugged the guitars in directly to the M2 computer, played on the midi system and got frustrations off my chest. It’s more complicated to get a decent sound than I thought when not having soundproof conditions.

      I may build a brick wall around myself with egg boxes on the walls for soundproofing and get food passed through a little hole like you see on prison cells. 😆

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      1. Oh, so true, Gray, about soundproofing a room (akin to a prison cell), to block out external noise. Where we live now we have planes, trains, and automobiles/motorcycles, and lawn mowers/tractors. It’s always something! Haha Ugh
        I am glad you like your new computer. Richard is about ready to sell his new MacBook.

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      2. Even here in the countryside we have a lot of noise that can find its way into recordings. I need a booth! Definitely.

        Been thinking about Richard having a MacBook. You mentioned it before in a comment in the past. Are you still recording music on it? I know he’s prolific in songwriting skills. So it is a decent addition for capturing ideas.

        I just want real musicians now to substitute and liven up the energy on recordings. I suppose simply being able to self capture the tunes by playing instruments naively, like this one, gives a sound base to show if ideas can work though.

        Cheers Sheila.

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      3. Oh, right, Gray, a booth. That would work.
        Richard bought his MacBook to record and mix music but found it too complicated to use, so unfortunately, it was a waste of money. He tried though! I give him all the credit for trying! And besides, we could have spent that money on something frivolous.
        He also wishes I had stopped him from selling his favorite guitar and other stuff after his stroke—but though I questioned his decision to do that, I didn’t stop him.
        Cheers back to you too, Gray.

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      4. Been thinking of one of those three panel ‘screens’ Sheila. Like in the hospitals. Hang dampening thick material over it. Some YouTube up-loaders say to go play in a wardrobe closet with hanging clothes dampening external noise!

        I can feel empathetically with Richard’s struggles. I have a GarageBand beginners guide. But find it doesn’t explain how to get things done. Just what it has and does. But, if Richard has someone who can assist him with the actual technicalities it would be brilliant to keep the Mac. I’d love a techie buddy at the moment to chat to and guide me.

        I’m sitting with the manual open at pages 26 and 27 whilst typing. Reading ‘Advanced editing features’. Getting the best sections from multiple performance recordings, of ‘voice’ for example, and then selecting desired sections from each take, placing/splicing them in the one single vocal track to achieve a seamless and cohesive performance. Not a clue what I’m reading! Crazy stuff. I just play the one vocal version of my voice and hope for the best. Re-record if it is faff.

        Decisions of selling! I remember decades of wishing I hadn’t sold my 1970s Jazz bass. But I have learnt to be mindful and tell myself that you simply cannot change the past. Decisions then meant I could buy a kiln and become a potter. There is always a positive side to every decision made really. Even gorgeous little glimmers of something positive in the decision made debris dust of perceived negative outcomes.

        Cheers again Sheila.

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      5. Love your philosophy of letting the past be, Gray. I hear you about playing/recording in a clothes closet. That could work!
        It would be good to buddy up for the Garage Band stuff too. Richard has someone he could call, but that friend is always busy and when he isn’t, his wife limits his time (which I find ridiculous, but that’s me judging). Oy!
        Well, it seems my spirals come back into play here—Richard will just have to let his mind work things out til he can come back full circle or give it up. He is all set to be able to draw or paint again. Ultimately, I let him decide.
        Oh, and I finally got a calligraphy pen, multiple nibs, and bottle of ink! Not sure where I will crack it open. Maybe around the holidays or first of 2025. I will take my time with it and not get frustrated.

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      6. Since retiring I have grown much more calmer and positive. Nursing, in this modern age, can attract negativity a lot. So now it’s a release to have no more of that area to my life. Rurally, the choices of buddy finding is fewer than in the city. I do tend to be introvert too Sheila. Close friends in number can be counted on one hand. So buddy techs are far and none between.

        If Richard could find a college course locally, maybe that may help. Mind you, it is good to not focus on one thing. The challenges can eat away at motivation. So his positivity for art work will bring variety and focus too. The fountain pens and reading are currently my side interests. Your fountain pen? Either to consider following your own natural writing style and flow. Or stay within the strict regimes of calligraphy as a discipline. Your spirals will problem love freedom to self express. Ink and nibs are a slippery slope. Beware, you get easily hooked. 😊 Cheers Sheila.

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      7. Ah, I am also becoming a bit calmer since retiring, Gray. And moving has helped as well. My expectations are zero regarding finding friends here (though I did transfer to a new national group that may bring new potential friends into our life). And we chat with random people we meet when we walk to one of the three nearby restaurants. We are sort of small town rural. It takes thirty minutes to get to the area where our son-in-law’s family lives, and about fifteen minutes to get to most other things. So, it’s almost village like living.

        Quality over quantity is probably good when it comes to close friends.

        When my daughter took me to a farmer’s market last weekend, there was a booth for a college but I never thought about that for Richard. It’s a possibility.

        I am looking forward to trying out the fountain pen/nibs. Thankfully, Richard has some art paper. I doubt I can use the pen in a journal or notebook without bleeding ink through. I welcome the ability to stream of consciousness some spirals. Cheers back to you, Gray.

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      8. Rural has been brilliant since moving here. But it was balanced with workload until three years ago when retiring. If I lived in a busy town whilst nursing? I would have been crazy by now. I believe the last 3 years has been a ‘fall back into re-finding myself as a human being I can feel comfortable with again’ Sheila. Self reflection and repairing the mess we made of house and garden and neglecting those interests of music and the arts.

        I feel you yourself are finding newly re-opened experiences that are born from your older lifestyle. Community is a wonderful supporting arena. As long as it isn’t massively intrusive on life. Sounds like you have it balanced perfectly. Quality versus quantity to life is a nursing ethic Sheila.

        Online with YouTube they don’t show the screen sequences of GarageBand or Logic Pro. There are no decent books either. So my road into this project is born from elongated working out and loads of failures. Today’s little excursion into playing 7 little guitar pieces was refreshing.

        There are many fountain pen friendly papers Sheila. Art papers are coated for watercolour papers and not great for writing. It takes ages for the ink to dry. There are many bloggers here on WP who have fantastic uploads that chat of paper, suitable journals, types of ink and nib compatibility.

        Thanks for your reply. Greatly welcomed as ever.

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    1. Cheers cookie. Just wrote a reply to Sheila. Frustrations are now sitting on floaty clouds and travelling far, far away. Kindly driven North by the wind of gentle sorrows. 😊 All the best cookie.

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  3. Excellent Gray. Defiantly upbeat, a feel good ditty. I enjoyed the horns but it was the synthesizer at the end (at 50 secondish). I thought that might be better as a youtube intro than the horns.

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    1. Cheers Danny. I want real musicians playing on songs really. This little quick recording was an experiment of plugging my two guitars directly into the M2 Mac computer. No amplifiers involved at all. So no vibe or energy really. Real musicians provide dynamics.

      There are 3 sequences in this song. Different chord structures. So it would need a difficult to achieve rearrangement to get that last bit up first. But I get where you are coming from. All in all. This tune was a quick ad hoc 3 hour session of trial and error that got this result. Not mixed at all to each instrument level. But that doesn’t matter as it can be used as a template for learning how to cut and paste, compress sounds, EQ, add extra echo/reverb, etc. Did get a buzz at playing the bass though. Through my decent headphones it sounds punchy. A few more electric and acoustic guitar overlays might be nice too.

      Be good to get back here to WP too. Been off it for a while. Cheers Danny.

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      1. Gray, what a wonderful experience to pick up the bass and have the excitement, the thrill return. As for the song, that is why you are the musician and I am not. It is clear that the song is structured into 3 sequences, in the middle sequence with the horns I felt they were a bit too domineering and that maybe a different arrangement with the synthesizers or maybe a more traditional keyboard would be a better choice. But again it is your experiment and you are the musician. Technology cannot replace the dynamics and creative input of actual musicians.

        Thank you for sharing your song, keep up the work. All the best

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      2. There is no mixing of levels or tweaking instrumental sound on it at all Danny. It’s just a raw recording. This whole project is a journey for the WP blogs. Showing all the stages of stuff being worked out I suppose. I am a technophobe as you know. So it is good to show tge learning processes. A year down the line? Who knows if I truly get to grips with this.

        Thinking about it. If I were to just finish up a single and it be polished, neat and finished, and upload it….no one would see how it got there from scratch. I had that little phrase, ‘Warts and All’. That’s the aim I am chasing I suppose. I will lower and heighten the individual sounds and even add other stuff too. Got another example uploaded today of looking at clean guitar sounds. Another couple of hours spent chilled and playing. All the best Danny. Thank you sincerely for your continued support. It really is appreciated.

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    1. Cheers Shep. Spot on. I have to overcome the problematic recording into mics, without noise interference, first though. Also. Need the musicians who can play their own instruments when I can’t do it properly. They aren’t around presently. Hence my thoughts on the VeeDub project. You can capture recordings on an iPad GarageBand app. Then transfer to the Mac version.

      I can bubble along six string guitar wise. But I’m no lead guitarist. I’ve been playing a fair few of the new songs into mics and building on layering ideas. Bit like this little ditty here. But with the interference of unwanted noise on sensitive mics, they’re not useable. Also, the technical side of cutting and pasting, alongside a plethora of editing features. I’m still struggle learning. Old brains. Fuddled thought patterns and no retention. I’m 68 years old in a couple of weeks. With a retentive mind that feels I’m really 88. Nuts!

      I agree with you about the vibe Shep. I love the groove through decent headphones and playing along on a loop in the main recording. So clear and crisp. I had to change and bring the audio quality down for uploading here.

      As said. When I put the introductory bars on a loop, picked up the guitar and played for about 15 to 20 minutes jamming gently against my own bass line. It was very therapeutic. If I could record over a loop and the cut and paste sections for add ins….it would be fun. But that’s beyond me presently.

      As you said before Shep. This type of weird technical info is above your pay grade. 😆 But it was nice to type my frustrations away. Hope you are tunefully cracking out your own harp vibes too. And feeling blessed you are a musician who can really play well. It’s great for the soul isn’t it. All the best.

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    1. Thank you Brenda. As replied to Danny just now. There is no mixing Brenda. Just record and throw it out there. 😊 Can’t wait to find some musician buddies really. I’m a bass player! So am limited with my songs and how I want them to sound.

      Got another little instrument based ditty uploaded today. Another experiment with, again, no mixing. Cheers Brenda. All the best.

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    1. Thank you Destiny. Did you listen through ear or head phones? Just interested because I read that a final mix of a song has to marry well with different listening devices and experiences. My iPad inherent speakers sounds awful with this song. My headphones and ear buds give depth and clarity.

      Yes. Slowly getting to read more posts. It’ll take a while to catch up with your poetry numbers though. 😊 You’re still firing poetically on all cylinders Destiny. 🙏🏽

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      1. pleasure…

        no head phones. Sounds very clear to me, Gray. I generally find the head phones a little offish and unclear. the speaker on my phone is actually quite nice too…came through well.

        lol… trying with that…but with a little …a wee little less effort… trying being the key word, not effort 🤭
        thank you too, Gray….🤍🙏

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      2. That’s good to know re: listening experience. Maybe it’s my old ears and too much rock and roll music that needs clearer headphones! 😊 I can still read good poetry though. 😉 🙏🏽

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