
Here below on the audio bar is a little excursion into trying out a song I wrote back in 1981. I needed to change it to suit my current voice.
THE ORIGINAL SONG IS ON YOUTUBE. UPLOADED BY OUR TEAM 23 DRUMMER JOHN HEWITT. YOU CAN LISTEN BELOW.
Left to Right: John, Lynn, Ade, Roy, Jerome, Jim and Me, Gray.
This morning it was pootling about time again. After the last 18 months of learning how to record my songs and all the difficulties of getting them over the finished line ….. it has been a steep learning curve to find some success. Nowhere near the level I would really love. But, I realise the aim for my music captures now is simply steeped in one word. Therapy.
Therapy? It is all I want nowadays. To pick up the guitar, plink plonk note melodies on the AKAI MIDI keyboard and treat music as I would an interesting hobby.

‘What once was’ is ‘now has been’. So drag yourself into the light.
A lyric from a song I wrote a year or so ago called ‘18 Years was 50 Years ago’.
What is nice is that starting up a few new ideas with improved knowledge of the technical aspects of the Mac M2 little home studio equipment is that it is just switched on now and immediately the ability to record has become a very simple capture exercise.
What used to be a singing into the iPad microphone to capture songs, is now a case of switch on the Mac M2, open up a microphone audio track for acoustic guitar and capture ideas. I have deliberately chosen the very echo laden Echo Strum acoustic guitar choice because it can capture vocals at the same time as playing. I can easily begin to both sing and strum guitar into my old vintage Shure SM58 dynamic microphone without contorting my posture to get close proximity with both head height voice singing and waist height guitar playing. Echo volume is in order to keep it simple. Also with the beauty of the echo? It is like singing in the shower. Provides a very happy state to start the day with.

I spoke in the very first audio above about creating a more Latin or Coffee Shop vibe on the song Move into the Rhythm and mentioned ‘Eddie just loves to dance’ as a song with a Latin vibe. Here below is the Eddie song for an idea.
On all recordings it is basically myself, Gray Summers, playing all the guitar and keyboard instruments and singing the vocals. I do use drumming tracks from the GarageBand library of drumming choices. However, from now on the future choices will be not to use GarageBand drum tracks at all.

Nice. I enjoyed all three. For “Eddie” can you choose the type of drums? Caribbean steel drums I feel would go well in that song. Just me but I enjoy a good Reggie band.
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Cheers Danny. The GarageBand drum library has a million and one opportunities to be honest. You can choose the general genre styles like rock, pop, heavy, etc.. Then choose the drum kit sound like punk, heavy metal, Manchester, Liverpool, Motown, etc.. Then you add or take out various parts of the kit, change rhythms, tempos, etc. With percussive beats like coffee shop, Latin, etc., you can add a plethora of instruments like ethnic inclusions, tambourines, shakers, etc. you muck about endlessly to be honest Danny. So, yes, could change the vibe to any style. It is like Deep Forest and the multiple remixes that they do on just one song. But, I’m not that capable technically. Too technophobe by nature.
However, I made a massive decision today to play all percussive and drum beats myself. I have an electronic Yamaha kit. Also various drums and percussive instruments like djembes, tambourines, egg shakers, and much more. Basically I want the music more ‘honest’. So will be taking out the drum tracks on the past songs that have been recorded over the last 18 to 20 months and bring them into a new vibe. Some I may even start from scratch. If I can get a collective of about two dozen songs that are of all my own playing, I will then get a CD together and send it out to friends and family.
That would be a nice project for this year.
Cheers Danny. Oh! By the way. Just chatted with John, the Team 23 drummer, and he said I could put his YouTube upload of the original Move into the Rhythm onto the blog. So it is there now. Very different!
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all sound great, Gray …
the first one i like most lol … like listening to where it began…🤍
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Thank you Destiny. I think it will be a good vibe to record it properly, keep it in a shuffle type rhythm and try to put a huge amount of party atmosphere on it. May include a few background party atmosphere type sounds in a Middle 8 part that is slightly different from the main verses and chorus. Fun times and positivity basically.
Your feedback is much appreciated Destiny. I shall soon have the courage again to provide a few comments on your amazing poetry. It seems your followers all say the thoughts that I too bring to mind on reading your work. All the best. 🙏🏽🍁🍂
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