Mark Hansen Music - LDS Rock Music - Free Downloads

Mark Hansen Music - LDS Rock Music - Free Downloads
Get the new CD, "The Third Time" HERE




WARNING: Listening to this music doesn't require parental approval. It's a bit of clean rebellion. It keeps your outlook up and your hope alive. It's got strong drums and screaming guitars. It pumps you up and drives your life. It's a hunger for exploration. It chooses the right and returns with honor. It's music you don't have to confess to your bishop.

It's not your parents' "Saturday’s Warrior".

It's "A Joyful Noise"

Thursday, December 30, 2004

It's almost the last day of the year, and I'm very excited. Here's why:

First of all, I sold a few more songs through weedshare. Always exciting to check my account there and see a few more numbers up. If that were the only reason I was doing this, I'd be sadly mistaken, since I'm not rolling in the money yet. But it does give me some goosebumps and a smile to think that someone likes a tune of mine enough to shell out some money for it.

Second of all, I met my goal. It was to have all the songs for "One United Generation" done by the end of the year. And as of a few days ago, that has been completed. It's always nice to check in with yourself and see that you're doing something right.

As I looked forward to next year, I thought I'd like to set my goals in two areas: Ongoing music production, toward having a second CD, and expanding my "fanbase" in the form of the mailing list.

In the first area, I'll be working to release two new songs every quarter. So, at the end of each year, I'll have 8 new songs. In two years, I'll have 16 songs, and I'll be able to choose say, 10-12 of the best of them to go on the second CD. I could carry on like that indefinitely, producing singles and CD forever more. Fun!

I think the first ones I'll work on will be "How Beautiful" and "Play the Cards". "Beautiful" is a gospel tune based on verses in Isaiah and Mosiah. I just have to record the choir (if you're interested in participating, email me). Play the cards is a rocker, kind of in an AC/DC sorta style, but without the sleaze.

I want to extend to all of you who read this blog, and listen to my tunes, my heartfelt thanks for these last few years. I'd make the music anyway, but when I hear back from you about the songs and the shows, it makes me feel soooo much better about all the effort I put in.

So, thanks!

See you next year!

Comment

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

It's done!

All the songs for Mark Hansen's "One United Generation" are DONE! This is a landmark moment for me, as I've been working on these tunes steadily and gradually for about 4 years, now.

As an example, one of the tunes, "The First Step", was written for the baptism of the daughter of a friend of mine. She's about to go into high school, now.

It's a good representation of what I'm currently capable of. I, of course, can hear lots of flaws. Some days I can't even listen to the tunes. But I know that I'll continue to make music, and continue to get better and better.

And other days, I listen to it over and over, simply because I like to make music that I like. And there aren't that many people in the LDS music world that do that. Let me clarify. There are lots that make music that I like, because I like a pretty wide range of musics. But there aren't that many people making the kind of music that I LIKE. See the difference?

Anyway, thanks for coming along for the ride. I'll keep you posted when it's ready for distribution!



Monday, December 27, 2004

Yeah, it's early morning. And I can't sleep.

I was up a lot last night, too.

But the good part about that was that I got to spend a lot of the last few days getting things cleaned up on "Chapel". And there was a LOT of cleanup to do, believe me. First I had to comp the vocals I'd cut the other day, which didn't turn out too bad. Then I had to merge the basic drums with the fills and sparkle that Morey had added a while (probably a couple of months) ago.

And while I was working on the vocals, I was tweaking up the intonation a little bit, both on the lead and the harmony vocals.

I'd been afraid that the horns we'd cut wouldn't work, but after I'd cleaned up all the other stuff, they were just fine. Probably the cleanest tracks of the entire song!

Then I went to bed.

...And I couldn't sleep. So I got back up and started mixing. Now, I've got a really solid blend, but it's all done in the headphones (so my family could sleep), so it's always deceptive. This song required a different approach. Usually, I make my three "anchors" out of the bass guitar, the lead vocal, and the kick drum. But this time, I needed to make the bass more present. In small systems, and in my car, too, if there's not a lot of good upper midrange in the bass, then it just goes away, and since the whole intro is the bass guitar, I need it to be there in the whole song. And the acoustic guitar, since it's also there in the first verse, also plays the role of a fourth "anchor". So, those four elements became core of the mix, and I hung everything else around it. It's pretty sweet, so far. And I still haven't added the reverb.

Now, I have to spin it a while and see just how well it holds up.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

I just checked my weedshare account and noticed that I sold a couple more songs! I think it was "Millstones" and "The Taker". Pretty exciting!

MRKH

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Last night, I got home from work late, like 10:30. That's pretty typical of a Tuesday night. But after getting the boys in bed (one of them already was), and getting some dinner, I thought to do some singing.

So, I opened up "Out of the Chapel", set it up and started cutting vocals. This one'll be interesting. I'm not too sure how well I did, other than possibly waking up my family. I was at it until about 2:00!

It was tricky to get a good headphone mix going. In the past, when I set it up the way I did last night, the latency wasn't that bad. But this time, it sounded like the lead vocals I was recording had been chorused. That made it tricky to hear at times. I'll just have to see.

Sunday, December 19, 2004

I had a wonderful experience yesterday morning. Linda, my old voice teacher gave me a call a few days before, saying she was going to sing at a Christmas party, and could I run sound for her.

Now, whenever I can, I jump at a chance to mix for her. Let me tell you the story. Several years ago, in '98, I think. No, '99. Summer of '99. Anyway, I had started the Mark Hansen Music website (it was called "A Joyful Noise" back then), and I was doing some gigs. I was discovering that I was a lousy singer! I'd sign up for shows at festivals in the summer, and after three or four songs, my voice was shredded. I can only imagine what the audience was going through.

My wife was an old friend of Linda's sister, so we knew the family pretty well. I called her to see about her prices. As we negotiated, we talked about doing the lessons on trade, where I would do sound for her, and any studio work she or a student needed. For years that went on, and I think that she got the bad end of that deal. She gave me far more in lessons than I ever gave her back.

Plus, she gave me confidence. How can you pay someone back for that?

Anyway, About a year and a half ago, for some reason, the lessons stopped. I don't really remember why. I think it was some scheduling issues, and then I figured she was done with essentially giving me free lessons. She called a few times to do some recording or have me set up a PA for her. And in the meantime, I keep using the practice CD's I'd made of our lessons to work out.

So, she called me to do this Christmas gig, and like always, I jump at the chance to "even out the ledgers" a little bit. We got to talking. She's going through a bit of a rough time, and it was fun to listen to her through that. And at the end of it all, she asked me to call and set up another lesson. I thought that was nice of her. She certainly didn't have to do that. I'm not sure if I will, because she certainly doesn't need ONE MORE student with her current stresses.

But it sure would be great!

Anyway, so I guess this post is a tribute to her and all she gave me. I mean, I'm still far from a great singer, but I'm a lot better than I ever was before, thanks to her instruction and patience.



Thursday, December 16, 2004

I'm very tired, and that's a good thing!

Morey, John and I had a great night. At least, I can vouch for myself. I was having a lot of fun, and it looked like they were, too. We worked up the rest of "Dancin' Their Lives Away", and it's really coming together. Poor Morey just had to sit there while John and I reworked a short instrumental bridge. But then it all fell into place.

It's gonna take some real rehearsing to get it tight all the way through, though.

It's been good for me to practice with them. Because a lot of the songs we're working on have these really busy bass lines that really tax my endurance. Then, I have to sing on top of that! I'm really stretching.

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

The last few days, I've finally gotten my alarms working right. I've been getting up really early to do music. That's really the only consistent time I have to do it. Of course, it's more for things like doing keyboard parts, and cutting electric guitar tracks, because those can all be done through direct lines with headphones on. The other morning I did cut some acoustic guitar over a mic, but I was always afraid that I would wake up the fam. Nobody complained, though...

So, I've been recutting tracks on "Today and Yesterday".

This morning, though, I was starting to cut, and I heard Jacob crying from the next room. So, I go in and his CPAP face mask was all askew. I took it off, and helped him get back to sleep, or so I thought. A few minutes later he was calling, "Daddy!" again.

He wanted to come in and watch. So, I picked him up and brought him in and set him on the studio floor with a toy or two. That all went well for another couple of minutes, until Brendon showed up at the door. He started to climb up on my lap. I don't know if you're aware of this, but it's kinda tricky to record guitar parts with a seven-year-old on your lap.

But somehow I still manage.

Then he decided that it was time for us to have a father/son moment and play a little pinball on my computer. So, in the middle of cutting the track, he starts whining, "Let's play pinball!" Of course, it's hard for me to play the part right and answer at the same time, so he keeps at it. Finally, he just grabs the mouse and starts to close up Cubase so he can start the game.

Of course, I have to stop the track and reset it up for a punch-in, so I can finish...

I wish there was an emoticon for "rolling your eyes and sighing".

Sunday, December 12, 2004

I set my alarm to get up early this morning, and I cut the acoustic guitar for "Today and Yesterday". I also did the bass and keyboard parts again, adapting to the new chord progressions. That was a lot easier, because I only had to do certain bits, where the new chords were. Plus, with the piano, I can do it in 2 measure spots. That saves me. I'm really more of a guitarist. Maybe I ought to get Matt in to recut the piano parts straight... Hmmm...

Saturday, December 11, 2004

OK, I'm really excited.

I reworked the chords for "Today And Yesterday" - that's the newest working title. I've really been struggling with fitting the right chords to the melody that's been in my head. And they're not the kind of chord progressions I'd normally write. So I'm not sure where this one's comin' from.

Of course, now I have to re-record pretty much EVERYTHING! The Electric guitar bits at the beginning didn't change, but I'll still have to recut them because they're badly played.

*sigh*

Song Sales!

I was just in my account over at Weedshare, and discovered that a few more songs had sold! I was pretty excited. I'm not rolling in money yet. Hardly at all, in fact, but still, it's kinda fun to see that people once in a while will be willing to cough up a little virtual money for my artistic endeavors!

Here's the current charts:


He's Out There --7
Here In Me --4
Pharisee --3
Toy Soldiers --3
Millstones --2
Thank You Minus --1
Thank You --1
Save Ya --1
Save Ya Minus --1
Toy Soldiers Minus --1
Hes Out There Minus --1
Here In Me Minus --1
Pharisee Minus --1
One United Generation --1


Unfortunately, there's no way at the moment to track raw downloads or plays, just purchases. If there were, these numbers would be significantly higher.

In other measurements, the request for Pass-It-On CD's keeps going, and that helps by growing my mailing list. That'll be really nice when the time comes to press "Generation"!

Friday, December 10, 2004

I'm digging myself out of a rut. I've been in this blue funk for a couple of months now, but I'm sick of it.

For the last few weeks, we've been having electrical problems in our house, which has been "browning out" my studio room off and on. About a week ago it went completely black. No power whatsoever. That meant no music for Markie.

So, today I got up at 6:30 and was really fed up with it, so I just ran an extension cord into the next room and plugged it into an outlet that I knew was working. Sounds simple, right? A no brainer, right? Well, when you get busy and get into a rut, you don't do things.

Anyway, so I worked on "Today/Yesterday". This song is really interesting. I mean it's a sad song about being locked into this pattern. Walking the same paths over and over and over again. But it's been really cathartic to work on it, because it's helping to pull me out of that rut.

Anyway, I worked out the chords to the bridge and the ending today. I've got a basic structure for the whole tune, now.

It's also kinda interesting to think of this tune, because I'm taking a different approach. Usually I'm working out the melody as I'm strumming chords or playing a riff, and the words are coming all pretty much at the same time. This time the words and melody came to me, and I'm having to work backwards to set up the chord structure. And I didn't plan for that, either. It's not like I said, "I want to challenge myself and today I'll do it by writing a song melody-first!" It's just coming out that way naturally.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

I've been having some big problems with blogger.com lately. Here's a couple of posts I made a while ago, but haven't been able to get published. I still don't know if I'll be able to make this work.

========


12/4/05

Jacob woke me up tonight, so after I got him back to sleep, I put a bit more bass line onto Today/Yesterday. The feel of the song is shaping up nicely.

Here's the lyrics, as they currently stand. I'm not completely satisfied with them. I think I'll let the LDSrefinersfire yahoogroup tackle them before I record any vocal lines.



Today/yesterday
By mark Hansen
12/3/2004 2:37 AM

It seems today was one of those days again
The sun was out, or maybe skies were gray
I couldn’t tell, my eyes were down ahead of me
A wind blew through me and made me hide my face
These footprints in the snow
Were made some time ago
When I had walked this way
So here I am stepping through the snow again
Can’t seem to tell today from yesterday
Can’t seem to tell today from yesterday


Yesterday when I came by this way
I swore I’d never take these steps again
The way is hard with no direction
The cold and the pain my only friend
But now this path I know
Is much easier to go
This loop without an end
So here I am walking all alone again
Can’t seem to tell today from yesterday
Can’t seem to tell today from yesterday

I can’t see the sun
I can’t see the one
I can’t find the path away from here
So step by step
And lap by lap
I can’t see the way to breaking clear
(and feeling like I haven’t got a prayer)

So here I am stepping through the snow again
Can’t seem to tell today from yesterday
Can’t seem to tell today from yesterday




12/3/04

Last night the boyz got together again for a jam/practice. It was pretty fun, very low-key. I presented "Dancing Their Lives Away". I'd written that one years ago, but never did anything with it. I didn't really have any firm arrangement ideas for it. So, it was fun to just play them the bass riff and hear what they added.

I've also been working out a new one, kind of a depressing, moody song. I'll post the lyrics when I get home.


Friday, November 26, 2004

I got up really early this morning, not to shop, but because I went to bed early. I sat at my music computer and one by one listened to all of my "non-Generation" songs. That is, all the songs that I've started recording, but won't be a part of the "One United Generation" CD.

I started making a list of all the steps I had to go through to finish each song. And I started thinking of my 2005 goals. How many songs do I want to put out in '05? When do I want to shoot for my next CD?

Let's see. If I do a song a month, I could have it done by the end of '05. Well, I'm thinking a song a month might be too much. How about a song every 2 months? I dunno about that, either. That would be two full years to finish.

Another thought: How many tunes should I put on it? 12? 14? If I shoot for 12 (I have currently started 14), and I shot for 18 months (Summer of '06), then I would be doing about 2 songs quarter. I could do that...

Monday, November 22, 2004

OK! I'm very excited. I think that with just a few adjustments, I can call the mix for "The Taker" complete. I'll burn off the various files, and submit them to be weedified today.

And, then, later today when I get to work, I'll install "One United Generation" on my website. It has been all ready, waiting for the songs to be weedified. That's done, now, so I just have to post it up.

And all that is very exciting because that means that there's only one song left to finish. That's "Out of the Chapel", my home teaching song... Yes, I'm embarrassed, because I'm only partially diligent as a home teacher.


Friday, November 19, 2004

I woke up really early this morning. I mean REALLY early. Like 3:00 early. So, I fixed myself a snack and padded around a bit. Finally, I found myself down in the studio comping the vocals for "The Taker".

Considering that singing this song is about a difficulty of 9, and I've got skillz like a 2, I thought I did pretty well.

The computer kept freezing up on me though. That was really frustrating. Troy, my boss said that he has some RAM cards at home he might give me. that might help.

But anyway I thought I'd attempt a mix, because I was too awake to sleep, and, well, why not?

I did a couple of things different on this tune. First off, I did the mix in headphones. Not usually a good idea. But then, at four in the morning, I'm not gonna be ripping out a tune. Still, that means the bass will probably be off, and I'll have to be careful to check it well.

This is such a vocal tune, especially at the end. I set up the lead and harmony vocals as one submix at the start, and then balanced that against the bass and the kick drum. The rest of the parts really are little more than spacial and rythmic pads. Normally, the harmony vocals are one of the last things I add to the mix, because they're pretty much just sparkle.

Well time and testing will tell if this tune will cut it.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Tonight my wife took the boys with her mom to see Disney on Ice. They left after I got home from work, so I stayed home and worked on some vocals. I cut the tracks for "The Taker". That one's been scaring me ever since I wrote it. It's soooo vocally focused. I hope the tracks I cut do it justice. Even still, they're the best I can do at this point in my life, and they turned out way better than what I had before, cut almost a year ago.

I kept having some frustrations with my computer. I don't think my system can handle SX v3 very well. I might have to get more RAM. It crackles and jumps a lot on playback, which can effect the recording part as well.

Oh! And by the way, I was excited to find out the other day that I have sold a few more weedshare songs! And--I sold a few songs by that Christian group Chozen, so I made a few coins on that deal as well.

Sunday, November 14, 2004

I got to spend a little time in my studio tonight, so I comped up the newer vocals for "Generation" and did a mix. It's sounding much much better than it did before, that's for sure. I'll be taking this mix around various places to check it out, now, and see how it all holds up.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Wow!

I was feeling a bit more like I could sing tonight, so, after some debate I decided to try and redo "Generation". I'd been working on the mix, see, and I'd decided I didn't like the vocals. I'd actually been quite down about it. Feeling like I couldn't sing and all...

But I decided to try again. I also tried some different configurations of Cubase, so that I could hear the output of the Cubase mixer instead of just the vocals fed back through the sound card. The upshot of that is that I could hear the vocals nestled very nicely in the mix and with reverb, too. It sound rich and sweet. And the latency added a bit of chorus to thicken it up, too.

So, all that added a lot ot my confidence, and I just rocked the part! I think I went a little hard because I was getting pretty fatigued after only 6 tracks or so. But then, that could've just been because of today, too.

And when I played the tracks back, it was sooooo sooooo sooo much clearer. Sooo much stronger. Much less strain-y. When I heard myself that way, I was able to correct my tone much easier. It was like I was hearing the final result, instead of hoping.

So, I'm very excited!



Monday, November 08, 2004

Well, I've got the "Generation" vocals comped. I was having a devil of a time doing it last night, though. It seems that v3 is running really slow on my system. I think I'll need to upgrade! Yeah, right...

But I've also been prepping for mix. We'll see how it all comes out!


Saturday, November 06, 2004

This morning was the monthly Club Cubase meeting. We covered version 3 in our meeting. It was all great fun. I learned a lot.

I learned a lot of simple basic things that I had missed in my piecemeal self-teaching progress in the program.

I also learned how to use a lot of cool features of v3 that I'd only heard about, like "Time Warping", or being able to shift the locations of timed musical events, stretching the waves around it. It essentially allows you to "quantize" audio, which you could previously only do with MIDI commands.

Then, I also learned some stuff that I had no idea existed to begin with!

And afterward, I grabbed lunch with Ron Hill. He's the guy that's helped me a lot with my tunes. He set me up with his brother with the drum tracks for "He's Out There", "Here in Me", and "Generation". Great stuff. I really like Ron's music. It's very innovative, based in the synth pop of the '80's but very thoughtful.

Last night was kinda nice. Jodi's gone with her friend for a scrapbooking, relaxing weekend (which she desparately deserves), and the kids were wreaking havoc upstairs with a sleepover.

So, I went downstairs and started comping the vocals for "Generation". I think I might actually be able to keep these vocals. I'd not been to sure. But I think it will work.

And today, I get to go to Club Cubase (here in a couple of hours) and learn more about v3. I've sure been enjoying it, so far. I'd really like to learn how to use the time warping features. Then I could clean up some of the drum parts on John's "Desert Flower" and present him with a mix.

+++++++

And it seems that somehow my post about the Project rehearsal didn't take. Sometimes Blogger can be quite frustrating. But we had a great practice. Our first few times through "Flower" really stank, but by the end of the night we were clipping right along. "BookaMo" really cooks, now.

Thursday, November 04, 2004

Tonight, I spent some time cutting the vocals for "One United Generation". It took me, like, about 6 takes to get "in the zone". That's relative, too. I'm not sure how really zoned I was. I could tell, though, that the first takes were definitely unzoned....

But after about 8 takes, we had a brown out that shut down my computer! I lost a couple of takes and had to recut them. :-(

Sometime this weekend, I'll listen to them and see if anything's worth keeping.


Sunday, October 31, 2004

I started working on a new one tonight. Actually, it's a very, very old one, that I wrote when I was still living in Indiana. The lyrics on the verse are spoken in rhythm, and the choruses are sung. It's not really a rap vibe, though. Too bluesy.

But it's also way too long. Almost seven minutes. Yeesh.

Oh, well. I busted it out primarily as a vehicle to get familiar with Cubase SX v3. It's a fun program, but there are definite differences between v1 and 3.

And speaking of the new version, I did figure out how to make the old songs play. I have to go into each song and do two things: 1--set up a stereo output bus, and 2--route all the tracks through that bus. It'll be a bit time consuming, but then I'll be able to move all my work over to the new version.



Thursday, October 28, 2004

I got the new version of Cubase installed. It's fun to play with, and I got it all working. But when I open up a song made with the old version, I can't get it to play back the old tracks.

Fortunately, the good folks at Steinberg did a wonderful thing. They set it up so that when you install the newer version, it goes into a new directory, rather than installing on top of the old version. That way, I can still do the old songs in the old version. I'm safe. I don't want to screw things up on my CD when I'm this close to being done!

I'm sure I'll figure out how to do it before too long, anyway. It's just nice to know that the old stuff isn't screwed up.

It's kinda interesting, though. I only played in version 3 for a few minutes, cut a short little guitar riff and then a bass line. But when I opened up v1 to make sure it still worked, it looked, I don't know, OLD. Isn't that weird? I've been using SX v1 for about 2 years, now. TWO YEARS. And in just a few minutes, it looks old.

Funny how things play with your perceptions.

The riff I recorded was kinda cool, too. I don't know if I'll make a full song out of it, though. It's kind of a simplistic little three chord classic rock ditty. It's got a slow lope to it that's really cool. Still...
I had a very bad day yesterday, especially in the morning.

And, to top it all off, I couldn't access the blogger to post it.

But, the one good thing that did happen yesterday was that I got in to the studio and I cut some guitars for "Turn it up". I had been thinking about that tune, and pondering it. It occurred to me to shift the key so that I could sing it more easily. Sometimes, I'm singing really high, and if I shift the key up far enough, I can actually jump the vocals down into a more reasonable octave. Sometimes, however, the guitar riff that the song is based on is difficult or even impossible to play in another key. That's why so many guitar songs are in A or E.

Anyway, I thought about that, and I tried it in Bb (that's "B flat"). Why Bb? Well, that's a bit of a nod to John. The poor guy always has to play the trumpet in these guitar keys. See, every instrument has keys that are very easy to play in. A and E, the easy guitar keys, are some of the hardest for trumpet. Bb, very easy for trumpet, is usually very difficult for guitar.

But this song works in Bb, so I cut the guitars that way. And that gave my morning a big boost.

It'll be a fun tune, and would make a good title song for the next CD.

Oh! One other cool thing that happened yesterday: I got my copy of Cubase SX version 3! I installed it this morning, but I couldn't update my copy protection right away. My music computer isn't hooked up to the net, and you have to be to update the copy protection, so I'll have to do that tonight. Then I can try it all out!


Tuesday, October 26, 2004

10/25/04 10:59 am

I've been in Orlando, Florida for the weekend. I'd like to say it was fun, but I was working the whole time. Diego, mi amigo from the office, was also there, in fact, we shared the hotel.

Last night we were up until about 2:30 or so, spinning the tunes I've been working on for "Generation" and talking about ideas for Flash animations. Diego is an incredible graphic designer, with a very creative mind.

There were three songs that grabbed his interest, visually speaking. The one we're going to start with is "Pharisee". He's got some cool ideas of animating my face like a robot.

We also got very excited about ideas for "Toy Soldiers". It opens the song up for broader interpretations

Then there's "He's Out There". That one would involve shooting a bunch of stills with some kids like Jordan and his girlfriend. Very fun.

And "The Taker" would be very intense.

So, I'll obviously keep you posted here on our progress. For now, I'm very excited.

Thursday, October 21, 2004

Well, this is exciting. John came over and cut some horn parts for "Out of the Chapel". It was pretty interesting.

I'm excited about it, because that means that all that's left on the album is to recut lead vocals on the three remaining songs and mix them. That's it. That's kind of a cool milestone to pass.

John was saying, too, just how challenging these horn parts have been for him. Some of them get really high, and it's tough to play that way. He said that cutting the tracks for this CD has really stretched him as a player. Which is cool. It's certainly stretched me as a singer as well. And as a person, to just drive to home and get the songs done. A very growing experience all around.


Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Got the Millstones guitar tabs done, and they're posted to the main site, now.

Keeewwwllll...


Sunday, October 17, 2004

Not much actual work goin' on this weekend, but I've been having some fun anyway.

This next weekend, I'm going to Orlando for a symposium for my work. In the process, I've been working with CS Bezas, of latterdayauthors.com, to set up a house concert. I am soooooo stoked at the possibility!

I started working on the tabs for "Millstones", too. It's both simpler and more complicated than the others. But it's fun, anyway.

And last night, Jodi and I went on our weekly date to see Cheri Magill and Maren Ord at the Provo Arts Center. Great show, and it was nice to see Maren again. She was the headliner for the LDSM Fest IV, in 2003. The show was plagued with bad sound, but her performance was great, anyway. She really is a solid, solid performer.



Monday, October 11, 2004

OK!

Millstones is done!

It's now installed on the music page. Gotta go check it out!


Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Well, It looks like there's still work to be done on Millstones. When I got to work and played it on my computer here, the vocals were way buried. And since a lot of my audience (you kind folks) will be downloading and listening on your computers, I need to fix that.

*sigh*

Just when you think you've got it fixed...


Tuesday, October 05, 2004

Lots happened today. The night time, especially. The gig tonight was one of the best EVER!

But I'll lead up to it.

First, last night, and this morning, I was stressing trying to get everything ready for this gig. I was really excited about it. It was for a youth conference, hosted by a local LDS private school. They also publish a homeschooling curriculum, and so there were a lot of those students from all over at the conference, too. It's a big week long affair, and I got to be the speaker/performer that opened it up.

So, I'm trying to get everything ready, because I'm going there straight from work. I realize that I'd left some key gear at Morey's when we got together for the Project's practice. So, I'd have to borrow or improvise.

This morning, in a few spare moments, I tweaked the Millstones mix. I like it a lot better, now. It might well be the mix I run with.

Then, at work, I played Diego the roughs of his song, and he was very excited. That was really good, because I wasn't too confident in the direction I was going with it. But now, renewed, I can tackle it again.

So, after work, I head out to the gig, I stopped at Connie and John Roberts' to pick up some things, borrowed, to use instead of the thigns I had left at Morey's, and went on out to Aspen Grove to the conference.

When I got there and started to set up, I paniced. I couldn't believe how idiotic I'd been! I'd forgotten the mixer for the PA! I'd brought speakers, mic's, everything. No mixer!

AAAAARRRGH.

My first thought was that I could do the gig unplugged with just my acoustic guitar. That would work, but it wouldn't be as much fun. I saw that there was a house system built into the room where the conference was, with speakers in the ceiling. I checked and I could run one side of my CD player into the system, and feed in the mics as well. It was boomy in a major way, and there was no EQ AT ALL.

But, the show must go on, right?

And it did, and the kids LOVED it. I could tell from the opening chords of "Here in Me" that they were into it. They spontaneously burst into clapping along several times through the set.

The hour-long "show" was really more of a fireside, because I did a lot of speaking as well. I talked about how there's really six conditions for listening:


  1. Bad (unrighteous) songs, performed by artists whose lifestyles are bad examples
  2. Innocent (non-religious) songs, performed by bad examples
  3. Good (righteous) songs, performed by bad examples
  4. Innocent songs, performed by good examples
  5. Good songs, performed by good examples
  6. Songs by members of the church, that touch me and bear testimony to my soul.

We talked about our favorite bands and how they fit into this picture.

Then I played a few acoustic songs, talked some more and ended with "Thank You", and "I Hear the Voices Singing".

Then, I was amazed. They started cheering, and it just swelled. There were about 200 kids and staff there, and the noise just was overwhelming. Then a lot of them stood up, still cheering!

As some of you who've been reading my blogs know, this has been a challenging spring and summer. I've wondered at times what I was doing and why I was doing it. I'll tell ya, that show was a real boost and I've really needed that.

And afterward, they rushed the table to get my pass-it-on CD's and ask for autographs. I was overwhelmed with the whole spirit of the day. So many things had stressed me out preparing for this gig, and in the end I learned it was the songs and the message that were the important part. Not the gear or the performance (frankly, I've performed better--I've also done much worse). But it was the message and the fun that touched the kids!

So, I've been very blessed tonight. I hope I get to do it again next year!



Friday, October 01, 2004

Another jam session with the Project boys last night. A lot of fun. We tried to go through "Booka Mo", but most of us had forgotten how to play it, and we only had one copy of the lead sheet... So, we kidna muddled through it. Same with "Desert Flower".

I presented "Bats in my Belfry" to everyone and we had a great time running through that a few times. It's very difficult to play on the bass. It really wears my hands out. But it sounded pretty good by the end of the night. Nowhere near ready to perform, but still not bad.

Then, afterward, we read through an arrangement that John had done at Morey's request of a melody and theme from the "Gettysburg" movie. It sounds really cool, and with some development it'll be fun to play. We're thinking it would be a good one to start a show with.



Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Last night I did a "setup" mix of Millstones, and I was pretty excited about it. Things were sounding clear, and It was rockin'...

Then I listened to it this morning, and compared it to a professional model, and it needs LOTS more work. The strings are clogging the mix, the Guitars aren't beefy enough...

:-P

Monday, September 27, 2004

More work on Millstones. I'm pretty stoked about it. I was prepping it for mixing (freezing the MIDI tracks as audio, setting up the group tracks, making sure all the tracks are named right and in the right order...), when I noticed that I still had the MIDI synth bass track. Now, for some tunes, like "First Step" that's OK. But not for a heavy tune like "stones".

So, I pulled out my bass and cut the track. I had to relearn it, though, and fix a lot of mistakes along the way. My memory is shot in my old age, and so once I've recorded a track I erase how to play it. It frees up more short-term memory for more important things, like my wife's birthday or something like that!

Words of Wisdom: NEVER forget your wife's birthday!


Sunday, September 26, 2004

Ok, there's this guy at work named Diego, he's from Bolivia. He's our graphic designer, and we've been talking a lot about our various artistic and creative endeavors. He's said he's interested in creating some flash animations for my songs to add to the CD, as well as design the CD covers and sleeves as well. I'm pretty stoked about it.

So, in trade, I'm going to do some work for him. The other day he came to me and said he had an idea for what he wanted for a musical loop for his website. So, I started working on it tonight. He wants it to be simple, and like a kids melody, but gone horribly wrong. He suggested a sort of merry-go-round calliope sort of sound. I think I've got what he's looking for, but it's still pretty raw.


Saturday, September 25, 2004

I got up this morning and started working on cleaning up the drum tracks on Millstones. Since Morey adds the fills, there's a lot of overlap with the basic track. If I don't clean up the extra drum hits, sometimes there's more drums playing than a human can possibly smack. Plus, since it's all MIDI, I get to clean up the timing a smidge, too. It's all sounding pretty great, now!

While I was doing it, Brendon wakes up and starts crawling over me. Finally he settles down and just sits on my lap and hit's the "delete" key when I ask him to. But it doesn't take long to get bored with that, and he starts asking to play with my paints.

So, I set him up with that, and Jacob starts screaming from the other room... :-) It's a wonder I get anything done, innit?

But then, after I was finished, we all climbed into our big bed and snuggled and tickled and giggled and ended up with a pillow fight. I love mornings like this...


Friday, September 24, 2004

So, John and Morey came over last night, and Morey cut the tom fills for "Millstones". We didn't get much else DONE, but we had a lot of fun anyway!

John brought over his Lord of the Rings miniatures, and some terrain pieces (castles) he was making. It reminded me so much of the times when we were playing Vendetta and Warhammer all these many years ago. That, of course, is what "Toy Soldiers" was all about.


Wednesday, September 22, 2004

I got up early this morning and tabbed out "The First Step". It's on the site, now. I'm getting more and more fluent with that program, and it's getting to be fun to use.

Of course, I haven't tried to tab out a solo, either... :-)

I tried to import the bass line from the original MIDI, and it didn't translate well at all, so I ended up recreating it.


Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Got more done on Millstones. Over the last couple of days, I've been comping the lead vocals. At the risk of bragging, I'm pretty pleased with the tracks. I mean, the tune is right there in my range, and not a lot of tricky bridge-crossing or anything. Not hard to sing at all, so it ends up sounding pretty good for the most part.

And Morey's gonna come and sparkle up the drums on Thursday...


Friday, September 17, 2004

Another quick note:

I just logged into my site and installed two songs (with karaoke versions) from Hangar 3 (that's John and Sherri Garrett and myself). "Take a Stand", and "Sunshine". Those are also the songs that she performed at my summer showcase.


It's kinda funny, writing this. I usually write here about making music. Either in the studio, or in a performance, or writing, or something.

So, last night, I didn't make an music.

But, what I did do was get together with John, Morey, and Matt and we all cleaned out Morey's basement for a rehearsal space. I'm quite stoked about it. It'll be nice.

Then we sat around until 2:00 in the morning talking about music, songs we're going to do, shows we've got planned, righteousness, politics, priesthood, how to raise kids, the nature of the universe, all while eating Trudy's (Morey's wife) incredible cheese dip and lime bars.

What a lot of fun!

And now, I'm hammered.


Monday, September 13, 2004

OK, Finally!

I've got "Thank You" and "First Step" on the web! It took me long enough, didn't it? And I also posted the new tabs for "Here in Me". Lotsa quick changes at the site.

Last night was also fun, too. I wanted to have some kid shouting "Daddy!" in the background in the instrumental break in "Millstones", so I got Brendon to oblige me. He did a pretty good job. I get to choose exactly which sample and where it will go, now. The only thing left is the drums and the mix.


Sunday, September 12, 2004

I've got a second song tabbed out, now. I finished "Here in Me" (without the solo) this afternoon. Tabs are pretty fun to do. I really hope that whoever is out there wanting to learn them can have some fun with them!


Got some things done over the last coupla days. I finally got another music night last friday. But it was short and late. Still, I cut a bunch of vocal tracks for "Millstones". That one's getting close. I have to edit the MIDI lines of the orchestra, and get Morey out to sparkle up the drums, and then it's mixdown time.

I've also been working more on the tabs. I've got the rhythm guitar parts to "Here in Me" almost completely done, and I've just got to do the bass, and I'll be able to post that.

And, I've become a weedshare ICP! That means I can now weedify my own songs! I don't have to wait. In fact, "Thank You" and "First Step" are done. I'll have them on the site probably tomorrow afternoon.

Thinks keep moving forward!


Thursday, September 09, 2004


OK, I just posted the "He's Out There" tabs. And I'll probably finish the rhythm and bass parts to "Here in Me" sometime this week.

If there is someone out there that loves playing guitar and wants to help me transcribe my solos, I'd LOVE to hear from you!


Wednesday, September 08, 2004


No more recording done, but I finished the "He's Out There" tab for bass and guitar. With any luck I'll have it posted to my site tomorrow. I did both the guitars and bass parts, but not the solo. I listened to myself and I have no idea what I played!

So, then I was all excited, so I worked out the basic rhythm guitar for "Here in Me". There are some other layers of guitar to work out, and I also have to do the bass, so it won't get published for a while yet.

Bill Dent, who played the solo on that tune, might even tab out the solo for me. So, young guitarists, watch and learn, 'cause Bill's the monster!


Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Since the festival ended, I've been taking a breather as far as new recording work goes. I'll be back at it this week, though.

Still, I got a few emails from fellow guitar players requesting that I post tabs of my songs on my site. To me, this is really exciting, because it means that there are people that want to play my tunes! That's also why I post karaoke versions of my songs, too.

It's also a bit daunting to me, though, because that means I also need to prepare tabs of my songs! And it also means that I have to remember what on earth I played!

:-)

But a friend of mine turned me on to a freeware program called powertabs that helps you to prepare professional looking tabs of your songs. Of course, you still have to manually enter the numbers and the notes, so it's a bit time-consuming, but it looks great.

I worked up a basic tab of "He's Out There", mainly because it was so simple. Rhythm Guitar only, so far. I'll get the bass done and then post it to the site. I don't know if I'll ever tab out the solo, because I have no idea what I played! Maybe if some other guitar player wanted to learn the solo and tab it out, I could enter it into the program and it'd work great. I'd even give him/her credit!

Monday, August 30, 2004

This weekend has been way, way busy! It was the weekend of the V'th annual LDS Music Fest.

It was especially busy for me, since I'm in charge of it each year! And this year, doubly so, because it was really not very well organized.

But in any case, it happened, and it pulled of very well. This year, I didn't run the sound, and what a wonderful load off my shoulders. We hired it out instead. I was then free to be around to make decisions, answer questions, manage the artist flow and keep things running smoothly.

I got to do some fun perfomances, first of all, the combo played for John, and that went over REALLY well. "Booka Mo", John's swing jazz version of "Book of Mormon Stories" was one of the hits of the fest.

I did a half-hour set at the start of the evening showcase, and I felt OK about it. It was fun. Jodi said it was one of the best performances she'd seen me do. It wasn't the best I felt, but it was good. It was tough for me because I wasn't in the monitors at all. I was relying on the main sound bouncing back at me to hear myself.

But it's still a rush to hear the crowd shout when I swing my mic for the first time!

Sunday, we did an experiment that worked very well. We did a separate fireside program for the inspirational music writers in the group. Very spiritual. I had a tear or two many times.

And after the strike on Saturday, we all got together at Dave's house for an after party. We played songs to each other for hours and hours.

I think the best part of the whole thing is just renewing and strengthening old friendships. It's a great time and a wonderful experience!

Wednesday, August 25, 2004

I finished "First Step" this morning. I just have to get it weedified, and on the site...

Woo Hoo!

Four more! I might just actually achieve this goal of being done by the end of the year. There is a light at the end of the tunnel...

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

Hey, the last few days have been very hectic, both with me being out of town for my birthday/anniverary (42/17), and then also not being connected to blogger...

But anyway, I've recut the "First Step" vocals, and have begun the mix. It might have even been finished this morning, but as I listened to it in my car, it still needs work. But it's getting closer.

Friday, August 20, 2004

As I was reading over the blog (after I published) I realized I had forgotten a coupla things.

The other night, A friend of mine gave me some orchestral samples he'd downloaded off the net, and I got around to installing them into a player. Devious ol' Mark, the whole reason was, of course, "Millstones".

So, I fired it up and it sounds soooooo good. I played with the mix some, but it's going to be a very very difficult mix to realize. With the strings and the layers of guitars, there is just so much going on in this tune. It'll be very difficult to find places for it all.

If you'll recall, John was the one to do the string arrangements.

There's still some more work to do on that tune, too. I've got to get Morey in to sparkle up the drums, and I've got to recut the vocals. The original backing vocals, I think I can keep them. But there's some things in the scratch lead that I can do way better.

Once I get "Step" done, I'll probably tackle "Millstones" next.

Had a great time with my musical friends last night. Morey, Matt and John came over to prepare for the festival. It'll be quite fun. We're doing three things, one's a little audience warmup, another is John's "Desert Flower" a gorgeous slow jazz tune he wrote for his daughter, and then "Booka Mo", which is a fast swing version of "Book of Mormon Stories". It's way, way fun, and I'm certain it will turn out to be one of the more memorable highlights of the fest.

Then afterward, I stayed up a bit later and cut vocals for "The First Step". Many of you might remember that long, long ago, when I got Cubase and went digital for the first time, I started working on this song. It had originally been written for the baptism of a good friend's daughter. I think she's in high school, now...

Anyway, I recorded a version of the song, and put it out on iuma. I did it with the intention of it being on "my album", whenever that would happen. Well, three years or so later, it's happening. I'm still using the same basic tracks, and I'm just recutting the main and decorative vocals. The backing vocals were done by Anne Corey, and they're so smooth and gorgeous that I'm keeping them.

So, the next step (pardon the pun) is to comp the vocal line, then prep the tracks for mixing, and then redo the mix.

This tune is kind of a departure for me. It's got a sort of Tom Petty, folky feel to it. A very simple tune. I like to use it to start my acoustic shows.

Friday, August 13, 2004

Not doin' much. I've been archiving songs to CD. The ones that I've finished. Each one can take me as much as 40 minutes to do. So, I grab a moment here and a moment there.

Filing away the songs and removing them from my hard drive has shown me that I reall have gotten a lot accomplished.

As I've been readying these songs, I've also realized just how long I've been working on this CD. For some of these tunes, I've finished the first versions of them back in '02! Two years ago!

Oh, well. It keeps on progressing, doesn't it?

Monday, August 09, 2004

This was a way, way, way busy weekend. I went up to Bear Lake, where I love to take my family, and performed three times in two days at the "Raspberry Days" festival.

Friday afternoon, I sang for a half hour to my tracks on the main stage in the Garden City Park, to a large and receptive crowd. It went really well.

Then, Saturday morning, I set up a little gear on the church lawn, where the scout troop was hosting the annual Pancake Breakfast, and I provided acoustic background music for them. Got a lot of good feedback, and I gave away a lot of Pass-it-On CD's. I played for about 2 hours. I was in the shade when I set up, but not long after that, I was in sun, so I'm lookin' like the Lobsterman today! :-)

Then, Saturday afternoon, I performed to tracks again in the park. I don't feel that one was as strong as the Friday show, but it was still fun, and a good crowd.

All in all, a great weekend.


Friday, August 06, 2004

We had a lot of fun tonight. John and Morey, and a friend named Matt all got together to work up a couple of John's tunes for the fest. But, we're doing them live, not to tracks.

It's been a long time since I did any truly live playing in a group setting. Challenging and lots of fun. It's weird to not have a click track holding you together. You're just all playing along. It's magic!


Monday, August 02, 2004

Another song finished! I just ran the completed "Thank You" mixes.

It's a good feeling. I've been enjoying getting so many songs done recently. It's nice to move forward!


Over the last couple of days, I've been working on "Thank You" a lot. First, preparing for mix. That includes striping all the VST isntruments from MIDI to audio, throwing out all the extraneous tracks that I'm not gonna use, resetting all the faders to 0, and setting up the group tracks.

Did any of that make any sense to the non-technical?

Well, suffice it to say that it takes about an hour to an hour and a half to take all the final tracks and get them ready to even start the mixing process.

Then, I got a rough mix done. It's pretty solid, but there's a few tweaks to make. And I still haven't added reverb or effects, yet. If the mix is tight to begin with, the blends good, etc.. Then you don't need much 'verb.


Thursday, July 29, 2004

 
Wow.  A lot done tonight.  And I was afraid that we wouldn't even get a chance to get together.  But John came over and we cut some horn parts on "Thank You".  They rock.  John rocks.  We all rock!  He is always able to take what I've given him and notch it up two or three in ideas and intensity.  What a friend!
 
Then, after he left, I stayed in the studio and cut 8 tracks of lead vocals.  I feel really good about them, too.  I'm pretty sure I can comp a keepable track out of it. 
 
This tune is funny.  It's not like "Toy Soldiers", where there's a linear story line.  The verses are all over the place in concept.  I'm basically just listing the things I'm thankful for.  So, sometimes, I forget which order they go in.  As many times as I've recorded it and sang it live, I still mess it up.
 
Yikes.
 
But then, after that, I got brave.  I cut some scratch vocals for "Turn it Up".  This is the tune where the Lord wants me to turn it up a notch, too, I think, and really press my ability.  But I heard in this quick cut tonight, the seeds of ability that I've been working on for four years.  I heard glimpses of things that I thought I'd never be able to do.  And that was VERY exciting.
 
And, of course, when I record that one for reals, you'll be the first to know!
 

Wednesday, July 28, 2004

 
OK, right now, I'm in the middle of a very nervewracking process.  My music computer's hard drive is getting full, so I need to archive some of the songs I've finished and delete them.  Once I prepare the archive, I move it all to a CD, but sometimes it doesn't fit. 
 
Isn't that funny?  A single 5 minute song doesn't fit on a 700 MB CD!
 
But it's true!
 
Because every track is it's own audio file, and there are often takes upon takes...  Yeesh...
 
So, then I have to wait for the entire thing to burn, and burning that much data can take a seriously long time, like 30-40  minutes.  Then I have to burn the second CD.
 
And the reason it's so nervewracking is that I'm paranoid that something will go wrong and I'll somehow lose my song.  It's not a rational fear, I know, but when you've got as much time and emotion invested in these tunes as I do, rationality goes *pffft* out the window!
 
So, I'm archiving "Here in Me".  Hope it works!
 
 
I think I've got the finished mix for "What'll Save Ya". I'm pretty stoked about it. I did bring the rhythm guitars back a bit, and it still rocks hard. I also backed off the bass, so it's not quite so heavy on the bottom. I have this interesting tendency to let my bottom get out of hand.

Does that ever happen to you? I hate when that happens... :-)

Well, I'll get it weedified, and we'll have it on the site in a week or so!

And in another couple of weeks, I'll have "Thank You" done!

And then? Who knows. Maybe "Millstones"... Maybe "The Taker"...


Monday, July 26, 2004

This morning, I spent a little time preparing "What'll Save Ya" for mixing.  First, I had to finish cleaning up the drum tracks, combining the fills and cymbal accents (what I call "sparkle") with the basic beats that were already there.  Then, I converted all the MIDI tracks for all of my virtual synthesizers and drum machines into wav audio.  That way, I can preserve the tones I use.  It also uses up less computer power in the mix.
 
It seems to be not much, but it took me a couple of hours, and it's pretty tedious stuff.  Now, in a few minutes, I hope to begin the actual mix.  That'll be fun.
 
I'm really excited to release this song.  Pretty much all of the other tunes were ones that I'd released as mp3's before.  I'd just primped them up a bit and remixed them.  Now, this one is brand new.  Never been released before.  That's exciting!
 

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Oops, I almost forgot. 
 
After a bit of critiquing on the LDSRefinersFire email list, I revised the first verse of "Turn it Up".  Here's the new version:
 
 
Since I was young I’ve tried to do what’s right
Holding the rod and walking the line
And through the years its been great to see
The love and the joy that's set me free
 
But now it's time to take it higher
I need to stoke my inner fire
 
Turn it up...
 
 
Much better, isn't it?
 
 
I did a lot of music last night.  This morning, too.
 
Yesterday, at work, my boss was talking to me about this CD ROM we're putting together.  Our designer is creating the look of it in Flash, and mentioned that they're thinking of putting music on it.  So, I said, "I'll make the music for you!"
 
So, I did!  I created three 15-20 second loops.  Each one took me about 45 minutes or so.  Lots of fun. It's kind of challenging to make music that's interesting enough to not be lame, but dull enough that it doesn't detract from the actual content that people are reading.
 
Then Morey came over with his drum pad and we added tom fills and things to "What'll Save Ya" and "Out of the Chapel".  It's cool.  I create the basic drum track with my keyboard, a solid beat, then he comes in and adds the cymbals and the tom/snare fills.  That way, I can cut the other tracks with a basic beat behind it, and I still get a live feel for the overall track.  Great stuff.
 
Now, I just go in and clean it up a tich, and *Presto* drum track!
 
"Save Ya" is almost done, now.  Some horn parts, and a mix, and it'll be ready for the world!
 
I decided the other day that my "Big Audacious Goal" will be to have my CD ready by the end of the year.  Let's see if I can pull it off!  If I do a song a month for the rest of the year, I'll have ten songs ready by then.  I think I can do it!
 
 

Saturday, July 17, 2004

I woke up this morning with a song in my head.
 
I mean, really early this morning, like about 4:30. 
 
So, I dug out my palm pilot, and started writing words.  It was a song that has been cooking up in my subconcious for a very very long time.  It was based on a guitar riff that I'd been playing with literally for years.  A hot driving riff, I had no idea what it would be about.  Then, a few months ago, the idea hit me to call it "Turn it Up!" And it would be about the exhileration of playing music really really loud.
 
Then, after a few weeks, the thought occurred to me to make it be about turning up life, instead of the sound.  I flirted with making it a hybrid, but finally, this morning, I settled on this:
 
Turn it Up
By Mark Hansen, 7/17/04 6:03 AM
 
Since I was young I've been striving for you
Takin my time and giving your due
For all the beauty that you've given me
The love and the joy that's set me free
 
But now it's time to take it higher
I need to stoke my inner fire
 
Chorus:
Turn it up
Turn it up
Turn it up
Turn it up
 
A big man with a lot of wealth to report
Asked his Lord where he'd counted short
Keep the rules and study the truth
But he'd done it all since he was a youth
 
So the Lord told him to live it more
Sell it off and give it all to the poor
 
Chorus
 
Bridge:
I've got to turn it up
Lengthen my stride
Raise my eyes
Lower my pride
Love a little more
Hoard a little less
This is my life
This is my test
Turn it up
 
Choruses to end
 
Not bad for a second draft, I think.  There are still some issues, though, like the shift in point of view between the first and second verses...
 
Anyway, so I got up and cut some scratch tracks.  Guitar, drums, bass.  It'll be a fun tune.
 
Of course, that means one more unfinished song in my stack...  Someday I'll get time to actually devote to working these tunes out!  It gets so frustrating at times.  But it IS a fun journey.
 
 

Friday, July 16, 2004

This morning, I took a leap of faith.
 
I've been kind of stalling, but bit by bit I've been burning some demo CD's and preparing them to mail off.  Who to?  LDS recording lables, online distributors, etc... 
 
I've always been nervous to submit my material to industry types, but I finally realized that I can't just sit on the tunes.  I've got to shop them out there.
 
*Deep Breath*
 
So, this morning I put the demos together, and today I'll mail them off!
 
 

Wednesday, July 07, 2004

I spent some time last night cutting vocals (actually, recutting) for "Thank You". I got some good takes, I think, but I didn't have much endurance. Normally, when I'm doing vocals, I cut about 10-12 takes and then pick and choose the best bits of each. But this time, I was losing ground after 4 takes, and I only got through 8. So, I don't know if I'll have enough material to comp a good recording.

We'll see...

Sunday, June 27, 2004

Yesterday was a very, very, very long musical day. My semi-annual showcase.

It started at around ten loading the last of Morey's gear into his van and driving it to my ward house. We started loading in and setting up. Schlepping gear is always tedious and back-breaking, but it makes for a great show.

So, we schlepped and hookedup and plugged in and tested and tweaked and set up chairs and tables and worked right up to show time at 7 that evening.

The show itself was great, even though the audience was sparse. The ones that were there were way into the music and the show, singing along, clapping along, and just getting into it. They stayed through the whole show, too. I'd guess there were about 20 there, and about half of those were youth.

A couple of high spots:

John N was there to play the trumpet to "Toy Soldiers" live, instead of just the recording, and that made a very special moment. I was down below, off the stage when he makes his musical entrance, so I could hear him, but not see him. Then, at the end, I backed off to one side and looked up and Morey had him backlit with blue and a little amber, and it was GORGEOUS! the way those lights sparkled up his trumpet was amazing. And his tone was rich and pure...

It was cool, also, to look over at Zack Newman, John's son, and see him singing along on almost every song. He'd just gotten the priesthood, so I dedicated "He's Out There" to him.

Sherri came out and did "Take a Stand" and "Sunshine". She was way nervous, but did a great job. As I was listening to her and watching her in front of the audience, I was at the same time amazed by her voice, and very proud of the songs and the productions we had all put together as a team.

At the end, the kids scored up a bunch of Pass-it-On CD's, and we packed up. We had a lot of people help so, it didn't take as long as it has in the past.

I do wish that more kids had been there, but I felt like it was one of my best performances ever, and the ones that were there were into it and having fun. Who knows? Maybe a song or two touched them...

Saturday, June 19, 2004

It's been a crazy musical week. That's too sure!

After working with LaDena and Renee on Wednesday, then John and I worked as usual on Thursday. Morey came over, and brought a small acoustic drum kit. It's been years since I've miked a kit. So, I dug out my mixer and mics and we went at it.

Two overheads (my nice condensors), a 57 on the snare/hat, and another dynamic on the kick and we're good to go. He's playing with brushes on a soft jazz tune, so it's not like we have to close mic each tom. It's really a pretty simple setup, but it sounded GREAT.

So, we cut the drums on "Desert Flower". Nice brush work from Morey.

Then John and Sherry showed up as we were finishing. We have a lot to do to get ready for the showcase, so we put down some harmony vocals on "Sunshine" and burned her copies of all the songs she's doing.

Then last night was the Pearl awards. None of the people I was pulling for won. :-( Oh, well. It's still a lot of fun to be there!

MRKH

Thursday, June 17, 2004

LaDena and her sister are always a lot of fun to work with. They came over tonight (LaDena's in town from Nevada) and we worked on "Crack of the Wind", one of hers. It's a cool tune. We worked a lot of the bugs out of it and cut a guitar track. Fun!

Thursday, June 10, 2004

OK, tonight was a great night. We got a LOT done on "Desert Flower", a song John Newman's been writing. It's a sort of light Jazz instrumental.

We started off with John playing a short piano solo for the bridge, and then he had me play a clean guitar solo. I was really nervous, because I don't do jazz very well. I just don't have the experience in it. But it came off pretty well. At least John was pleased!

Then I did some rhythm guitar. Lots of 7th chords, which I can do, but I'm not used to some of the voicings, so it was again really tricky. But it worked.

And finally the bass.

And all during that time, John's young son Zack was running the mouse. He looked like he was having fun, and he picked up Cubase pretty quickly.

But the best part of the night was having John cut the trumpet lead. Wow. What a rich tone! This boy's goooooooood!

Wednesday, June 09, 2004

I haven't really been working much more on the new songs. I have, however, been practicing a lot for my showcase. I've been practicing the songs as I drive to and from work. The morning is the most difficult, because I'm on my way at, like, 8:00, and that's not good singing time! But I keep working at it.

I'm pretty excited by the setlist. Let's see if I can remember it:

1 - A Joyful Noise/Rockshow
2 - Here in Me
3 - Primary Rocks
4 - Toy Soldiers
5 - He's Out There

Then Sherri will do two songs:

6 - Take a Stand
7 - Sunshine

Then I come back with

8 - Pharisee
9 - The Taker
10 - The Sun Shone Through the Windows
11 - Thank You
12 - Sometimes My Life
13 - I Hear the Voices Singing


It'll be a fun time. I'm sure!

Monday, June 07, 2004

A pretty frustrating day, yesterday. I was teaching my sunday school class, and I thought it would be fun for us to do a saturday barbecue for the class. So, I invite everyone (I'd cleared this with my wife before hand) and we started talking about dates.

In the process of the discussion, I found out that there's a ward party scheduled the same night as my showcase! When I booked that I specifically asked everyone (who all had ward calendars) if there was anything on for that night. Nope. All clear.

So, I'm not sure what to do about it. Jodi suggested I do it in September when the kids are back in school. I'm tempted to go ahead with it, because there are two other wards we're inviting.

Rrrrrrr...

The gospel's still true, it's just sometimes frustrating with the people, that's all...

So, I spent some time cooling off and working on "I Will Sing This Prayer". It's turning out a lot more up-tempo than I thought it would.

Tuesday, June 01, 2004

This was a busy weekend, to be sure. Sunday night, Morey came over and we played with hooking up his new drum pad to my computer. I configured a new drum map for it, so we can use it to make drum tracks, now. That'll be fun.

Later that night, I stayed up (it was an insomniac sorta night) and recorded vocals on "Thank You". I doubt if any of it's keepable, but it sure felt good to be working on tunes again. It's always tough when Jakie's in the hospital.

Then, Monday morning (Memorial Day), Matt Whitney from the LDSM list came over and we imported one of his tunes, and added some drums. Then I cut a few guitar tracks, including a lead part. It's a great tune, kinda Broadway-ish, with a lot of Jim Steinman/Meatloaf thrown in.

We're trying to get it all put together for the LDStyles V CD. We'll just have to see...

MRKH

Saturday, May 29, 2004

I'm up at Primary Children's Medical Center, staying overnight with my boy here. He's getting his lungs and guts cleaned out. They're having a hard time figuring out why he's not gaining any weight.

Wish I had THAT problem...

Anyway, this afternoon, I set "I Will Sing This Prayer" to music. I altered the melody considerably. I knew I was going to have to. The original was too derivitave of "The Living Years" by Mike and the Mechanics and an old tune by Rush. :-)

The problem is that now I have the two melodies competing in my head. I have to practice the new one a lot to get the old one out.

Thursday, May 27, 2004

John N came over tonight. It was a lot of fun. We worked on another one of his tunes, this time a really soft and gentle one for his daughter, called "Desert Flower". Her name is Zinnia, see...

It's this light jazz thing. It really is way out of my comfort zone, but as a recordist and co-producer, I can actually add a touch or two to it. One idea I had was some chimey sort of electric guitar, very much like what's on "Soldiers". I think we're going to need to bring in Morey for the drums, tho... And I'm not sure how we're going to do that.

I've been working on the showcase a lot, too. I decided the other day that I would do it based on the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet. I made up this announcement that I've been giving to the youth leaders in the wards. At the top it says: "Strong Music: Strong Messages: For the Strength of Youth"

Nice catch phrase, if you ask me...

But I think I've got a pretty good lineup of the tunes!

Saturday, May 15, 2004

I wish I knew why it bugs me so much when I get criticism on my songs. I'm not sure. I really wish I could take what's said and learn from it, or just ignore it, but it really gets to me.

I mean, I know I'm not the best, and I know I've got a long way to go, but it really drags me down when someone else point that rather obvious fact out to me.

Oh, well. It's not going to stop me. It just stings a bit.

Friday, May 14, 2004

Wow. What fun I had last night!

I don't think I've mentioned it, but my Dad is in town. He lives in Indiana, where I grew up, and once in a while they come out here to Utah. If you read my other blog, you know that my uncle just died, so they had to come out for the funeral. Then they're staying here for a couple of weeks to attend the Mormon History Association conference.

But anyway...

He's got this rich baritone voice, and can actually handle a pretty wide range, from Bass to high tenor. So, I suggested he come in and sing a hymn or two into my recording system.

Wow. What fun that was!

We started out with a round, "By the Waters of Babylon" which has long been a family favorite. We doubled the parts, so it sound really rich and thick.

Then he did "Oh Say, What is Truth?", another one of my favorites. But we did the old hymnbook version, which has a much busier bass line than the newer one. Very fun.

And the last thing we did, almost as an afterthought, was "Abide With Me". I really wished we'd had more time to polish that one, 'cause it's really rich.

Anyway. I might post one or two of these tunes up for listen...

Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Woo Hoo!

Sold another copy of "He's Out There"!

Monday, May 10, 2004

On one of the LDS songwriter lists I'm on, I'm running what I call a "4x8 songwriting challenge". The game is to write four new songs in eight weeks, and once a week there are challenges that you can pick from.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the challenges was to write a song on prayer in AAA form. So, this last weekend, I wrote this one:


I Will Sing This Prayer

By Mark Hansen

The mountains all around me
Are a fortress strong and tall
The pine trees at attention
Stand as sentries on the wall
The evening wraps around me
Like I was never really there
And while the light is fading
I will sing this prayer


The city seems so quiet
Caught up in all its noise
Machines and men in motion
One builds and one destroys
The people rushing by me
Like I was never really there
And while the world is turning
I will sing this prayer


The Earth just keeps on moving
Dancing calmly on its way
Above the blue and green and white
My life just fades away
But there is one who always
Knows that I am there
And while I'm thinking of Him
I will sing this prayer


There are worlds too vast to number
But he knows I am there
So while He's thinking of me
I will sing this prayer

Thursday, May 06, 2004

What a mixed few days.

The bad news: My uncle Jim died yesterday. What a man he was. Kind and serving, knowledgeable without being pretentious, and a subtle smile that is the biggest thing I'll remember.

I'll blog more about him in mo' boy later on.

The good news: Toy Soldiers is done and online! Mixed, weedified, installed, ready to download.

And tonight, I get to start working on one of John's tunes. I'm quite excited about that. And, of course, I'll let you know how that goes.

Saturday, May 01, 2004

I got up this morning with a headache.

That sounds like a blues tune, doesn't it? :-)

Anyway, I went in and started a preliminary mix of "Soldiers". I feel like I've been guided on it, because it's just falling into place so beautifully. I'd burn a copy and test it all over, but I'm out of CD R's! It just sounds soooooo clean.

It's also been kinda nice to divert to a mellow tune after so many edgy rockers. I really do have lots of facets to my creative life. Sometimes I let myself get pidgeonholed. Sometimes I do it to myself.

I've been asked to sing a solo part with our ward choir, for instance, and that has me really nervous. I can sing a rock and roll tune, but choir singing is so different, and it can be really hard to fill the entire chapel without a mic.

It'll be fun, tho.

And today I've got another acoustic gig at a mall in Ogden. That'll be fun, too. I really like those. I'll let you know how it goes.

OK, three mixes later, "Pharisee" is DONE! In the can, off to be weedified! Then I'll get it on my site and start working on the mix for "Soldiers".

I'm really pleased with this one. It took me a while to get the bass under controll, to keep it from rattling my speakers, and then get the vocals in the right place, especially the thin, mechanical verse vocals. It was a really interesting tune to mix that way. I had a hard time finding a good model to mimic. I started with a faster Jericho Road tune, and then I finally dug up some old Backstreet Boys that I'd been using for research years ago.

I think this is a happenin' tune, now!

Oh, and on "Soldiers", the other night, John N came over and laid down some schweet trumpet bits. Beautiful, haunting stuff. It'll fit in sooo nicely.

Tuesday, April 27, 2004

I spent a lot of time with my sister-in-law yesterday working on a project for her kindergarten class program. Lots of simple kids tunes on the piano. Lots of fun. You know.

Then, I was up late working on the tweaks of the "Pharisee" mix. I'm pretty stoked about getting that one done. It'll be hot.

And this morning I prepped "Toy Soldiers" for mix, but I didn't actually start mixing. My kids got up too quick. I still think I want to add the horn part, too.

Friday, April 23, 2004

Well, a lot musical happened in a short time tonight.

First of all, a lady in our ward came over and recorded some kids songs on the keyboard. That was for my sister-in-law, who teaches kindergarten. I'm very glad to have the toughest part of that project done! Now I just have to clean it up, put in the repeats, and burn them to CD!

Then, I had some more time, so I fixed the harmony vocals in "Toy Soldiers". Not too tough, and sounding good. Now, it just needs to be mixed. That will be tricky, because I'm not sure what to use as a reference mix. That song is just soooo... different.

Then, I listened to "Pharisee" again, and I'm not so convince that the vocals need to be recut on that one. If that's the case, I'm probably going to make that one my May release, and make "Soldiers" my June single.

Then, I got more excited about my showcase. I've got a date set for it, June 26. I've started spreading the word to the youth leaders. I've spoken with two possible opening acts, Kent Olmstead (Fast Sundae), and Ron Hill (Laconic Funk). I'm not sure that either one will actually do the gig, but at least I'm making contacts.

And I've set out a tentative setlist:

1 Here in Me
2 Standin' in the Fire
3 He's Out There
4 Toy Soldiers
5 The Sun Shone Through the Windows (acoustic)
6 Beyond Forever (acoustic)
7 Primary Rocks
8 Pharisee
9 The Taker
10 One United Generation
11 A Happier Day
12 Sometimes My Life
13 I Hear the Voices Singing


We'll see how that goes!


Friday, April 16, 2004

Thursday's normally the night when John comes over and we work on my songs. But last night, he was at one of the final rehearsals for "Bye Bye Birdie". He's playing trumpet in the pit orchestra for a community theatre production of it out in Tooele.

So, last night, I actually ended up working on other people's songs. First off, an old friend named LaDena had sent me a song to collaborate/arrange/record and we worked it through, figured out the chord progressions. There were some trickynesses with the form and the timing which we might have worked out, too. But it's going to be a fun tune. It's called "The Crack of the Wind".

She lives in Nevada, so we were actually doing that by phone!

Then, Andy came over with a song idea based on that "the least of these, my brethren" verse. He'd basically created it with the melody to another song in mind. So, we had to rework the melody. But other than that, it's a hot song. We worked up a chorus. Then he took me through the other songs he'd written recently. Just a fun time.

It was a kind of relaxing night.


Tuesday, April 13, 2004

And just now, I finished the vocal comps. All collapsed into one track. It's sounding pretty good, I think. This was a more difficult song to sing than "He's Out There" was, or even "Here in Me". It requires much more style, which is something I feel like I'm only starting to learn.

My friend Morey got a percussion controller the other day, and he's been having me take it through some paces. If I can get it configured (it works just fine), then I'll have him add fills for "What'll Save Ya" and that'll be my next single, I think...

I've booked a couple of gigs, up at Bear Lake for the Raspberry Days festival. That'll be fun. I love going up there every year, and last year I performed, too. Thought I'd make it a tradition.

I've also gotten the go ahead on this year's showcase, so I'll be starting to plan that one, too.

Monday, April 12, 2004

So, I've been comping the lead vocals to "Toy Soldiers". It's coming out pretty well, so far. I'm a little over half way done. It's been a little difficult, because I've been doing it in half-hour or fifteen minute snippets. I can't seem to find a good, solid coupla hours to sit down and make it happen.

But that's the story of my life.

Now, I've got to go to work, hire a new guy, and go crazy.

*sigh*

Friday, April 09, 2004

I had some real fun yesterday.

It started out with a guy named Jesse, whom I met online a while back. He runs a site at MSN called "LDS_Teen_Spot". I've been checking it out, you know, gettin' in tune with my audience...

Anyway, he asks me a few days ago if I'd consider doing a live chat session where kids could come on and chat and ask questions. It sounded like lots of fun, plus a chance to get my music right in front of my audience. So, I said I would.

Well, that was a smart move on my part. One of the few I've had lately, it seems.. Anyway, there were about 5-10 people in the chat at any given moment, and they were all energetic and friendly. They asked questions about music, downloaded my songs, and I thought we all had a great time.

So, I'm hoping to do that on a regular basis. I'm also going to try and set up some of my LDSM friends to do it as well.

Then, last night, John and Sherri came over and we cut the vocals to "Toy Soldiers". I haven't had a chance to listen to all the raw tracks yet, so that'll happen, but I was really confident with it the whole time. We'll just have to see if any of it's keeper.

So, that means that we just have to cut the trumpet and we're done (assuming the lead vocals all pass muster). The jury's still out on whether or not to cut acoustic guitar, but I don't think I will.

While I was singing, though, I got this wonderful sense that this is really a good tune. I'm really grateful that it climbed out of me, because it really helped me deal with some pretty ugly stuff. I mean, it tells the story of almost losing a friend. That's tough!

Tuesday, April 06, 2004

A weird night.

Actually, a weird morning, if you want to be technical.

I woke up at about 2:00, and finally at about 2:30 decided I wasn't going back to sleep. So, I got up and started working on a song. Just some rough ideas. It's going to be called "Turn it Up". Another hard rock tune. I've been doing a lot of those lately...

I started playing with some lyrics, too, but I'm not sure I'll keep what I started with. It's based on a riff that I've been playing with for years.

And yesterday, "He's Out There" got installed on a Christian weedshare site. Can you believe it? I chatted with the guy, and he was ok with me being Mormon. That was cool! Check it out at christianweed.com

Friday, April 02, 2004

The new tune, "He's Out There", is now live on the site, uploaded and installed yesterday. That's exciting. The second tune!

Last night, I decided to do some gear shifting. I've been good at that lately. There has been a lot of finishing of the rockers, most of which were just vocals away from the final mix. So, I decided to work on a softer tune, one that needs some more work.

So, I picked "Toy Soldiers". I'd hoped to get John in to play a trumpet part, but he didn't bring his horn and needed to have some more family time, anyway. So Morey came over and cut the REAL snare part. I'd been running with this cheesy snare sample playing this looped, semi-military beat. Cadences, you know... It just sounded bad. The sample was lame, the programming was lame. It was just crying out, "FIX ME!"

So, we did.

And it really took the song to a higher level. It set it up where I wanted it to be. This tune is really gonna work, and I'm stoked to help it along.

Monday, March 29, 2004

OK, after getting my head spinning at the workshop, I got humbled really bad. I went to choir practice at my ward, and it was obvious that I hadn't done any vocal practicing for a week and a half.

:-(

This morning, I got up and burned my mp3 and wma mixes of "He's Out There". So, now I can get those weedified and on the site!

Sunday, March 28, 2004

These last few days have been a whirlwind, and I'm very excited about them. I've got the enviable task, however, of writing about them, and since I've got a number of different places and audiences to write to, I'm gonna be typing for a long time!

This last weekend was the semi-annual FCMA workshop. I say semi-annual, not because it happens twice a year, but because it hasn't always been truly annual! Last year, for example, somehow got skipped altogether!

Anyway, friday night, I attended a panel discussion with the students of the BYU Media Arts program. Some film scoring composers and producers were there, and it was fascinating. Then a couple of friends came over and we jammed some. Cool fun.

Saturday morning, I was at the workshop main desk, helping to check people in and run the opening. That was fun, and I got to meet a lot of people. The first session of the workshop was an absolutely amazing keynote address by Newell Dailey. What a great man! His address both reaffirmed some of my own beliefs about the nature of culture and musical styles, and also challenged my beliefs about the direction we should take LDS music, as well as made me think good and hard about my motivations.

But all of that will be for my mo'boy blog... Here, I'm going to get a little self-centered and talk about some of the experiences that directly impacted my tunes.

One of the traditions of the workshop is to have a session called "The Refiner's Fire". This is kind of based on the "pitch sessions" of so many songwriter workshops out in the real world, in that there's a panel of industry pros who spin a stack of tunes and then critique them. In this case, however, they just critique. In some of the other forums, the panel can actually pick up a song on the spot, if they wanted.

I guess they could do it here, too, but that's never happened.

I've never participated in the past, mostly out of fear.

No, make that raw terror...

Anyway, this year, I stepped out on a limb, stuck my neck out, and put my recent mix of "Here in Me" in the box.

The session started, and song after song was played, and critiqued. I just kept getting more and more nervewracked as the time for the end of the session kept coming closer.

I was the last song of the session. As the tune started, they all started scribbling notes on my lyric sheet. I'd learned as I'd been watching that this was a good sign. If they didn't like the tune, they had no reason to take any notes or make any suggestions.

Then they started talking. There were comments praising the mix, and comments about the impact of the simplicity of the lyrics, and I'm glad they took notes (I jotted down a few, too), because it was just all washing over me, and I had a very hard time taking it all in. There were suggestions for improvement, too, which were dead-on.

Since it was the last one, after the session, they all came up to me as people were milling about to comment on it. It was interesting that even though it was an anonymous pitch, they all knew who's tune it was! Ron Simpson commented on the quality of the mix. (He said that later in the day as well, too, which made me feel great). Cori Connors gave me a big hug and said, "You just keep getting better and better!

It all left me feeling very light-headed. It gave me the feeling that, even though I'm not "there" yet, I'm definitely on the right track.

Later on in the evening, at the open mic, I performed "Wake the Dead". A tune I haven't recorded yet, but I've performed live quite a few times. I got a few nice comments about that one as well.

Well, I left the sessions walking on air. But for more detailed accounts of what I learned about the bigger picture of LDS music, you'll have to read mo'boy or the LDSmusicians yahoogroup...

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

Well, I've got the lead vocals for "He's Out There" all comped and ready. Now I just have to begin the mix.

I've also got the website pretty close to going live. I'm hoping that there won't be much difference or hiccup in the transition. We'll see!

Friday, March 19, 2004

OK, like, it's morning. And I didn't get much sleep last night.

First off, I was up until about 11:00 with John cutting a new lead vocal track for "He's Out There", and then having Sherri do some Backing vocals for it. Sounds cool. We've made the song more fun.

I'll mix it an hopefully weedify it by next week at the FCMA workshop.

Then, we worked on "Sunshine". Sherri finally got her birthday present and she was thrilled. And the vocals she cut on it just smoked. She was in top form.

So, now we just cut some harmony vocals, some lead guitar, an fix the drums, etc... Fun stuff. Just sparkle it all up.

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

I'm so stoked.

I can't begin to explain how stoked I am right now.

And it's over the littlest thing. Only 50 cents. That's not much. Not at all.

But it means a lot.

OK, I'll tell you...

I JUST SOLD A SONG OFF OF WEEDDEX.COM!!!!

Ah. Much better.

The cool thing is, that I haven't really pushed it much, yet. I've been redesigning the MHM website, and getting it ready for the new host (it's actually there already), but there's still a lot of work to do before I transfer the domain over and make it fully live.

So, just off the few people I've told about it, and the weeddex.com website, it's already sold one copy!

I've also been remixing and reworking "Pharisee". I think I've got a pretty good mix, but I'm not really too confident in it yet. John thinks we should recut the vocals, and frankly, if I'm not going to have it done immediately, there are other tunes I'd rather work on, like "Thank You" or "He's Out There".

I also had this killer idea for a riff this morning, so I took a few minutes to make a quick drums, bass, guitar demo. Just a few bars. It has this sort of Dio-ish feel, except it's in a major key, which almost makes it celtic?

Yeesh, that's scary...

Monday, March 15, 2004

OK the song is weedified. I'm working on getting the website ready for it, now.

And this morning, I started to remix "Pharisee" which might well be the next single. It depends on just how the mixing goes...

Sunday, March 07, 2004

One song is done!

I tweaked the preliminary mix of "Here in Me" today, and it is done!

Woo Hoo!

The next step is to prepare it as a weedshare file, and post it on the web!

Saturday, March 06, 2004

Today was spent up in Ogden, UT, at the Newgate Mall, doing another Artisan Fair gig. This one was very interesting. First of all, when I got up there, there was no PA or stage. One of the other stores in the mall had comandeered it. After contemplating what to do, I decided to go ahead and play. What the heck, right? It's just performance practice anyway, right?

Well, that's pretty much what it turned out to be. After sorting out the location and getting set up, I ended up only doing two sets, but that was plenty. I sat on my barstool in front of a couple of benches in the hallway, and there were some people that occasionally stopped and sat to listen. Which was actually better than the previous time out at Cottonwood, where people just walked by. Having some sort of seating area was definitely worth it! Even if it was small.

So, I did two hours without any amplification. Just me and a guitar. My voice is tired, but it doesn't feel shredded. So that's a good thing. I guess we'll see how I feel tomorrow.

I've also been listening to the "Here in Me" preliminary mix in just about every system I can, foisting it onto just about anyone who'll let me listen. It seems to be holding up pretty well.

I did mention that we finished up a preliminary mix last Thursday, but it appears that Blogger has lost that post.

Ah, well...

Wednesday, March 03, 2004

So, on the way home from work, I caught this bug in my ear, and I just though it would be fun to capture my basic idea for "Where's My Soul".

So, I just came home, and copy/pasted some drums for a basic loop beat, then recorded the basic guitar, and then copy/pasted a bass part.

Then I had some fun with a scratch vocal track. I did it way low, in a sort of vocal fry range, giving it a really cool sorta bluesy feel. It kinda feels lazy, which fits the song very nicely, I think...

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