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, June 30, 2005

I looked into my Weedshare accounts this morning and was pleasantly surprised to find a few purchases! That was exciting as I was starting to get down on the whole weedshare thing. I just wasn't seeing the activity. But there is some!

I also, on a whim, put out the new song on my myspace.com site. I've discovered a really active undercurrent of LDS teens and young adults there. Hey, that's my audience! I posted the song, and the bulletin to all my friends late last night, so I haven't seen any response yet. Let's see what happens by this afternoon or tomorrow.

Jodi and the boys are coming home for the weekend tonight! I'm very excited about that. Hope they get home safe.

MRKH - Mark Hansen
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Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Well, I think I might have finally nailed the mix. Only three tries, really. I was still having troubles getting the bass in the right spot. When I make it sound great in the studio it tends to boom in other places, so I have to remember that and adapt it accordingly.

There was really a lot of different elements to add in this time, and I'm a bit afraid that it might have gotten a bit crowded. I pulled everything way back in the first mix, and then when I did it again, I kept bringing certain elements back up. The electric piano, the spoken vocals, the scat vocals, the strings. I hope it all doesn't crowd the lead vocal. I think I've got it in place.

I shipped off 35 copies of "One United Generation" today. WindRiver Distributing is taking them to the Nauvoo Pageant. I hope they sell. I hope the music gets out there into the ears of people who need it and will like it.

A large part of both songwriting and creating musical art is communicating. And I, possibly moreso than many other musicians I know, need to know that I'm connecting with people. That's why I love it when I get emails from people who've heard the songs or gotten the CD. I love it when they tell me that a certain song teared up their eyes, or made them smile.

I love to hear an audience shouting after a really energetic show.

For a long time, I felt like I was dropping stones in a well and hearing no splashes. It's kinda nice to start to hear some coming back up. I'm not sure why it is that I crave that kind of validation, but there it is. Can't seem to change it, so I gotta roll with it!

MRKH - Mark Hansen
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Sunday, June 26, 2005

Well, I'm pretty excited. I just finished a preliminary mix of "Today and Yesterday"! It really sounds cool! I can't wait to get it posted on my site.

This tune is another one of those "Kitchen Sink" arrangements. Someday I'll learn simplicity... I just keep hearing more cool things to include.

MRKH - Mark Hansen
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Friday, June 24, 2005

I've cut the vocals (harmony, scat, and lead) to "Today and Yesterday" tonight, and I've got about two thirds of the lead vocal comped. I'm really excited about this song. It's really coming together. It sits very nicely in my range. There are only a few bits that climb up into my bridge or my head voice.

MRKH - Mark Hansen
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Saturday, June 18, 2005

Last night at the karaoke was fun, but not so much so as last week. There weren't a lot of people there, only about 8, including myself. I thought about how odd that was. A bunch of social misfits with nothing better to do on a Saturday night, but stand up and sing.

Now, last week, it was a big party. Everyone was getting friendly and having a great time. It just didn't have the same feel this week.

But since there were fewer people, I did get to sing more songs. I did two of mine, "He's Out There", and "The Taker" (which I tanked), as well as some from the Karaoke CD collection. I did "Behind Blue Eyes", "Silent Lucidity", and "Burning Down the House". "House" is pretty high, but it didn't cross my bridge, so I felt like it came off pretty well.

My parents are in town from Indiana, and they and my sister and bro-in-law came over. So, I wasn't able to get to the tunes as much as I'd like, but after they left I did manage to do a little work on "Today and Yesterday".

I added some handclaps to the instrumental transitions (that really sound more like a chorus, in some ways), as well as play with the rough mix a bit more.

MRKH - Mark Hansen
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Saturday, June 11, 2005

Another fun morning. I went over to Steve's house (I sound like a little kid--"Can I go over to Steve's and play?) and he cut some drum parts for me this morning. He's great. He just rips through them. A few clean-ups, a few punch-ins, and the track is done. And we have a lot of fun with it.

It's really amazing just how much a real drummer adds to a track. I mean, it cooks along, and even though we're recording it as MIDI, it still feels much more real than it does with me just hammering them out on the keyboard.

MRKH - Mark Hansen
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It's been a long time since I posted here. Frankly, it's been a long time since I did anything musical. Life's been pretty hectic.

But tonight, I went and had some fun. I went to the Draper Historic Theatre and did their Karaoke night! It was so cool to finally find a place to do karaoke that's not a bar! I guess people figure that you have to be drunk to be crazy enough to get up and sing in front of a crowd. Not so.

There was a big crowd there, too. I was pretty surprised. At its peak, there were probably 30 people there, of all styles and abilities. Not all were singing, either, but there were some pretty impressive voices there!

I did "Here in Me" and "Toy Soldiers". They were received pretty well. I don't really know how well I did. It was kinda hard to hear. I don't think the monitors were up very loud, if they were even on.

It was a lot of fun. It was sort of a big party atmosphere. I'll definitely do it again!

MRKH - Mark Hansen
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