The Passing Storm
26/04/20 21:41
Recently I was inspired to write a new song. And my muse was kind to me and a complete song popped out quickly. However, this entry is not about the new song. I am currently in the process of recording this new piece but while I was in the studio auditioning new keyboard sounds for this new piece, serendipity struck and a new instrumental piece was born. I can see from the log it has been 5 years since I released my last instrumental.
This one was created all in Logic using stock instruments. There is a synthesizer sound that is run through an arpeggiator, This is an Alchemy patch called "Mystical Vox" run into the stock arpeggiator on up/down. two octaves, with variation 4 selected. I added some randomness to the level of the key downs to give it a more "human" feel. I was playing this part manually but my fingers got tired and it occurred to me that an arpeggiator could play that fingering easily.
I used the Desire Orchestral Kit for the drums and just edited the drum patterns in the piano roll. The drums are bussed into both a large and small reverb with a touch of chorusing to give them a unique "room" feel.
The erhu is an EXS24 patch that was also bussed into two separate Space Designer aux busses just because this is a new concept for me that I am playing a lot with these days. Both the drums and the erhu busses along with the direct patch are mixed into the output strip so that the reverb has a lot of control.
The piece echos a passing storm which could be the April thunderstorm that was passing by that day, although I think my mind was also noticing the rhythms of an epidemic. Is that thunder I hear or the loss of another soul?
Take care of yourselves and please, please consider carefully all of your actions. The virus can help us more clearly see that we are not separate islands floating together in the sea of life, but that the world is truly one living thing; or should I say that this vast universe is all connected.
Soundcloud Link
This one was created all in Logic using stock instruments. There is a synthesizer sound that is run through an arpeggiator, This is an Alchemy patch called "Mystical Vox" run into the stock arpeggiator on up/down. two octaves, with variation 4 selected. I added some randomness to the level of the key downs to give it a more "human" feel. I was playing this part manually but my fingers got tired and it occurred to me that an arpeggiator could play that fingering easily.
I used the Desire Orchestral Kit for the drums and just edited the drum patterns in the piano roll. The drums are bussed into both a large and small reverb with a touch of chorusing to give them a unique "room" feel.
The erhu is an EXS24 patch that was also bussed into two separate Space Designer aux busses just because this is a new concept for me that I am playing a lot with these days. Both the drums and the erhu busses along with the direct patch are mixed into the output strip so that the reverb has a lot of control.
The piece echos a passing storm which could be the April thunderstorm that was passing by that day, although I think my mind was also noticing the rhythms of an epidemic. Is that thunder I hear or the loss of another soul?
Take care of yourselves and please, please consider carefully all of your actions. The virus can help us more clearly see that we are not separate islands floating together in the sea of life, but that the world is truly one living thing; or should I say that this vast universe is all connected.
Soundcloud Link
the Anniversary Re-mix
22/01/20 19:14
This song is a digital remix of a session that was recorded 30 years ago on analog equipment at Third Story Recording in Philadelphia. The master was believed to be lost but was re-discovered while archiving old recordings. The track was made better than ever by a digital re-mixing using Logic in the Lotus Sound studio. The original "808" drum track was lost but the drum track was re-written using modern drum plugins retaining the same feel but sounding even better than the original by using modern samples and modern drum tracking methods. The soaring guitar solo by John Wicks was pulled out of the mix and placed center stage to highlight his inspired performance. This magic of session once again comes to life in this recording.
Music Without Borders
16/01/20 21:27
December 31 2019 “Big Fish" in the Music Without Borders series Read More…
Proof of Purchase
14/02/16 17:35
15 January 2016
I finally recorded this piece I have been playing forever and wrote years ago. My son particularly wanted this one recored.
Recorded using an old Ensoniq keyboard into Logic. I’m using the “stock” Apple preset for a Steinway piano. They did a great job on that sample.
Soundcloud Link
I finally recorded this piece I have been playing forever and wrote years ago. My son particularly wanted this one recored.
Recorded using an old Ensoniq keyboard into Logic. I’m using the “stock” Apple preset for a Steinway piano. They did a great job on that sample.
Soundcloud Link
Picardy
28/11/15 20:21
14 November 2015 at a friends house in Chester County, Pennsylvania
I woke up the morning after the Paris terrorist attacks. After reading some of the news reports and checking on my friends staying near Paris, I needed to just sit for a minute and center. I picked up my guitar just to do morning warm ups and freshen up on some music for the upcoming holiday. This tune came to mine. I remember the tune from when I was younger and singing in the church choir. “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent”
The tune turned into a quiet meditation so I got out my laptop and my iRig interface and recorded this track. I used a GarageBand preset called “Sharp Chorus” for the reverb and delay. The guitar was my Martin D-41 with a Dean Markley pickup.
I edited and mastered the original recording using Audacity to remove some digital artifact on the recording because my old laptop’s processor speed was having trouble keeping up.
To me the tune voiced the meditation that I was feeling in the moment and connected with the voices that were cut short or left crying in anguish that night.
Soundcloud Link
recorded on my MacBook Pro using GarageBand
guitar: Martin D-41 with a Dean Markley pickup
I woke up the morning after the Paris terrorist attacks. After reading some of the news reports and checking on my friends staying near Paris, I needed to just sit for a minute and center. I picked up my guitar just to do morning warm ups and freshen up on some music for the upcoming holiday. This tune came to mine. I remember the tune from when I was younger and singing in the church choir. “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent”
The tune turned into a quiet meditation so I got out my laptop and my iRig interface and recorded this track. I used a GarageBand preset called “Sharp Chorus” for the reverb and delay. The guitar was my Martin D-41 with a Dean Markley pickup.
I edited and mastered the original recording using Audacity to remove some digital artifact on the recording because my old laptop’s processor speed was having trouble keeping up.
To me the tune voiced the meditation that I was feeling in the moment and connected with the voices that were cut short or left crying in anguish that night.
Soundcloud Link
recorded on my MacBook Pro using GarageBand
guitar: Martin D-41 with a Dean Markley pickup
