Category: hello.music

hello.music round three – Make Sure (Live From Luxembourg Theatre 2007)

hello.music

This one was created from a drum track that I laid down a few months ago and recenty rediscovered. After playing around with the bass track I felt like it had a very live feel to it, and decided to (after also discovering the g-band audience noise) try and simulate a live show sound. I think it works pretty well, being a short track, I would envision it being a set closer or something.

The vocals on this one are meant to be long drawn out segments to help pad over the musical background. I had fun making this one, as its something different than (I think) I have tried before. Anyway let me know what ye thinks…

Make Sure (Live From Luxembourg Theatre 2007)

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_aryn/make_sure_livefromluxembourgtheatre2007.mp3]

hello.music round three — We Sang Modern English

hello.music Here is version THREE of my newish song from this weekend:

We Sang Modern English v3

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/WeSangModernEnglish_v3.mp3]

I think I’ve made some progress on this and I like it this far in. Obviously choruses still yet to be recorded, and some mixing\mastering needs to be done, etc etc but its getting there. I like that the song is so stripped down as my natural tendency is to add too many layers and that can really ruin a song like this. I want it to come across like that personal moment that people can relate to.

I’m sure there are ways to blast it open and reinvent this this song, make it fatter or build to a fatter sound. Thinking about adding more subconcious level guitars and atmosphere to give it some more warmth, but at its heart, I think it works best as being a bit more open and raw.

Really some of the best lyrics I’ve written I think because they are both personal and universal in some way, but also not completely trite and played out. They sort of allude to these little things the guy is attracted to and the feelings he has in this little moment; this exposed feeling or sentiment of wanting to tell a girl how you feel, but being unsure how she feels back.

I will try to get some more progress on this, the rest of the week and maybe be done with a full song for next week. Something about having the whole house to myself lends itself to more creativity for some reason.

UPDATE: For comparison’s sake, here is We Sang Modern English version TWO.

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/WeSangModernEnglish_v2.mp3]

Not much is drastically different in these arrangements besides the double tracked vocals in the verses.

hello.music round two – Oxygen 1.5

hello.music I am not sure if this is a step in the forward or backward direction on this track, but I felt like I needed to get something down and help myself out of the musical rut I have been in for awhile. So even if this is a bad direction, it’s still a direction, which makes me happy. So I have remixed this little ditty, creating a little meaner sound for it, to give it that diabolique edge and indie rock finish. The only thing I really added was a couple effected bass tracks. What do you think? Did I crap on my own work? did I add anything worthwhile? should I quit making music all together?

One thing is for certain, I have done something. I think that counts for something in this world of lethargy.

check it:

Oxygen 1.5

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_aryn/oxygen_onepntfive.mp3]

next step.. vocals.

hello.music round two — The Silt of the Cosmos

hello.musicI decided to change things up a bit this week. I am waiting on new music softwares and new headphones (to replace ones I left on airplane) so I thought I’d try to do something all MIDI before I go back to past works. This song may or may not fit with the current work I am creating which is tending to be more singer songwriter oriented. It’s a bit too cosmic and psychedelic for that, so it maybe will work with another more sci-fi driven project in the works.

I have tracked lyrics for this but they (along with the title) could change if I decide to move away from said sci-fi project I have on back burner. I left out the lyrics for this round because they were sloppy, out of key and I wanted people to hear the music itself before they get preconceived notions on which project it should be for.

So here is the track currently titled The Silt of the Cosmos

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/TheSiltoftheCosmos.mp3]

Questions:

1) what influences does this sound like its treading on?

2) what moods are evoked?

3) how is the structure? any motifs i want to repeat or lengthen…its a bit short now, but not too bad.

4) which direction (sci fi or other) should i go in?

Thoughts?

hello.music round two – Slowly Yes

hello.musicHere’s an update to my song from last week. It’s still electronic. It still has the Circuit Dialogue patch. It still has somewhat of a postal servicey feel. I decided to worry about those textural issues at a later date and just work towards completing a song with real live verses and choruses- imagine that!!!!

Needless to say, I present you with Slowly Yes again, now featuring one verse. Hooray. Before you judge too much, I should tell you that I recorded this at 1:00 in the AM, Christmas morning; the verse line is a whisper because I didn’t want to bother Santa as he was putting our presents under the tree. I swear I heard creaking floorboards 20 minutes ago, and if you listen carefully, I bet there is an artifact in the recording. Maybe I can use the mp3 as proof of Santa Clause, similar to what John Travolta did in the 1970’s classic Blow Out with reel to reel tape. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend (it’s occasionally on the channel 62 Sunday afternoon nothing-better-to-do lineup).

Listen here: Slowly Yes version two

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_greg/slowly%20yes_1225.mp3]

Questions:

  1. Do you like the verse melody, or should I try again? Sorry about all the lame vocal effects by the way…
  2. Verse length OK? Chorus length? How many verses I should have?

Here are the lyrics right now, feel free to comment/edit/add:

(Intro with verse progression)

Slowly, yes, is my answer for you, because I know you well enough to call this.
Slowly, yes, is my answer for you, because I know you well enough to call this.
Slowly, yes, is my answer for you, because I know you well enough to call this.

All of the options were failing her when she tried to comply
with an answer that satisfied a simple step: no regrets.

Like a hiker who disregards a faded blaze, ’cause this mountain’s a maze.
Downhill for water, or uphill? “There’s space for a fire, they’ll see me higher.”

hello.music round one – Slowly Yes

hello.music

Here is my entrance fee for round one of hello.music. It’s a couple midi things, a bass line, and the beginnings of a vocal line. A few musings:

  1. Need to stop using the “Circuit Dialog” synth because it’s featured in just about everything I do in GarageBand
  2. The chorus needs retooling because I want the line “a temporary setback” to follow the last “I know you well enough to call this…” of the chorus
  3. Need a verse melody
  4. Bridge.
  5. I would like to alternate verses with Jenny Lewis. Then we will fall in love.

Slowly Yes

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_greg/slowly yes.mp3]

hello.music round one – Oxygen One

hello.music

This is my entrance to this weeks hello.songs . Oxygen One is the very first thing I created after purchasing an Oxygen midi keyboard, so I think its fitting as my first submission into the world of the internets.

Oxygen One

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_aryn/oxygen_one.mp3]

So the idea here was to see what I could make my first really using a midi interface and garage band. I think it turned out pretty well, I would like to revisit it and expand it out a little longer. This was created using my patented method of improvise and add, where I commonly start with one improvised element, then play over that a few rounds then improvise the next part … etc. until I have something laid down.

Its pretty short, and I do like the sweeping synth that comes in about 13 seconds in… its simple enough to drive the song forward. I am not really sure yet where this could go, if it needs to just stay a short interlude type piece or actually expand out into a more standard length song with lyrics etc..

hello.music round one — I am the king of sad retorts

hello.music

About two months ago, I came up with this shell of a song but have been stuck since then trying to figure out a good structure to lengthen it to normal song length. Its running a bit short now.

Here is I Am the King of Sad Retorts

[audio:https://hellocomein.com/soundbox/hellomusic_mike/I%20Am%20the%20King%20of%20Sad%20Retorts.mp3]

This song feels overly Ben Gibbardy and I am even afraid I ripped off that bass piano line from Death Cab…but i havent checked yet b\c I am afraid of my imitation. But I think this tune might be able to have some potential once I figure out a chorus part and write some lyrics. I think I am already hearing the vocal melody in my head, but I might just be humming in a Death Cab-esque style.

I think this is the point where we need to start refining what we have and I dont know, maybe record some lyrics. As we are quite music based in nature (at least I am) I think this will be our major turning point in developing shimmering sparkley pop songs for the eager public.

So I still have a few challenges:

1) I need to find out what the structure is so I can write the correct amount of lyrics.
2) I need to write lyrics and vocal melodies for this past songs and record to see how all of that fits together.

So thoughts?

hello.music week one — introductions

An explanation: We here at hellocomein have been attempting to create music and build towards an album for about a year now. The problem is, we dont live in the same city. Or even time zone. So how can a band write music cross-country? Well that is part of this experiment. Over the course of the next few months we will attempt to collaborate by means of technology andwith a little help from accute telepathy we might be able to hash out something interesting.

Here is what we plan to do: Every week or so we will try to post either a new song we’ve been working on, or an existing song that has seen any major changes. In the course of our blog we will talk about what we are going for, where we want it to go, and make any critiques and commentary of the other member’s music.

I think it will be interesting to see how our music progresses and how it takes shape by allowing this blog to serve as a linear timeline for various songs and motifs. The end goal is to have an album of songs that all three members will have contributed ideas and tracks (as we will share the master tracks). Who knows, we might have mulitple versions of songs based on each member’s interpretations and contributions.
So join us, each week in the conversation: make comments and tell us what you like, what you dont and so on. Should be fun.