Thursday, July 14, 2016

Your Will Be Done

Abba Father, please watch over me...

This song was written years ago. I used to play this live with the San Diego SinnerSaved. It is going to be song three of my concept musical , somewhere after Desert Presence. It is simple and complex at the same time. And now, it is going to be recorded and added to the next compilation from Greentree Christian Church.

Callout

About a month or so ago, Nathan Hall, (our Worship Leader at Greentree) asked members of the music ministry to submit songs and song ideas for consideration to be included the album. I looked through the listing of songs I had recorded enough to be a demo, and pulled out "Your Will Be Done." My reasoning for this song is that it is different, and it is a prayer, and the arrangement is complete.

Scenario
Let me set the scene for you: Reverend Philip Vessel has just walked into the sanctuary, and has found the baptismal font, the centerpiece of the apse, in ruins. The font is broken, water-less and unusable. The poor minister is distraught knowing that the font is his key to leaving this poor, hopeless and seemingly God-forsaken church. Without it, he is bound to serve, and bound to stay in this drought-stricken dust-bowl of a town. He prays...

Here I am in San Diego playing "Your Will Be Done" with Lisa Hoyman on keys, Jean Perrault on bass and Frank Merlich on drums.



This is a song about prayers being answered with "not yet" or "no." This is a song about faith and trust in an Almighty God, who is a provider and comforter in all ways and means. This is a song about obedience and submission; being microscopically less than God. As with many disappointments we experience, it sets the scene for a wonderful redemption.

All Glory to God! All Glory to Jesus!
Amen




Thursday, May 12, 2016

Desert Presence. I'm ready to get started.

Desert Presence

I'm ready to get this started.

Last night I sat in front of my laptop, hooked up my Scarlett 2i2 and launched Sony Acid Pro.



I get nervous for some reason as I start recording....I don't know what it is, but I recognized it last night and will be working on enjoying the process. Go figure, right?

This is the first time I have started building a song with two time signatures.

I was apprehensive at first, but then relieved that:

  • The application Help file is so helpful and easy to search.
  • The software makes it very easy to change time signatures.

So the song starts out in 7/4, just to make it interesting and set the mood.

After that we are going to 4/4 to make it interesting too.

The key? what else? E-freakin'-minor. Ha Ha


Like some of my recent songs, this is a distillation of an older song. Desert Presence was written in the 90's when Nick Phares and Cristine Nostrand and I were together as "The Kensingers," an acoustic vocal group in San Diego very much like Trilogy. It was written in 6/8, and was pretty straight Em,D, C with a flamenco kind of feel. It still is a good song, but I wanted to twist it a bit to make it more sinister. Em, Em7, Em69. Two tense notes waiting for resolution into a minor. Pretty tasty and fun to write with.


Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Interview - Upstage with Caitlin Johnson

A few months ago I ran into a friend of mine, Brad Hayes, who was hanging out watching the Mojo Bros (John Pratt and I) over at Ricky Bobby's on Pine St. As we were talking, he mentioned that he would like to interview us using an up and coming TV local personality, Caitlin Johnson. Well, we missed each other here and there, and with scheduling as it is, I ended up doing the interview solo. So, here it is in three parts!


Part 1


Part 2


Part 3


Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Fixin' To Be Fixin'

Canvas


"As soon as you externalize an idea you see facets of it that weren’t clear when it was just floating around in your head." - Brian Eno



I am getting ready to get ready to record. I am almost ready to get ready. In the country vernacular, I am fixin' to be fixin'. 
I know that what I'm doing is going to be demo-grade, but the pieces are going to be put in place. Order, tempo, time, progression, general gist are all things I want to get together now as I sketch out this piece of audio sculpture. I know the challenges I will have. When I start laying down the tracks, I will be making it harder and harder to change the build. If you lay your foundation properly, you shouldn't have to knock down to many bricks to modify the wall.



"The more time you spend on an old idea, the more energy you invest in it, the more solid it becomes, and the more it will exclude new ideas." - Brian Eno

I guess that's the trade-off for anything of permanence. Once it's out there, there it is. 

On one hand you strive for perfection. 
  • No mistakes. 
  • No botched notes. 
  • No bad timing.
  • No distractions from the message.
On the other, you strive for imperfection.
  • Does it sound human?
  • Does it have an organic appeal?
  • Does it hold artistic energy?

You can see that one side demands, and the other inquires.

"As a maker you tend to put in twice as much as you need as a listener. It’s a symptom of contemporary production. Old records don’t have that problem." - Brian Eno

In my mind, I have some slow developing music that I want to help paint the picture. What good is a portrait without the appropriate background and props? The prog-rockers learned that long ago. So did the movie soundtrack composers.


Also, how many times have I said to a fellow musician:



  • Less is more
  • Play for the song
  • Play for the story
So with all this musing within me, I am getting ready to get ready. Stay tuned. 
And... Thanks Brian.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream 



For the last ten years or so I have been kicking around the premise of a Christian-based concept album based on a story that came to me in a dream.

I remember the whole thing playing out in my mind, and when I woke up around 3 a.m., I got up, grabbed a pen and paper and started scribbling down the story. It made a lot of sense then, and as I revisit the late-night scratchings, it still makes sense.

  • It has intertwining plots
  • It has heroes
  • It has a villain
  • It has a tumultuous event
  • It has redemption
  • It has a great ending
It sits in two places. It sits in a black and white composition book stuffed in with the other paper "art" that exists in the microcosm of my studio. It also sits in my mind, another microcosm of sorts.

I am feeling very creative towards this concept (not an opera, rock opera, or musical per se). I am working on the first song which is a re-hash of another song I wrote in the 90's. It's coming out well. I think that this will be my next recording project.

Nuf Sed
BK

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Hello World

I know, I know, the title is a bit trite, hackneyed, cliche, blah blah blah.

If you know me, I rarely stand on the stump (or crap-pile) of  social media and spout, spew or sputter my opinions, let alone what is really on my mind. I'm just not that kind of guy, or I wasn't, or maybe it's just that I don't think I can effectively communicate much by recycling someone else's twisted meme.

It ain't me.

I am the kind of person who thrives on positivism, and in the social media world I am branded as a "liker." You can tell who I follow by who I "like." Hearts, thumbs, smileys, they are my footprints into the lives of those with which I am intrigued.

I am a pray-er.

I will stop and pray when someone requests it. It may only be a one liner, but I can tell you, God favors the intentions of the heart. I believe it's one of my callings.

I am a creator.

My world largely exists between the asymmetrical cartilaged tools attached to the sides of my head. Orchestras dive and dip, timpani bellow and guitars scream in there. Love is spoken, hate is substantiated, and whatever touches the human heart gets identified and turned into prose. It's a loud meat-grinder sometimes in that fool head.

Here I am.

I am taking the first step to tell you, oh Ethereal Vacuum (VAC-you-um) who I is, what I be like. Let's hope I can get to the next page.

Peace,

Bob