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Ahhh... it feels good to have actual melodies in my solos now. During my practice today, I experimented with the E scale and I popped out three melodies. My teacher wrote them down. My first solo for Internal Clock sounds really good now, and I'm glad my teacher made me do that.

I always thought that you could just go crazy during solos, but now I realized I should work on actually writing music, instead of just lyrics. It'll make my music sound a lot better.

Apparently the guy that runs the studio we're recording at has rats in a cage, a really dirty floor, and a drinking problem. But my teacher insists that he's really good and can do anything with your song you want, so we aren't making any last minute changes of studio. I'm glad, I want to see the rats. (Apparently they're friendly?)

And I'm only doing one song. I can only do one song because my dad has to work, and the only open timeslot during the morning is from 10-11. And one hour is really only worth one song now that I think about it.

~-~

Green Tea

I came up with another song today just to refresh my piano/songwriting skills and it's pretty good. It's called Green Tea, a very bluesy song with a very sweet, simple solo. I said to one of my bandmates, Chris, that our band could possibly use it. Having the band use it would be a lot better than me using it, because seeing as how I'm only recording one song (which I'm still mad about) I would probably abandon it. It would be a good song for our band anyways, because we're more geared towards the blues sound right now. I'm aiming more towards a rock-ish sound.

I'm confronting my piano teacher about the possibility of recording more than one song, because I have so much material that will just go to waste if I don't record it this time around. Career Fair and Bail Out need to get recorded, because I can already feel them slipping out of my attention span. And if I play them more, then I'll get sick of them. Not a good situation.

6 more days. YES. I'm asking about a music myspace so I can post what I record on-line. (If I like it, because I'm very picky with my voice.)

Throwing on some Niagara Falls pictures soon. Maybe one today, idk.

~-~

More Frustration...

... But vacation was awesome, and I'll post some pictures here and there. (I got real artsy at Niagara Falls.) I was sorta disappointed there, I thought it would be a little higher than it actually was. And plus it was foggy and raining, so we couldn't see the falls illuminated. Definitely the low point of the trip.

The Baseball Hall of Fame was awesome because I got to see Curt Schilling's controversial sock:

And of course, I treated the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame like it was the best thing to ever be created by man...

But you probably want to know why I'm frustrated. My piano teacher told me Monday that I could only record one song next week. >:-(

I thought I was going to have like three hours to record, but she's only giving me one hour to do one song.

Internal Clock it is.

~-~

Time Keeps On Slipping...

Internal Clock sounds way different. Instead of it being this abyss of screwy timing, I stopped trying so hard and threw a melody in that sounds really good. It's still the same lyrics and the same chord base, but now it just has a different feel to it. If I put anything on CD, that'll go on it.

My voice still sounds like crap though, and if I ever want to sound good in the studio, I'm gonna have to get better now. Only a few more days...

~-~

A New Found Respect For My Band

It's sorta weird, in past posts I talked about how much I hated being in the band and that I wanted to quit it but now things have changed. I don't think I realized how good we were until yesterday, when we were just sitting there on a porch and we wrote a song. Sure, it was about how bored we were, but still the fact that we could just write a song subconciously was amazing.

So I'm not planning on quitting the band anytime soon. If we ever break up, I won't like it.

Too Long?

Career Fair is already well over 6 minutes long, but I just thought of another thing that I could add to it which would make somewhere between 7 and 8 minutes. I figure I might need to draw the line somewhere, but this little extension would make the song sound a lot better. I don't know if I'm better off making it shorter or making it longer.

So much trouble with this song...

~-~

The Beginning of Something Good

I've been tinkering with the sound recorder on the computer, converting songs to WAV files and listening to artists sound like chipmunks.

So then, I took one of my band's songs and messed with it too. But then...

I took the song, added 8 layers of echo to it, decreased the speed and reversed it. It's sorta reminds me of waves and it has such an odd aura to it... I love it...

So here's what I'm thinking:

I'm gonna bring a CD into a studio, and do the exact same thing and then I'll sample it on one of my songs. I'll add piano and vocals to it and BAM. My first experiment with music.

The sample is so relaxing...

I wish I could post the audio. If someone knows a way leave a comment. (Click on the title and then post a comment)

April Vacation...

Hmmm... what am I going to do...

1. Niagara Falls
2. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
3. Baseball Hall of Fame

YES!

The ultimate vacation. Which is good, because I usually don't do anything during vacation.

~-~

Me.

Ahhh... Kodak Easyshare in all it's awesomeness.

Why News Shouldn't Exist

I thought all this out last night, just laying down in my bed.

Why does news exist? I played out this debate in my head:

Me: You are not affiliated with anyone that was directly affected by the recent drug bust?
Someone: No, I'm not.
Me: But you are aware of it?
Someone: Yes.
Me: Where did you find out?
Someone: The papers.
Me: Are you going to care about it three weeks from now?
Someone: No, probably not.
Me: So why care now?

Why care now? That's the question I don't seem to get an answer to, leading me to believe that the news serves no purpose in society.

Is it that important that we know a bank gets robbed? No! Because the cops will eventually find the person responsible. Sure, it would help with our security so we don't get robbed, but what are the actual odds that the same person would come after you? Next to none. Which leads me to believe that not only does news serve no purpose in society, it also instills paranoia and fear.

Another example: Tour extensions. Is it that important that we know that, if everyone concerned was already notified? I mean, if a soldier found out that his tour of duty was going to be extended by 3 months via news, then that would show that the government is not doing their job.

And it doesn't help us, the public, it helps terrorists. I have noticed several occasions where the information on World News Tonight could have been jotted down by terrorist groups and then used against us.

Good news is a different story, because it can be used to cheer us up.

But all bad news does is make us sorry for living in our country. And bad news takes up 27 minutes out of 30 in the program.

Reality Check

What do I want to be when I grow up? ...Of course, my obvious answer right now would be: musician. My piano teacher says I have the skill to make it my main career if I wanted to. But I've been thinking recently: What if it doesn't work out? What if I'm doomed to a lifetime of bohemia and playing at carnivals? It happens to many. Couldn't I be one?

I need back-up.

My parents want me to be a doctor, make lots of $$$ and live the ideal American life. And there are some doctor/musicians in the world. But they never go far, and I want fame, I want fortune.

But am I realistically going to make my way to the top? Am I good enough?

That's the question I can't answer. Only time will tell if I'm good enough. And if I'm not good enough, then...? Doctor.

A doctor who wishes he was somewhere else.

Well, dam broke. Neighbor's moving stuff in. Gotta go help.

~-~

The De-Emofying Process

Sometimes life brings you to somewhere you don't want to be. I'm sorta there right now.

I played most of my songs today and instead of just playing them, I listened to them. And I found that... A COUPLE OF THEM SOUND EMO. AHHHHHHH!!!
(Expletive) (Expletive) (Expletive)

(Deep breath)

So now I'm going to get rid of any songs that sound like depressed kids could cry to them.

In this cleansing process, I've already eliminated 2 songs: Reduced to Rubble and Saunter, although it's second part is a blues solo. Shame.

The others so far show no signs of this disease, and I hope it stays that way. God. That is definitely not what I want to sound like.

Virginia Tech

The already-famous Madness on Campus post:

http://icantread01.livejournal.com/103060.html

My prayers are with the families who lost their loved ones.

~-~

That Clock...

...Gave me the inspiration to write a song called Internal Clock. It's good.

It's one of those "walking songs" where you can walk with the beat and look like a total retard as you strut down the street. Yeah... maybe I'm the only one...

I've also come to the realization that I'm not going to be able to fit all these songs into one recording session. I'll probably end up asking for another one.

20.

Flood Story.

New Hampshire's getting hit again with another rainy nor'easter. People are thinking the rain is done, but we're probably going to get hit again with another round because the storm keeps spiraling over our heads.

Our street was pretty beat up last year because of flooding. An entire chunk of our road was turned into a rushing waterfall that we could hear from our house. There was no way out by car. We were pretty much trapped in our neighborhood.

Out into town, trees were down everywhere. An entire road was turned into a swimming pool. There were outages in about 60% of the houses. And the scariest thing was the dam was on the verge of breaking. People scrambled to put sandbags down on it to hold it together. It seemed like any moment, the dam was going to break. Thank god it didn't.

Almost everyone I knew was evacuated.

I remember our street getting evacuated to the Rec Center. We were given 15 minutes to pack our belongings and head out. It was originally voluntary, but then it was mandatory. We HAD to leave. I forgot what I brought because we were in too much of a rush. As soon as we left our power was shut off and there was no turning back.

But we went back anyways. After about 30 minutes at the Rec, we went back to our house to get some more stuff. And then after about 20 more minutes there, my dad and I took the truck out of the Rec parking lot and drove down to his workplace right on the beach. I thought it was suicide, but we made it. And the damage was pretty devastating. I had to help with cleanup.

We were only evacuated for about 10 hours before calling the town hall and asking for our utilities to be put back on-line. The rain had stopped and the water had subsided so there was no point in us being evacuated.

We were lucky. Some people lost their homes.

And now the same thing's happening if only a little less intense. People's houses are once again, getting flooded. An entire street's been evacuated. And although the rain's quiet right now, the wind's still howling, reminding us that the storm's not over.

~-~

Internal Clock:

~-~

Frustration And the Final Choice

My piano teacher wants me to play this crappy song I wrote a couple months ago for the Renewable Energy CD.

(It's a CD my piano teacher's releasing with all her singer-songwriters on it. 10% proceeds go to Global Warming funds.)

It's called Hey, and I really would rather play a song I actually like. So many of my songs are better than that, but she doesn't seem to get it. We'll see...

P.S.
I'm doing Career Fair over Tram.

EP Names

Hmmm...

Here's a couple ideas:

Disconnection
Help With Fonts
The Meaningless Beginning
U-Turn Right
Search Engine
Nice, Nice, Nice

And there's always the option of the title being one of the tracks. (That, my friends is called a title track.)

I don't know... just wanted to start thinking about it.

:~-~:

Jury is Still Delibirating.

Keep playing Tram and Career Fair over... and over... I'm leaning towards Career Fair more than Tram at this point. I want to know which one I'm recording by this weekend just so I have that sense of security.

Well, I'm gonna go torture myself one and play them both again.

.~-~.

Message in Hindi.

इन अल ठाट वी दो, मई वी दो इत विथ लोवे।

Happy Friday the 13th?

I don't know, I heard it today. I thought it might look better written.

Yeah, talk about unlucky. Confined to a bed and a computer all day isn't my idea of luck. To some people... no. To no one is that lucky.

I tried playing some stuff this morning and realized my voice sounds terrible right now. Not good.

The list I composed for the songs I'm recording's still pretty accurate, but I'm probably not going to put all of them on disc. I'll probably take the best 4 or 5 and throw it on CD.

~-~

Stuck Between Two Intros

I just wrote a new one called Career Fair today and it's destined to be the first track.

The only problem I face is that now I have to decide between that and Tram.

On one hand, Career Fair is my longest song, 6 minutes. It has a 1-minute intro and a 3-minute jam which I can really get into if I'm up for it.

On the other hand, Tram is a very traditional piece that would do well as the first track, because it has many of the elements that I have in the other songs.

I don't know, it's gonna be a while before I reach a verdict.

~-~

Sick...

It's one of those colds that come on suddenly when you don't want them to. Would be really weird if I was sick again during recording. :-/

I'm always sick. It sucks.

~-~

Les Introits

New one called Tram. It's nice, I get two little solos before hitting the piano hard again. It flows nicely into Suspense. I'm not sure if I'm gonna make it two separate songs or one big song yet, and I probably won't decide until the last minute. I used the lyrics from that first improvised lyric for the entire first verse and it sorta makes sense for the song.

26.

~-~

Out of Nowhere Comes...

8 songs. The final list, probably.

1. Reduced to Rubble
2. Saunter/Let's Give it One More Try
3. Bail Out
4. Dead Center
5. Suspense
6. Pyramid Song
7. Eyeglass

By request, I might do an oldie called Structured Like A Palindrome, but I need to relearn it.

But that's it. I'm gonna keep practicing them until May 6th.

~-~

Yet Another...

Chop those trees down
Till there's nothin' but chips
Business shows no sympathy

I got around to savin' everything
While you were sleeping
Something's pulling us from underneath

Someone had to pull your weight
Or otherwise we wouldn’t be at the summit today
Something pulled us underneath.

...Something from something
In order for someone to crawl out of
Something from nothing
Out of nowhere comes...


Take another look
And things might last longer
Business is everything

I got around to killing the beast
While you were falling
Something pulled us under

I gave up x27

Something from something
In order for something to crawl out of
Something for nothing
Out of nowhere comes…

<>

Improvised Lyric

My head is broken
Into transposed colors
Breathing into me.

My head is hurting
Blinded by the rays
That I can't free.

My head is spinning
An equilibrium
Palindromes that don't agree.

Lost in translation
Lost in confusion
Lost at sea.

This Just In...

Hate to be all gloom and doom but...

30% of all species will die from global warming.

Africa: Further drought.
Europe: More heat waves.
India: Dwindling water in the Ganges, which is India's number one water source.
America: shorter winters. Ooh... important... (sarcasm)

And right after that 3 minute segment: the economy.

For every foreigner reading, don't move to America. It's not all it's cracked up to be.

~-~

Editorial Note:

I'm going to be constantly editing the past posts so the song info doesn't become outdated. It's a lot better than just being lazy and not fixing them. For example, Bail Out was originally about a spaceship until a couple hours ago I thought the lyrics made the entire song sound too much like Modest Mouse so I changed it to a car crash. Just to let you know.

~-~

Signed Up.

I signed up for jazz band. Chris Jordan, my band's guitarist, signed up today too. Seeing as how today was the deadline, I pray to god that we were enough to keep it alive. No one knows how many other people signed up. Could be 1, could be 20. But I'm figuring we need at least 10 people willing in order for it to happen. Nervous as hell to see.

Trying to brush up on All Blues and Walkin' by Miles Davis for my audition, whenever, or ifever, it is. (Is ifever even a word?)

~-~

On A Roll...

God, I can't stop posting today. Nothing better to do on a snow day on Thursday when you have no homework and no one's online.

So mad. I hear they're getting rid of our jazz band and chorus next year and the director of all the music is just leaving the school if not enough people sign up. How pathetic. Our school has no life left in it. They got rid of all these courses that would be good if our high school had more than 300 people.

I can't wait to get out of this place they call a high school. I'm staying here for 9th grade, but then I'm getting the hell out. Now that jazz band's close to extinction, if I stayed here, I'd have no chance in getting into Berklee. I'd have a better chance at Exeter High or Portsmouth or anywhere else.

Newmarket Junior/Senior High School might as well be torn to the ground, because the farthest anyone can go with it is to UNH.

There's nothing left for me in this town.

Best Book of All Time!

Best excerpt of 1984:

He examined the chess problem and set out the pieces. It was a tricky ending, involving a couple of knights. "White to play and mate in two moves." Winston looked up at the portrait of Big Brother. White always mates, he thought with a sort of cloudy mysticism. Always, without exception, it is so arranged. In no chess problem since the beginning of the world has black ever won. Did it not symbolize the eternal, unvarying triumph of Good over Evil? The huge face gazed back at him, full of calm power. White always mates.

I plan on reading Animal Farm next. Finally, an author that captured my interest!

Spring?

It's snowing in April. Global warming?

Meanwhile, I'm on a roll with songs. Just wrote a new one called "Dead Center".

5 songs. I think I'll quit while I'm ahead.

I'm still wondering how I'm going to be able to communicate between Matt (person who's playing guitar in studio) and Eban (person who's playing drums in studio) to get the music to them. Maybe recordings, maybe paper with chords on it, i don't know. But something's gotta happen in order for it to work.

When I turn left, you turn right.

Brings The Total to Four.

I'm working on this 3-part song right now called "Bail Out". It sorta has a plot to it:

There's a car. Everything's going fine until the driver starts to sleep and they find that they're closing in on a street sign. And then all the aftermath's sugar-coated so it doesn't sound as bad as it actually is.

Favorite line:
I would gladly crash this ship
If I knew where I was landing.

One for the record if I can finish it.