I just realised that I forgot to post this one – which is a pity, because it’s definitely one of my better attempts.
I’m particularly happy with the guitar – it’s probably the first piece I’ve done where I actually feel like a guitarist.
It was very much written [...]]]> Quick Download Link

I just realised that I forgot to post this one – which is a pity, because it’s definitely one of my better attempts.
I’m particularly happy with the guitar – it’s probably the first piece I’ve done where I actually feel like a guitarist.
It was very much written around the guitar theme, though the rest of the instruments are what ended up setting the tone.
I’m very happy with the Sax solo too – it’s not too derivative, and fits the mood of the piece perfectly. It’s very good to be able to include sax in my music again.
The lyrics as usual don’t have a whole lot of meaning in them – I just try words that seem to fit, and then find a way to link them up.

I need to practice singing more, and stop relying on V-Vocal. I should probably make a resolution to never use it again – at least for whole track pitch correction. Fixing a timing issue here and there isn’t so bad.

Tonight we have a very loud, raw piece, aiming very squarely at early 90s grunge. There’s nothing but bass, drums, guitar and voice, and there’s a grand total of four chords used. It didn’t require a whole lot of ability to either write or play, but it was fun.
Quick Download Link.

Tonight we have a very loud, raw piece, aiming very squarely at early 90s grunge. There’s nothing but bass, drums, guitar and voice, and there’s a grand total of four chords used. It didn’t require a whole lot of ability to either write or play, but it was fun.
enjoy (with the volume UP)

Tonight’s piece marks the first time I have recorded a piece with Saxophone in ten years. My old Sax had started falling apart, and the potential cost of refurbishment along with the Progressive Metal focus of the Cumulo-Nimbus years meant that I just never got round to doing anything about it.
Quick Download Link

Tonight’s piece marks the first time I have recorded a piece with Saxophone in ten years. My old Sax had started falling apart, and the potential cost of refurbishment along with the Progressive Metal focus of the Cumulo-Nimbus years meant that I just never got round to doing anything about it.
But now I have – I’ve bought a new sax, and have finally got round to recording something with it. This is a straight 12 bar blues piece with Tenor Sax, Clarinet and Flute plus Guitar, Bass, Drums and electric piano.
It’s been way too long since I’ve done any recording – or even any practice, because this simple improvisation has taken me two nights to get down, and is rather rough, but I think it makes a pretty good re-entrance piece for the Sax.

Tonight’s piece is a collaboration between Caitlin and me.
Whilst the performance you hear is entirely me, I’m playing the bassline and chords that Caitlin wrote, and we only didn’t include her bass performance because I accidentally deleted her first (not quite right, but probably passable) take, and subsequent [...]]]> Quick Download Link

Tonight’s piece is a collaboration between Caitlin and me.
Whilst the performance you hear is entirely me, I’m playing the bassline and chords that Caitlin wrote, and we only didn’t include her bass performance because I accidentally deleted her first (not quite right, but probably passable) take, and subsequent ones tended to get worse, not better.
This simple piece came about via Caitlin deciding she wanted to play with the bass. I showed her the general idea of how to play (fingered, not picked), and some basic notes (E, G, A, C, D), and she came up with a simple bass line and chord pattern by fiddling with those notes. Then we added the other parts, with the artistic direction being all Caitlin – I’d just show her what was possible, or what ideas I had for a particular part, but she decided what to actually use.

It’s shortish, and simple (an 8 bar pattern repeated 4 times – fading out the last time so you don’t hear the abrupt stop), but it’s not bad for 3 hours work, written and directed by a 10 year old.

In a parallel universe, it’d be cause for celebration.
In this one….
…well, there’s not much more to say, other than I’m still here, and I still make cups of tea.

The first one for 2009 is just a quick piece of fun with a delay effect.
Four parts – Dums, Bass, Guitar and Organ, the organ part basically an improvisation.
Not much more to say about it really – it doesn’t really say anything, but it was fun. It’s [...]]]> Quick Download Link

The first one for 2009 is just a quick piece of fun with a delay effect.
Four parts – Dums, Bass, Guitar and Organ, the organ part basically an improvisation.
Not much more to say about it really – it doesn’t really say anything, but it was fun. It’s the sort of thing that you could jam on for hours, but I limited it to three minutes for the sake of your sanity.

Yes, 2006. This was one I started the first time round, but didn’t really finish. Tonight I was poking through old stuff and came across it, and figured it really deserved some better treatment. Most of what you hear is the original 2006 recording – I only added the synth, the [...]]]> Quick Download Link.

Yes, 2006. This was one I started the first time round, but didn’t really finish. Tonight I was poking through old stuff and came across it, and figured it really deserved some better treatment. Most of what you hear is the original 2006 recording – I only added the synth, the second and lead guitars and the recital.
I have no idea why I stuck a Coleridge poem in the middle – it just seemed to go. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the lyrics, but who really pays any attention to that sort of thing anyway?

Ok, so here it is, my first composition and recording on my 1840s Broadwood Square Piano.
Apologies in advance for it being so mournful and dirge like, and my playing being so wooden – I never claimed to be a pianist. Lack of piano ability is what makes [...]]]> Quick Download Link

Ok, so here it is, my first composition and recording on my 1840s Broadwood Square Piano.
Apologies in advance for it being so mournful and dirge like, and my playing being so wooden – I never claimed to be a pianist. Lack of piano ability is what makes this one so slow and short. I had to be able to play it right through in a single take. No multi-tracking, or splicing different parts together, and definitely no fixing up bad notes afterwards….
The tuning isn’t great – but that’s because the strings on it are very old. The full restoration will involve replacing all the strings, but it’ll be a couple of years before I can afford that.