My new digital single, "Backward in Time," is officially
released today through
CD Baby.
It's available at
Apple Music,
iTunes,
Pandora,
Amazon Music,
Deezer,
and many, many other streamers and digital music sellers. It may not
be processed and available at many of them today, but within a few
days, or weeks, it will be.
A few of you may know, from previous blog entries, that the germ of
the song came from a short piece of
scene transition music
I composed and recorded for
The Dayton Theatre Guild's
2023 production of
Wednesday's Child
by Mark St. Germain,
that which I was also the
director.
It was a recurring piece of music, used for several flashback scenes
in the play; and, coincidentally, the title of that little snippet
was "Backward in Time."
I kept that as the workshop title when I was expanding it to the
full song it is now. But the title works so well for the sequencer
sound in the song, that I figured I keep that as the theme and write
lyrics around it. It took me a little while to come across a
backward-in-time subject for the lyrics, but, eventually I
found one. That subject matter is why I chose this day as its release
date.
"'We hold these truths to be self-evident,' they said, 'that
all men are created equal.' Strange as it may seem, that was the
first time in history that anyone had bothered to write that down.
Decisions are made by those who show up. Class dismissed."
-- President Josiah Bartlet, (as written by
Aaron Sorkin),
The West Wing,
Season 1: episode 22
"What Kind of Day Has It Been?"
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them
with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the
separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of
Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel
them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness.
--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among
Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of
these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish
it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such
principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them
shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established
should not be changed for light and transient causes; and
accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right
themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under
absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw
off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security.
--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such
is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former
Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great
Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all
having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny
over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a
candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and
necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and
pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till
his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has
utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of
large districts of people, unless those people would
relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a
right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,
uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public
Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into
compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of
the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to
cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers,
incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large
for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time
exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and
convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States;
for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of
Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their
migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new
Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing
his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure
of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither
swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their
substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies
without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and
superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws;
giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any
Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these
States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by
Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended
offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a
neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary
government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at
once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same
absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable
Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves
invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his
Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns,
and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign
Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and
tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy
scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally
unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the
high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the
executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall
themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the
merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress
in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been
answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus
marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the
ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren.
We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We
have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and
settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and
magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common
kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably i
nterrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been
deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must,
therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our
Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies
in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America,
in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of
the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name,
and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly
publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right
ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved
from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and
ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent
States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract
Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things
which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of
this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our
Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
The 56 signatures on the Declaration appear in
the positions indicated:
Column 1
Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton
Column 2
North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton
Column 3
Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton
Column 4
Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean
Column 5
New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark
Column 6
New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton
Now that the
"Backward in Time"
single is out, I move back to the song that was the first song
intended for single release, the second new song, which was
originally targeted for release the end of last year. This one is a
different take, a reimagining, of an old, standard, secular
Christmas
song, where I've essentially kept the meaning but completely changed
the approach of the lyrics. I also started off my chord progression
for the song by switching all the original major chords to minor, and
vice versa, then tweaking the chords from there. Honestly, I can't
see that any listener would be able connect my song with the original
unless they were aware of what I've done so would specifically
critically scrutinized with that in mind.
All the instrumentation for this one has been recorded. I have the
vocals left to finish composing, then recording. I held off adding
the vocals back late last year, (or early this year, I can't remember
which), from recording the vocals, mostly because my voice was not
in the greatest shape at the time, between a sore throat and not
being maintained with regular practice and warm-ups (a recurring
musical theme with instrumentation, too).
Later today, I'll start working on the vocals. Whether or not I get
to a recording session today remains to be seen. I've had a lot of
the lead vocal melody composed for months, though it very well may
change to some extent. And I have a concept for the harmony backup
vocals. Something similar to the ensemble vocals
in "Just One Shadow
is what I have in mind, with a definite idea for the outro of the
song.
By-the-way: just like the song it's based off of, my song is only
indirectly a "Christmas
song".
MENTAL HEALTH MAINTENENCE IN THE WOODS:
When I revamped the blog, I decided that for the most part I wouldn't
focus on things like hikes, camping, and other subjects not directly
about artsy stuff. But today, I make an exception. Yesterday wasn't
exactly the best 4th of July since I've been alive; in fact, it's a
strong contender for the worst one since this date of this month has
had any significance to this country; but it may not end up being
the worst one of all ‐‐ I certainly hope I'm wrong about
that, and I may not be too able to much assist in helping that be
wrong, but I'm going to give doing whatever small amount I can a try.
Yesterday, as much-needed therapy, due to the darkness of current
events, I went hiking for a couple hours. I went to nice little park
in Springfield, Ohio,
Gallagher Fen State Nature Preserve.
The great thing was that I virtually had the place to myself. I
only ran into one other person the whole time I was there: a
botanist who was there to grab some pics of some plants and such.
As a side note: Ohio has had an uptick in black bear sightings,
and they have been sighted in my area of southwest Ohio. I
didn't think about that until I was on the trail. Black
bear attacks on people are rare, but they happen. I stopped
in my tracks and pulled out my
phone
to search for credible, authoritative advice on what to do
if I were to encounter a black bear. One of the things I
believe will happen soon is that I get both a bear bell and
bear spray. Usually, if a black bear encounters a human, it'll
leave; but, if it feels threatened, is a mother with cubs
close by, or is hungry and smells food on the person, it may
attack. Not an event I wish to experience.
I still plan to go hiking after I post this blog entry and
\at lunch, even without the bear spray/bell.
Here are a few pics from my Gallagher Fen hike yesterday:
So, my blood sugar has been higher than I like, the
last few days, but after my hike I went for it at
Young's Jersey Dairy,
partly in honor of my single release, plus, a need
for some comfort food and something to deaden my
emotions.
Seems like I post A LOT of different
renditions of the same photos at this blog, and
here I am, doing it again. Before I went on my
hike, I spent some time at my favorite office: my
patio. I didn't do any serious work on anything,
save for send some emails to folk with links to
the "Backward in Time" music video.
‐‐ P.S.: I wrote today's entry on the patio, too.
Now it's time for, to quote Daryl Hall,
"the moron tabernacle choir," or, in this case, ensemble.
Saturday night I finished working on the lead vocal melody for the
winter season song, then recorded that lead vocal. Honestly, there
wasn't much left to finish composing, and what I worked more on was
vocal phrasing,
including some of the rhythm of the vocal and some note values. It
was 17 takes with many being false starts in one section or another,
and re-recording of said particular sections.
Now that the lead vocal track is laid, I move onto the harmonic
backing vocals. As I wrote in the last blog post, the whole vocal
concept here is much like that for
"Just One Shadow.
In that one, I had an eight voice ensemble for the backup vocals,
with two voices on each of four harmony parts. I didn't go into
this one with that exact idea in mind, but I knew I wanted a chorus
and I to open some already-used tracks in the song project on the
24-Track recorder.
I need enough open tracks to accomodate eight or more individual
voices. So, yesterday afternoon, I
bounced
all but the lead vocal to the last stereo track (#23/24), so that
I have enough free for the ensemble voices. And I cleaned out all
those tracks instruments were bounced from so they're void of audio
information.
Tonight I'll start working on the backing vocals, though that may
not mean recording tonight. Finishing this ensemble chorus might
take a little while. First, I'm not wholly sure what I want to do,
but I know what mood and feel I'm going for; and I know I want the
arrangement, especially at the end of the song, to be as elaborate
as my music-theory challenge mind can make it, maybe not so much so
in the early stages of the ensemble's presence, but certainly during
the song's ending. But I'm not in a major rush to get this one done;
this is planned to be a single, but not until the end of the
year, which was the original goal for it last year. Some of you may
remember it was supposed to be a winter/Christmas
season release last November; now that's the plan for this coming
November.
I thought about putting my name in to be one of the
directors,
but I elected to act again, instead.
For those who aren't familiar, the Playwright Race is a 24-hour,
ten-minute play
gig; actually it's an 18-hour. five-minute play gig.
This is my fifth year doing this. My understanding is that some of
the procedures for choosing which play group each participant
is involved with are changed a bit this year. Plus, instead of different
plays happening in different locations around the festival, they'll
all be at the
Dayton Convention Center,
but I believe still outside, which technically keeps it still
"street theatre."
"The Moron Tabernacle Ensemble," work has officially
begun. Last night I mostly worked out the first of what will probably
be a four-part harmony for the ensemble chorus vocals.
I did not get to the recording phase for the part. I need to
iron it out a little and rehearse how I'll vocalize it, what the
vocal phrasing
and technique will be, exactly. Another thing I'm going to do, is
crank the AC in the apartment for a little while before I begin to
record tonight, on the assumption that I will record. Last night,
with all the fans turned off, for as much room-ambient silence as
possible, it got a little toasty in the place.
I AM NOW OFFICIALLY A "PROFESSIONAL" SONGWRITER...TECHNICALLY:
Yesterday I went to my account at the
BMI website to check up on the
issue of a particular song I'm having a problem getting registered.
For a while, a long while, none of my songs were listed on my account;
I was told it can take a while, I guess that was not wrong. All but
one that should be there, are. "Backward in Time" isn't,
but I didn't expect it to be.
While I was there, I decided to check on my accrued royalties. To
be very frank, I did not expect to see any accumulation. whatsoever.
To my surprise there is $7523.17
in there and the money will be deposited in my bank account any
day now.
Nah, just kidding!
As you can see from the screen capture below, I have earned some
royalties, but it's a little less than $7523.17 ‐‐
by -$7523.15. Only $1.98 to go
before I do get a bank deposit. And it's a bit of a rationale,
or maybe it's a reeeeeeeeally big stretch, but I can technically
say I'm a professional songwriter.....technically.
A frequent, long-standing part of my vocal warmup
ritual: a warm cup of
Throat Coat tea.
Tuesday evening I recorded two vocals (voices) for the first of the
four-part harmony ensemble backing chorus for the winter season
song. That first part is designated as the second-tenor part.
The first second-tenor voice took four takes, and as has been the
case of late, it was recorded in sections, with starts and stops at
various points, with each new start counting as a take. It was the
same for the second second-tenor voice, which was three takes.
I also started working on the second part, designated as the
baritone part, but I didn't get a lot of ground on that one. I don't
think this song has any key modulations in it, but then it might.
Regardless of whether or not there are a key changes, I've had challenges
staying on pitch as I work out these harmonies. That sort of suggests
to me that there just might be key changes, but they're subtle
enough that my music-theory-challenged brain doesn't readily hear
or see them. If I had any sense, I sit down at the piano and work
parts out using each chord as a matrix, but for some reason I want
to do this by ear; don't ask me why, 'cause it's not the easier way.
Got back to the bari vocal part the next night, moving on into
recorded the first of the two vocals, and in only four takes. First
take was a full performance that I rejected after listening to the
play back, then a couple partial takes where I slightly lost pitch,
then the good take, number four. Honestly, I was prepared for it to
take far more than four tries. I doubled the bari vocal part the next
night, again, in four takes.
The "first" tenor voices were next. I put "first"
in quotations because, first, I am now and have always been a second
tenor, well, since high school anyway; I was probably a male soprano
as a child, like most men. Second/third, because of my age and my
consistant pattern of not being in practice, I'm probably a lower
second tenor than I used to be, maybe bordering on a high baritone.
So, really, what I should probably label this vocal part is
" the higher tenor melody part," but we're calling it the
"first tenor part."
I began working out the "first tenor part" Friday night.
In between my want to reach some higher notes and the same issue of
staying on pitch during probable key modulations, which I had earlier
with other vocal parts here, I didn’t get the composition finished.
As far as the higher notes, I just don’t have the high range I had
in my youth; the ceiling is at least a few steps down from what it
was. Once again, I’m not as young as I was when I was singing all
the time, and I’m not singing as much as when I was younger
and, well, singing all the time: my voice ain’t in the same shape.
It’s the same story as with my bass playing and my, ahem,
"keyboard playing,": I don’t practice like I should.
After a break for a day, I finished working out the first/high
tener part last night then recorded both voices; the first one was
done in one take; the second was done in five takes, once again
because I started and stop for each section, to be sure I matched
the melodic variables from the verse voice, and again, with each
stop-&-stop counting as its own take. Now all that's left for
the "Moron Tabernacle Ensemble" is the vocals for bass
part (AKA: the lowest tenor part).
When I first started blogging about this 2025 Music Adventure
I stated I wasn't going to give much detail in the blog posts.
I've kind of evolved into giving more detail, though I'm
still leaving some key info out.
That's it, just wanted to acknowledge that observation.
SHOOTIN' FOR SOME STAGES IN 25/26:
I believe I mentioned sometime in the not-too-distant past that
there are a few stage productions coming up in this new theatre
season that I would love to appear in. Now is the time to get my
nose into those scripts and start prepping for the
auditions.
As is usually the case with me, I aspire to specific roles in each
of the shows ‐‐ one of those roles has been on my bucket
list for quite a long time, and this may be my last possible chance
because I'm on the edge of aging out of the part, and I may have aged
out in the eyes of the director, but we'll see. For the other roles,
there are definitely particular actors who come to mind as stiff
competition if they audition, but I couldn't possibly get the call
to accept the role if I don't audition, so....
The main backing choral ensemble is now wrapped. Last night I worked
out and recorded the two vocals for the bass part (AKA: the lowest
backing vocal part).
This took a total of three takes, but I did it a little differently.
Take 1 was bass vocal #1 on track 07, from the ensemble's introduction
in the song up to the cello solo. Then I switched to track 08 and
recorded all of bass vocal 2 from the beginning to the end, as take
#2. Then, I dropped back to track 07 at the end of the cello solo
and recorded bass vocal 1 from after the solo to the end of song,
which was take #3. Each time I was matching the second vocal recorded
with the first vocal recorded.
As a dry recording (meaning no reverb, echo, or other effects), the
whole eight-voice ensemble isn't as smooth sounding, but I'm confident
that in the final mix , with it all ran through reverb, I'll get
what I invision.
Now I do some sort of vocal scats, or melodic vocal gymnastics,
counter melodies off of each other and the rest of what's going on
at the end of the song. Probably three parts, on tracks 09, 10, and
& 12, the last three open mono tracks. As one might be able to
tell, I'm not absolutely sure what I'm going to do. But I have a
concept. There may be a a number of takes involved, as I improvise
then reject much of what I've just done. I'd like to have this all
finished by end of the night Thursday....we'll see.
A PLATE OF RESOLUTION & A GLASS OF WHINE:
I created the meme to the left about a week ago. I'd been thinking
about creating it for quite some time in response to my observation
that many of us seem to neglect acknowledging and/or complementing
work of the creators we have in our lives. I know I have often
appreciated something an artsy person in my life has created or
done and failed to communicate my admiration to them. On the other
side of that coin, as an artist myself, I absolutely have been on
the receiving end of that stick, or I should say, "the
non-receiving end."
It feels good. *(written in
the sarcasm font)
For the most part, this just happened with my new single release,
"Backward in Time."
I've had a small handful of people who've commented on the song, a
very small fraction of the people I directly notified, or who have
had an opportunity to be aware of the song, otherwise. That small
amount of feedback has been positive to one extent or another, but
those whispers of praise are competing with the roar of the choir
of cricket chirps filling the air.
Now, I don't think the song is a masterpiece in any aspect: song
writing, performance, arrangement, or production; but I also don't
think it's lousy. Maybe I'm delusional, but I actually thinks it's
at least "good." The lack of any response from
more than just a very few, especially in the rather large circle
of my artist-type friends and acquaintances, leaves me a little
dismayed.
Of course, with the posting of such things on social media, the post
is at the unforgiving mercy of the algorithms which often deny many
or most those one is connected to even the ability to see the post,
which is major flaw in the machinery.
I'm sure there are a lot of other things going on for a lot of people,
too. Some people are busy and intend to check out it, whatever "it"
is, later. Others just aren't interested. Some have checked
the work out, and maybe weren't impressed, and have adopted the
it's better to say nothing approach. Then there are those
who check out the work, liked it, but moved on without saying
anything. I've been all those people when my friends and acquaintances
have shared their creations, or performances, or whatever.
Having frequently been the person who's put the work out there and
received little tom no response, here's been my reactions, wondering
which of these, and how many are, true:
that a lot people, even a lot of my friends and acquaintances,
are not interested enough to even check it out
that others have thought it sucked
that many don't take me seriously as an artist
These are all, of course, emotionally based, though they're not
really irrational. They're certainly influenced by my insecurities,
or more so, that I let them vex me is. I've been advised to let it
all slide off like water off a duck ‐‐ easier said than
done.
I also know this: I'm not the only arts person who experiences this
or has these reactions to the uncertainty of how our work is being
received, if received at all. And again, I know this: I am sometimes
the audience or potentail audience the other artists are vexed by.
But I also often give kudos to those whose work I've experienced,
or at least make the attempt, whether I know the person or not. I
even do it for professionals, if I can. I've done to actors I've
seen on
Equity stages,
or professional comedians I've seen ‐‐ message forms or
emails at their official websites, or PMs on social media, or at
the stage door; it's usually not the big stars, who are often more
difficult to connect with; although, in a shameless and unapologetic
name-drop, I did get to tell
Celia Keenan-Bolger,
face to face, that her excellent performance as Scout in
Aaron Sorkin's new version of To Kill a Mockingbird
on Broadway,
was brilliant, and only about a week or two before she won her
Best Actress Tony for it.
Not for nothin' but I got to compliment
Jeff Daniels, in person,
for his Atticus Finch in the same production. Ok, ego-driven,
look-at-me! moment over.
I certainly do it in my local theatre, at all the
non-professional productions
I attend, many of the actors,
directors,
etc., being my friends, acquaintances, associates, colleagues., I
am one of those who wait in the lobby after the show to shake a hand,
give a hug, and compliment and congratulate. I do it at the
Human Race Theatre Company
where the actors usually come into the lobby after the show, too.
Some of those actors I also know, and sometimes have worked with on
the Race stage.
The place where I'm seriously guilty of the lack of acknowledgment,
or compliment, or even of checking out the work, is on-line, which
mostly means social media. Even sometimes when a friend posts a
poem, right there, as THE post, not a link to the poem, but
the poem itself, not only don't I even hit Like, or whatever, even
if I did like it, I sometimes don't read it.
And you know what? That sucks of me. I post links to the
YouTube videos of my songs,
hoping that people, especially my friends, will check them out, like
them, and let me know. Then, people I know do the same for their music,
some of those people being goddamn excellent, and I don't even click
the link. And you know what? That sucks of me.
And I'll tell you how I know it sucks of me: because when I post
that link and I get little to no response,
It
Sucks! So I have pretty much no defense for not respecting
the artsy folk I know, and their WORK, enough to give them
some kind of damned response.
So here's my "Plate of Resolution": I'm making a conscious
effort to change my behavior, to fully support as best I can the
artists and the artistic-inclined people I know, even those I only
know or meet in passing. Even if all I do is hit the Like button,
I'm not going to be, or appear to be, the disinterested passer-by.
Let's face it, right now, we all need as much art in our ears and
eyes as we can get, and we need to applaud and encourage as much art
as we can.
No vocal work last night for the winter season song. I do have the
last vocal work to add, the "vocal gymnastics," as I'm
coming to refer to these last frills I will add at the end of the
song. I have tonight and tomorrow night to get those worked out and
recorded, or at least get some of that work finished. Friday through
Sunday are out *(see next entry). It's not like I must have
all the recording done in the immediate future. The planned single
release is four months away. So this can go into next week if it has
to, and it probably will.
I did do some work on the song last night; I exported the eight
ensemble vocals from the
Tascam 24-Track recorder
onto my MacBook Pro
for import into the
Logic Pro X
project for the song. I still have the lead vocal to drop into the
LPX project, too. That'll all happen sometime today.
NUMBER TWENTY-ONE:
This coming weekend will be my twenty-first
FutureFest
new play festival. Many of these years I've been involved, as either
an actor or
sound designer;
several years I've been the sound designer for all or most of the
plays for the festival. This year, I am only an audience member,
and that is okay with me. I don't know if you are aware of this,
but I have a music project demanding much of my time and energy
right now.
I almost didn't buy a weekend pass for this one. My finances are
pretty tight right now *(see Macca entry below). But I was able to
move some numbers around on the ledger and work the cost in. I'm
glad, because FF is one of my favorite theatre experiences of the
year, whether I am somehow working it or not.
INTRODUCING KIDS TO THEATRE:
Next Monday, the day after
FutureFest 2025,
The Guild will be
hosting a field trip for some younger children, I think around
eight-years-old or so. I'm participating, demonstrating the audio
system and the use of
sound effects
and music in a theatre production. This is a field trip for the
youngins but I didn't catch what school they are from. The afternoon
was arranged by a past Guild board member who now works for a public
school system.
Hey, I was taking a
vacation
Monday, anyway. I always take the day off after the FutureFest
weekend.
NO MACCA LIVE FOR ME THIS YEAR:
Just as I expected he would, Paul
is coming back to the states to hit some cities he didn't on the
2022 leg of his Got Back Tour.
And he's coming to Nationwide Area
in Columbus in November.
Presale tickets were available yesterday, and I qualified ‐‐
not that it's hard to do so ‐‐ and did get into the queue;
but when it was my turn I came to see that the ticket prices are
out of my current financial range, at least for any seat I would
want.
The lowest price I could see for a seat I would want was $900.
Really, right now, it's difficult to justify spending almost any
money on a ticket, so if I'm going to the show, I'm going to have
to be satisfied with where I'm sitting. So,
unless some miracle happens, this will be the first major U.S.
McCartney tour I've missed in my entire adult life, which is all
of his solo tours and the one
Wings tour of the
states (1976's Wings Over America Tour ‐‐ the U.S. leg of
Wings Over the World)
My only solace, at all, is that this is the same tour I saw in
Knoxville in 2022,
so the playlist will be virtually the same, though I'm sure there
will be a few changeups. I do love to see Paul live, though; in case
you haven't figured it out,
I'm a big fan;
so, I'm a little bummed that without the intervention of some lovely
goddess of luck, I'll be missing this tour. And we're getting to the
point now where each of his tours could be the last one....
Laying down those ending vocals, was a much easier, quicker session
than I anticipated it to be. I did three parts, hence: "The
Three Stooges," all simple on their own, but I think giving
a culmination of an interesting, almost complex little vocal
arrangement. The process of the session was smooth and simple. I
did one run-through the ending once for each, improvising some
vocal scatting,
then, after that "rehearsal," I recorded the part in only
one take for each of the three parts.
The raw playback on the
Tascam
is a bit muddy, but I think once I do some
EQ
and pan
work during the mixing
process in Logic Pro,
that muddiness will disappear. Maybe a little bit of
compression
is called for, too. It's the same with all the "Moron Tabernacle
Ensemble" parts. But everything is now in the Logic Pro song
project, just waiting for me to get to the mixing. The earliest
that process can start is next week, and it probably will. As you
five(?) regulars may know, the next several days will see me at
The Dayton Playhouse
for FutureFest 2025.
And tonight I'll spend time doing some prep work for the young
field-trippers who are visiting
The Dayton Theatre Guild
next Monday.
As for the 2025 Music Adventure, after I mix, and likely do at least
a preliminary mastering,
of the winter season song, I'll return to the new R&B pop song
I started several weeks ago. From there, I'm not sure what's next.
There's a ballad I'd had an idea for, for a while, that I started
chords for while on my recent camping trip; there's another piece
of music from my soundtrack for the Guild production of
Wednesday's Child
that I want to expand upon; there are several titles from my youth
that I want to get to for this project, and will; plus I have a
few other new ideas floating around in my deranged little noggin.
So, not sure where I go after I've dealt with the R&B piece.
Because of a troubling event in my life I'm now a month behind
where I could be on the project. In fact, for a few weeks I took
almost no action on anything in any area of my little "artsy
life." And it seems pretty clear that this music project is
going to have to be renamed "The 2025/26 Music Adventure,"
because it's obviously not going to be wrapped by this coming New
Year's Eve ‐‐ a revelation which pre-dates the month away
that just occurred.
Last night I ended the "unexpected hiatus" and got back
to the next item on the agenda, the
mixing
and mastering
of the winter season ballad I intend to release as my next single,
you know, in the winter season moving into
ThanksGiving
and Christmas,
et al. All I got to last night was mixing and I'm not done. I'd say
I'm somewhere around the halfway mark, or maybe just short of that.
After the mixing and mastering of the winter song is finished, I
get back to the recording of the
R&B-esque/Sting-esque
song. I've already laid much of the rhythm instrumentation, but I'm
contemplating going back and rerecording it, mostly because I'm
contemplating a slight change in the structure of the song.
Then, of course, there are the several songs that are begun or I
have a strong concept for, as well as some titles from my youth
that I want to include, all that will be re-written or re-composed
to one extent or the other. Probably it'll mostly be lyric changes.
As you can see, December 31 ain't gonna see the project being done.
CHANGES:
My audition plans for the season are now in flux. I had definite
plans for some productions but I am backing off due to where my head
is at. The closest audition has been nixed, just as much because I
had downtime from
the 2025 Music Adventure,
as stated above, and I really don't want to put that too much farther
behind. The other productions I had my eye on may not see me at
auditions, either. Some of it again being the music project, some of
it because I seem to be at a crossroads and I am not sure if I'm
continuing forward or making a turn, one direction or the other.
A LITTLE DIP BACK INTO THE RABBIT HOLE:
Another one of the "artsy-life" things I have done
in recent days is slightly slip back into the rabbit hole of working
on the story bible
for the universe of the novel manuscript, the
full-length play
manuscript, and at least one short play manuscript, that are a part
of my "artsy life." You five* regulars may be aware of
this universe that occupies part of my psyche. What I spent some
time on was creating the educational and the professional life of
one of the protagonist's relatives. Something that I've done with
many other relatives, friends, and colleagues. Fortunately, I didn't
stay as obsessively in the rabbit hole for as long as I often do.
Yet, honestly, right now, it was good therapy to spend a little time
there.
*) "Five" regulars may be an optimistic over-estimate.
ANNOUNCING THE CAST:
The Cast of Dial "M" for Murder
CHARACTER
ACTOR
Margot Wendice
Cora Ceipek
Max Halliday
Jared Mola
Tony Wendice
Matt Meier
Captain Lesgate
Danny Lipps
Inspector Hubbard
Jim Walker
Thompson
Frank Maranje
Male Voice Over
Brandon Castillo
Toward the end of July, something occurred that changes things for
me. I'm not sure right now just how much, but it may be significantly,
or close to. It's probably not going to be as drastic as I was
planning right after the fact, but I'm not sure it's going to be a
small change. It already has changed where I'm at, my feelings and
thinking on some things.
I'm not going to get into specifics about the occurrence but I will
try to give an account, vague as it will be. I was confronted about
some things. At first I took it all deeply to heart and it kicked me
in the gut like an angry Clydesdale would. I was devastated. My
self-worth was not simply wounded, it was eviscerated. My feeling
of belonging died for a little while; to be honest, it's not totally
revived, at all. And I was profoundly saddened.
With a month's amount of distance between me and the
"revelations" I was presented with, I've backed off a lot
of my initial, visceral reaction, but I've also backed off accepting
the complete veracity of all the observations made to me. To be fair,
though, I haven't totally rejected everything in the "intervention,"
if you want to call it that. As I move forward, however and wherever
that moving forward will be, I do believe I need to be conscious of
some things.
There is one thing that came to light that's incredibly distressing.
A very vague account of something was relayed to me. It seems I
somehow harmed a person, and apparently, substantially. I don't know
exactly how I harmed them, and I'm not wholly sure who it even is,
though I have a reasonably good idea, though it's not 100% confirmed
and it may never be. Still, I'm pretty sure that, circumstantially,
I got a signal to leave the person it may be alone, and so I will.
But I am distressed that I hurt them in some way and I'm greatly
frustrated that I don't know what it is I did or said. It's been an
albatross hanging on me since I found out. But, again, I may never
know what the offense was and I may never have an opportunity even
try to make an amends.
This specific issue, as well as my seriously damaged sense of
belonging, and some other things I'm not going to go into here, all
have me quite sorrowful. For the last month, I've kept to myself as
much as possible. Until the last few days, I've done nothing in my
world of art, save for things I currently have an obligation to do.
And as you read above, I'd done nothing for my current music project
until last night, and I've nixed at least one theatre audition, and
may nix the others I'd planned on for this current theatre season.
I'm on the fence about future seasons, too, at least at the general
non-professional level, which admittedly would greatly reduce my
odds of being cast on stage in anything in the future.
Right now I'm mostly in a holding pattern until I've come to some
conclusions about whatever is next. But I'm pretty sure my relationship
with theatre, and correspondingly with acting as a whole, is going
to change. How much, I'm not sure, but there's some chance it will
be a big change. I'm not feeling like I'm a family member anymore,
nor am I feeling the joy of my involvement. Of course, I may back
off this; a month ago I was going to leave theatre behind completely.
I don't feel like I will back off where my head is currently at a
whole lot though.
For one thing, as I've written elsewhere in today's blogpost, I really
do want to give a lot more time and energy to music. Admittedly, it's
one good reason why I nixed that first audition, not the only reason,
but at least one positive reason. And it may be the good reason I
nix at least another one of the auditions I had my eye on this season.
But there's more to it than my need to get more musical.
I have decisions to make. And I'm still pretty sad; I don't know for
how long, but I don't think my sadness over these things is short-term.
Though there's more to do, I've covered good ground on the
mixing/mastering
of the winter season ballad. I'm still mixing but I'm close to
finished...I think. I should wrap mixing today and at least move
into mastering if not also finish that, today.
The plan, for a while, has been to mix and master a single version
and an album version, and that plan stands. Technically, I'll mix
and master the album version first, then the single version. The
latter will have time shaved as a certainty, but may also have other
elements changed. I have ideas for the differences between the
versions, but those ideas are springboards and there will be a
certain amount of on-the-fly experimenting in the
remixing
of the single version.
You'll note the change in the name of the project. Well, I
wrote in the
Aug 28 blogpost
it was obvious this project wasn't going to be done before
the end of 2025 and it should be renamed, "The 25/26
Music Adventure." So, I've instituted this rebrand as
of now.
I probably wrapped the
mixing
and mastering
of the winter season ballad, yesterday. I say probably because, hey,
it's going to be a long haul before I get to the processing of all
the material that has been and will be recorded for the new album,
and who knows what I'll come to be dissatisfied with later?
As planned, I mixed and mastered an album version, which clocks in
at 7:02, and a single versin, coming in at 4:30. And, as I wrote in
the last blogpost, not only is the single version edited for time,
but I made a few actual mix changes in it, both in terms of some
slight alterations to the
stereo pan,
and dropping a few instruments and vocal parts out of the single's
mix. I'm not 100% certain I'm not going to redo the single's mix,
either, because I'm not 100% satisfied with it; at the moment,
though, I can't think of how to improve the version, although, if I
can come up with a way to shave another minute off the single version,
without feeling like I've slaughtered the song's integrity, I'd be
most happy.
Now I get back to the
Motowny,
Sting-like
R‐&‐B song, which just may end up being another single
at some point. I am more and more inclined to re-record the rhythm
tracks I've already laid down, again, because I've been considering
a slight change in the chord progression structure; plus, the feel
of the music could stand a bit of punch up. I haven't actually
listened to what I've recorded for weeks, but that's the memory I
have, that it could use more zest, and if that impression is lingering,
then it's pretty guaranteed I'll feel the same when I do revisit what's
already laid.
All I've laid thus far are several piano parts and the
GarageBand
drumkit. I'll probably change up that drumkit part. A lot of the
execution of piano parts will likely change, too. It's probably
good to note that the lyrics are not really written yet, either. I
just have some lines at the start and the end if the chorus section,
as well as the theme of the lyrics.
And I must admit I have some skepticism about how "Motown
R‐&‐B" the song will end up sounding; I have my
doubts about "Sting-like," as well. I'm pretty white, and
not at all the "Blue-eyed Soul" kind of white; and in case
you aren't aware: I ain't Sting.
If we can figure how to jibe our schedules, I'd like to have an actual,
real drummer on some of the tracks on this album project. I
have a drummer in mind, but I haven't directly approached him about
this specific project; we have casually spoken of doing something
together in the past, but no plans have ever been discussed. I think
that needs to change.
Directed by Robert-Wayne Waldron
Produced by Rick Flynn
Set in Chicago's South Side in the 1950's, this is about the
divergent dreams and conflicts in three generations of the
Younger family: son Walter Lee, his wife Ruth, his sister
Beneatha, his son Travis, and matriarch Lena. When her
deceased husband's insurance money comes through, Mama Lena
dreams of moving to a new home and a better neighborhood in
Chicago. Walter Lee, a chauffeur, has other plans: buying a
liquor store and being his own man. Beneatha dreams of
medical school. Hansberry's portrait of one family's struggle
to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a searing a
nd timeless document of hope and inspiration.
The Cast of A Raisin in the Sun
CHARACTER
ACTOR
Walter Lee Younger
Shaun Diggs
Lena Younger (Mama)
Gail Andrews Turner
Ruth Younger
Cormari Pullings
Beneatha Younger
Amirah Musa
Travis Younger
Dominic Bothers
George Murchison
Jarrod Davis
Joseph Asagai
William Boatwright
Bobo
Andre Tomlinson
Karl Lindner
Rick Flynn
The promotional trailer for A Raisin in the Sun
Today would have been my father's one-hundred-sixth birthday.
I haven't exactly been "running as my feet hit the ground"
in getting back to the music project, but I have been moving forward.
In between other things that have taken up my time and energy, and
a holdover of depressed momentum from my recent self-indulgent
"crisis," the pace has been a bit less that it could have
been for this. But progress is progress, right?
In returning to work, or rather, slightly rework the R&B song,
I've thus-far only gotten my feet a little wet, wading back into
the pond. All Iv'e done at the moment is start to re-familiarize
myself with the song's chord structure. I also did finally commit
what lyrics I've come up with to a Word doc ‐‐ and that's
only four of the five lines for the chorus. The plan is to delve
deeply into the song over the weekend, starting tonight. I am
definitely looking at revising the chord structure somewhat, which
in my mind probably means repeating some chords in various spots,
maybe even in the chorus, which could mean adding more lines to
that lyric.
I did decide I didn't like the single
mix
and edit of the Winter season song, more so the edit, so I re-did it.
The remixing
was slight and simply to take the clunkiness out of some of the seams
of the edit borders; that meant dropping some instrumentation out
at those seam edges, but otherwise the
pan
stayed the same. I also slightly altered where the cuts were made,
and moved the fadeout at the end to start sooner. The new single
edit is 4:20, ten second shorter than the previous.
I also put together a little demo ‐‐ an electronic
acetate,
if you will, of the songs that are candidates for the new album. It
consists of
"Backward in Time,"
of course, as well as the album version of the Winter season song,
and the three instrumentals recorded over the last several years for
theatre productions. Four of the five are pretty solid locks for
being on the album roster, with one instrumental being iffy. The
point being, as I listened to them on my
iPhone
I noted an inconsistency in the volumes for the five recordings. So,
at some point I'll have to
normalize
the volumes of all the tracks, along with new tracks, not yet recorded.
As well, there will be some remixing and/or
remastering
‐‐ guaranteed.
ANOTHER DIP INTO THE RABBIT HOLE:
Again I have returned to working on the
story bible
for the universe of the novel manuscript, the
full-length play
manuscript, and at least one short play manuscript; there are actually
other short plays but those are really not developed for performance
but are character and situation building, specifically created as
story bible entries. They're essentially dialogue set in play-manuscript
format. But, you know, it doesn't mean they won't be pirated from,
or used whole, in something intended for publication.
As for what material I've been currently adding to the story bible,
it's mostly been creating synopses for episodes of a TV show my main
protagonist and his wife created for him to star in. There are 100
episodes; as of this writing I've created the synopses for the first
15 ‐‐ Season 1, episodes 101-115. I also have
218 of 304 episodes to work on of a series the main protagonist
appeared on as a teenager; the synopses for 24 of the 137 episodes
he appeared in have been written for a long time, with two more of
those written earlier this week before I turned to the show he
created with his wife.
Another thing I've done recently, was write a partial transcript of
an appearance on
Good Hang, with Amy Poehler,
by that relative of his I mentioned a couple posts ago, she who also
is an actress. If you don't know, Good Hang> is a real podcast
that I subscribe to. I also recently wrote this relative's program
bio for her appearance as Mrs. Lovett the Las Vegas Repertory Playhouse
production of the C.G. Bond,
original, straight-play version of
Sweeney Todd,
which in this universe of the story bible just closed this past
July 20. And, yes, unlike Good Hang, the Las Vegas Repertory
Playhouse is fictional.
But, no, no, no, there's nothing at all obsessive about this! Really!
A RAISIN IN THE SUN AT DTG & DAD'S PLACE AT
THE RACE:
This past Sunday I attended the closing performance of
A Raisin in the Sun,
by Lorraine Hansberry
at Dayton Theatre Guild.
It was a stellar production with nothing but fine, fine performances
on the stage, really an all around excellent production. I don't feel
too bad about not noting it until after it has closed because there
were several sold-out performances and a few others that were nearly
so, so the show's success was in no way dependent on a mention in
this silly little blog that barely gets any traffic.
Kudos to the cast: Shaun Diggs (Walter), Gail Andrews Turner (Mama).
Cormari Pullings (Ruth), Amirah Musa (Beneatha), Dominic Bothers (Travis),
William Boatwright (Joseph), Jarrod Davis (George), Rick Flynn (Karl ‐‐ & the show's Producer).
and Andre Tomlinson (Bobo),
Kudos to the crew: Robert-Wayne Waldron (Director), Shannon Fent (Production Stage Manager),
Red Newman (Set Design), Ronald Frost Jr. (Lighting Design), Sarah Saunders (Sound Design),
Carol Finley (Costume Design), William Toye (Hair Stylist), Kathryn Sykes (Properties),
Rhea Smith (Lighting Technician), and Shawn McIntosh (Stage Crew).
This full production stars
Jason Podplesky
as Paul, the role he also played in the original short and the
staged reading, and
Bruce Cromer
in multiple roles, and if I remember correctly, some of which he
played in the staged reading. Both actors are on their game and I
must say, Bruce is working his ass off, disappearing on one side
of the stage to appear only moments later on the other side in a
costume change ‐‐ he and the
back stage crew
must have that shit down to a science! I told him after the show
that every time he disappeared I envisioned him hauling ass back
stage to get to the other wing. It's fun to watch him create all
the archetype characters the script calls on him to play. And Jason
gives a really nice, good-guy-with-angst performance as Paul.
The play is billed as a farse, and for the most part it is, but it
does have some dramatic and some quit tender moments in particular
spots. Hats off to Jake for a really fun script with a poignant twist.
It's a quite enjoyable evening in the theatre. It closes this Sunday;
ya oughta check it out if ya can.
STEVE HOFSTETTER AT FUNNY BONE:
Sunday I'll see Stand-up Comic
Steve Hofstetter at
the Funny Bone Comedy Club
in Dayton. I'm really looking forward to it. Steve has become one
of my favorite stand-ups. His humor is sharp and the man seems to
have a lot of integrity; he seems like a really decent human being.
He also has a reputation for handling hecklers like a warrior. That's
how I first became aware of him; there were a lot of shorts on
YouTube of him putting hecklers
in their place. He's also clearly on the progressive side of the
politcal spectrum, so often the clips are him and hecklers, not
on the left, having exchanges. Though I'm actually hoping this isn't
one of those shows. This being Ohio, and especially considering the
events of the last few days in the nation, the potential for some
ridiculous stand-off are pretty good. He always seems to handle the
heckling as diplomatically as he can, but I've seen clips where the
hecklers have made keeping things civil a challenge.
I bought a VIP Meet‐&‐Greet ticket, so that'll be cool!
Perhaps I'll get a pic with him. I haven't really seen anyone post
such from his Meet‐&‐Greets, so he may not allow it.
Still, meeting a talented performer I admire is always great.
Unfortunately, there has not been as much time spent on this than
was my ideal. However, I did get the revision of the song structure
finished. I added to the chorus chord progression in that I added
two lines to the stanza, with one chord, new to the song, for one
of the lines, and ion that I added a chord at the end to transition
out of the chorus. Naturally, this means that I indeed will have to
re-record all the instrumentation thus far recorded for the rhythm
track: the drumkit, electric piano I, electric piano II, piano III,
and piano IV. And of course this means that I'll also have to
reprogram the drumkit to add the extra measures the additional chords
necessitate. So it'll be clean sweep.
Listening to playback of the R&B song
on the 24-track.
Adding chords to the R&B song's chorus.
Documenting the changes to the R&B song.
BRAGGING RIGHTS OF some
MEASURE:
So, almost every week, my report from
Apple Music is for
0 streaming plays and 0
Shazam
searches. On occasion there is one play. It's usually for
"Cozy Anxious Chaos,"
and the play is usually in Copenhagen. Apparently someone in
Copenhagen stumbled across it and put it on a playlist.
Recently, there have been a couple reports with two songs played,
with at least one of them being my new single,
"Backward in Time."
This week, someone in
Columbus, Ohio listened
to "Backward in Time" as well as most of the
Virtually Approximate Subterfuge
album. Eleven plays during the week period, the most I've ever had,
by a large margin. I wonder if it's someone I know. To be honest,
I'd rather it be a stranger, that would be more satisfying. And here's
to this being a regular and exponentially growing trend.
SO, relative to my normal underwhelming
success as a recording artist, this week some pretty big bragging
rights have come about.
Watch out Taylor Swift! I'm comin' for ya!!
Though, you might notice below, that no one downloaded a purchase
of anything. That number has been a consistent zero during my whole
published-music tenure. It seems Taylor doesn't have much to be
concerned about after all.
Not really sure why this report below has "13." I guess
it counts the other songs on the album that weren't listened to.
Add to that, that through the premium, VIP ticket I bought, I and
six other VIP ticket holders got to meet Steve in the pre-show
Meet‐&‐Greet, and it was a most pleasant encounter.
He was just as planted, down-to-earth, and eloquent as one might
expect from his stage persona. And he was just plain friendly and
cool. I realize that entertainers might just be a lot different in
their real, private lives, and that often gregariousness and
generosity with fans is a PR performance, but my spidy-sense tells
me this is not the case with Steve.
As a bit of a side note, we VIP folk also got some free merch: a
signed copy of his new children's book,
Grape Expectations,
a digital download of his audio book,
Follow Your Dream (unless your dream is stupid),
and a download of all nine of his comedy albums. I also bought one
of his stickers, one that says "No, but thank you for incorrecting
me," at the merch table after the show. I gave Jon and Brett
a little support by buying a sticker from each of them, too.
I was also happy that he was okay with us getting a picture with him.
Some entertainers don't allow it. We were even allowed to take pics
during the show, but not to record. He actually had a three-camera
set-up to shoot the show, which I imagine is S.O.P and where the
on-line footage of excerpts from his shows comes from. I snapped a
few pics, but was more intent on just sitting there and enjoying the
show.
Which brings me to the other great thing: my VIP seat was right at
the damned stage! Can't ask for a better seat.
And as for my concern that there might be some ugly heckling at
the show, given Steve's transparant progressive liberalism, which
does not stay out of his set, and the fact that, though the
Dayton area is a bit bluer
than most of this red state, it ain't pure blue by any means and
it's nowhere near MAGA-free. But, there were no ugly encounters.
There was one instance of more-or-less half heckling during the
aftershow Q&A with the three comedians. However, though it was
related to the current occupant of the Oval Office, it wasn't a
volatile exchange, at all. I, for one, am quite happy about that.
To wrap: the show was great and I am so glad to have finally seen
Steve in person and to have had such a positive experience in the
Meet‐&‐Greet and then afterward at the merch table.
I have great admiration and respect for the version of him that I
have defined as I've watched him on-line and in his specials. I am
gratified to find upon interacting with him that my preconceived
perception was on target.
The VIP ticket got me a seat right at the
stage.
Mr. Hofstetter with some dork to his right.
Jon Bander at work.
Brett Druck at work.
Steve at work.
The Q&A after-talk.
Ran into a few friends at the show. On the left:
Katrina Kittle;
On the right: Jamie McQuinn & Christina Tomazinis
MY ATTEMPT AT R&B IS STILL MOVING FORWARD, EVEN IF IT'S TWO
STEPS BACK FIRST:
The goal for Monday was to have the added measures in the
GarageBand
drumkit programming for the R&B song, but I first added yet
another chord to the chorus chord progression at the transition out
of the chorus. I had added a chord there that had four beats; I
shaved it to two beats and added a chord after it with the
remaining two beats.
I also made the appropriate changes to my "chords &
structure documentation," which is my version of a
music score sheet,
because, as I've written before, my knowledge of
music theory
is, to be kind, "limited"; I often say I know just enough
music theory to be dangerous. I could write out the music I
compose on a score sheet, but it would take a lo-o-o-o-ng time and
would absolutely be riddled with errors. So, I create documents where
I write down what I believe the chord is and then in parentheses I
write out the spelling of the chord, and I denote the note values.
The first purpose is to have the record, but I often print out the
doc to use as a reference while arranging, and more so to often
follow when I'm recording the music.
The additions to the drum programming didn't happen until last
night. That was done in the GarageBand project for the drum part,
with the edited result being rendered as a
WAV file
that was then imported into the
Logic Pro X
project for the drumkit part. The reason for those steps is that
GarageBand renders sound files at
44.1 khz
and I record at
48 khz,
because there is a better range of dynamics for recording. Thus, I
imported the GarageBanded-rendered WAV into Logic Pro so I could
render a 48 khz WAV to then import into the session project on my
24-Track recorder.
Since I set the 24-track at 48 khz for projects, I cannot import a
sound file in at a different khz. I'll be doing that import tonight.
The final product, by the way, does end up at 44.1, because
that is the standard for CDs, streamers, and commercial downloads.
Even if I sent CD Baby
or anyone else 48 khz files, the files would be converted to 44.1
by the particular entity who's marketing the music.
Since I'm re-recording all the instrumentation because of the
additions to the chord progressions, I will need to rehearse the
song again to refresh myself. It was spring when I laid the
original tracks, so, though it probably won't take long, I do need
to get back the song's groove. I will start rehearsals tonight,
after I've imported the drumkit file into the 24-track project.
Whether I progress to recording tonight remains to be seen. There's
a reasonable chance I can, but don't quote me.
A lot of further instrumentation arrangement for the song has been
zipping around in my head, as well as ideas for backing vocals. On
the way to work this morning it even occurred to me that I might
bring in a female vocalist as a part of the backing vocals ‐‐
and a particular woman comes to mind. I definitely have some ideas
for the "horn chart."
Showing weekends
Oct 10-26, 2025
Tickets on sale...
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