Hello! and welcome to 2017! 

I have finally completed final masters of my last ten original songs and have compiled them into a full length album.  I am using CDBaby as a means to digitally distribute my music to stores like iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play, Tidal, Deezer, and dozens more.   I have also used a company called DiscMakers to create some "physical" CD versions of the music.    

For a limited time if you join my mailing list (see Home Page) I will send you a FREE download of the album "It Takes One Drop".  Here is a link that shows what the a physical copy of the CD looks like in "3D":

3D Image of CD

Thank You  

Dave 
 

Friends, This is my latest song called “It Takes One Drop”. It took several weeks to develop and I had a blast the entire time. I think I just might mix and master my last ten singles into a “formal” album/CD now. Thanks for sharing my creation process with me along the way. 

BTW if you have been listening to my music and want to recommend a good song order for the album I am all ears. I am also searching for an album title : ) 

Cheers and Thanks for listening.........Dave  

Hi Friends, 

This song is called Tar Bones. 

I never know how a song will materialize.  The song structure and feel often start out of the thin roots and foggy mists of drum, chord patterns or hints of melodies in my head.   I play around with ideas. I often have some fresh musical inspiration from the latest music I am listening too.  However, I find there is often never a direct line to the reference song(s).  What emerges is usually a surprise and wholly different than what I was expecting.  This is what makes the song creation process fun for me.   A song forms from many little tangled webs of  failed attempts and do overs .   All these pieces form into a success if you finish the project.  It is never perfect.  Perfect would be boring anyway. 

Like any good song it is the vocals that must stand out front and center.  They must be lifted by the music.  I hope I was successful in doing this.  Enjoy the music and please let me know what you think.  It wouldn’t be quite as fun to create without knowing that there are kind, listening ears out there enjoying it.  

What is the song about?  Not sure.  Perhaps its about the final few moments of a soldier’s life. …..perhaps not.  

Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Now Go Create Something! Just Do It!  

Dave

Friends  

My latest song creation is titled "Tic Tac"  (Please double click song title to hear)  

Many of the lyric layers worked there way into a fugue like round that I found rather hypnotizing especially towards the end of the song.  I added a grand finale "stream of conscience" layer towards the end of the final chorus section that even I scratch my head at when trying to decipher their meaning.  I debated on whether or not to cut this out but decided that I had too much fun and the words just felt right rolling out of my mouth.  My voice is presented up close and dry throughout the song except for the intro section which was made wet and soupy on purpose for effect.  

The song started after I noodled out a bluesy rhythm that really grabbed a hold of me and would not let go.   This rhythm formed the foundation of the song and was composed of a fretless bass and very cool drum pattern.  The other key component is the 6 string guitar that surfs the rhythm and then loosely drifts away at other times to keep things interesting.   I loved improvising the riffs during the recording of these particular tracks.  

The "sweetening" of the song was critical on this project.  What I mean is the extra instrumental flavorings to add interest to what could otherwise become a monotonous blues pattern (mainly C's and F's with some Bbs).  Here are some of the names of the Omnisphere patches I added to this song. 1) Controlled Anxiety; 2) VL Tone Modulus Pad; 3) Theremin's Journey (you'll hear it during the bridge) 4) Accidental Magic; and 5) HiWatt Hammond.  By the way, I need to take a deep bow to the HiWatt Hammond designer.  This sound just kicked butt to my ears.  

My song creation process on this was also unique.  I used my Ableton Live for recording tracks because this software's Session View allowed me to experiment in a very intuitive free flowing way with different song arrangement ideas.  I am still not 100% comfortable with this DAW but it is growing on me quickly. However, for mixing and mastering I pushed my files over to Logic Pro X.  I can edit, balance, tweak and add the shiny eq, compressor, reverb, delay plugins easier from this software.  

The song.  What is it about??  I guess the title Tic Tac may be the give-away.  I know we are all sick and tired of politics and I appreciate this can be a sensitive subject area so I won't get into it any deeper than that.  

Conclusion:  This is another labor of love. I hope you like it.  

Your friend  

Dave

Hello    

I was scouring iTunes, Spotify as well as my own collection of music for ideas and inspiration for my next song.  I was in a bit of a flat spot creatively and nothing was hitting the "home run" for me.  I somehow landed on Steven Wilson's web site (of Porcupine Tree fame) and began reading about his latest project work. This led me to his last album Hand.Cannot.Erase.  A real gem.  His technical craftmanship balanced against plain old good tunes reminds me of Rush, a little bit of Yes, ELP, and Dream Theater.  I decided to think big and try to mimic the style and technical wizardry of these artists.   I used Steve Wilson's song Hand.Cannot.Erase as my reference track.  

What came out is far, far from the brilliant playing, mixing and mastering of this album.   However, a song did arrive.  It is called "Simple Love".  It does not sound much like a Steven Wilson song AND I would not call it prog rock by a long shot BUT I did add a fairly in-depth "prog rock" like power organ driven riff in the middle.  The muse returned and I was on fire last weekend putting final touches on this new original.      

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend and thanks for giving the song a spin. 

​Cheers  

Dave

Hello...I am back once again for the latest installment of Dave's World as I slowly slog (and by slog I really do mean with the greatest and profoundest joy : ) my way towards a new album.  My 5th song is called Come Up For Air.  Here is a little background about how it all came to be.

I created a song called "Come Up for Air" back in 2006 on a four track recorder. Yes, this is how amateurs did it back in the stone ages.  My initial intent was to duplicate the older song with my newer recording hardware and my ever improving music production "smarts".  However, as I got into the recording process I began to take a wide departure from that songs original rhythmic and lyrical identity.   There are hints of the original but it sounds very different. Here is a link to the latest 2016 version of "Come Up For Air".  Enjoy.

I have taken a deep breath and decided to share my vintage 2006 four track version of "Come Up For Air " so you can compare and contrast. For those of you who aspire to create and record your own music this should give you great hope.  Keep at it.  You learn through the mistakes, the practice and the resolve to get better.  It is with humble gratitude to you that I present this new song.  May this inspire you to take your next creative leap.

Thanks for dropping by.

Dave

Hello, 

I wanted to create something completely original and I thought no one has ever written a song about Love before ....right? So that's what I did.   

This one is pure Pop Rock goodness. 

It's called "I Wrote a Love Letter Tonight".  It clocks in at under 3 minutes...wow. 

The song first popped into my head when I was recently listening to a song called Amsterdam by a band called Guster (I believe my friend Alan Schwartz shared this group with me a couple of years ago...(thank you Alan).  I loved the upbeat feel of the song and it has a great mix.   I referenced this song to help guide the punch to my tracks and as an overall final mix benchmark.  Guster won the mix challenge. However, I'll take my runner-up original any day.   The Guster song is also about writing a letter but that is where any other resemblance to the song ends.  

Let me know what you think.  I'd love to hear from you.  Enjoy your summer and hope to talk to you soon. 

 Dave

Greetings

I have created a new original song called "Beachside".   I am slowly building up my new song inventory (three singles so far) with the goal to create a new album over the next year or so.  Some of the singles I have shared with you will be moderately re-arranged and/or remixed before the album creation process is complete.  Perhaps some of the singles will not make it onboard at all. I have other song snippets on shelves and under rocks that may or may not see the light of day.  Only time and inspiration will tell.   Future songs are just fleeting sparks shooting out of the fire. Thanks again for listening and keep in touch.  I'd love to hear from you. 

Enjoy the song.   

Cheers,

Dave 

Hi all; 

I am excited to announce I have just completed a second completely original new song in 2016. This New Single is titled "Spin Zone".  Just click the song title and it should take you to a link that plays the song.  If it doesn't let me know.  I'll fix it or find a way to get the song to you.  

Lyrics and chord structure ebbed and flowed and then came into full bloom slowly.  Too slowly.  I was close to throwing this one out a bunch of times.  I almost went Psychoacoustic on it.  Actually, I did.  I use what are called psychoacoustic sounds in the song.  They are what kept the song from dying a slow death because certain sounds sort of stuck with me and would not let go.   

Although from outside "listening" in you may not be able to hear these sounds clearly, trust me, they are present in the mix.  The sounds included a plucked stapler spring (Yes ...you heard that right) combined with sounds formed by tapping light bulbs of different sizes and intensities. The other unique feature is the staccato soprano entering the scene towards the end of the song.  She is worth waiting for.  

The process of lyric making is a very organic and often a very daunting process for me.  My words are wrapped in the flavors of the current world around me and my emotional state(s) at the moment I am writing. My intent when starting this was not to take on anything too serious.  That is not exactly what I ended up with.   I try to hold it all lightly, and hope you do too. 

Thanks again for listening to my very eclectic music tastes.  I never know what is going to form and I am always a bit surprised at the end result. The whole music creation process has been a blast and I will try to keep in touch with you more during the development process of my next song.  Thank You for allowing me to share my experience with you.       

Hope to see you around town and I'll talk to you again soon.   I'd love to hear from you.  Take Care 

Dave 

 

Hello friends, 

I set a stretch goal for myself over this long weekend and created a brand new song.  As many of you on the distribution can attest, this is no small task.   Just coming up with a song idea is an accomplishment in itself.  Laying down tracks, arranging, editing and then mixing the song can often take weeks of time (at least for me).  This one moved pretty fast from start to finish and I stayed focused. It is not perfect and I do hear things in the final mix I would have changed but all in all I am satisfied. 

Here is a little about the song "INHALE" itself.  It is written in an atypical way...more layered and fugue like than your traditional verse- chorus- verse -chorus-bridge etc etc approach.   I personally love the boys choir singing juxtaposed (is that a word?) against my lead riffing on an instrument called the "Rectifier".  That is that high voltage sound you hear spiraling and vaulting into the stratosphere ; )...as you can see I had a lot of fun playing this particular instrument. 

Special thanks to the English Boys Choir singing in a real cathedral and sampled by Mr. Eric Persing and Rupert Gregson-Williams.  I conducted this boys choir via my PC2X keyboard  pulling samples from a great plug -in called Omnisphere.   

Thank You for giving this new single a listen and feel free to share with your friends.  Anyway...that tis all for now.  Thanks for listening. Have a fantastic weekend. 

Dave