… singing my guts out …

I spent yet another day blasting throught the layered vocals for the song “Kaboom!” off my solo record “Bits”. I’m scrubbing out the dirt, but it’s kind of like that “Bonk the Gopher” game where you whack the crap out of rubber gopher when it peeks it’s head out of the hole.

… but seriously … I’m almost done with the song.

There is a little guitar ditty I need to plug into the end of the song as an outro. That will give me a chance to test out the Grendel Dead Room further.

This song should be finished this week.

… my first multitrack recording device:MT-100II …

Here is a brief history of my early music career:

1st grade - 3rd grade = private piano lessons
4th grade - 5th grade = trumpet in the school band
6th grade - 8th grade = bad 80’s Yamaha synth at home
9th grade - 12th grade = timpani, electric guitar, electric bass in the school band

In the summer of 1989, My mom bought me my first electric guitar. It was a red Fender Strat that I still own today and has morphed over time into something called the “K1″. With that guitar, I discovered that I really enjoyed writing songs.

I had a horrible Radio Shack mixer that I would plug into my tape deck and try and record my songs. The first song I wrote was called “Nuclear Toxic Sludge”. I was 14.

Someday, I’ll post it on here. I have a recording of it that I made on my tape deck with me on guitar, my best friend Dewey on vocals and the above mentioned bad Yamaha keyboard on drums.

Somehow, I discovered that there were these crazy devices that allowed you to record and overdub tracks with normal cassette tapes. I convinced my mom to help me get the Yamaha MT100II.

I spent hundreds of hours of my life in my room, making songs on that thing. Sometimes I would borrow my friend (and musical mentor) Rafe’s crappy digital effects processor and make songs like “Space Whales”.

Later, after I graduated from high school and moved to Bellingham, I did quite a bit of recording with a Yamaha MT4X. My friend Nick had one and we used it to record our demos for the band “Shed”.

When Rafe got married, I gave him the MT100II as a gift. I think it needed a new power supply or something, but it was a huge thing for me to part with.

I’ll have to pick one up on ebay or something … just to have around …

I bought a MT4X a few years back, so I guess I need a MT100II now.

… Kaboom! (lyrics) …

I’ve been working to finish the vocals for this song for about a week now. It is one of the more catchy songs on “Bits” … it actually has versus and a chorus. The chorus has grown into a five part harmony that I spent several hours trying to get tracked.

I’m close …

As I work on each song, they take turns being my favorite. It is a strange thing to release the lyrics before anyone has even heard the songs yet …

Hmm… makes me wonder what the video will be like for this one?

Kaboom!

There’s a troubling thought that’s stuttering
It sound so terrible the world could end
When suddenly the leaves change color
And I rediscover every word you said
You’re listening
I’m listening
We could tear it up with one misstep

If you want to get away, you’re going to have to lead me out
One thing left to be arranged when settling to save yourself

Let’s go Kaboom!

Why would you want to be the same
Look out your window
Your memory is such a tricky place
It’s a place we can’t go
One word would set a better pace
the rate that our hearts know
I have a plan to get away
It’s a way we both know

Living in a simulation
It will reduce you
As the world expands
There’s a little hesitation
Will it breakaway and let the memories stand
You’re listening now
I’m listening now
We could tear it up with one misstep

If I want to get away, I’m never going to leave you out
One less thing to be arranged when settling to save myself
Let’s go Kaboom!

We’ve got to get away from all this
We’re leaving the remains behind us
Leave them out there

Why would you want to be the same, look out your window
Your memory is such a tricky place, a place we can’t go
One word can set a better pace, the rate that our hearts know
I have a plan to get away
It’s a way we both know

… flat …

So I’ve been tracking vocals for the song “Kaboom!” the last few day. I was getting close to being done today … when something didn’t quite sit right in the mix.

The chorus of the song just seemed to be to be slightly dissonant. It is a melody that is reinforced by a three/four part harmony … doubled. There are eight vocals tracks all together and it can be very tough to harmonize with yourself (twice) and keep everything in tune.

I thought I had it … I really did.

It turns out, all eight tracks were equally flat by a microtonal amount … enough to disturb me and probably shut me out of my bid for the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame.

Oh well, that’s what the DELETE key is for. I’ll hit it over again tomorrow.

On another note (hahahahaahahahahahahhaha) … I GOT MY JOB TODAY!

AWESOME!

I am now a weekend warrior. Well … I guess I should really say “Let the countdown to weekend warriorhood begin!”

… big day …

Today I heard that it is very likely that I will get the job I applied for. I just have to pass the background check and I’m in. It is a full-time IT job. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I also have been working little by little, everyday on the vocals for the song “Kaboom!”. As I inch along with that one, I’m starting to figure out a working method for tracking vocals in my duplex. I’d like to call it the “JUST KEEP RECORDING … WHO CARES” method.

The “No Escape!” video is coming along nicely as well. Liz has been working on the exterior of one of the main character’s houses. I spent some time today trying to figure out a feasible way to zoom in my 20×20 pixel space. Right now I am just jumping from one distance to the next and redrawing everything in the frame. I’m drawing two intermediate frame between the each end of the zoom for a whopping four frames of animation.

I’ll post an example up here as soon as I get something done that works.

Oh yeah … I think I’m going to pick up my diploma tomorrow. Yippeee!

… Scavenging for short films …

Tonight I’m frantically throwing together short films to round out the roster of the small film festival put on by my home town - Palouse, WA.

I’m calling in favors from some local film making buddies and acquaintances due to a low number of entries. I guess it was a slow year for film makers looking to make it big in small agrarian communities.

I might head over and give the “Combat” video it’s first public screening as well …

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

… humanoid/frog walk cycle …

Double click the image above to play.

I’m working out some animations for the “No Escape!” video. Some of the animations are simple two frame flips and others are more elaborate.

The character in the clip above is one of the two leads in the video. He is a frog. Well … a humanoid frog. It was hard to find the right balance of “eye bulge” vs. “alien head” while being limited to 20×20 pixels.

Yes … I know that legs don’t really do that … but let’s remember that this is a work of old school vid’ fiction!

This particular walk cycle swings around fives frames.