Yesterday morning, I woke up with 4 dollars and change in my pocket.
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| With my luck, I'll get here and Leroy will already be set up... |
It was what was left over from the five bucks that Howard had slipped to me, behind the southern live oak trees, in the forbidden zone; the campus.
Howard had understood why I wouldn't be joining him in the church entranceway to sleep. "Don't take too big a risk," he said.
I went and got a 32 oz. Milwaukee's Best Ice beer, using $1.30 of the four dollars; intending to drink it at a nearby bus stop which is off campus.
As soon as I stepped out of the store it began to rain hard. I finished the beer under the overhang in front of the store, then got another one when the rain wouldn't stop after 20 minutes.
As soon as I stepped out of the store the rain stopped and the sun came out.
My plan was to take the free purple bus to a spot near where the downtown bus stops. I wound up walking along the downtown bus route and never saw a bus stop sign until I had walked all the way downtown. I guess no students live in the ghetto in between campus and downtown, or if they do, they get no service from the Tiger Trails bus line.
That didn't really put me in a foul mood, but maybe it was strike one.
Then, I logged on to my blog and read that Alex in California for one, agreed that the song that I posted yesterday, as my first attempt at using the Audacity program, sucked.
I knew it sucked, but wanted to have a song; any song; up on my blog. Something told me to be patient, figure out the software and when and only when I felt that I had made something worth posting, then post it. I will call that the "Julian Lennon process."
I knew it sucked, but wanted to have a song; any song; up on my blog. Something told me to be patient, figure out the software and when and only when I felt that I had made something worth posting, then post it. I will call that the "Julian Lennon process."
Well, Julian did decide to take them up on their offer, but, instead of the record company being able to release the album in the wake of John's death (the poor boy must be grieving terribly; why not buy his music?) it didn't come out for almost a year later.
The reason was that (unlike me) when he started to work on the album, he was very picky and determined to not release anything until he was proud of it and felt like it was the way he wanted it. So, his first album "The Secret Value of Daydreaming," I think it was called; wasn't bad; not bad at all, I recall.
Second Effort
Second Effort
But, since the cat is out of the bag and I have posted my first "sound check" song, I might as well post my second song, in which I managed a small improvement in sound quality by doing the tracks separately.
I don't think the built in mic can handle a guitar and vocal at the same time; it confuses the digital circuitry, so I recorded guitar first; sang second (with the harmonica in hand) and then added a second guitar/vocal/harmonica track -all done one at a time.
The drawback is something I will have to address in the "using a click track to keep everything in time, because if one instrument wavers just a hair from the beat, the other instruments have no way of anticipating it and staying on the beat" chapter of the online manual. *note to self -try to find the online manual.
OK, Yesterday's version of "I Know You Rider" I will give a grade of D minus.
Staying On The Beat
Staying On The Beat
Sloppy Start To Recording Career
"I draw motivation from people who tell me to 'give it up'" -DanielIt has tempo problems (see "click track" comment above) but, like a lot of Dead stuff, there are spots where it is "tight" and, why throw out the baby with the bath water and delete the whole song...maybe readers will TELL me why...
So, here is the illegally recorded China Cat Sunflower...
And, I also did Crazy About A Crazy Girl -a sloppy version of one of my originals. I swear that I played these songs a lot tighter on the street, but I am working out the bugs...
And, For Martin in West Virginia, a sloppy snippet of how I play For Fruits Basket
Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit I'm not much of a Dead fan, making me a distinct minority in California and esp. the Bay Area. About the only song by them I like is Casey Jones and I only kinda like that one.
I do understand their style, their mannerisms and approach. Which is more than a lot of the public on the street can probably say.
I'd say that song, versus some say, Motown hit, is like the difference between a smorgasbord with a zillion little dishes of gourmet foods, compared to a big juicy beef roast. Someone with any hunger (desire to hear music) is going to head for that big wonderful-smelling roast beef (head toward the clear melody/theme rather than the arty pastiche).
I like to say that you can tell a song is a win if it sounds good even on an old AM car radio. Which is how I heard a lot of popular music growing up. In fact I think a lot of the artists back then knew they had to come up with something that could punch on through to the majority of the population. Hell they played 50s stuff at the drive-in before the movie started and stuff like "Rockin' Robin" sounded fine on those old speakers you hung on the car door.
To be very frank, you'd probably make bank playing catchy stuff like "Rockin' Robin". Not saying you should, if your dream is to write your own stuff, but clear, catchy tunes are the way to go.
OK I went and listened to the actual China Cat Sunflower on YouTube. The Pink Panther cartoons that were coupled with it were hilarious - now I understand why my dad liked the Pink Panther so much. But the music? Ecch.
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing with the Dead is "the endless groove" and since everyone's grooving together, they can get very esoteric and get away with it. But the public likes a tune that "goes somewhere".
In fact it seems like there's a real parallel between the Dead's endless meandering grooves that don't go much of anywhere and well, the way you've been living for, well, as long as you've been blogging.
"Not going anywhere" can be a destination of its own. You should check out something called the Rainbow Family. They're kinda like Deadheads, but they don't follow any band, they just kind of ... exist. They have Rainbow Gatherings all over the place. It's possible to just be a Rainbow fulltime. There are enough of them and they seem to be solid enough with each other than I have no doubt there will be Rainbow old folks' homes when the need arises. Since you're the kind of guy who pulls his weight and a bit more (cleans up campsites, brings home scrounged meat to grill, makes sure everyone's shit is hidden well before a day of spanging, etc) you'd be an asset.
Best to read up on the Rainbows. They might be "where" you need to be instead of trying the impossible, getting out here to California which seems harder now than it was in the days of Lewis and Clark.
OK I listened to the other two songs. "Fruits Basket" is .... OK I guess. It sounds like you're singing to yourself under your breath. The one about the crazy girl is kinda cool. I'd toss a buck to a bum singing that song. Songs about crazy street chicks are always hilarious.
ReplyDeleteHere's a write-up about Rainbow that I think is the most truthful.
http://www.deltablues.net/homeless.html
If you joined 'em you'd be one of the A-campers. It sounds like the life, though. Sing, busk, hold a sign, pass the "magic hat" and live large.
Thanks for that cool version of For Fruits Basket, that is really awesome and i can hear the origins of the song in your playing, even though they are very different styles of music.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can also hear you singing unconsciously under your breath, which I think I understand given the nature of the original song, which is very dependent on her voice harmonizing with the music.
All of these tracks sound much clearer, nice work. I think I am in agreement with the sentiment that you should release more polished products even if it takes you longer. You never know who might be listening and you know what they say about first impressions.
On second listen, maybe it wasn't unconscious, maybe it was just low and you wanted to harmonize some, not sure :) Still still great either way!
ReplyDeleteTotally sharing it ;)