Every week in the year 2011, Michael Morse will write, record, and release two brand new songs! He will then write about it here! You can hear and/or download the results at http://michaelmorse.bandcamp.com/
Both of this week's songs, "Under The Willow" and "The Hill", have a couple important things in common (besides being recorded and released in the same week). They were both written for and with my 5-string banjo with a strong Americana/Bluegrass influence and they are both about the obstruction of love. On the "A-side" it's stubbornness and another man preventing the two lovers from being together, on the "B-side" it's a war.
I'm a ramblin' guy so let's get small...
I've had a banjo for a few years now but have only fairly recently started seriously playing it. Last year, Steve Martin mania entered my life. I've always been a big Steve Martin fan (I too was born a poor black child) but after picking up his stand-up memoir Born Standing Up in Barnes & Noble's "bargain books" section (and subsequently purchasing it, taking it home and reading it), I became a fanatic. I got his comedy records, memorized some of his routines, dressed up as him for Halloween, went to see one of his live bluegrass shows and probably most importantly for this blog, started picking up my banjo a lot more. I carried it around with me while walking around NYC on Halloween and played (Flatt & Scruggs' "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", "Duelin' Banjos", Steve's tense political song "Ramblin' Guy", and a little piece I had just thought up) for anyone wanting to hear me play. Soon after I felt confident enough to carry my banjo down into the subway to play for change on the platform.
A wild and crazy guy...
That "little piece I had thought up" turned out to be the basis for "Under The Willow". I was very pleased with its peaceful/calm tone and had considered leaving it as an instrumental but every time I played it, images and ideas started to come to mind. In order to insure listeners experienced the same images, I had to add words. Most of my songs seem to be emotion based and don't contain a lot of imagery (something I need to work on) and while this song really isn't very image-heavy, I think I've managed to imply the quiet country setting I had in mind pretty well. It's a song about two friends who grew into lovers and then grew apart but now long to be together again whether they BOTH want to admit it or not. I'm pretty pleased with how the song turned out, although I think I will record an instrumental version too.
Thumb(pick)s up!
I recorded the basic banjo and vocal tracks but then when trying to add backing guitar discovered I hadn't performed the song at a consistent speed, not a problem if I was leaving it alone but very difficult to build on. I settled on rerecording it strumming the guitar (which I knew I'd have no problem with) and then putting the banjo (and shakers) on top. I didn't have a jug but I figured out by turning up and tapping my condenser mic, I could get a great unnoticeable (but still foot stomp inducing) thump to add to the bottom of the recording.
I had come up with the very simple (but I think cool sounding) chord progression of "The Hill" back when I first got my ebay Oscar Schmidt OB-5 Banjo back in 2007. The slow/fast motif came out of my subway banjo busking. The music brought to mind images of a chase or a battle in the Civil War but instead of focusing on that I had the words reflect what someone on the outside thinks of what is going on. In the past I've attempted to write anti-war songs and have failed. I couldn't stand the uninformed preachiness that that type of song usually revels in but by setting it so far in the past and using the war as an antagonist in a romance story I hope I've avoided what makes anti-war songs so cringe-inducing. It's about a soldier who has become so sick with what he is doing that he has decided to abandon the war and marry his girlfriend (for lack of a not-stupid term). He wrote to her to wait on the hill overlooking the train tracks where he will sneak into town via a freight train. She waits for months but he never arrives. But she doesn't give up hope and at the end a man leaps off a train, the listener can decide if it's him or not.
Go slide yourself!
I recorded the banjo and vocal with no problem. I was planning on using my recently acquired Epiphone Mandolin on the song but I couldn't find a chord combination that sounded right. I grabbed my lap steel but that didn't work either. I liked the slide sound though so I reached for my trusty Martin Backpacker, quick threw it into open-G tuning and started sliding. It worked! I played octaves on the bass which gave it an added feeling of doom. I even used my new Snoopy Jaw-harp to add some pluckiness (it's pretty low in the mix but it's there). I put another vocal track over the fast repeat to add some clarity to the words but I think it may have just muddied them up more. Can you understand the words during those parts?
Good grief!
I drew the cover myself and then colored it with oil pastels and colored pencils. I tried to combine ideas from the 2 songs by depicting a girl waiting under a willow on the hill. Both songs were written on/for the banjo so I added a banjo leaning against the tree. It didn't turn out exactly how I pictured it but I think it looks all right. I've always liked looking at willow trees so it was interesting trying to draw one.
word-free cover
I think that just about covers all of it. Remember, if you are listening and/or reading these posts please let me know and feel free to share your opinions on this stuff. And tell your friends!
Here we are kids, week 3! As always, feel free to download this week's songs for free by entering 0 when asked to name your price (of course you can enter more than 0 too). You can use the nifty player below to listen and/or download or go to http://michaelmorse.bandcamp.com/album/single-a-week-challenge-week-3
I don't know if anyone other than my mother and Steve are reading/listening to this nonsense but if you are, let me know how I'm doing! That means you "Keke", whoever you are... I was a day late getting the songs ready and online this week which hopefully will not happen again (or at least not too many times) not that anyone noticed. If you are accompanying me on this ride please get your friends to jump on the wagon too, I need all the support I can get! I blame my tardiness on Martin Luther King Day, being the big drinking holiday it is I needed a day to get over my hangover. Next year let's all get together and get wasted in the name of civil rights!
A Cymbalic Image
On the "A-Side" this week we have "Last Thoughts By My Teenage Brain", which can be interpreted as a musical middle finger to everyone I went to high school with (hey guys, how's it going). It's not my first song about being an angry teenager but it may be my last! Probably not. I think it could stand nicely next to my angsty MJ & The Heretics songs (stuff written for my "band" which I'll get around to properly documenting sometime in the not-too-distant future). I started writing it while laying in bed staring at the ceiling while feeling awful and uneasy, as stated in the opening line of the song. I get very annoyed most of the time when I think about my high school experience and I'm sure I'm not alone in that. I don't want to give the impression that I was miserable all the time as a teen (I wasn't) or that I didn't have friends (I did, not many close ones but they were there) but I didn't make any real connections with people. I didn't find anyone that I really connected with (boo hoo right?) and I didn't make any lasting friendships. I'm aware I can be pretty prickly and my standards for human beings are probably too high but come on! But it doesn't matter now, I got a pretty cool song out of it.
Marshall with a Bad Monkey on his back!
New Sticks and an upright Keyboard
It's a rock song so I stuck with basic rock instrumentation, guitar (Epiphone Dot Studio through my little Marshall Valvestate amp Bad Monkey Tube Overdrive Pedal) , bass (Beatle bass through Drive amp) and drums (more on the drums later). I didn't want to do another guitar solo this week as 3 of the 4 prior Challenge songs had them but I knew it needed something else, enter my crappy old free keyboards. I ran the dirty little Yamaha through my bass amp, which gave it a decent enough piano sound, and alternated between hammering out the chords and doubling the guitar and bass' G-G-B-C-B during the main part of the verse. I think it adds a lot of aggressive energy to the song and achieves an almost Stonsey feel in places. I really need to practice drumming more!I so wanted to play all the drums I was using in one take but that wasn't going so well so I finally just did the snare on one track then played the bass and cymbals on another. Hopefully by the end of this challenge I'll be a more coordinated person.
"Maybe It's Time To Run" on the "B-Side" is another song dating back to 2009, like both of week one's songs, and I performed it on the same cable access show I played those on (check out the video below). It's about how so many people surrounded by negativity have the power to get out of it but don't. It was partially inspired by the opinions expressed about me and my chosen life path by various relatives and "people" that I've known. I've been playing the harmonica a while now (not that that comes through in my playing) but have chosen to add it to very few of my original songs. I think I remember choosing to add it to the song a few days before the show to make the song stand out from the other two. The video had an extremely negative anonymous comment on it which read something like "Dude u fuken suk! U relly do suk!!! U think this will get you sined!?! U suk!!!!". I love when critics are articulate and constructive. It helps a lot.
I had every intention of adding some kind of percussion to the recording to fill it out a little but could not keep up with myself so I finally decided to just let it be. Guitar, vocals and harmonica. 3 elements, some would say more than you need. I'm fine with that. There should be contrast in the songs. I must have attempted playing it 20 or 30 times before I got a complete take I could live with which due to the song's speed was exhausting. I finally had to write down the words and put them in front of my face so I wouldn't forget. I can hear myself running out of air in a couple places which I think is pretty funny and always makes me take a deep breath. I'll probably re-record it at some point with some additional elements and maybe an oxygen mask.
A Bridge Eye View
The cover was inspired by my own middle and high school doodlings. It took me all of a few minutes to design and draw. It's intentionally rough looking and I think it turned out just right. Notice the school heading and the ham.
New Invention - Harmonisnare! still figuring out how to play it...
That wraps us up for this week kiddos! Remember, let me know what you think about my songs or my words here! And tell your friends!
Holy crap, I've done it again! I actually managed to finish two more songs this week, things are starting to snowball now! Feel free to listen and download (for free by entering 0 when it asks you to name your price) by using the player below or by visiting http://michaelmorse.bandcamp.com/album/single-a-week-challenge-week-2
It has come to my attention that my first two posts are painfully long so I will really try to keep this as concise as I possibly can (just 10,000 words as opposed to 80,000).
This week's songs are called "Yes, I Knew" and "I Just Wanna Say (Uh-Huh)". When it first occurred to me that I should write and record just to write and record, I picked up my little Martin Backpacker guitar and these two songs just started to come out. They've been floating around with me in fragmented form for several months now, I even performed unfinished versions of both at an open-mic (where I ended up playing for a solid two hours, the mic was REALLY open). 50's Rock 'N' Roll and Rockabilly has always been very important to me. It was such a truly exciting time in music and culture. Listening to Buddy Holly, Gene Vincent, Chuck Berry, young Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis (and plenty of others) you really get a sense that those guys could feel that something important was happening and they were so damned excited about it. This week's single was my attempt to try to capture a little of that excitement for myself.
tools of the trade
Admittedly they are not my strongest writing samples but why should they be? Why do things have to be overwrought with complication? They don't! Simple is pure and wonderful! I want to proclaim my love and lust with no doubts or fears. Last week's songs were full of doubts and borderline cynicism but that is not what life is always like or about. It feels good to be able to remove all the emotional weight that comes with age and indulge in new young love. I wanted to use this challenge to try writing from different life perspectives which I have done with these songs and know I will continue to explore that in the coming weeks and months.
Snoopy: "Is there no one to rescue me?!?"
Surf's Up!
For the recording, I just used one guitar and amp, my surf-tastic daphne blue Fender Cyclone II (basically a Mustang with Jaguar pickups, a Strat trem, and racing stripes) and my tiny but tonally versatile Vox VA5 amp. Each song has two guitar tracks, rhythm and lead, and bass courtesy of my Hofner copy Rogue Violin Bass. I've always been fascinated with Buddy Holly's back-up singers and their bizarre voices and line repetition (a style which really didn't make it out of the 50's) so I decided to bring them back on "Yes, I Knew. They got a little buried in the mix as did other elements, I'm still figuring out how to use my equipment. I'm having a pretty hard time finding the tones I want. Maybe as this goes on I might be able to upgrade my stuff (that is if I find some generous patrons wanting to throw money at me).
Another goal of this challenge is to force me to learn my how to use my instruments better. My drumming still needs a LOT of work! I don't have my full kit together because several vital pieces have been misplaced in my most recent move (specifically the bass and tom heads and stands). I used only a snare on "Yes, I Knew" but attempted using high-hats, snare and bass on "I Just Wanna Say" which didn't exactly work out. My playing seemed to work during recording but sounded awful in the playback. I finally just laid down a steady bass drum thump just to give it a little percussion. I should mention that I constructed my bass drum used in this song by throwing a t-shirt wrapped microphone inside a blanket draped cardboard box and hitting it with a kick pedal (a tip from an old drummer who said I could get a decent sound that way for recording).
My Makeshift Bass Drum
The cover image was taken by my mother when I was getting ready to audition for the role of Elvis Presley in a play. I didn't get the part but some of the test pictures are pretty cool. I looked up as many 50's Rock 'N' Roll single and LP covers as I could find. I didn't base it really on anything I saw, just used my research as inspiration for a cover that I think looks pretty retro cool.
Well that's it for this week. This is a huge learning experience about my own shortcomings as a musician and sound engineer, but I am hoping that I can use this year to overcome many of them. Remember, if you are taking the time to listen (and read this nonsense) please take the time to let me know how I'm doing and/or offer some advice or constructive criticism.
The challenge has begun! On Tuesday, January 4th, 2011 I posted the first single in my "Single-A-Week Challenge" online. The results can be heard and downloaded (for free if you choose) using the handy player below or at: http://michaelmorse.bandcamp.com/album/single-a-week-challenge-week-1
I have it set up as a "name your own price" download, so you can just enter 0 and get to download it for free, so feel free to download the songs for free!
The two songs that comprise the first single, "It's A Strange Thing That Happens" and "Sing Your Own Damn Song" are not actually new compositions (as most of the rest of the songs in the challenge will be). They were both written in 2009 and meant to be on an E.P. that was tentatively to be called "Ain't It Strange How Nothing's Changed" (a title I still may use for something) but for whatever reason (laziness) that E.P. was never recorded and these songs weren't given a proper spotlight. I performed them both on a cable access show in Manhattan called Different Voices, the "Strange Thing" performance can be viewed below:
The video for "Sing Your Own Damn Song" was online but I guess has been deleted by the show's host as was the only physical tape of the show (which included an interview and another song which is still on youtube). It is pretty upsetting to think that in this digital age of information hoarding, that that footage no longer exists.
I had pretty high hopes for "Strange Thing" when I first wrote it. I felt (and still feel) that it is a damn good song (at least for me). I made a demo and paid to enter it into several songwriting contests but it went nowhere. Shortly before writing it, I attended a funeral for the first time which, as I'm sure anyone else who has been to one will agree, churns up so many different emotions and thoughts about our own mortality and that of our loved ones. It's a horrible feeling having those thoughts in your head. There are lots of songs about death and coping with it but I feel like too many of them veer too far into preachiness or sappy sentimentality. I don't think I've avoided that but I think the stream of consciousness cycle that the death in the first verse prompts coupled with the admission towards the end that "I don't know much about it so I won't pretend I know how to ease your pain or bring it to an end" keep it from going too far into that murkiness. Also before writing it I had been listening a lot to Blind Willie McTell's "Delia" with its repeating line "She's all I've got is gone" and Bob Dylan's little known mid-80's masterpiece "Dark Eyes". I think "It's A Strange Thing That Happens" was written because I wanted to write songs like that.
recording screen
The recording was pretty straight forward after I got a guitar and vocal take I didn't screw up mid-way through. I don't understand why I can play a song live and not have any problems getting through it but as soon as I turn the recorder on I start forgetting words and switching the order of the verses. I considered trying a livelier, more bluegrassier version (and probably will record it that way sometime) but decided to stick with mellow to provide a bigger contrast between the A and B sides of the single. I thought I was going to add some electric lead but ended up grabbing my banjo to add some texture. Instead of using a bass, I used the pedals on my Yamaha organ to add some bottom without making it noticeable and used the organ's vibraphone to add some emphasis to the chord changes. And that was it, nothing fancy to get in the way of the song.
my banjo player
I wrote "Sing Your Own Damn Song" after hearing Woody Guthrie's Sacco & Vanzetti ballad "Two Good Men". "Two good men a long time gone, left me here to sing this song". That line really struck with me. But as great a song as it is, it doesn't bring them back or right the injustice of their execution. It doesn't change anything. No song does. "Sing Your Own Damn Song" is a call to action. If you want something to change, change it yourself (but don't hurt anyone). It can come across as a little negative but it is not. It's about my frustration with the way people use ideas like love and god as a crutch. How people aren't satisfied if they are not part of some group, institution, or fraternity. "All you got is you" means that you are the one that needs to control your life. I think the song also works as a message to myself, that I need to create something for myself.
The recording turned out a lot more aggressive than how I originally thought it would. It is sloppy in, I hope, a glorious way. Some of my favorite recordings are sloppy, hectic and off the cuff or live sounding. The Beach Boys' "Barbara Ann" and Bob Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" and "Maggie's Farm" come to mind. I love hearing Johnny Cash yell for Luther Perkins' guitar to "get going" or Blind Willie McTell telling himself to "spank (smack?) it a little bit boy" so I thought I could do the same and further the illusion of a real band. I've often thought about harmonizing with myself so I thought why not here! That's what this challenge is about, trying stuff out! The lead guitar started as me just messing around on the guitar that happened to be in my hands while I was listening to the basic track playback. I found a good raunchy tone and hammered through it. It's pretty raw but adds to the defiant tone of the song. The country-thump bass and shaker were no-brainers.
standing by
The cover image was originally from a poster that my mother and I made for the 2010 New York City Marathon (I was official marathon entertainment). The picture was taken with me standing in the bathtub because it was the only blank background I had. It's a little bit of a reference to Elvis Presley's first album cover and various images of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. The "MJM Reqerds" label logo was a last second design and addition. I'll probably make a better one later.
The recordings have been out there a couple days now and I've gotten a few good comments about them but no one has downloaded them to keep yet. If you take the time to listen please take the time to tell me what you think (I'm a big boy I can take it...I think). If you have any constructive criticism please share it! I want to get better!
Hello boys and girls, my name is Michael Morse and I am 22 years old. I am an actor, writer, cartoonist, and probably most importantly (at least for this project) a multi-instrumentalist / musician / singer / songwriter. I started playing a guitar at age 13 at the urging of my mother and have never looked back (I don't really know what that means but it sounds cool, right?). In high school, I started writing songs, performing them in front of audiences with various other musicians under the name MJ & The Heretics and acquiring new instruments (my collection now includes a crap-load of electric and acoustic guitars, a few bass guitars, a banjo, several harmonicas in a variety of keys, a lap steel, a couple ukuleles, drums and other percussive devices, an old electric organ, a few crappy keyboards, and most recently a mandolin and a violin). One Christmas a few years ago (or was it my birthday?) my father gave me the money to buy a Fostex Digital 8-Track Recorder (as in 8 separate instrument tracks, not like an 8-track tape) which for whatever reason I've only used a handful of times.
While in high school my musical tastes and interests began to rapidly expand and mature. During my freshman year, my mother took me to see Chuck Berry and B.B. King live (an event I would not realize until a few years later how extremely important and significant it was to me). After hearing the raunchy crunch of their guitars, the blandness and soullessness of most of the "modern" music I was listening to at the time became readily apparent. The pop-punk and nu-metal that dominated most of my carry-along CD wallet ceased to satisfy me. Punk rock was still important to me but I figured out how to identify which bands were genuinely creative and rebellious. I began my musical journey back in time. Me and my Buddy started rockin' around the clock. I got in a car with Lead Belly and the Lomaxes in a quest for the real blues and other folk music. My early childhood love of those wacky Liverpudlians The Beatles re-invaded my life and ears with a vengeance. I also unearthed and subsequently started devouring the music of Hibbing, Minnesota native Robert Allen Zimmerman (some people call him Bob Dylan).
from the first MJ & The Heretics show at CBGB's Lounge
In late 2009, I finally got my hands on a copy of Bob Dylan & The Band's odd collection of lo-fidelity recordings called The Basement Tapes. Like most people who get this album, I immediately fell in love with its bizarre tales of catching a bus with a comic book, hanging clothes out to dry, and going down the road to see Bessie. I became mesmerized by the idea that, for the most part, these songs were written and recorded with seemingly no commercial aspirations. They were written and recorded for the sake of being written and recorded and probably would not have been officially released if the bootlegs hadn't been selling so well.
Hell, I've been writing songs for years but can count the number of songs I've written on just 4 or 5 hands. I have recording equipment but rarely use it. I can play enough instruments to give the illusion of being a full band, why should I have to worry about finding other people to play them for me? Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl have both released albums where they play all the parts, why can't I? I recently took a musical improv class and made up several actually decent songs that immediately dissipated into the air, why should I let them dissipate? I've recently moved into a house that has a full basement that would make a great makeshift "studio", hmmm. Why don't I just start writing and recording for the sake of writing and recording! But why should I keep the results to myself? I have access to the world wide web, why not use it!? Thus my grand recording project is born!
NYC Marathon Official Entertainment
I'm a huge procrastinator and get overwhelmed easily but I need to focus and be productive. I have abilities I need to use. With the new year here, I decided to make my project a sort of resolution. A challenge. One song a week is too easy. One a day is too hard and quality would be difficult to maintain. A 45 rpm "single" record has 2 sides, with a different song on each side. That's what I'll do! One single (2 songs and cover artwork) a week for a year. I hope I can keep it up. This is Michael Morse's "Single-A-Week Challenge"! A new single will appear every Tuesday at http://michaelmorse.bandcamp.com/
I will be using this blog to discuss my process and to post the results. I'll provide you, "the people", with different ways of hearing and/or downloading the results. All I need from you is your encouragement and more importantly your honest (but constructive) feedback so that I keep going and stay on track.
