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/
Friday, January 21, 2011
Week 3 - "Last Thoughts By My Teenage Brain" b/w "Maybe It's Time To Run"
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!
Like the muddy, thumping sound of the bass, and you got a good pseudo-piano out of your Yamaha setup on 'Last Thought By My Teenage Brain'. Good stuff. Every once in a while it seemed you lost tempo among the instruments, but that was infrequent, and I do realize you're banging these songs out 2 week. Overall, I really liked the tune!
Lots of roots rock and folk influences running through 'Maybe Its Time To Run'. You've got a fine grasp of the history you draw your original music from. The lyrics have a nice little bit of venom in them. Hells yeah! Keep 'em coming!
Thanks for taking the time to listen and critique Steve! I know what you mean about the lost tempo thing but I'm afraid that is probably going to happen frequently (at least for now) on any song I try to drum on. It's a real fight for me to find and maintain a suitable drum pattern. Because of this, I'm choosing to ignore my inner perfectionist and stick with the first passable tracks. I could spend days driving myself crazy trying to get every instrument perfect but a lot of my favorite recordings are full of little mistakes that don't matter because of the strength of the performances. But that being said, I will be trying to improve on everything as this challenge progresses. Thanks again for spending some time with these songs and please continue to do so! And tell your friends!
Like the muddy, thumping sound of the bass, and you got a good pseudo-piano out of your Yamaha setup on 'Last Thought By My Teenage Brain'. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteEvery once in a while it seemed you lost tempo among the instruments, but that was infrequent, and I do realize you're banging these songs out 2 week. Overall, I really liked the tune!
Lots of roots rock and folk influences running through 'Maybe Its Time To Run'. You've got a fine grasp of the history you draw your original music from.
The lyrics have a nice little bit of venom in them. Hells yeah! Keep 'em coming!
Thanks for taking the time to listen and critique Steve! I know what you mean about the lost tempo thing but I'm afraid that is probably going to happen frequently (at least for now) on any song I try to drum on. It's a real fight for me to find and maintain a suitable drum pattern. Because of this, I'm choosing to ignore my inner perfectionist and stick with the first passable tracks. I could spend days driving myself crazy trying to get every instrument perfect but a lot of my favorite recordings are full of little mistakes that don't matter because of the strength of the performances. But that being said, I will be trying to improve on everything as this challenge progresses. Thanks again for spending some time with these songs and please continue to do so! And tell your friends!
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