Aniron

My awesome Yeti USB  microphone died :(

So I'm stuck using a super shitty one. Sorry for the quality and the shortness of it. I promise to revisit and perform in all its glory once I get things working again. In the meantime, enjoy a little elvish song.

Face of Boe

A little snippet from the Doctor Who soundtrack I always loved. And now I've done a piano cover. I'm on a roll today!


Oh, my dear Doctor! How you've captured my heart.

An Unknown Variable

Found some chords I like and free-styled for a bit.

Sherlock Theme

Feeling so awesome that its finally accomplished. Been wanting to record this little number for a while now. (yes, I reserve the right to crow about this!)

OUT-TAKES: Mercy Street and a cell phone

Nope, still not done with this one.

Why, you ask? Why is it so hard to record a song I know by heart, that's only 2 minutes long, with easy chords?

I'll tell you why.

Because of my workplace calling me at very inopportune moments.

Boudicea

This is a cover of an Enya song "Boudicea" with me and my piano. It's just another mic test.

Unfortunately, because I'm still learning the ins and outs of my mic, and I keep forgetting how sensitive it is! So I'm singing way too close to it. Ergo, the vocals are topping out and sounding a little distorted and crackly.

I really, really want to fix this but am laying my perfectionist self to rest, because I need to move onto other projects. Just pretend it's on record for the time being, mmkay?

I promise to come back and revisit this little tune with more gusto.
And maybe an accordion.

Next Project? 

Possibly tackling Peter Gabriel. 

(and yes. Enya, now Peter Gabriel. How much more gay can I get??)

Yeti Mic Test: Reading Sherlock Holmes

I got a new microphone: the USB Yeti. It's brilliant!

This is a small recording of myself trying it out, reading the opening lines to a Sherlock Adventure, "The Musgave Ritual". I'm thrilled to death with this mic, but... the letter P seems to be giving me some trouble, as you can hear. (Not the microphone's fault though.) I'll keep fiddling and see what I can do about it.

I have been kicking around the idea of doing literary readings for years. I always enjoyed listening to books on tape and think that if I actually applied myself, I could do it. If you enjoyed this, let me know. I think, now that recording just became 100% simpler, that I could seriously consider actually tackling a reading project.

Oh and by the way, its an enormous mic.

Some Thoughts for Today

I've been trying to get over Recording Anxiety.
I'll know exactly what I want to play, and play it perfectly through, like 3 times. I'll be by myself. And then, I'll turn on my microphone and start recording.

And guess what happens?
I get nervous as shit and can't play, and can't record, and then get frustrated, and then - and then! - it just turns into a bad day when I can't accomplish anything.

So today, I tried something. I turned the mic on and just left it. Then I freestyled on my accordion. And it was awesome, and it worked.


Here is a little snippet of what came out of that. It's not perfect, obviously, I need to keep working on it, but I like this melancholy tune that I came up with.
 

Mister Moodie

I didn't post this for a long time because its very... unfinished, and out of sync. The microphone I have is very ah, single-minded and can really only record one thing at a time. When I have it pointed at my piano and sing and play at the top of my lungs - it will never pick up my voice. It's great for not having to worry about background noise. But irritating in the recording process.

So.

This particular song gave me a lot of trouble (probably because I have a shitty sense of rhythm to begin with) and I'm not pleased with it, but felt the need to post it, just to post sooomemething.


It's about a pact a friend of mine made with me when I last visited him. We are both musically inclined people, and he writes music all the time for his guitar and piano (usually after downing half a bottle of Jack Daniels). He wanted to know if we could find a way to send each other music each week, and in this sense, keep each other artistically encouraged. However, it soon became a one sided thing, where I was the only one sending him things. This song was me asking him to finally write me back. (Which the busy bastard never did.)

Anyway. Enjoy my attempt at some jazzy chords here.

Good Luck: A Wedding Song

A good friend of mine is getting married, but due to certain circumstances, she had to push the event off for another 6 months. I know she's bummed, and she's like 600 miles away from me so I can't just give her a hug.... so I wrote her a little song instead.

I hope your days are full of laughter.
And I pray your colors never run dry.
May your winters be short, and your springtime be long.
Never run out of breath for your favorite song.

I wish you good luck. I miss you, XOXO
Good luck. I miss you, XOXO

Your heart is always full of kindness.
You care for little animals like you care for humans too.
Kitchen's always stocked with the nicest blend of tea.
Never short on time and always one for the money.
One for the money, and two for the show.
you're my adopted little sister and I'll never let you go.

I just hope he knows how lucky he is.
Better give you a lifetime of bliss.
And if he doesn't treat you right.... I'll kick his butt!

So good luck.

I miss you, XOXO
Good luck. I miss you, XOXO.
XOXO.