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Post by carymiller on Apr 6, 2015 21:53:48 GMT -6
So...I'm working on a lot of new material...personal stuff for myself that I intend to release independently. I'm wiring up a new spot, and I think this will be the first song I attempt to track. Usually lyrics come to me first and then the music kind of makes me write/rewrite/edit until things become strong enough to demo. I don't normally share my process with anyone, but I've decided to actively change things up this time around. If you like it...feel free to comment...if you don't...feel free to do the same. I've been reading a lot, and I think novelists and poets, and even media critics I respect have influenced things this time around far more than other songwriters. I'm just...insanely bored with songs with weak lyrics I guess.
The Modern Age
[VERSE 1]
Through jailhouse bars the moonlight's bleedin'
Held prisoner by bad words and deeds
Who yearns to be free from the shackles of youth?
If our love was a lie than spare me the truth...
[CHORUS]
This is the modern age
This is the modern age
Real life's far too passe
For the likes of us....
This is the modern age
This is the modern age
Lose your humanity
'Fore we start to rust-
[VERSE 2]
Through dirty lenses I see clearly
What my cold dead heart must now concede
There's no stopping the fact someday we'll all die
But if nothing comes next at least we both tried....
[CHORUS]
This is the modern age
This is the modern age
Real life's far too passe
For the likes of us....
This is the modern age
This is the modern age
Lose your humanity
'Fore we start to rust-
From kickin' up dust....
[LAYERED VOCAL REFRAIN/VAMP]
If our love was a lie than spare me the truth...
If our love was a lie than spare me the truth...
If our love was a lie than spare me the truth...
If our love was a lie than spare me the truth...
Through jailhouse bars the moonlight's bleedin'
Held prisoner by bad words and deeds
Through dirty lenses I see clearly
What my cold dead heart must now concede
There's no stopping the fact someday we'll all die
But if nothing comes next at least we both tried....
There's no stopping the fact someday we'll all die
But if nothing comes next at least we both tried....
There's no stopping the fact someday we'll all die
But if nothing comes next at least we both tried....
There's no stopping the fact someday we'll all die
But if nothing comes next at least we both tried....
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Post by carymiller on Apr 6, 2015 22:13:22 GMT -6
(You will probably see me edit this...a lot...since i'm tinkering on it...fair warning.)
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Post by kcatthedog on Apr 7, 2015 10:15:21 GMT -6
Very cool that you are opening up the process on this tune ! So you literally want comments ? So instead of repeating this line : "Held prisoner by bad words and deeds" what do you think about developing this by writing a more specific verse about it ? I'm held prison by our/my/your bad words and deeds etc, There is a lot of good writing room between being in a literal prison (your initial image (or is that about perspective not literal) and being imprisoned by emotional turmoil "Held prisoner by bad words and deeds" ! so just some encouraging words reacting to what you wrote ! many roads lead from where your are, have a good trip with this song !
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Post by tonycamphd on Apr 7, 2015 11:27:28 GMT -6
Cool Cary, i can't begin to suggest lyrics, especially with no music in my head. I know i'm certifiably "weird" 8) But i write backwards lol Totally serious, i figure out the crux of my story, then it's easier to find a starting point, and then I write backwards toward that beginning, works pretty well for me.
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Post by carymiller on Apr 7, 2015 15:59:06 GMT -6
Very cool that you are opening up the process on this tune ! So you literally want comments ? So instead of repeating this line : "Held prisoner by bad words and deeds" what do you think about developing this by writing a more specific verse about it ? I'm held prison by our/my/your bad words and deeds etc, There is a lot of good writing room between being in a literal prison (your initial image (or is that about perspective not literal) and being imprisoned by emotional turmoil "Held prisoner by bad words and deeds" ! so just some encouraging words reacting to what you wrote ! many roads lead from where your are, have a good trip with this song ! Yeah man I love comments. Honestly these days I'll slap my knees like a kick and snare and think about meter while singing and writing down what's floating around my head in terms of possible lines and structure. Usually I'll leave a small MP3 recorder on while doing this so I can listen back to how I'm singing. I try not to think too much about anything before I go to record a full fledged demo...and typically I like to build my final tracks off demos if possible (though sometimes...arrangements just keep evolving and you wind up having to start over.) As for it being a literal prison Vs metaphor...I like to use seemingly literal imagery to hit you with a metaphor...in this songs your/my/people's emotions (depending on how you read into it) can feel like a prison. And the older we get...I feel the more desensitized we become emotionally. It's not just walls we throw up from being hurt in relationships or in life, we literally have to fight with ourselves to "feel" things we know we used to feel intensely. Part of this is hormonal...but part of this is also psychological. A lot of people who love music right now...we're at a crossroads because "musak" as John Lennon would put it...has officially taken over. There's no young Bob Dylan's acting as a voice...and media critics avoid music as a topic, focusing instead on news media, Television, and Movies. MTV and VH1 has given us 15 years of Reality TV at this point...and most musicians can't support themselves. The love I'm talking about in this song...I feel is a love of music, but I tried to keep things intentionally a bit vague, so people could liken it to whatever they want. I've written my fair share of real life love songs about relationships, but...I'm trying hard to break out of that shell this time around. Also, typically when rock bands start writing songs about "rock and roll" and "the music biz" that's when they're running out of personal things to say...and usually what's left isn't all that inspiring or motivational in my opinion. It just comes off bitter. But the nights we've all wasted loving music...that's the "moonlight bleeding"...the bad words and deeds...that's all the ugliness we find ourselves knocking heads with in this business, whether we want to or not. But...we always come back to music...it might be the definition of insanity...but we always come crawling back if we love it. So "If our love was a lie than spare me the truth" really was...the best line I could think of to explain that relationship music lovers have with the craft and the art of it all. "The Modern Age"....as convenient as so many things are right now...we all ignore what's going on around us. Right now it's a perfect sunny day in AZ...not a cloud in the sky, it's not too hot yet. Why would I want to spend the whole day obsessing over celebrity culture, or on Facebook? But we're all indoctrinated into a way of life where we have to balance our second online personas with the lives we try to lead if we're to become media savvy...or we wish to get our music heard as artists these days. We have to run towards the things that dehumanize us, in order to try to share the all too human feelings we experience. It's a twisted and painful paradox. I'm gonna tinker with it a bit as per your suggestions...and a new draft will probably come out soon...hope this ramble doesn't bore ya too much.
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Post by carymiller on Apr 7, 2015 16:03:23 GMT -6
Cool Cary, i can't begin to suggest lyrics, especially with no music in my head. I know i'm certifiably "weird" 8) But i write backwards lol Totally serious, i figure out the crux of my story, then it's easier to find a starting point, and then I write backwards toward that beginning, works pretty well for me. No worries Tony...see usually the bulk of the words and the basic rhythm / BPM will hit me before I pick up a guitar (I should have been a drummer!) Lately I've been playing the drums on a Roland Kit using Slate SSD4 because it's just easier to get the feel as I'm editing. Also...my best stuff seems to write itself...under and hour and it's almost fleshed out. Songs like this...which are more the norm, usually take more work and multiple drafts...partly because I want to make VERSE/CHORUS/VERSE feel a bit fresh for the billionth time, so maybe I'm just overthinking it. K Cat The Dog really made me smile because he was just trying to feel it...even without music...and the best prose usually has something to it that makes it equally valuable to the vocal melody. Lastly...I tend to really think about vocal melody a lot as I'm writing these days, but over the next few weeks I'll start to post some recordings as I go to illustrate how I tend to think about songwriting too if you guys want. I just...really want to take a few months and do something for myself. I need a change up.
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Post by kcatthedog on Apr 7, 2015 16:41:46 GMT -6
there are so many ways to write. I write poetry as well and just as we all know the power of a fine melodic idea; same for a good turn of phrase but what you write on paper may or may not sing well but again too as musicians we are comfortable playing within phrasing. I make a large distinction between something the feels right on paper and being spoken and what a song needs; two very different mistresses, both of whom need to be treated,, oh so well
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Post by carymiller on Apr 7, 2015 23:50:42 GMT -6
Working on revising the first one...but this came out today...kind of falls in line with the other thematically. Though this is a much broodier...sadder song in tone.
Definition Of Insanity
[VERSE 1] The skill that it must take To craft such a wicked smile It's crooked like the rain And sharper than a diamond So you need a victory? Even if you lose the war Man, get your story straight You're not fooling anyone
[CHORUS] The best bad habits start out casually You're the definition of insanity
[VERSE 2] I'm steadying my feet For the worst has yet to come Lamenting your defeat As we pave that road to hell I'm savoring the hate You harbor in your heart Yeah, I can almost taste Bitter tears, Ã la carte
[CHORUS] The best bad habits start out casually You're the definition of insanity
[MIDDLE EIGHT] Rinse and repeat.... With hands so clean they're dirty.... Rinse and repeat.... I'll always be unworthy
[CHORUS] The best bad habits start out casually You're the definition of insanity
[MIDDLE EIGHT] Rinse and repeat.... With hands so clean they're dirty.... Rinse and repeat.... I'll always be unworthy
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Post by donr on Apr 8, 2015 9:11:00 GMT -6
Cary, neat that you're throwing this out to the board.
Do you have music for these already?
From first reading on paper,
Overall, looks like there's too many sylables in the lines for good poetry. For instance, your chorus line "This is the modern age" could more simply be, "This modern age." Means the same, no? Every age is modern to the people living it.
I'm getting that your prisoner has been somehow overtaken by the pace and superficiality of modern life and is starting to comprehend why he's wound up in his bad situation. I don't think "passé" and "rust" really get to the heart of what your song's story is. Gotta be better words out there.
Should it be revealed his love for his sweetheart somehow resulted in his crime and conviction? Be good to know the story. Love lost songs are my favorite.
The chorus should say in four/six lines or so, something overarching and worth repeating about the perils and pitfalls of modern life that everybody can relate to.
My $.02
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Post by carymiller on Apr 8, 2015 14:49:02 GMT -6
Cary, neat that you're throwing this out to the board. Do you have music for these already? From first reading on paper, Overall, looks like there's too many sylables in the lines for good poetry. For instance, your chorus line "This is the modern age" could more simply be, "This modern age." Means the same, no? Every age is modern to the people living it. I'm getting that your prisoner has been somehow overtaken by the pace and superficiality of modern life and is starting to comprehend why he's wound up in his bad situation. I don't think "passé" and "rust" really get to the heart of what your song's story is. Gotta be better words out there. Should it be revealed his love for his sweetheart somehow resulted in his crime and conviction? Be good to know the story. Love lost songs are my favorite. The chorus should say in four/six lines or so, something overarching and worth repeating about the perils and pitfalls of modern life that everybody can relate to. My $.02 Actually it's funny...I think about poly-rhythm of syllables within 4 bars at a time usually when I go to edit lyrics. I'll give you an example using The rough draft for The Modern Age: [VERSE 1]
[09 Syllables / 04 Bars] - Through jailhouse bars the moonlight's bleedin' [09 Syllables / 04 Bars] - Held prisoner by bad words and deeds [11 Syllables / 04 Bars] - Who yearns to be free from the shackles of youth? [11 Syllables / 04 Bars] - If our love was a lie than spare me the truth... So the first two 4 Bar sections of this verse are 9 syllables...it's a slower tune at 120BPMish so far (this may change when I go to demo it), but the rhythm of how it's sung (it's kind of a speak-sing sort of vibe), works well here. When you change to the 11 syllable section in the verse, the "swing" of how it's sung picks up, and the drums can syncopate with this very easily...so for me it makes the first half of the verse different from the second half...or if you want to call the second half a "pre-chorus" or whatever, that's fine too...but the syllable count allows for a rhythmic shift can keeps it from getting too boring (I hope.) Still...I'm gonna be working on a second draft over the next few days...so we'll see if this changes. In the end it's 16 Bars, same as the chorus. Syllable/Bar count for the Chorus: [CHORUS] [06 Syllables / 02 Bars] - This is the modern age [06 Syllables / 02 Bars] - This is the modern age [06 Syllables / 02 Bars] - Real life's far too passe [05 Syllables / 02 Bars] - For the likes of us.... [06 Syllables / 02 Bars] - This is the modern age [06 Syllables / 02 Bars] - This is the modern age [06 Syllables / 02 Bars] - Lose your humanity [05 Syllables / 02 Bars] - 'Fore we start to rust- I'm all for simplification when it works...but a lot of modern music is solipsistic (child-like) lyrically. It's not a matter of things being dumbed down and me being angry with that...this song is trying to comment on that sort of stylistic prison songwriters are trapped in. We used to use technology to stand out...now we use it to blend in...we used to look to great poets who married words to great songs...now we look to monosyllabic refrains without any words to fit our background theme music we queue at the end of a commercial. This time around...I'm just gonna write and see what comes out...but not everything has to be cut to ribbons in order to fit a pop structure for a radio market that no longer exists. (And I'm NOT trying to lecture you saying all this...more trying to lend perspective. At times I favor a wordier song that's telling a story...exposition within narratives is underrated in modern times...and that's...really what the song is about. If you just absorb stimulus rather than try to understand it...you're sacrificing the human experience for an automatic response to a shock to the system. And yes the Beatles did "I want to hold your hand" etc. But they also wrote some deeper tunes lyrically too. You can have pop and art too. Still...without music this stuff is hard for people to guess at...but I often think that lyrics get overlooked almost entirely to the detriment of the craft like an afterthought these days. I respect your opinion...but I wanted to give you context...and demos hopefully soon will get posted up here so there's even more to go on.
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Post by M57 on Apr 8, 2015 16:01:37 GMT -6
I'm getting to a place where I'm finding it all but impossible to put music to a lyric. None of my lyrics look like lyrics; they rarely subscribe to a consistent metric form, and it has everything to do with the music. If a line sits in a musical bed that has less harmonic motion, or less of the micro-beat present, I may naturally write a lyrical line with a higher syllabic count that fills in the spaces. ..or if I just feel that the micro-beat need more accentuation. I think there are a number of contemporary song-writers out there that owe a heightened sensibility in this particular area to the rappers, who fearlessly use polyrhythms and over the bar-line (off-set) rhythmic structures to create tension and release. Not to hijack the thread, but if you take a look at the lyrics to the song I've recently posted in this forum, there's no way you could guess how they might be sung.
There are all sorts of other reasons that I feel that it's a losing proposition (for me personally). Rhyme, close-rhyme, and no-rhyme all create different types of tension, that needs to be painted harmonically and rhythmically. I just find (to my dismay - I hate writing lyrics) that the marriage of words and music needs to be a much more organic process. It's best to write both at the same time if you can, but push come to shove and I had to start with one, I'd rather start with a musical skeleton.
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Post by carymiller on Apr 8, 2015 16:49:30 GMT -6
I'm getting to a place where I'm finding it all but impossible to put music to a lyric. None of my lyrics look like lyrics; they rarely subscribe to a consistent metric form, and it has everything to do with the music. If a line sits in a musical bed that has less harmonic motion, or less of the micro-beat present, I may naturally write a lyrical line with a higher syllabic count that fills in the spaces. ..or if I just feel that the micro-beat need more accentuation. I think there are a number of contemporary song-writers out there that owe a heightened sensibility in this particular area to the rappers, who fearlessly use polyrhythms and over the bar-line (off-set) rhythmic structures to create tension and release. Not to hijack the thread, but if you take a look at the lyrics to the song I've recently posted in this forum, there's no way you could guess how they might be sung. There are all sorts of other reasons that I feel that it's a losing proposition (for me personally). Rhyme, close-rhyme, and no-rhyme all create different types of tension, that needs to be painted harmonically and rhythmically. I just find (to my dismay - I hate writing lyrics) that the marriage of words and music needs to be a much more organic process. It's best to write both at the same time if you can, but push come to shove and I had to start with one, I'd rather start with a musical skeleton. I totally understand that sort of frustration. Typically I write the words and music together...but mainly around a vocal melody...so a line will come and form a basic melody, and then I'm left with fleshing that out. I'll think in terms of beat structure and basic counter melody on guitar or piano while I'm doing it...and more often then not...a whole song is fleshed out aside from arrangement fairly quickly. Even if I have to go back and write more than a few drafts of a song...I'll knock 80% of what I want out this way and it's a natural process. I can write words and them come back and write music later...but usually things will change to serve whatever is coming out musically at the time if I do so...drifting back to a semblance of the more organic process I usually follow. What I have the most trouble with is writing music first and then going back to find a vocal melody to "fit" that music. Mainly because I won't think to write around a vocal melody that wasn't there to start with the other way 'round. A long time ago I was told by my old boss Shelly Yakus to focus on Vocal melody first...and when I made that conscious shift...it was impossible for me to go back to other work flows...unless I was trying to write instrumentals. My suggestion is to start with a vocal melody...even if you're not singing it...maybe play it on a keyboard and sing along to it...or on guitar...and to work out some basic words that way for a verse and a chorus only...THEN go back and think about groove against your vocal melody. It might seem awkward at first...but I generally have a very high output when I put my mind to writing in this manner...and things just come fast.
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Post by M57 on Apr 8, 2015 17:52:26 GMT -6
My suggestion is to start with a vocal melody...even if you're not singing it...maybe play it on a keyboard and sing along to it...or on guitar...and to work out some basic works that way for a verse and a chorus only...THEN go back and think about groove against your vocal melody. It might seem awkward at first...but I generally have a very high output when I put my mind to writing in this manner...and things just come fast. Agree with your first two paragraphs.. On the one above, do you mean >>and to work out some basic words<< ?? Anyway, I have to admit that I feel like I can turn a decent melody in just about any harmonic setting, so I prefer to start with a progression/groove/counterpoint, etc., and I have considered what you suggest above, but I have found that melodies constrain harmony more than harmony constrains melody. Perhaps my skills are better now, but I have found the above strategy works best for me toward the end of the process.
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Post by carymiller on Apr 8, 2015 18:19:04 GMT -6
My suggestion is to start with a vocal melody...even if you're not singing it...maybe play it on a keyboard and sing along to it...or on guitar...and to work out some basic works that way for a verse and a chorus only...THEN go back and think about groove against your vocal melody. It might seem awkward at first...but I generally have a very high output when I put my mind to writing in this manner...and things just come fast. Agree with your first two paragraphs.. On the one above, do you mean >>and to work out some basic words<< ?? Anyway, I have to admit that I feel like I can turn a decent melody in just about any harmonic setting, so I prefer to start with a progression/groove/counterpoint, etc., and I have considered what you suggest above, but I have found that melodies constrain harmony more than harmony constrains melody. Perhaps my skills are better now, but I have found the above strategy works best for me toward the end of the process. Yes I meant words! hahah sorry for typos! If I manage to pull off something where the music takes center stage first...typically it's near impossible for me not to leave it as an instrumental. The same constraints you talk about...usually mean there's limits to work within, and that forces me to think outside the box unit I have something I can't get out of my head. When Shelly used to talk to me about Bob Seger (he mixed "Like a Rock" and likened it to a song I had written once), he took the time out to explain to me that vocal melody was what the rest of the song was built up around. And how he'd seen that time again with John Lennon, Tom Petty, Bono, etc. So...I just gravitated naturally in that direction when it came to songwriting habits. It's been almost seven years and I just keep trying to make cutting songs more and more effortless that way. The music winds up being more about what you don't play a lot of the time when you choose to work this way...but lyrics and syllable structures in poly-rhythm to beat and tempo start to get easier and easier to edit fast on the fly once you get used to the flow of it. The song starts to tell you what it wants / needs to be more interesting. When you get stumped is when you're trying to push past certain things you maybe find yourself leaning on like a crutch (to the point where it might be almost cliche for you to keep doing the same old tricks)...or at least every couple of years I find I really have to force myself to get uncomfortable in certain ways to grow as a writer, even within these self-imposed confines. With lyrics themselves...and vocal delivery, usually that's the hardest place to go down that road.
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Post by donr on Apr 8, 2015 21:13:54 GMT -6
Small world Cary, Shelly Yakus recorded and mixed two of our better selling records, "Agents Of Fortune," and "Spectres."
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Post by carymiller on Apr 8, 2015 22:09:38 GMT -6
Small world Cary, Shelly Yakus recorded and mixed two of our better selling records, "Agents Of Fortune," and "Spectres." Shelly was absolutely the biggest influence on me in terms of engineering...and learning about balance and stereo imaging. A lot of my personal tastes in sounds come from him kind of gently nudging me to explore or giving me advice. He's a wonderful person. Just the sweetest fellow. Also GREAT TUNES!!!! The weird part for me over the years has been basically copying what I think Shelly would go after in terms of modern sounds but with a balance that wouldn't feel "flat" or "boring" to him...into a digital realm. I experiment all the time, looking for ways to make everything done in a DAW feel more like the flow and the sound of a console on a session constantly because of my time under his wing.
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Post by M57 on Apr 9, 2015 9:13:11 GMT -6
I have a problem with the "my cold dead heart" line - especially the dead part. The rest of the lyric hints at some kind of resolution or redemption or hope, etc. but 'dead' stops that notion 'dead' in its tracks.. (I can of course, 'get over' it)
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Post by carymiller on Apr 9, 2015 17:09:39 GMT -6
I have a problem with the "my cold dead heart" line - especially the dead part. The rest of the lyric hints at some kind of resolution or redemption or hope, etc. but 'dead' stops that notion 'dead' in its tracks.. (I can of course, 'get over' it) Actually it's funny you bring that line up. It's self-referential, kind of like "I am the Walrus" or "The Fool On The Hill" (Both of which are referenced in multiple songs the Beatles wrote.) There's several other songs taking shape...and a lot of them also have themes that cover dealing with Depression/Mental Illness/PTSD, etc. So the line "My cold dead heart" comes from another song. The Modern Age is supposed to have some hopeful aspirations bubbling up...but when I say I have "cold dead heart", I'm talking about depressive cycles. or "Lows". When Robin Williams died last August, I was working sessions for several Dance music Producers as a mastering guy...and things were high pressure while they pretended money was tighter than it was, etc. The day he died I had turned down a job that I knew wasn't worth the headache because I'd have to extend a trip to NYC for not enough money; but I found out after a cross country flight back to AZ that Robin Williams had been found while I was in the air. The last four years have been tough, work in this business isn't as steady as I'd like it to be. I can eek it out, but since I've struggled with depression my whole life...seeing Robin Williams commit suicide really made pause and think about my mental health, and if the funniest man alive couldn't ignore his problems...maybe I couldn't bury myself in extra low paying work just to scrape by and survive. An earlier song on the pile originally titled "My Cold Dead Heart" came out of that...and I started to seek treatment openly, not just to friends and family, but I stopped letting the stigma of how people react to these sorts of things affect how I live my life. I think...music as a culture (across gernes) is in trouble...but so are people. We have a tendency to do everything but improve the quality of our lives for the sake of keeping up appearances. I might change that line either way because of your suggestion, but it's funny how you singled it out. I'm also an Atheist...and that's another piece of the puzzle with this one: "There's no stopping the fact someday we'll all die But if nothing comes next at least we both tried...."This is line is the most important piece of the song to me...I have many, many wonderful friends who are religious and I think their personal beliefs are wonderful if it gives them strength. But I often hear overly zealous people chastising Atheists with circular logic such as "what prevents you from doing bad things without Religion in your life." Etc. And I don't think living by a moral code has to be enforced by your spiritual or lack of spiritual beliefs. I do however vehemently believe that love is more than just some chemical process; and trying to love yourself and others, even when you're at your lowest is what can save someone who is suffering from paying the price Robin Williams did. Despite the fact that mortality is a scary prospect whether you believe in the afterlife or not...and the world is constantly getting smaller due to technology as we're becoming more and more desensitized...even someone who's depressed can take solace in trying their best to manage their struggle with depression, finding reasons to live and love. I think that whole mess resonated with me because of how many musician friends in the arts I've had over the years who've either self-medicated themselves to death or oblivion in their 20's or 30's with drugs and alcohol (there's a huge pattern of that over the course of history in the music industry, and it's never really discussed with levity) I can name several close friends who eventually committed suicide or who's lives fell apart due to remaining un-diagnosed when it came to whatever was really wrong under the surface. Lastly...I've had a few friends in the military coming home mentally crippled by PTSD in recent years, and it's all really the same sort of problems not being talked about much in music culture let alone the news. I love music...even pop...but this time I really want to make something that tells stories I think are worth telling. Even if you have to dig a bit deeper to understand it all. The slim prospect of being critically lauded or uber successful with it just isn't worth it to me if it means veering off of that path this time. I just haven't felt this intense about doing something musically in a while...and it turns out that's enough for me to want to do it right.
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Post by carymiller on Apr 9, 2015 17:30:46 GMT -6
(Sorry had to edit that post above a few times...it's kind of hard trying to be conversational this way...posting, rather than talking one on one.)
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Post by stratboy on Apr 10, 2015 20:54:32 GMT -6
Hi,Cary, Reading this thread took me back to GS days, where I would often see you post about gear. I always respected your opinions because you came across the forum as sincerely wanting to help others, as opposed to making an impression or scoring a snarky point. I learned a lot from you over there. Now, reading your lyrics, learning about your process and the underlying philosophy and human struggles driving your artistic expression, I feel like I know you a little better, and that's a good thing. I really appreciate you being here! Thanks for putting it out there over the past few years and making a difference, at least for me.
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Post by carymiller on Apr 10, 2015 21:33:06 GMT -6
Hi,Cary, Reading this thread took me back to GS days, where I would often see you post about gear. I always respected your opinions because you came across the forum as sincerely wanting to help others, as opposed to making an impression or scoring a snarky point. I learned a lot from you over there. Now, reading your lyrics, learning about your process and the underlying philosophy and human struggles driving your artistic expression, I feel like I know you a little better, and that's a good thing. I really appreciate you being here! Thanks for putting it out there over the past few years and making a difference, at least for me. Thanks man! With the gear talking points...I think after a certain point I knew that I'd always be learning and my tastes would always change and evolve as I learned more and more. It's weird because...with gear you're trouble shooting more often than anything. I'm trying to build a new PC before I start tracking this stuff...and I'm already redrafting it for the 3rd time today thanks to posts in my thread in Pro Audio steering me to better directions. But with writing songs...I'd rather be focused on making tunes that I love to listen to and share than worry about fitting in with whatever people think will sell anymore. I'm not some child pop star...I've been in touring bands since I was 16...it's not my first rodeo, but when I listen to tunes I did four or five years ago...I'm always my own worst critic. Whatever feels dated to me I sit there analyzing in an OCD-like trance if I'm not careful. Whatever feels "timelss" to me...the audio quality doesn't matter so much and suddenly the arrangement is speaking for itself. I guess what I'm trying to say is...I couldn't write songs in the same way that I approached it when I was 16-20 now at 34...it's kind of like that Nada Surf lyric "Now I'm grown up...I wonder what was that world I was dreaming of?" off the last LP they cut. When I feel that pull to create, it's better to just roll up my sleeves and work till I get it out of my system. I can always go back to being underpaid for studio work at any point. When I was younger I used to take in far too much input from people who wanted me to shape and mold my stuff to feel closer in style and presentation to something popular. No one's really selling music in 2015, you're selling access to yourself as a musician / artist...and hoping people love what you do and go out of their way to listen and maybe even own it. I try to make the tunes fun / catchy / with some meaning and story telling...but when I listen to the majority of what's getting placements in publishing...not a lot of really good stuff is out there right now. So my hope is that I can modernize things to feel a bit more "cinematic" this time...without dumbing down the lyrical content. I need to break in a new rig before I take on a lot of work anyway...so I might as well do one for me this time either way. I appreciate the support and the kind words though...and feel free to hit me up any time man.
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Post by M57 on Apr 11, 2015 10:13:56 GMT -6
..are you going to share the music with us at some point?
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Post by carymiller on Apr 11, 2015 18:30:54 GMT -6
..are you going to share the music with us at some point? Oh yeah I'm designing a new rig...just ordered a desk from Omnirax and upgraded all my software. After I sell my console and get a new computer in there...I'll start filling this thread up with song structures as I cut them. But The Modern Age is on the list. Feels pretty good acoustic. Usually when I build a new work space out I try to do an album of originals to make sure my workflow feels right.
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