All the lightbulbs explode
All communications have fallen silent
The channels are dead
The language in hibernation
In the deep caves of a heart
Where subtle and violent dreams coexist

You leave the nest to fly solo to build the nest to be left solo.
To appear and vanish in repetition.
To feel totally lost and lonely among 6 billion.
To have potentials slip from your grasp back into the ether
To feel the slow affects of oxidization and gravity on cells the earth will reclaim
To feel that words and notes and voices have ever diminishing value.
To watch sex and money distort people into unrecognizable fiends
To see fanaticism and zealots turn hearts and minds to ice.

The pen scrawls white noise
The piano hums despair
Its all unintelligible
The outlets are blown.

Miking a Piano

Piano Miking Techniques.

I’m looking around for ideas on how best to mike my upright piano with the soft pedal on. It sounds like a bell. I was wondering if anyone had used a cardoid condenser mic a few feet back. I want it to sound more experimental than real. I came across this and thought I’d share the link.

A few of the many opinions on the best way of miking a piano. :)

http://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/summits/piano-miking.php

Which makes me think of my own favorite techniques. I’ve been spoiled in the past on projects where I got to use rare and expensive mics to record rare and expensive pianos like a Fazioli (sigh), those were the days. :)

Grand Pianos: I use two large diaphragm condenser mics (though I have experimented with switching one out for a cardoid)  close to the sound board facing opposite directions with the lid mostly closed. After that it is all experimentation.  One time I tried throwing a heavy blanket over the lid. Other times I opened the lid and placed two other mics approximately 10 ft back in different places to capture ambiance. I have laid sticks and ribbons across the strings also. :) You can get any number of sounds out of a grand piano so you can experiment and figure out your own methods. The trick with miking grand pianos is getting a good stereo image without it sounding brittle or too boomy. Well anyway, the article has some good ideas and as you can tell if you read it the opinions on this subject are very diverse.

Here is another.. http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan08/articles/pianorecording_0108.htm

Tar (You Can't Change A Man) - Linda Strawberry
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

Track:
Tar (You Can't Change A Man)

Artist:
Linda Strawberry

Album:
unreleased demo

Plays:
2,038 plays

Tar (you can’t change a man)

Someone wrote me looking for this song so I went in search of it and here it is.

lyric:

One time

I got caught by your words

i believed that is was

It wasn’t

Two timing son of a bitch

you can hide but you can’t out run it

Three times the charm

I let you back in

ya, I swear to God I tried it

For I

Believed that I could change a man

No one’s EVER done it.

oh, I know what you are

I got covered in your black tar.

oh, I know what you are.

I am going to break your heart.

 Don’t look so shocked

You’re the one who gone and made it all so damn hard

You’re full of talk

but your words and your actions don’t match up honey

You done me wrong

So don’t act like I’m the one who’s doing all the damage, damn it.

You’re just a con

And i’m never gonna fall for your tricks again.

Oh, I know what you are.

I got covered in your black tar

oh, I know what you are

I am going to break your heart.

To break your heart.

Death in the Afternoon-

she’s stuck to the rug

with her phantom limbs

and her drugs and liquor

ya, her drugs and liquor

just another idiot in sequins

beating her brains out

does it ‘feel so good’ baby

death in the afternoon

looted and then tossed out

doesn’t it ‘feel so good’ baby

death in the afternoon

you don’t know how it happened

you can’t recall how it happened

how you got

all lit up and crossed out

but isn’t it supposed to ‘feel so good’ baby

death in the afternoon

head all full of screws

glamorous, beautiful you

(pitch)

rough.

My Lonely One

Here’s a song I sang on written by Kevin Dippold aka The Float Associates.

We were driving to Spirits in the Sky rehearsal and he played me an early version and I pretty much made him let me sing backgrounds on it. :)

http://thefloatassociates.bandcamp.com/track/my-lonely-one

How has being around artist such as Sarah McLaclan and Billy Corgan effected the way you write music? or has it at all?

Asked by
Anonymous

Definitely. They were both two of my favorites before I met / worked with them. I played Surfacing by Sarah so many times it stopped working in my car. Four years later there I was comping her vocal takes and editing her piano. It was a dream come true to be behind the scenes. So surreal. I actually learned alot from Pierre Marchand her producer. I love his style of working. It was very much from the soul and not by the book.

Billy is so inspiring to be around. You sneeze and he’s written another song. Some of the ones he has played me that then he’s never played again drive me crazy in my head. I’m glad I have a few of them on paper so I can at least play them for myself. He’s so prolific. He has heavily influenced me in the last five years especially. I am recording new music  - a giant record - and its all music from the last five years. There’s definitely Billy influence. He’s always pushing himself and going for the next thing. In the twelve years I have been his friend I have never seen him take a break more than a few weeks. I, myself, took a two year hiatus - So, I don’t know how he does it! :) I am excited to hear the new songs he is recording for the new Pumpkins record ‘Oceania’ because this one I haven’t been around for, so I’m on the other side waiting in anticipation like everyone else. I think the main things about his songwriting that have influenced me are his lyric writing - and his complex mathematical arrangements. I like to let my chord progressions sit in patterns for longer - I am also inspired these days by Steve Reich. The repetition is therapeutic to me. So, if I could combine a little of his math chord change wizardry into some hypnotic rhythmic stuff subtle enough that it completely changes without your ear fully noticing that would be very cool. Also, I try to stake claim on song names before he has taken them all. hahahahah. The board where he writes the names of the new songs is always epic.

Now that I think of it the record I am making I can see both of their influence in it. Half is piano based, simpler and lighter -  and the other half is dark, complicated, and intense.

I saw you mention you are working on a new album. Will this be another EP and when do you plan to release it?

Asked by
Anonymous

Yes I am. I am a few songs in. I am thinking of releasing the first two as soon as I finish them. They need vocals/mix - So, maybe two singles that lead towards the release of the big record which is ‘Lumina vs. Pitch’ - twenty songs. light/dark. I really am just focusing on finishing these first ones - I’m so excited! :) I