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Virtual Open Mike weekend for August! Post here all weekend.


Michael Martin

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My latest basement recording. I actually had this one about 80% complete after getting the idea back in '09 while driving around town. Had the title, the musical structure, even some of the lyrics--just couldn't finish it. Maybe because in my mind's ear I heard this as a song played by a full band rather than a solo piece. I always imagined it sounding kind of like The Rolling Stones, circa mid-1970s.

 

Recorded on the Hummingbird (3 separate tracks I think), tambourine, handclaps, vocal. Used two AT2020 condenser mikes, into a Fostex VF80 recorder.

 

 

A Tumble of Roses

©MDM MMXIV

 

I don't even know your name

But I'm a fool for an English accent

And anyway

I kinda like the way you walk

 

And I'm not feeling ‘specially circumspect

But I ain’t fooling around

Anything I know of love

You know I learned about in the dark

 

A tumble of roses

And then a suitcase of pain

In spite of everything/yeah well

I did it again

You know I did it again

 

I'm not feeling too diplomatic

But I ain’t hedging my bets

Everything I know of you

You know I heard it all on the street

 

Under the street lights

Under the full moon

Struttin' down Chamberlain Avenue

It's all coming up roses

Raining down roses again

 

A tumble of roses

And then a suitcase of pain

In spite of everything/yeah well

I did it again

 

Another tumble of roses/and then

One more suitcase of pain

In spite of everything/hell yes/well

I did it again

You know I did it again

 

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I opened a Cajun/Vietnamese bistro a year ago. I've had no time for music. I have a few dormant projects to finish though. This is one. Remixed this week.

 

"Love Lifts the Ocean"

 

I'm making a music video on it. It's mostly synth. But you hear my Mr. Binh archtop in its full glory. Next month, the video will be ready.

 

I like how the archtop sounds plugged-in on this.

 

Gear: Mr. Binh archtop, Kent Armstrong mini-humbucker, Roland AC60 amp. Lexicon tremolo. 2010 Korg M3m synth, 1989 Kawai K1 synth, .

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I opened a Cajun/Vietnamese bistro a year ago. I've had no time for music. I have a few dormant projects to finish though. This is one. Remixed this week.

 

"Love Lifts the Ocean"

 

I'm making a music video on it. It's mostly synth. But you hear my Mr. Binh archtop in its full glory. Next month, the video will be ready.

 

I like how the archtop sounds plugged-in on this.

 

Gear: Kent Armstrong mini-humbucker, Roland AC60 amp. Lexicon tremolo. 2010 Korg M3m synth, 1989 Kawai K1 synth, Mr. Binh archtop.

 

 

It appears that something doesn't work on my computer Marc - do you have this somewhere else?

 

Phil

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My latest basement recording. I actually had this one about 80% complete after getting the idea back in '09 while driving around town. Had the title, the musical structure, even some of the lyrics--just couldn't finish it. Maybe because in my mind's ear I heard this as a song played by a full band rather than a solo piece. I always imagined it sounding kind of like The Rolling Stones, circa mid-1970s.

 

Recorded on the Hummingbird (3 separate tracks I think), tambourine, handclaps, vocal. Used two AT2020 condenser mikes, into a Fostex VF80 recorder.

 

 

A Tumble of Roses

©MDM MMXIV

 

I don't even know your name

But I'm a fool for an English accent

And anyway

I kinda like the way you walk

 

And I'm not feeling ‘specially circumspect

But I ain’t fooling around

Anything I know of love

You know I learned about in the dark

 

A tumble of roses

And then a suitcase of pain

In spite of everything/yeah well

I did it again

You know I did it again

 

I'm not feeling too diplomatic

But I ain’t hedging my bets

Everything I know of you

You know I heard it all on the street

 

Under the street lights

Under the full moon

Struttin' down Chamberlain Avenue

It's all coming up roses

Raining down roses again

 

A tumble of roses

And then a suitcase of pain

In spite of everything/yeah well

I did it again

 

Another tumble of roses/and then

One more suitcase of pain

In spite of everything/hell yes/well

I did it again

You know I did it again

 

Another nice number Michael - do you write one of these everyday or just every other day? Never have been able to write lyrics myself - plenty of great tunes (that I then forget by the time I come to the second verse.)

 

Phil

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Another nice number Michael - do you write one of these everyday or just every other day? Never have been able to write lyrics myself - plenty of great tunes (that I then forget by the time I come to the second verse.)

 

Phil

Thanks Phil! The output varies some, according to the circumstances of life. Back when I only played out solo at a weekly open mike, I was determined to always have a new song, so I was finishing at least one a week. Nowadays it's more like one every 3 weeks.

 

But it all has to do with circumstances. This one for example started out 5 years ago as a song inspired by things happening back then, and then I finally finished the lyrics 3 wks ago when I included that stuff about streetlights and the full moon on Chamberlain Avenue, which is where we've been busking this summer.

 

​I can come up with musical ideas all the time--I have 100s of guitar riffs and song fragments recorded that I'll probably never utilize--but the lyrics never come to me unless there is something happening that provokes. My advice for lyric-writing is to think of the song as a means to say something that can't be said with words alone, so your goal is merging music with words. If you have the music already, play it and "feel" what it's about emotionally (love, loss, lust, desire, pain, wonderment, etc.) and then find words and phrases that fit, through a sort of free-association method. Write down ANYTHING that comes up as lines or lyrical fragments, and then splice them together so they fit the framework of the music.

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Thanks Phil! The output varies some, according to the circumstances of life. Back when I only played out solo at a weekly open mike, I was determined to always have a new song, so I was finishing at least one a week. Nowadays it's more like one every 3 weeks.

 

But it all has to do with circumstances. This one for example started out 5 years ago as a song inspired by things happening back then, and then I finally finished the lyrics 3 wks ago when I included that stuff about streetlights and the full moon on Chamberlain Avenue, which is where we've been busking this summer.

 

​I can come up with musical ideas all the time--I have 100s of guitar riffs and song fragments recorded that I'll probably never utilize--but the lyrics never come to me unless there is something happening that provokes. My advice for lyric-writing is to think of the song as a means to say something that can't be said with words alone, so your goal is merging music with words. If you have the music already, play it and "feel" what it's about emotionally (love, loss, lust, desire, pain, wonderment, etc.) and then find words and phrases that fit, through a sort of free-association method. Write down ANYTHING that comes up as lines or lyrical fragments, and then splice them together so they fit the framework of the music.

 

As do I - I does choose somebody else's though. I will have to give it a try - there is a open mike in in Canterbury that only caters for original songs., I think I will have a go,

 

Phil

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Michael Martin - Interesting song. Reminiscent in some ways of "Hello, I Love You" by The Doors. I have to wonder what would happen if more folks eschewed the superficial pretense and just approached people they were interested in.

Etienne Rambert - Lovely and haunting as usual. Makes me realize it's been too long since I've heard your work.

 

Bob Dylan as performed by Leonard Cohen. Joking aside, great job. Very interesting take on this song. Far more feeling than Bobs. . . .

garthman - ^ This. Nice job. Hard to go wrong with Dylan and nice to hear you put your own spin on it.

BlackHatHunter - Another great original. Moody and melancholy. Interesting juxtaposition of love and death.

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Michael Martin - I liked it a lot. Beatle-esque. It needs a better production. But it's really good all around. I'd like to hear vocal harmonies on t.

 

Garthman - I love the song. I never expected the arrangement. Minimal and slow makes it a bit more poignant than Dylan's Pop song.

 

Dave Jacquet - Good lyrics. Decent recording & vocal full of feeling your voice has a character to it.

 

Deep-End, thanks. "Haunting" or "Haunted" is a word people have used before about my music. It's what do I guess.

 

If I left anyone out - it was not deliberate.

 

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DE: thanks buddy. I appreciate your comments. I wasn't in a very good place when I wrote the song, but I could see the end of the tunnel. Maybe that accounts for the juxtaposition in question.

 

Etienne: merci pour les compliments. J'aimerais tant avoir acces a un vrai studio, mais pour l'instant GarageBand devra me suffire.

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