You are allowed to enjoy this…

I finally added the words to the music. I ruined it all by singing. I’m sorry. But it needed to be sung. This is my song to express my utter devotion to Sharon, Verity and Herbie. Nothing more needs to be said. It’s one from the heart.
The singing was done….very quietly…so as not to wake any small children…so that’s why it’s not a full-blooded vocal performance. More muted and trying for emotion.
Here are the words:

Give It To You
You fix me here
A reason to be
Put my feet on the ground
Someone to be around
To take care
To hold you in my hands
To help me understand
See the shining stars in sky
Every one is there for you
Count them if you can
Hold them in your hands
And If I could give them to you
I’d give you everything
That I have

It’s not Shakespeare, but it’ll have to do. This will be the last song on the new album (whatever that turns out to be).

Here is “Give It To You” again. This time I’ve redone some of the guitars, re-recorded the bassline completely (because before it was just a guide pulse rather than the “real thing”) and added a middle and extended the ending. I feel it would make a strong vocal track, but I just don’t have the confidence to spray my vocals all over it. Though I must admit it does sound like the playout track of a romantic comedy, perhaps? That’s it Darren. Write music for films that don’t exist. Excellent strategy…

And after nearly three months of non-recording, I’ve decided to do something. No writer’s block, no lack of ideas, just didn’t want to record. Felt it was a waste of time. Done it all before. But then everything has been done before, no?
Anyway, here’s my first foray back into the land of the creatives. It’s the bedding track for a song with a lyric. I’ve got the words in my head somewhere and the guitar line is singing the words if you listen closely. It’s called “Give it to You” and it is probably going to be a song about loss of ego, materialism and selflessness. Might be about my children. Don’t know. Of course, I’ll have to bloody sing the thing and that fills me with no amount of happiness.
With this recording, I tried to do something different with the initial mix of it. I wanted more space in the middle, so the bass had your attention and the rhythm guitar was meant to be more ethereal. Not sure if it works. I’ll rest my ears and listen again.
Enjoy!

As part of my ongoing archiving project, I have been converting old master tracks into newer versions that are compatible with Sonar. As part of this process, I’ve been remixing tracks and making them a little prettier, but no matter how much you polish a turd, it’s still a turd, no? Here’s something from 1999…a 20mi…nute song suite pretentiously a concept about birds or something…
This called “The Bird Song Suite” and consists of:
(i) Ducks and Drakes
(ii) Sparrowhawk
(iii) On the Wing
(iv) High Altitude
(v) In the Storm
(vi) Swallows’ Rest
It was originally featured on my “Loops & Scales” CD from 1999 and was my first attempt at creating linked pieces of music with a narrative thread – a concept song. Yes, more sub-par prog-rock rubbish for you to cock a snook at. Ho-hum…at least it keeps me out of trouble.

A new toy is always a cause for inspiration. When I heard that Digitech were launching a delay pedal that featured the concept of harmonic delay, my attention was caught. The Timebender pedal is a great digital delay pedal. Not quite as good as the Boss DD-20 in terms of delay length, but it does have this harmonic delay feature, which creates harmonic variations of the notes you play. It can create a shimmering harmonic fountation of sound, though I have been using it as bedding for a track.
For example, the following song has me putting my six-string bass through the Timebender and panning the harmonic delay left and right so that it has a more guitar-like accompaniament. My energy levels are a little low at the moment and so recording completely drains me now. This saddens me greatly as I do feel the creative urge biting and not being able to express it.
But yes, the bass/Timebender provides the harmonic backing of this track and we have some nylon six-string guitar doing the melody. This is a minor piece in-so-much as I spent about 90 minutes recording and producing it. The electric guitar solo in the middle and end of the track is another of my attempts to produce a “non-solo” in so much as it is more a wash of sound embodying “feel” rather than providing any melodic narrative.
To put it frankly, I recorded it to cheer me up. That’s why it is called “Sunny Jim”.