[breaking rules is my natural way of life]
From this class it became apparent to me that perhaps what I have been attempting to capture with my songs has not carried through very clearly.This could be for any of various reasons. My music is a conglomeration of many different musical styles that may not translate clearly, especially between songs. The combination of funk, blues, industrial metal, and various other stylings I have picked up over the last year or so. I can easily sit and point out each part of each song that was inspired by some thought or song I heard. Through this class, I have learned to open up my eyes and see that everything around me is a potential inspiration for a song.
Shortly before this class began, I recorded two cover songs (Every Day Is Exactly The Same by Nine Inch Nails and Soldier of War by Psychotica - both fantastic songs, check them out). These songs brought a level of musicality with them that I had not previously attempted (per se) to achieve.
As far as the music goes, Soldier of War infused a certain groove into my music that I had always intended but never realized. This can be seen in both of the songs I have recorded for this class, as they both were based around a very funk-oriented bass line (if you listen to the songs carefully, you can see plainly that the bass line is the most important piece of the music, and drives the songs all the way through). These bass lines are among some of my highest-esteemed bass lines I have ever conceived, particularly that for RIP Bert, which is much more musically complex than mAke beLIEve (though mAke beLIEve is a much funkier bass line, perhaps the funkiest I've ever written).
My vocals, which have always existed in my mind on a very different plane from the music beneath them, have been heavily influenced lately by the vocals I recorded for Every Day Is Exactly The Same. Though I closely followed the original vocals of the song, I still followed my general pattern and used what Phil Spector referred to as the Wall of Sound. By this technique, I record two to five layers of vocals, each spread across the stereo at various symmetrical distances to create a more (epic) feel to the music. I tend to do this on most of my songs, not necessarily because I want every song to be (epic), but because having more than one vocal line tends to minimize mistakes. I will be the first to admit I'm not a singer. But I am a musician, and singing comes with that.
Coming back to class, what stuck with me the most was the comment that I should try to shake up my music. From the two songs that I have written for this class, yes that makes sense. They are both funk-based, guitar-driven autobiographical narratives. The both have fairly similar vocals, but so do most David Bowie songs. It's hard to change your voice.
This brought me to an extremely difficult conundrum. I follow no rules. But I need to break my rules. How do I break my rules that don't exist?
I spent several hours sitting and pondering just how to do that: how to break my own rules.
Looking back over my entire catalogue of songs, I have created song extremely diverse music. In six years, I have written and recorded (though only recently began completing) over 200 songs. From the second I first picked up a guitar at the beginning of my freshman year in high school, I have been writing songs. For some reason, I am not content with learning other people's songs. I don't want to become the next Jimi Hendrix, or Jimmy Page, or Eric Clapton (nor do I want to be the next Trent Reznor or Brian Warner - some trivia for ya). As long as I have been playing music, I have been trying to create completely new, original songs and sounds. I spent six long years accumulating bits and pieces of a full "rock" band - a few guitars, a bass, a keyboard, and now I have the ability to create drum lines (using Garageband) and record vocals. As a fully-functioning machine, I can create complete songs in an afternoon. And having complete creative control, I don't have to argue with other over how to create a song (nor do I have to put up with teaching others my songs so we can record them - most of my songs are finished by the time I've fully learned each part). This gives me complete freedom to do whatever I want musically, and I damn well take advantage.
Throughout my musical career I have recorded some bitingly nihilistic industrial metal, some trippy atmospheric music, several concept albums, "techno" (not the kind you'd hear at a rave, but music made with a computer - extremely experimental and occasionally unmusical). There seems to be no genre I am willing to encroach upon - I've recorded blues, acoustica, funk, rap, metal, rave music, and anything in between. I jump at the opportunity to try new musical ideas, and hearing any song or sound supplies inspiration in many different ways for me.
[is it yet obvious why I am struggling to break my own rules?]
So, back to class. RIP Bert was received with much more appreciation than I expected, and perhaps it was this that led to my disappointment in how mAke beLIEve (a much better song, in my personal opinion) was received. The guitar solo work in mAke beLIEve is the best I have ever done. It is the first time I have been able to sit back and listen to one of my guitar solos and think "Wow, that's pretty damned good," instead of "yeah, that works." Also, this song is the first in my musical catalogue to feature my wah pedal, which is one of my most prized guitar effects that I never use. Having drug it out of my closet and plugged it in for the first time in years, I was extremely happy with how the song turned out. Without the wah, the song would have been good but it would not have had nearly the amount of "funk" in it.
That would be exactly why, when I was told that my songs were perhaps too similar, I was disheartened. That is not to say I felt like I failed - I am extremely happy with the song and, as the follow-up to RIP Bert on the album, it makes a great second song (the first should be an introduction, and the second is where you bash them over the head with awesomeness). In fact, changing my sound was never even something I had ever anticipated as a response.
[Mother Earth was pregnant for the third time, for ya'll have knocked her up]*
So, after many hours of contemplation (including a walk along the empty canal blowing on my harmonica - bridges have great acoustics), what ideas did I come up with? Well, that's tough to say. Before I had written mAke beLIEve, I had envisioned it as a science fiction song. With that comes the science fiction sound (think Rush, other prog bands). But, as is my policy, I let the song develop as it would and it turned into a frenzied funk of ferocious guitar. Even before I finished recording the song, I had conceived of a remix. The comments in class eventually led my mind back there.
My idea? A remix. Simple enough, right? No. What my plan is, in a transparent attempt to "break my own rules," is to retain the same lyrics and basic song structure but turn the song into more of a spacey sci-fi song than it currently exists.
[I have seen the maggots in the mind of the universe, but I was not offended]*
But this is not so easy. Completely restructuring a song, and a sonicsphere, is not an easy task. It will involve creating a new drum part, probably changing the tempo, creating completely new musical progressions and motifs, and probably recording the vocals over again with the new music. Because these lyrics were developed for this music, it will be difficult to make them work.
[for I knew I had to rise above it all, or drown in my own shit]*
But it's doable. I am a Musician with no lack of creative current. I am a Songwriter with no fear for experimentation. I am an Artist. I create Art. Art is God.
[you see where I'm going]
(for those of you interested in the songs I mentioned in this post, I have a myspace with my most recent songs posted on it - http://www.myspace.com/capgrasX13)
* - from the song "Maggot Brain" by Funkadelic - listen to it, it will change your world
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