On the evening of Thursday, December 8th, I found myself sitting at the piano, strongly and strangely compelled to arrange and record a new rendition of this age-old Christmas tune that had been stuck in my head for weeks.  I decided, why not make it interesting and challenge myself to do it all in one sitting? So I did.  One arrangement, one take, one new telling of an old story; a needle-in-the-haystack musical take on what it means for me to have myself a merry little Christmas.


Inspired by Hugh Martin's original 1943 composition.  
Arranged, performed and recorded by Alex Klingenberg (in his parents' basement) in 2016.

Piano Projects 2016

A Merry Little Christmas Cover

This song is a gift of sorts for my 7-year-old drum student, Rowan, who I began teaching this year. A couple of weeks ago I brought a room mic and some recording gear to our drum lesson and told him I wanted to record his drumming and use it to create a good sounding recording for him. I recorded the whole 30 minute lesson, then asked if he had any ideas for his song. Rowan immediately shouted, "Dubstep!"

So here is the result: my very first Dubstep track, titled after Rowan's hilarious mic check during our recording session.  

                                             "Are You Okay?"

All composition, production and engineering by Alex Klingenberg;
Sick drum beats, vocal samples and original artwork provided by the multi-talented Rowan Linderud :)
(c) 12/13/16

Are You Okay (feat. Rowan "Carl" Linderud)

Are You Okay? (feat. Rowan "Carl" Linderud on Drums)

It's amazing the kinds of sounds you can generate with just a few instruments and a laptop.  The "Lay it on Thick" motif came to me during a bout of insomnia a few months ago.  Once I couldn't get the hook out of my head, I just had to get up and flesh it out into a full arrangement in GarageBand.  

For this one I used a KORG PadKontrol Studio MIDI controller, a Roland E-piano and some of my favorite samples and GB plugins.  No loops or artificial drummers.  Each note played and very intentionally placed.

This particular song basically wrote itself. As an amateur songwriter, I know all too well that it isn't always easy to come up with fun, interesting ideas that really grab you.  However, I think it's so important to remember that we are living in a super unique time - a time where it IS that easy to produce good sounding music on your own, with little more than a computer and a bit of curiosity.  The only way to become more creative is to create more.  

So if you find this, enjoy it and let it inspire you to grab your MacBook and make some music!

(c) 2016 by Alex Klingenberg

Lay it on Thick

Alex Klingenberg

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