Original Songs

Here's a piece I programmed for the Introduction to Programming for Musicians and Digital Artists class I'm taking on Coursera.

Theme this week was "drum circle", so I wrote this all using only percussive instruments. First, I had to make some of the instruments :-)

Now that we're allowed to build classes in this class, I made a bunch of clases: generic drum kit synth used for sticks, log, and bongo/hand drum sounds, a marimba/xylophone, and some behind the scenes stuff for mixing, AGC, automation, data sharing, etc. 

Most of the instruments have slightly randomized timing to make them sound more natural.

IPMDA MOOC: Assignment 7: Dogs And Mice

Here's the final piece I programmed for the Introduction to Programming for Musicians and Digital Artists class I'm taking on Coursera.

Most of the instruments have slightly randomized timing to make them sound more natural.

Code for this and all the other things I've done here is and/or will be available on GitHub: 
These assignments: https://github.com/hazydave/ipmda
Reusable classes   : https://github.com/hazydave/ChucKclasses

IPMDA MOOC: Assignment 8: A Chase Would Be Nice

This is a cover of the Foo Fighters' "Next Year". I played this as the 2013 Christmas Jam and Fundraiser put on by the Einstein's Alley Musician's Collaborative (Princeton, NJ).  I'm not much on holiday music, but this seems an appropriate enough thing for the end of a year. 

Next Year (cover)

This is one of 15 songs I wrote for FAWM 2023. This is a rough demo, but there are only so many days left in February!

I  had the title in mind for awhile, because my Yoga teacher always tells me "nothing bad is happening" when, of course, things are getting gnarly. I started this as kind of a nonsense thing, a little like some REM or Beck songs, but it gradually started making a bit more sense. Hopefully a good mix. 

This was the first year I tried to write and record for FAWM, rather than just write, and I was still setting up the studio in the first half of February. So I'm recording songs I wrote, but don't really understand yet as a performer.... but some of it wasn't bad!

Nothing Bad Is Happening (demo)

The second of fifteen songs I wrote for FAWM 2023.  This one's just a little dark.
I've had a small bit of this in my notebook for awhile, the idea of a descent into cold, darkness, bad/evil behavior, with the changes understood and yet still accepted as fate or destiny.

Cold Creeps (demo)

So, my friend Caitlin (https://soundcloud.com/caitlin-sigler) wrote a song called "12 Words" -- with only 12 words... and a good one! I was inspired to minimalism, but I just need more words! I'm rarely one to use 5 words when 50 (or 500) will work much better... not much of a Twitter person. But I liked the idea of a minimalist song. This one's about one of my kayaks and various travels around Delaware, also without saying much of anything about those to keep it, you know, minimal. Not sure which kayak, but it would apply to either. I'm tempted to keep going here to ensure I have more words in the liner notes than in the actual song, but I've probably said enough.

I dubbed the style "alternative lounge" because I didn't have a better explanation after I had worked out the recording.

It Floats

This is the very, very first country song I've written... and oddly, I got two more in my FAWM 2023 haul. I guess that's what happens when you move to a place called "Ocean Farm". Anyway, as mentioned, this is from FAWM 2023.

I have no idea why I wrote a country song, but I just had this going around in my head, and had to write it down. But hey, with drinks and a truck, what other genre is even possible? The big question was banjo lessons? Or maybe a slide!

I got the answer... Peddle Steel, Acoustic, AND Fiddle, all worked out in the computer (shhh... don't tell).

I Just Had Three

I Just Had Three (demo)

This one actually came from a dream. I woke up with the chorus playing in my mind... I love when that happens. Saves my conscious mind the work. The only Denise I know is one of the three Amiga custom chips, but it seemed to work. This is one about #obsession and #denial.

This is as basic as it gets, me, a guitar, and the wonderful headcold I got for this last week of FAWM 2023!

Denise, Denise (demo)

So when I had written seven songs for FAWM 2023, it occurred to me that, hey, I actually made it halfway and it wasn't even February 28 yet!  So that got me inspired to write about writing songs, in the context of something like FAWM 2023, sure, but it's always a contest between you and yourself... and maybe that new thing on Netflix rather than being out in your he-shed at 2am recording your last track... which in fact I just finished at this very minute. It came out pretty folky... what do y'all think?

Halfway There (demo)

I was thinking one day, what if there really was a dark force behind what we hear and read, rather than just a miasma of chaotic individuals. So I thought of the chorus, and been working out the rest. This was my first FAWM 2023 submission (lyrics) and my very last (demo) before they lock the thing up! Sorry about the guitar sound... it was like 3:30AM!

Something Darker Still (demo)

Music by the Funkin' Soulnuts, produced and recorded by Dave Haynie. This song was written by Don Covay, and made famous by Aretha Franklin. Released as a single in 1967, it spent four weeks as #2 on the R&B charts, and hit #3 on the Pop charts in 1968. It won the Grammy for best Female Vocal Performance that year, and later a Grammy Hall of Fame Award. The Soul Nuts version is unique in that it's actually a "chain" in performance, as the singers trade off leads. 

The Funkin' Soul Nuts are a 10-piece band playing in the Princeton, NJ area. In May of 2012, I brought my 16-track "mobile studio" out to their practice space, and made this recording, "live in the studio" style. Recorded on a Tascam US-1800 using Reaper, mixed on Vegas. 

Chain of Fools

Music by the Funkin' Soulnuts, produced and recorded by Dave Haynie. Written by Floyd Dixon in 1954, this song was revived in the 1970s by the Blues Brothers, and again in the 1980s by Johnny Lee, this time as a country song. 

The Funkin' Soulnuts are a 10-piece band playing in the Princeton, NJ area. In May of 2012, I brought my 16-track "mobile studio" out to their practice space, and made this recording, "live in the studio" style. Recorded on a Tascam US-1800 using Reaper, mixed on Vegas.

Feedback on the mix much appreciated!

Hey Bartender

Music by the Funkin' Soulnuts, produced and recorded by Dave Haynie. Released in 1969, this was the major label debut for the Jackson 5, and hit the Billboard Hot 100 #1 slot in January of 1970. It's ranked 121 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". 

The Funkin' Soulnuts are a 10-piece band playing in the Princeton, NJ area. In May of 2012, I brought my 16-track "mobile studio" out to their practice space, and made this recording, "live in the studio" style. Recorded on a Tascam US-1800 using Reaper, mixed on Vegas.


I Want You Back

This is a MOD/Tracker/Techno inspired soundtrack wrote years back for a short film related to the Amiga computer, the platform that gave birth to the Tracker-style of music creation. This is written in in four movements, using Sony Acid, which pretty much owes its heritage to the old Trackers of the late 80s. It was this piece that had me begging Peter Haller for "named groups" in Acid, which we eventually got as folder tracks. 

 Might be a bit longish for casual listening without the film attached... it starts slower, but does get going. Headphones STRONGLY recommended. 

Impact Theme

This is my first shot at making something cool in the on-line Soundation Studio program, an online audio, MIDI, and "loop" sequencer. This for the Coursera class "Introduction to Digital Sound Design", taught by Steve Everett. 

This program is pretty limited compared to something like Sony Acid, which I'd normally use to make a loop-based track like this. There are plenty of supplied sample bits, but they're not as easy to manipulate as in Acid. Not too shabby, given that it's free and online. I did finally figure out the various envelope options. I miss the ability to easily pitch shift individual clips... greatly. It will pitch shift or time shift to match your project settings. It's a little dirty at this, and I'm using that intentionally in this piece. 

On the Rocks

Recorded June 17, 2012 at Einstein's Alley Musicians Collective in Princeton, NJ.  My sister Kathy is playing the keyboard! 

The Crime (live)

Recorded February 22, 2013, at Einstein's Alley Musician's Collective in Princeton, NJ. Slightly improved the recording for Soundcloud. 

Going Down Hard (live)

Recorded February 22, 2013, at Einstein's Alley Musician's Collective in Princeton, NJ. This is the first time anyone but my cats heard this song. I screwed up the last verse a bit, but since you don't know the song, you won't notice :-)  Cleaned up some boomy low-end and a few other things for better listening.

HEART OF WINTER
                                  
verse
The day is short, the night is long
No sign of life, the world is wrong
The dread inside is growing strong        
I live here but I don't belong

chorus
Colors gone to grey,  lost in my dismay
Three months locked inside, how can I abide
The icy heart of winter  

verse
Chestnuts blaze upon a pyre
A dirge is caroled by a choir
The ice and snow and cold conspire
Suspending all my soul's desire

chorus
Colors gone to grey, lost in my dismay
Wind claws at my skin, so I'm trapped within
The icy heart of winter  

bridge
I've seen you bundled up so tight
Your eyes reflecting firelight
Your body's heat is like a perfect summer night
Could be this all turns out all right

verse
It's barely twilight at full noon
I'm hunkered down in my cocoon
I dream of May, I long for June
Can springtime ever come too soon?

chorus
Colors gone to grey, lost in my dismay
Fingers going numb, Ever fleeing from
The icy heart of winter  


Heart of Winter (live)

Locked Down Tight

This was a song that came out of my week 2 assignment in Pat Pattison's Songwriting class on Coursera. I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time to finish it :-) The assignment was to write an unbalanced verse followed by a balanced chorus. Recorded in a freezing cold garage, first two times I really tried to sing it (I usually like to, well, you know, learn a song and warm up a little, guitar and vocals both, but I wanted to get this attached to the assignment submission). 

So, I friday, there was a medical waste truck blocking my way out of the partking lot at work. That was the inspiration for this. Here are the words:

<blockquote>
Infectious Waist

She caught my eye from 'cross the room
Right there and then I sealed my doom
The trail of broken and disgraced
Suggesting steps should be retraced
But I think I'd risk my life for just one taste

chorus
Infectious waist, atomic hips
A suicide smile with poison lips
Cyanide eyes, and ringlet whips
The venom flows and my heart skips

Stepping blindly through her snare
All my de-fenses unaware
Her perfume burned my eyes like mace
I lost all sense of time and space
But I think I risked my life for just one taste

chorus repeat

That perfect night by sunrise marred
Found me naked, bruised and scarred
The toxins running through my veins
A scent of her that still remains
I nearly gave my life but can't complain
And I know I'd risk it all over again... had an

chorus repeat x2
</blockquote>

Infectious Waist (Demo)

This is a song that came out of my week 3 assignment in Pat Pattison's Songwriting class on Coursera.  I got to record this in my actual music room in my actual house, hurray!  This was just an idea I had floating around during the week, but I made lots of progress on the lyrics Friday, so I had an actual whole Saturday night to work on the music... much better than last week. I changed the chorus around a little from the version I turned in as the assignment; I don't think this verse is as unstable (though I try to sing it that way), but the inner rhyme makes it better anyway. This is also the Soundcloud debut of my new Epiphone Les Paul Ultra III!

Closer, Nearer

I pull you closer, nearer; I see your face
I taste your inner essence, beating my heart's race.
Then you reach closer, nearer, pull right past me
Found the remote control and switched on MTV

One day, maybe, won't someone want me, like I want you
One day, maybe, won't someone want me, like I want you

I'm sitting closer, nearer; you watch the rain.
Feeling you breathing calmly, comfortably maintained.
You pull me closer, nearer, safe from the storm
Layers of flannel PJs trying to keep warm

One day, maybe, won't someone want me, like I want you
One day, maybe, won't someone want me, like I want you

I guess that love arrives, in different ways
One day it's popcorn, the next it's crashing waves
You know I love you, standing by me all these days
But this, bottled passion might explode like a grenade

We're dancing closer, nearer, under the stars
Still too much space between us, mother earth to mars
I lift you closer, nearer, helped you to bed
Locking up my secret longing tight within my head

One day, maybe, won't someone want me, like I want you
One day, maybe, won't someone want me, like I want you
One day, maybe, won't someone want me, like I want you
One day, maybe


Closer, Nearer

Originally done as the Week 5 assignment in Pat Pattison's Songwriting class on Coursera. This was just from a new idea, and I used Pat's Worksheet methods very effectively. I actually finished the words and music before the weekend, so I had time for a little more production work. 

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

verse 1
While driving down a late night road,
I felt a crash, something explode
And by its light, before me loomed,
The undead rising from their tombs
In panic, man, I hit the floor, 
That's when I saw the meteor
And up ahead, the strangest sound,
As dinosaurs transgress the ground

chorus
Zombies roam the countryside, 
Rapters cloned rip, tear, and scythe
Volcano's blown and worlds collide
Chromosomes mutate and thrive
Fleeing home can we survive?
Mankind dethroned, alone, denied
Whoa yeah, it's that time of year, again

verse 2
Flyers boarding jets and bombers, 
'Least those that can dodge the monsters
They launch aloft to interface,
With aliens from outer space
Deep undergound, our hero probes,
A self-aware genetic code
Yet even in this dire case,
Can't science save the human race

chorus
Zombies roam the countryside
Rapters cloned rip, tear, and scythe
Volcano's blown and worlds collide
Chromosomes mutate and thrive
Fleeing home can we survive?
Mankind dethroned, alone, denied
Whoa yeah, it's that time of year, again

bridge
Perhaps I get a little kick
As I stare transfixed
At all the screen depicts
Humanity is eighty-sixed
In nearly every other summer flick

verse 3
At last I feel the end is nigh 
Can't Goldblum give it one more try?
Will they bust through and eat our brains?
While twisters rage across the plains
Can earth withstand tectonic stress?
To win this cosmic game of chess
Will my heart take another thrill? 
And why does popcorn cost ten bills?

chorus
Zombies roam the countryside 
Rapters cloned rip, tear, and scythe
Volcano's blown and worlds collide
Chromosomes mutate and thrive
Fleeing home can we survive?
Mankind dethroned, alone, denied
Whoa yeah, it's that time of year, again
Oh man, it's that time of year, again
Whoa babe, it's that time of year again


It's That Time of Year Again

Updated 5/6 with more STUFF! More effects! More percussion! More drums! More guitar! More echos! Same number of zombies, but still, ZOMBIES! 

This started out as the week 6 assignment in Pat Pattison's Songwriting class on Coursera.

There's a video for this now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br4RkwGYkBA. 

Comin' Soon (Better Run!)

verse 1
While driving down a late night road,
I felt a crash, some thing explode
And by its light, before me loomed,
The undead rising from their tombs
In panic, man, I hit the floor,
That's when I saw the meteor
And up ahead, the strangest sound,
As dinosaurs transgress the ground

chorus
Zombies roam the countryside,
Rapters cloned rip, tear, and scythe
Volcano's blown and worlds collide
Chromosomes mutate and thrive
Fleeing home can we survive?
Mankind dethroned, alone, denied, look out!
They're comin' soon, better run... 

verse 2
Flyers boarding jets and bombers,
'Least those that can dodge the monsters
They launch aloft to interface,
With aliens from outer space
Deep undergound, our hero probes,
A self-aware genetic code
Yet even in this dire case,
Can't science save the human race

chorus
Zombies roam the countryside
Rapters cloned rip, tear, and scythe
Volcano's blown and worlds collide
Chromosomes mutate and thrive
Fleeing home can we survive?
Mankind dethroned, alone, denied, look out!
They're comin' soon, better run!

bridge
Perhaps I get a little kick
As I stare transfixed
At all the screen depicts
Humanity is eighty-sixed
In nearly every other summer flick

verse 3
At last I feel the end is nigh
Can't Goldblum give it one more try?
Will they bust through and eat our brains?
While twisters rage across the plains
Can earth withstand tectonic stress?
To win this cosmic game of chess
Will my heart take another thrill?
And why does popcorn cost ten bills?

chorus
Zombies roam the countryside
Rapters cloned rip, tear, and scythe
Volcano's blown and worlds collide
Chromosomes mutate and thrive
Fleeing home can we survive?
Mankind dethroned, alone, denied, look out!
They're comin' soon, better run... look out!
They're comin' soon, better run... look out!
They're comin' soon, better run!


Dave Haynie

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