2021

Weekendvibes

This is about how life is constantly presenting challenges. We must learn from each incident/experience and use that learning to try and be more resilient and be able to move forward. 
I wrote it on my 3/4 size Hofner classical guitar. It’s first song! I used open G tuning after being encouraged to try it by Mark Spruce (Original Spruce - great songs- give them a listen!). Thanks Mark! 
Hope you enjoy it. Best with headphones! 
Take care 
James 

Lyrics 
My Uncertain Steps 

As a boy, I was scared of the sea
With my family, on a beach in Normandy, 
a French boy told me the ghosts of drowned sailors grab your legs and dragged you down
I wouldn’t go in! 
Too naive and trusting! 

As a teen, I was all over the place! 
Always confused, just didn’t know which way to face
Too many temptations, suggestions and thrills, distracting and wild
Couldn’t think straight 
Couldn’t concentrate! 

It was always their demands and directions 
Had to meet their dreams and expectations 

My uncertain steps
No confidence 
(Trying to find my own way)
My uncertain steps 
At my own pace
(My way) 

My wreckage of a life, with this chaotic love
Constant demands, you can never do enough 
Mix in the bullies, the twisters and those egos too
It pulls you apart
Breaks your heart 

I’m seasoned, I now know this path
One crisis avoided, another starts 

My uncertain steps
More experienced 
(Trying to find my own way)
My uncertain steps
At my own pace 
(My way) 

And now I expect to see the worst
In everyone and everything I know
Just know how it is, but feel I can somehow 
see it through

(outro) 
I’ve got friends (for my uncertain steps)
I’ve lived and learnt (for my uncertain steps)
I’ve got you (for my uncertain steps) 
I’ll get through this (my uncertain steps) 


James Whiteman copyright  18 January 2024

My Uncertain Steps

Catchy, this tune has been in my head all day! Managing to find the time to compose again is so so good!
Combination of sounds from Logic Pro X, Arturia and of course Ghosthack vocals.
Picture courtesy of Freepik

Chasing Her Rainbows

Hamster

Nothing escapes the scrutiny of the neighborhood watch dogs!

A sequel to Old Howlers, https://soundcloud.com/sunnybeck/old-howlers

Synth bass and pianos set to hip hop and Latin beats @ 85 bpm. Audio of dogs barking, howling, and ambulance siren recorded live in March, April, and May 2024.

Background photo of ambulance by Kurt Kaiser, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Little Girl, the dog, is from my personal photos.

Neighborhood Watch

Opera : « En la Daunia »  - Act II  - (This is an excerpt of my new piece in work...)
Here's the update on Sunday, August 18, 2024
Franck Douvin © 2024 Contemporary Orchestral Music 
Thanks for listening & sharing
I hope you'll enjoy !

Opera : « En la Daunia »  - Act II  - (This is an excerpt of my new piece in work...)

Cast of Characters:

Jeff Roberts-- @jeff_roberts – bass, seed idea
TexMex Shaman– @texmex-shaman –Stephen– guitar solo, rhythm guitar, arrangement , production, mix, and mastering
Mistermark – @user-432503709 – Mark – production, editing, synth bass in the break section
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- organ, electric piano, synthesizer
Llanpsych-- @llanpsych -- Tez – guitar solo
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums, percussion, lyrics and lead vocals in the bridge section 
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 –Josh – rhythm guitar, lap steel, vocals and lyrics for the verses, vocal harmony in the bridge
Composition – The Eclectic Collective

 This song began with a bass part that Jeff came up with and shared with Stephen, who had added some fiery guitar and foundational rhythm guitar to it. However, it languished on his digital shelf for many months as two parts, until he recently remembered that he had it. So, he decided to share it with the rest of the group. We were salivating, all of us, when we heard Jeff's bass line, so we began with Ken laying in the groovy drums and the tight, driving percussion, which propels the entire song. Once we had a beat, we decided to edit the part to include the break you hear about a minute into it. Mark took on that task, and deftly added the bass in that section, too. 
  Josh was up next, and decided to add a rhythm guitar inspired by Talking Heads. Once he had done that, he started hearing a simple, catchy melody in the main verse part, too, so he came up with some simple lyrics and recorded the vocals for that. At the same time this was happening, Ken also came up with some lyrics and a vocal melody for the breakdown part, which he added. After Ken had added his vocals, Josh added a harmony part on them. He also added the lap slide melody you hear in that section, as well. 
  JJ was next up to bat, laying in the breathtaking organ throughout. He also backdropped a canvas of synthesizer throughout and put in some electric piano too. Tez came along not long after and added the ripping guitar solo in the jam section. Once everyone had added their parts, it was up to Stephen to produce, mix, and master it. He arranged and added some length to it, then mixed it in his usual expert manner.
  This is the first song the Eclectic Collective has done with Jeff, though Stephen has worked with him in the past, and we were all fans of his music, and thus very excited for the chance to make music with him. Hopefully, this will be the first of many.
  We all hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it. If you comment, please share, too. 

Original lyrics by Josh Clary:
The trees talk to each other
They send messages through the breeze
There's magic all around us
If we look for it, we can see
 
Original lyrics by K2 and the Three:
Hey, how you feeling about love and lust
Hey how you dealing with all the lies you trust
We're here to be clear
Not a walk in the dark

A little woweluja
Little halleluja

Wowlelujah (Eclectic Collective) - feat. Jeff Roberts

We all get crazy over someone....This song was written by myself 2 years ago ...appreciate your comments, likes, listens....thankyou and enjoy!

Crazy About You (Acoustic)

An extended version of a song that I adapted for an intermission video for Furality Somna, which was played between events both on stream and in-world on video screens. The video is my first proper music video, recorded through motion capture entirely in VRChat, and features a toy spider waking up at night and finding a dream world. The video can be watched on my YouTube channel.

The beautiful cover art was drawn by Pirxyl: https://bsky.app/profile/pirxyl.bsky.social

"Dream Operator" original melody & lyrics ©1986 Talking Heads/David Byrne. Recording ℗2025 T.O. Bassett. Lyric adaptation & performance by T.O. Bassett. This cover recording is officially licensed.

Dream Operator (Furality Somna Edition)

Dream Operator

Dream Operator (Furality Somna)

Let Me Take You Out

I’m a singer/songwriter from Guildford, Surrey, England. I started writing songs when I was 12 on a piano but really got into it when I started playing the guitar at 13/14. As with so many of us, career and family became the priority and I stopped writing over a 30 year period. Now I’ve retired, I’ve finally got time to write and record again and I love it! 
I play everything on the songs and record on my MacBook on GarageBand. Still learning! 
I hope you enjoy the songs and thank you in advance for any comments and feedback. 
James