Help me see

In a world blurred by noise and distraction, Three Photons offers clarity with "Help Me See"—a soul-searching ballad steeped in analog warmth and emotional depth.

Written by TJG March 2024


Rhythm Guitar: Gibson ES 335
Lead Guitar: Fender Jazzmaster
Guitar Amplifier: Vox AC15….set as clean I can get it. 

Fender pedal board: Line 6 delay; Fender clean boost



Mics: a pair of Royer r10 ribbons on guitars
Mics: AEA R44 vocal 
Mic preamps: API 312
Mixer: API 24 channel summing mixer (8200/7800)
Stereo Bus processing (API EQ and API compressor)
Final mix down to a MARA MCI JH110 1/4inch 2-track at 15 ips using ATR Master Tape.

Basement boiler/heater – adding all kinds of unwanted noise 😉

Someday I will add drums and bass – but wanted to go for this raw guitar/vocal sound for now. 
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Help me see

I can’t see the stars tonight
Shining down or in your eyes
I can’t see the stars tonight

I can’t find the words tonight
Written down or in my mind
I can’ t find the words tonight

I can’t see the stars tonight
Shining down or in your eyes
I can’t see the stars tonight


Shining down or in your eyes 
I can’t see the stars tonight
Help me see 
Help me see the stars tonight

I could live a simple life
Slow it down or take a flight
I could live a simple life
I could live a simple life

I can’t see the see stars tonight
I can’t find the words tonight
Shining down or in your eyes
Help me see the stars tonight

I can’t find the words tonight
Written down or in my mind
I can’t find the words I like……

Help me see

I was inspired by Stranger Things and created my own theme for Vecna

Vecna-Stranger Things(Free Download)

Cast of characters: 

 Steve's Planet-- @steve-vervaet —Steve—acoustic guitar, vocals, lyrics, composition/arrangement
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ—organ, and piano
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums
Llanpsych– @llanpsych –Tez–electric guitar, production, and mix 
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)– @josh-clary-1 – four-string fretless bass and lap steel

This song began by Steve writing it on his acoustic guitar, singing it, and passing the recording on to me to share with the rest of the Eclectic Collective. Tez was first to add his complimentary guitar in his typical expert fashion. Ken then added his very tasteful drums. Soon after. I worked my bass part until it was dialed in. After the Rhythm section was solid, JJ came along and sprinkled his organ magic throughout. Then, for good measure, I added some lap steel, too.
  Of course, every great song needs a great producer, and Tez was the man for the job on this one. Steve is a fantastic singer and songwriter. We all feel very lucky that he so generously shares his talent and work with us. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed making it.

Original lyrics by Steve Vervaet:
Love is all aqround
Your love is coming down x2
your love is all around x2
just look what I have found x2
love will touch the ground x2
And I'm just waiting for you
just waiting on your train
to pass my house again x2
I know that I come around again x2
I know that I can find you x2
so let me in your heart x4
You know that I can find you
you know that I will
You know that I can give
I can give you anything
You know that I can find you x4

Love is All Around (Eclectic Collective with Steve's Planet)

About the song 
Since the beginning of time, the wind has always been there, a beautiful and dangerous power of nature, totally unpredictable, one that man has harnessed to power their sails and lately to generate electricity. I know the wind fairly well being a windsurfer and fair weather sailor. I know how beautiful and dangerous the wind can be. I have great respect for the wind and the Sea and always will have and this song is a tribute to her.  

I would like to thank Finn Eces,  my friend and co-writer of this song. Finn and I have been quite a number of songs under our belts now and I think it must be nearly time for the 1st Album Finn. 
Finn’s voice and production skills have really taken “ The wind “ to a new level,  fine tuning of the lyrics, adding in of that driving bass and funky guitar as well as those beautiful harmony vocals really set this song up to be a real Summer hit in all the beach bars around the world ( If Only ) 
Written by: Johnny Mc Farlane & Finn Eces 
Music and Vocals: Johnny & Finn 
Production : Finn  @finn_eces

The Wind

Cast of Characters:
xian3-- @xian3 – Christian -- vocals and lyrics
Holger Engel—bass, seed idea
J.J. Terrell-- @j-j-terrell—JJ-- electric piano, synth
mistermark-- @user-432503709 -- Mark-- electric piano
Llanpsych-- @llanpsych -- mix, and production
K2 and the Three [and the Four]--@k2andthe3, @k2-kara –Ken–drums
Entheogenic Psychonaught (Josh Clary)-- @josh-clary-1 – guitar and four-string fretless bass
 
This song began with Christian's friend Holger Engel coming up with a melodic bass line and sharing it with him to use as a seed stem for a project. Having collaborated successfully with him before, Christian thought of Josh and decided to pass it along to him to see what he could build with it. Josh was excited to work on another of Holger's creations. His bass line was in a high octave on the instrument, so Josh added a similar, complimentary bass line on the low octave to give it some heft. He invited Ken onto the project, and after doing their little rhythm section give and take, Ken laid down some powerful, yet tasteful drums. Mark was brought in next, and added some very fitting, wonderfully melodic electric piano, which he added in the choruses. Josh also asked JJ to add some electric piano to the verses and synth to the whole thing, which he did in a very mind-bending syncopated way. Josh then added some guitar to the high end to thicken things up a bit.
  We then sent the finished product back to Christian to add his thoughtful, inspired lyrics and signature vocals to his song. This is what Christian had to say about how the lyrics came about. 
  "[Being an avid reader], I came along the sentence, 'We write and make art to show our wounds to the world,' reading an interview with Paul Auster (1947-2024). He died earlier this year, yet his novels are legendary. There was talk about creativity, manifoldness and what the personality consists of. 
  "I can’t remember where that interview was and basically I wrote the lyrics around this sentence attributed to him. 
  "I quote another writer, Goethe (1749-1832), with a famous quotation from "Faust,“ 'Two souls, Alas, housed in my breast...' That points in the right thematic direction in my opinion.
For sure the lyrics also contain other layers of meanings, much more personal…
I am also happy about the title of the song 'We Are Many'. I think Tez came up with it. I was unsure for very long, what’s the name of that song… :)"
  After we had it in the bag, we asked mix-master Tez to produce and mix it, so what you hear is also his creative vision for the project. We hope you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed creating it.
 
Original "We Are Many" lyrics by Xian:

1
To me it seems very obviously
That my I is not a unity
Rather a bunch of personalities
I got a problem with multiplicities

ref
We write and make „art“ 
To show our wounds to the world
We write and make „art“ …

2
I am no self-contained identity
Cut off by other possibilities
No border guards set up at the boundary
Enforce the claim to exclusivity

ref
We write and make „art“ 
To show our wounds to the world
We write and make „art“…
„I“ writes and makes „art“
To heal the wounds of the heart

3
„Two souls, alas, housed in my breast…“
We hope, that if we do confess
To get rid of this fallacy
And collect the splits of personality

ref
We write and make „art“ 
To show our wounds to the world
I write and make „art“
To heal the wounds of my heart

out
There is
A consolation in round things
There is
A consolation in round things 
A consolation in round things
Oh, ohh,
„I“, „I“,
Oh…

We Are Many (Eclectic Collective with Xian3 and Holger Engel)

Recorded in Modesto, Ca.  Featuring Gibson 335 Guitar solo. Alto Saxophone solo. Vibraphone solo. Steinway Brothers Acoustic Piano Rhythm. Vibraphone Background, Rhythm. Godin Acoustic Nylon Guitar Rhythm. Acoustic standup Bass. Drums Full kit Acoustic drum set. Percussion Tambourine, Cowbell, Ago go bells, 22" Zildjan Ride & Crash Cymbal.

Cannery Row

Pacific Grove

Sparkle

Live Reflexion#011

Trio In G Major - Movement 1

Hello everyone, 
we're staying in 6/8 time. I'm glad to present you a song that was created in collaboration with Mike Fox and Charlie. With Mike I met someone here at Soundcloud who is not only an excellent musician, but also a friendly and humorous person. Our humor is the same. During our collaborations we exchanged emails that regularly had us rolling on the floor laughing. 
Thank you, Mike, you have become a good friend to me.

And now have fun with 
"Together again".


You can listen to Mike Fox's great music here: 
https://on.soundcloud.com/BmPrV

Together again (feat. Charlie & Mike Fox)

Song composed and edited in May 2.020.

Music Studio, with native instruments, Kv331 Synthmaster player and One.

Beyond the heaven

"Magic is what we do. Music is how we do it." -- Jerry Garcia

Welcome to my page, my peers, associates, friends, and musical family. I'm a lifelong, multi-instrumentalist musician who records prolifically and joyfully. You'll hear me play guitar, bass (regular four string, and four and five string fretless), mandolin, banjo, keys (piano, organ, synth), lap slide, sitar, and sing on my recordings here. I've been in a few dozen bands in my life, playing everything from bluegrass, jazz, rock, jam band, reggae, funk, afrobeat, Middle Eastern, traditional Irish, singer/songwriter, pop/covers, to experimental/avant garde. 
  Since I found SoundCloud a couple years ago, I've found many talented, creative people with whom to create music. However, in the summer of '23 I formed a band called The Eclectic Collective with some of my favorite musicians I've met through here. It started as a loose collective of musicians and coalesced into a core group of musicians who find other musicians with whom we'd like to make music, then run their songs through our process, and in effect add a full band. That core of The Eclectic Collective includes Tez (Llanpsych), J.J. Terrel, Ken (K2 and the Three), Stephen (Texmex Shaman), Chris (cgmaness), and Mark (mistermark). A couple of other musicians are frequent collaborators, as well, including Artur of Surfers Like Us, and Steve Vervaet of Steve's World. More recently, we've been joined by Carl of The Beautiful Dark fame. 
  The magic of music is amplified exponentially by each person adding to it. So, we really try to add our sorcery all kinds of music from all kinds of artists. Sometimes, we keep it within the group, but a lot of what we do is collaboration with other artists. Therefore these days, 100% of what I do is collaboration, within the group or with other artists on the side.
  I, and we, are also available for hire if you have a song or lyrics and you really want to add bigger instrumentation or a band and good production to it. 
  A small sampling of the artists whom I consider primary influences, and whom you will hear coming through my fingers include Phish, The Flaming Lips, The Grateful Dead, Radiohead, Rye Cooder, Steve Earle, Miles Davis, Fela Kuti, Arcade Fire, Mikey Dread, Yellowman, Purpleman, The Meditations, Michigan and Smiley, Lee Perry, Dillinger, Django Reinhardt, Impossible Recording Machine, The Allman Bros Band, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Bela Fleck, Les Claypool, Sam Bush, David Grissman, John Prine, Talking Heads, Beastie Boys, MMW, Moe., Morphine, Ween, Steve Lukather, Michael McDonald, John Abercrombie, Dave Holland, John Scofield, Victor Wooten,  Cannonball Adderly, Thelonious Monk, Flea, Parliament Funkadelic,  Frank Zappa, Prince Paul, Pete Rock, Thievery Corporation, Amon Tobin, Chet Baker, Joao Gilberto, Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Carol Kaye, Tame Impala, Mumford and Sons, Japanese Breakfast, LCD Soundsystem, Beach House, Sean Lennon, and Billy Strings, but of course there are many more. I also really like and am influenced by traditional Iranian, Palestinian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, Mauritian, Somalian, Egyptian, West African, and Syrian music. I welcome anyone who plays non-western music to contact me for a collaboration, too.
 I'm overjoyed to have found my community on SoundCloud. This is a truly unique forum where everyone is sincerely trying to build each other up. The profoundly supportive and positive SoundCloud community has really opened up an exciting new world of collaboration for me. That is the main reason I'm in the Cloud, actually, to connect with other musicians and make music that I enjoy listening to, and hopefully others do, as well. I am ALWAYS looking to collaborate with interesting musicians, mostly though BandLab, which is where I record almost exclusively. It's a solid, free digital audio workstation hub where you can share recording projects, even if it's not where you make your recordings.
  Everything I do is live instrumental, not programmed, and using no computer beyond my phone. That's not to say that I would be opposed to using that kind of tool, it's just not my preferred medium with which to paint. If you like my music, please share it. If you want to collaborate, my BandLab handle is @bingo_pajama. Feel free to contact me at cornbreadband@hotmail.com, as well, even if you aren't on BandLab.
  If your music is primarily AI, please don't come around my page, as I'm not at all interested in complimenting a machine.
  Here's a link to music I've recorded live with a group of musicians here in Pittsburgh called The Northumberland Street Ramblers.
Check out The Northumberland Street Ramblers on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/fU4Me

We Are Many (Eclectic Collective with Xian3 and Holger Engel)

Entheogenic Psychonaut (Josh Clary)