Lazy Day

A Small Holiday.wav

Shirley Barr is a lovely singer, composer and songwriter that I have had the honor of collaborating with. She wrote a beautiful text and sang it to one of my songs. Here is the result. ;)

Big and warm thanks Shirley for a very nice work and for your positive and cheerful attitude and help to lift this little piece of music. ;)

Listen to more of her lovely music and lyrics here: https://soundcloud.com/shirley_barr

Free From The Old - Seagull & Shirley Barr

(Free WAV Download available here under '••• More'; and eventually, as part of a future solo album)

Greetings all you fun and funky SC musicians. I don’t typically upload remastered versions of a song as a new track. I usually just replace the old with the new, and change the title to reflect the remaster. But this one is special, for a few reasons (and if you’re not much into personalized mixing details, you may want to skip this liner note).

First (and most importantly)… I thought I’d lost the ability to edit the original tracks for this song. The last time I opened it up in Logic (updating it for the 2018 album remaster), the siren voices were all messed up (automation in Alchemy can have odd results sometimes). I just assumed the original native file was broken forever, because I no longer had access to that version of Logic. I had to do the album remaster from my only existing mix… and it was definitely lacking.

4 years later, I’m so glad I took a chance on reopening the native file when I concluded this ‘Siren’ trilogy. All the sounds/automations were exactly as I had left them. Prior to this attempt, I just assumed the worst, and never tried again. Thankfully, I was wrong. :D

Second… the remaster turned out much better than I hoped; and the differences were so satisfying, I thought it might be fun to have both versions up (for a side by side comparison, for any interested musicians out there. Here's the older version: https://soundcloud.com/grevusanjl/siren-rising).

So why does this one sound so much better than the original version? (And please take all of this with a grain of salt. I’m no pro. But I have discovered what works for me.)

Honestly, a tremendous amount of credit goes to having a much better understanding of Compression. For many folks, Compression is almost a dirty word. Just the title of the plug-in alone confused me at first. Why would I possibly want to compress my sounds, when I liked them as is? 

But it turns out (for me at least) that the different Compression options really shine when chosen specifically, and used minimally. As an example (and I’m not sure if your DAW offers similar options, but), Studio VCA works brilliantly with strings, female vocals and many of my favorite synths. But Studio FET works great on drums. Etc. And while some might cringe at the idea, I absolutely love what Soft Distortion does to most tracks as well. Used in mild amounts, Soft Distortion adds a phenomenal amount of spacial quality to the sound. I don’t use this one all of the time, but I bet I use it at least 75% of the time now (and Compression in general on about 95% of the tracks).  So there you go… I’m definitely a big fan of Compression… when used responsibly. :)

In addition, I’ve also learned a lot about EQing since I first did this song in 2017; so much so, that I was actually baffled by some of my earlier choices. So a large amount of the repair/update time for the 2022 remaster was spent on getting the EQing for each track set up more effectively.

And finally, I had the opportunity to give the full mix a healthy rebuild. After 5 years, you’re undoubtedly going to have a very fresh perspective on a piece. And I realized a lot of the sounds simply weren’t in their optimal positions in the stereo field. I also reconsidered where sounds faded in and out, and how intensely they did so… and I updated all of that as well. 

And there you have it, the story/history behind one of my all time personal favorites. I’m so glad I had an opportunity to revisit this one (while leaving all the original instruments true to form), and I hope you enjoy all the latest sound enhancements as well. I’m excited to hear what you think of my ’Siren Rising (2022 Remaster)’. :D

WTF! The Musical

Siren Rising - 2022 REMASTER

This is a story song. I called the two characters Max and Lilly for ease of reference when I was writing it. Best with headphones! 
V1- The smutty comment by Max is an old phrase some retired soldiers used to use in a depot I worked at in the late 1980’s. It made me laugh as a young man so thought I’d use it now. 
V2- my grandparents lived in a village near Stonehenge and I was also born there. Always wanted to include it in a song. 
Lilly’s dream is a recurrent day dream I used to have as a kid in the back of the car on family trips to the West Country. I always imagined the spirits of Ancient Britons watching the cars and the modern world and warning us about change…as you do!! Their world was rocked by the Roman invasion so they would know a lot about change!
V3 - I’m that age where we are losing friends and family. The hospital scene is something I’ve seen a lot of recently and so put Lilly into that setting. 
Hope you enjoy the song. 
James

Lyrics- It was like that then

Her shin had started bleeding, it wasn’t deep but really hurt
She’d tripped on his old cricket bat, his socks and dirty shirt
He was laughing from the bedclothes saying “don’t drip blood on my bed”
He was drinking in her nakedness and said ‘the hungry must be fed!’
She hopped across the bedroom, laughing as she fell
Into his arms and gently kissed him, and soon she could tell
Than another Sunday morning would be spent there in their bed
Loving without end, it was like that then

Jackdaws chatted in sunshine as they walked towards the stones
They saw some tourists in the distance, but in the field they were alone
They laid a blanket by a hedgerow, and lay there holding hands
Listening to the insects, they drank some wine and made their plans
And Air Force jets flew overhead, as she gently held him tight
And they stayed there undetected as the day turned into night
And a barn owl left its hiding place and swooped down on its prey
Loving without end, it was like that then

And she sensed the magic seep
From sarsen stones as sleep wrapped itself around her in the night
And she dreamt she saw a chariot, with warriors, swords and shields
Saying
“Live life to the full, grasp it hard, yes hold it tight
Savour and devour it, because nothing ever lasts
Don’t take things for granted, change comes hard and fast
Remember how it was, remember how it was”

She lay still in the bed, and looked out of the window,
It was too warm in the ward, she watched the falling sleet and snow
The kids had sent a card and it was on the bed beside her
She looked down at herself, at the gown, the tubes and cannula
She thought about the hard years, the arguments and debts
The everyday monotony, the things they said and should forget
And he woke up in the chair, and knew that he was losing her
Now and then, loving without end

“Don’t take things for granted, change comes hard and fast
Remember how it was, remember how it was”

(Loving) Loving without end, it was like that then
(Loving) loving without end, it was like that then
(Build a foundation), loving without end, it was like that then
(Build a foundation) loving without end, it was like that then

James Whiteman, Copyright 2021/22

It was like that then

dark matter

This is the first track from the new album 'Welcome To Dystopia Land' https://on.soundcloud.com/vX696 Please enjoy."

You Are The One

Dear friends, this song may seem a little bit weird.
I wrote it after a difficult struggle against several different passwords.
I am so fond of making self ironic songs - just for fun!
Among the worst is when you are logged out! So hard to be able to log in again, which can take forever! We older people also spend a lot of time looking for various things!

Not so easy for us Old

The times have changed for all of us somewhat older 
people who struggle along with all modern facilities around us
This morning I tried to open
the oven for to bake some bread for my wife and for me
but the child safety lock was too tough for me
It isn’t so easy for all of us old these days

When I was a child I used to call all my friends with an 
ordinary telephone but the modern equipment is too tiny for me
I’m just messing around with tiny knobs at the front
and lots and lots of strange messages are sent to me each day
and I don’t know what to do with them 
It isn’t so easy for all of us old these days


You should have seen me when I am going to 
back out my brand new car and if I am too close to my neighbors car
then all hell will break loose for me
it flashes and it squeals in every corner of my newly bought car 
now I think I will pick up my old car again
It isn’t so easy for all of us old these days

Approximate translation into Swedish:

Inte så lätt för oss gamla

Tiderna har förändrats för oss alla lite äldre
människor som kämpar tillsammans med alla moderna faciliteter runt omkring oss
I morse försökte jag öppna
ugnen för att baka lite bröd till min fru och till mig
men barnsäkerhetslåset var för hårt för mig
Det är inte så lätt för alla oss gamla nuförtiden

När jag var barn brukade jag ringa alla mina vänner med en
vanlig telefon men den moderna utrustningen är för liten för mig
Jag bara bråkar med små knoppar framtill
och massor av konstiga meddelanden skickas till mig varje dag
och jag vet inte vad jag ska göra med dem
Det är inte så lätt för alla oss gamla nuförtiden


Du borde ha sett mig när jag ska
backa ut min helt nya bil och om jag är för nära min grannes bil
då brakar helvetet löst för mig
det blinkar och det tjuter i varje hörn av min nyköpta bil
nu tror jag att jag ska hämta min gamla bil igen
Det är inte så lätt för alla oss gamla nuförtiden

Not so easy for us old

Nine

https://youtu.be/3LB8zfkwISg WATCH THE VIDEO 😀

Possibly a stolen story about nine castles. There are so many protagonists in it, in this story...I recommend you ALL (even if it may be heavy fare for one or the other) to visit this young man https://soundcloud.com/user-823746278 in order to understand the background of the story....

Nine castles, nine countries, nine swords... ONE saga!

Incredibly good all this! This is my story about first castle "Lonayth"...listen well. More intricacies follow... 
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Möglicherweise eine geklaute Geschichte über neun Burgen. Es kommen so viele Protagonisten in ihr vor, in dieser Geschichte...ich empfehle euch ALLEN (auch wenn es für den ein oder anderen schwere Kost sein mag), diesen jungen Mann https://soundcloud.com/user-823746278  zu besuchen, um die Hintergründe der Geschichte zu verstehen...

Neun Burgen, neun Länder, neun Schwerter... EINE Sage!

Unglaublich gut all dies! Dies ist meine Geschichte zur ersten Burg "Lonayth"...hört gut zu. Es folgen weitere Verwicklungen...

Musik-Video 🎦

Friend Or Foe (Lonayth)

A piano composition born from my year-old dark techno melody with the same name. 
This fantasy takes the harmonic structure and emotional essence of the original track, transforming synthesizer lines into piano passages. Sections develop themes from the electronic source, but through the lens of classical compositional technique — from lyrical interludes to dramatic climaxes.

Echoes Of The Abyss - piano fantasy

I’m a song-writer who enjoys creating music of any genre.

My son recently introduced me to A.I. and taught me how to do covers of my previously released non-A.I. music. Since I've never considered myself a performer (except playing with worship bands at church or solo-piano at a rehab center) using A.I. is right up my alley.

Since I've  exhausted using my previously released music for A.I. covers, I now compose music in a DAW, rip to a wave file, and make an A.I. cover of this wave file. I then write lyrics to the A.I. music. It takes around 100 A.I. iterations to complete the lyrics and get a style I'm happy with.  

Brief Bio: Lived more than a quarter of my life overseas (Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Italy, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan). Each country gave me an appreciation for different types of music plus probably why I get bored easily in sticking with one genre or another.

Lazy Day

Mike Krath