I am trying to learn to use more hammer-ons and pull offs lately.  It has a smoother sound, but it takes a lot of practice to get it to sound decent.  It does help counter-effect the frenetic activity in this song though.  Honestly, as much as I wasn't sure about this song at first, I have listened to this song a thousand times already.  My wife and daughter are probably getting quite sick of it.  I named the song thusly because I write a lot of my music late at night when everyone sane is sleeping.

Guitar Fusion

Midnight Boogie

Don’t know the words to say, should I just say them away

Words make trouble wound and warp
Try not to lie, you’re always burnt 
Whether or not one lives by the code

Words are filled with power to get hurt
Words are filled with power to hurt
I don’t really know what to say
Don’t want to say the wrong thing today

I don’t know what to say, why won’t you talk to me
Don’t know what to say

Please won’t you talk to me

Words show love, not hate
Words say I appreciate
Words are kind and build you up
Not meant to wreck, but build instruct

Really don’t matter, don’t know what to say
I gotta speak it in some kind of way



The lyrics for this song are about the struggle to communicate with someone who was really important to me.  I wrote them awhile back, but I'm not a great singer, so I didn't record them.  Enter Dusboblaze, a most talented musician here on SoundCloud.  Check out his pages:  @dusboblaze  @user-430072946 or @dustyrhoads27   He has some great tracks; fantastic originals, great covers, real quality songs.  He started a new genre called DarkFolk.  We have gotten to know each other via SoundCloud and he offered to collaborate with me and we decided to do something with this song.  I sent him the file and the lyrics and he dubbed his vocals over it and sent it back.  For about a month, that original recording was posted.  It was fucking incredible, he sings with such soul and commitment!  The vocals were recorded pretty quiet though and weren’t able to adjust them so we decided to give it another take.  This time, he recorded his vocals onto a separate track that he then sent me and I plugged it right into the Garageband file.  This allowed me to put a bass line in it as well (as I had finally gotten a bass guitar in the meantime) and to mix the vocals better.  This second one came out incredible too.  But this is why you will see comments where people are suggesting we turn the vocals up and that they can't hear them very well.  We fixed that though.  Thank you, Dusboblaze.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Musically, this song starts out in a very loose F# Minor with a dip into D Lydian maybe and then goes into a solid F# Major for a bridge and eventually crescendos then breaks back into a more solid D Lydian progression(I think anyway, it sounds D Lydian) and riff that I think sounds gorgeous with the synth loop. I got lucky on that one as I confess I added the synth after and it just fit so perfect. It's easily my favorite part of this song, musically speaking.  I like the Lydian mode, it's happy, happier than Major even, I think. I consider this one of the most beautiful songs I've written.

Writer’s Block feat. Dusboblaze

Unbroken feat. Dusboblaze

Lyrics:

Been livin' in a galaxy
my minds a cloud of dust among the stars
And with every single breath I take
I feel like I am floating down to Mars
Somewhere down in Nebula you can find me blowin' smoke rings in the air
You can try and search for me
but not even myself will know where

Try and catch me floating through the air
a particle that's lost among the breeze
And I'm always flying here
this world can't bring me down upon my knees
Just let me keep on floating here and I will see you all again some day
I'll be down in Nebula, galaxy and planets far away

Been livin' in a galaxy
my minds a cloud of dust among the stars
And with every single breath I take
I feel like I am floating down to Mars


Dusboblaze worked his genius with this track and wrote some killer lyrics.  He sings them with perfection.  :)  I absolutely love the way this track has turned out!!  It's super chill.  Check out @Dusboblaze if you haven't yet; you won't regret it.

This track starts off with a cool, spacey sounding synth loop called SoundWave Synth.  You can hear Dust do some background vocalizing around this time too.  I liked the sound of the synth loop so I took this loop and built the song around it.  Next you'll hear some arpeggios come in, but they are hard to make out because the guitar is heavily processed using the Cascade "plug-in" from Garageband.  It gives it this really scattered, processed sound.  Anyhow, the whole song has arpeggios processed like this in the background, it adds to the spaciness, for sure. This song is written in G# Minor, C# Minor, and (maybe) F# Minor.  It starts in G# Minor.

After the first four bars of the opening arpeggio, you'll hear the signature riff of the song, which I wrote to fit the Soundwave Synth.  With the second play of that riff you'll hear the guitar chord progression come into play, it is G#m - B - E (the same as the arpeggios, which is a consistent pattern throughout the three keys.)  The progression is only played twice though before modulating into C# Minor at 0:50.  It is an abrupt shift, but the synths I used in the background help the transition and give it a dreamy feel.  This new progression, both chord and arpeggio, is C#m - D#m - C#m - B.  After playing this progression twice, the song switches back to G# Minor, with the lead finishing up the second riff by landing on G#.

The song stays in G# Minor for 16 bars and then modulates to F# Minor at 1:40 (perhaps, I'm not really sure,) again pretty abruptly, no real planning.  But it seems to work in this song, whereas others I need to play dominate chords in the new key, or "like-chords" between the two keys to set up for it.  Here, it just seems to work, I believe that to be part of the appeal of this song.  The new progression does have a G#m though.  This progression is F#m - B - G#m - C, which is why I'm not sure what key it's really in.  Actually, listening to it again, I think it may not even modulate, but stays in G# Minor.  That’s my best guess, except it’s weird to start and end on accidentals and they don’t really sound accidental.  I need a piano I suppose, but I play the F# Harmonic Minor scale in lead over it and it seems to work.  The B should be Bm in F# Minor and the C, C#m, so I'm not sure.  Could go either way and the lead helps nudge toward F# Minor?  But anyway, after 8 bars in "F# Minor," we modulate again, this time back to C# Minor.  After being in C#m for 8 bars again, the song finishes in G#m with the beginning riff and the Soundwave Synth finishing the song out.

Nebula feat. Dusboblaze

This song is centered around 7th chords.  It starts with an Amaj7 arpeggio played several times with a riff from the A Pentatonic scale and then slides into a D7 arpeggio for a few more bars until the first chord progression starts.  Interestingly, even though Dmaj is in the key of A, once I starting playing the D7 arpeggio, the scale I was riffing from sounded much better being played in D Major.  The progression that follows is in D Major as well, starting with D7 and it looks like:  D7 - G - E - Em - E - C.  The last time through this progression we go quickly from the C to an E7 chord to finish and this helps the shift into a very dark sounding (thanks to synths) F# Phrygian section. 

The section that starts with F# Minor is dissonant and a bit frantic, especially towards the end.  It is a somewhat weird chord progression and that probably contributes to the dissonant tone against the backdrop of the F# Harmonic Minor scale.  The progression is really still in D Major, with the exception of C, but that seems kinda a common exception in D Major.  (See Guns 'N Roses Sweet Child O' Mine for a good example.)  It goes:  F#m - Em - C - D.  So if the scale is played in F# and the progression starts on F#, but is more D Major, that is why I think it’s really more F# Phrygian.  It definitely contributes to the eerie dissonance found in this section, without it just sounding plain off key and terrible.  It is also interesting to note that this section begins right after the aforementioned E7 chord, but there is no Amaj chord to resolve the tension, so it just builds.  The progression switches to F#m - C - D - E as the tension mounts.  At the climax of the tension, I play another E7 chord in place of the last E, along with some down-sweeping synths.  This is then followed by, finally, our A chord as a new progression starts back in the key of A Major. Finally that resolution our ears had been waiting for!

The final section begins with a new progression (A - D - Dsus4 - C#m - A5) in one of my favorite keys, A Major.  After the earlier dissonance, it feels like we are now just floating along in A for several  bars until we gently modulate back to D with the D7 arpeggios and then we're back into the progression that started with D7 and then gently back into the Amaj7 arpeggios that we started on at the beginning.

Fathoms Deep

Much thanks to DontheBeat for providing the beat to this track.  It is another really unique beat.  Check out his page; it's worth a look for sure:  @DontheBeat_prod

Technical Difficulties (with DontheBeat)

This track was made on Garageband using piano loops combined and spliced in creative ways and then afterward I added some of my own guitar.  Mike and I worked out the piano track together at his house and posted it on SC so that I could download it and add the guitar at my place.  I felt that feeling of some other force guiding my fingers while I played the guitar over the piano track.  It is a great feeling; the sub-conscious is powerful and true.  This track came together all at once; they don't all, but this was one of those.  It flowed right out and it felt incredible.

These Dusty Old Keys (with Michael Ratcliffe)

This song starts in B major with a ii-V-I-IV progression.  It slides into Db major at around 0:42, but it is extremely subtle and I almost guarantee you won't notice right away unless you are actively comparing both tonic notes on a piano when it does, part of the reason for this is that it actually starts to modulate mid-progression, that progression starts in B Major for the first two chords and then shifts in Db Major half-way through and the next progression is a strong Db Major progression, identical to the first B Major progression of ii-V-I-IV (same shape, different color, right?)  The "transition" progression is a I-IV-iii-VI in B, the sixth is major, part of the reason that the tonic shifts, and also the iii in B is the ii in Db.  So really, the first two chords (B and E) are found only in B Major.  The third chord is shared and the fourth chord is found only in Db Major, it also happens to be the dominant 5th in Db Major (Ab, enharmonic to the G#, cool.)  If you don't believe me, listen to the B note that's held right around 0:42.  The key is still in B Major when the note is first played, but I'm convinced the shift starts right away once the shared chord takes hold.  Very, very weird.  You can hear the tone of the B as it's held, it goes from sweet tonicity to dissonance as it is no longer in the new key, Db Major.  There is no “dissonance” heard in the B note when I play the same recording of it by itself in my DAW!!  If you still don't believe the modulation starts that quickly grab a piano and play the middle B and the Db in the 2nd octave over and over again during this progression.  You will hear the shift right around 0:42, almost exactly at the shared chord.  This is one of my favorite modulations ever, I even fooled myself on this one at first, until I play an arpeggiated Ebm at the same time as an Ebmaj (sort of) and right after an E in the next example!

Another cool listen of the same modulation comes later.  Same progression and B again melts into Db seemingly before it should.  Maybe the reason for the weirdness going on here is partly that I play an ambiguous D# arpeggio (actually Eb by this time)ambiguous due to the fact there is no 3rd played, just 1st and 5th.  It's behind this progression and kind of fits and kind of messes with your ears a little.  This other modulation from B to Db comes at 2:55 which is after a stint in C Major that starts at 1:24, an abrupt and obvious, but very cool sounding key change.  C goes a half step back down to B at 2:30 where we also start to hear the sound of arps that lead back into Db.  The B to Db at 2:55 is hastened by an arp that I play to end the stretch of arps in B major (C#, B, and E.) The last arp I play Ebm, right after an E when we were still in B major.  So this time the modulation is much more obvious.  Again, I believe the Eb and Bb notes played in the background have something to do with all the weirdness.  The modulation became more obvious after I messed with the bass line. I play 3 identical tracks of bass in this song, for added fullness, except for in this section.  During the Ebm arp I play one track of bass in E and the other two Ebm, just like the lead guitar.  Listen for the dissonance in the bass at 2:55, it isn't obvious because we're undergoing the modulation at the same time, but it does actually enhance the obviousness of the key change.  Also worth mentioning before I run out of room is the change back into B from C again, later in the song at 4:10, but only for about 8 seconds, because this time I'm using the "transition" progression instead of the ii-V-I-IV , so we are really only in B for about 4 bars, then it shifts back to Db, very subtly again.

Can you tell I am fascinated by modulation?  It shows the foundational pattern of all music (the major scale as it's built off each tone) and how instinctively we can hear this pattern.  And so quickly too; it's so damn cool.  And so damn fun to compose.  Thanks for reading!!!

Happiness of the Artificial Mind

A friend visiting the house tonight played this for me on my piano when I asked him if he'd like to play.  It is a beautiful song and wonderfully played.  Thank you Noah!

Peace In Christ (A Cover by a Faithful Friend)

This track is my first after a long break.  I needed some time to get my head on straight and take a breather.  This song is mostly in the key of D Major.  It has a brief interlude in B Major (maybe G# Minor) and ends in B Major, but the overall sound is a bright D Major.  This song kind of reminds me of a very early song I wrote called Ascend.  That song was in D Major as well and has piano and guitar with a jazzy sound to it.  The piano in that song is an Apple loop whereas the piano in this is my own playing.  I'm starting to get the hang of jamming on the keyboard.  It's fun, but like my improv on the guitar, I would have a hard time repeating what I play.  Oh well, it's still a lot of fun doing it.

A New Beginning

Summertime Jam (with Ross Cantrell)

Cloud Surfing

This track starts out with a nice mellow C/Cmaj7 arpeggio.  I alternate between landing on the C or the B to give it that sound.  My keyboard quickly comes in with some heavy effects that I really love and were composed with an emphasis on C Major as well.  So we start briefly in C Major, but the majority of the track is written in F Major, with some parts sounding F Lydian because there is a continuous emphasis on the F whilst switching between B and Bb in the melody.  When the first keyboard melody starts at 0:14, I switch to a plain old F arpeggio on guitar (though it sounds kind of funky because the first keyboard melody starts on E, but skips over the F key, but still uses Bb.)  Plus, at the same time the effects that were written more in C Major are still going on (why the effects sound a little off, but in a good way.) The entire song is ambiguous between the keys of C Major/C Mixolydian and F Major/F Lydian actually.  Both notes actually sound ok as tonal centers due to the switching back and forth of B/Bb in the melody and the emphasis of the chords Fmaj at some points or Cmaj at others in the progressions. 

The lead guitar comes in at 0:32 playing the F Pentatonic scale while the keyboard melody switches to an ambiguous F Major/F Lydian mode. The melody now starts on F, but avoids playing a B or Bb during the first time up the scale, but it does play a Bb during the second to cement the F Major; this also contributes to the C Mixolydian sound of the song here, I think.  The only real switch up that sounds kind of like a modulation, but I don't think really is, comes at 1:27.  I believe we are in solid F Major, the guitar progression goes like this:  F - C - Dm - C.  The chords are both plucked like an arpeggio and strummed, in a kind of mixture.  We see the emphasis on F and it’s dominant C in the guitar progression and the keyboard is playing the F Major scale, with a trill that uses Bb and so really emphasizes F Major in the melody as well.  The same weird MIDI effects that are used during the first part of the song are now used for playing the corresponding major chords on the keyboard:  F - C - Dm - C.

After this section we break back into a more loose F Lydian mode.  It starts with the F Pentatonic scale on the guitar at 2:30 and then the change comes with the keyboard melody that starts on F and first avoids the Bb (F Lydian) coming back in at 2:40.  I can't get over how it sounds like a return to home at 2:40 so the new tonal center may be more C Mixolydian.  There's a lot of ambiguity in this track, but this part sounds really definitively like a change in key (maybe the tonal center goes F to C.)  Is it really that the middle section is in a more solid F Major whilst the rest of the song is more a C Mixolydian/F Lydian mash-up?  Anyhow, the C note really competes with F for "home" during the whole song.

Well, I've confused myself, can someone who really understands modes help me out here?  I think the ethereal sound is definitely at least partly caused by an overall lack of a real tonal center.  Does the middle section sound a more solid F Major than the rest to you?  The whole song kind of blends two Major keys that are a fifth apart, which in a way is what a Lydian/Mixolydian mash-up is (using the same tonal center.)  If you get a chance, play an F or a C note over that section and let me know if you think it’s in F Lydian or C Mixolydian.  As always, thanks for reading and for listening!

(I Feel Like) A Martian

This song starts in the key of B flat major.  The first rhythm progression is Bb - Cm - Dm - D to Eb.  The last chord, an accidental, quickly slides up to Eb and I think coming right off the Dm helps the Dmaj chord to fit better too.  (The beginning arpeggio is Bb - Cm - Dm - D with no slide up to Eb and it still sounds pretty cool.) The next progression is F7 - Bb - Cm - Gm.  The second time played it ends on Bb (then sliding up to B) instead of Gm.  This slides us into the first key change Bb to B major starting at 0:56.

The progression in B major is B - C#m - D#m - E and you'll notice some synth that kicks in (my keyboard playing the B major scale with several different effects.)  The third play-through of the guitar progression ends on E7 quickly sliding down to Eb7 to help nudge us "back" into the key of G Minor starting at 1:20.  It really does sound flat here, the dissonance is kind of cool though, I think.  So in the new key, I start the lead on G and this helps cement the G Aeolian mode instead of a return to the previous Bb Major (which the ear is more expecting as it’s a “return to home.”)  This new progression is Gm - Eb - Dm - Cm.  It ends the third time through on a Cmaj chord instead of Cm which pulls us into the key of C major at 1:44 and I play the progression C - Dm - Am - C against some more zany sounding synths from my keyboard.

Finally, at 2:08 the final key change is into F major using a C7 chord instead of the final C major in the third play through of C - Dm - Am - C.  This section is interesting though because I use very, very similar progressions to what I used at the beginning of the song:  F - Bb - C(C7) - Gm(Gmaug5) and Bb - Cm - Dm - D to Eb.  This time however, it is firmly in the key of F, not Bb.  I start the lead on F and I stay soloing in the F pentatonic scale the whole time so even though I use almost the same chords it is now F major (of course being a fifth apart they have many of the same chords being used, except the C and the Eb.)  This is an interesting thing though, the lead guitar really does determine the key.

Reminisce

This track is basically just a series of arpeggios on my guitar, each 2 bars long and played twice in a row before going to the next note.  The corresponding chord is also played on the keyboard and bass in arpeggio style.  The key is in a loose A Major (maybe?)for most of the song, switching to F# Major midway through (perhaps?).

To help this transition, the arpeggio right before F# is C#7 (or Db7 in the key of F# Major.)  This is the dominant chord in F# Major and I think it helps, but the key change itself isn't real noticeable, it actually seems to happen during the Db7 starting at 1:07 (makes sense I guess, as Db7 definitely isn't in A Major, but is dominant in F# Major.)  The arpeggios in this first "A Major" section are A - D(Dsus4) - A - D(Dsus4) - B7 - E - C#m - E - Db7.  The Db7 is supposed to set us up to handle F# a little easier, but according to playing A and F# on my keyboard, the key shifts during the Db7.  The new series of arpeggios in "F# Major" begins F# - Cb - Db - Ebm - F# - Cb - Db - E7, the E7 setting us up to slip back into A Major, which is then just A - D(Dsus4) several more times.

Interesting enough, as before, the key changes back to A during the E7 arpeggio starting at 2:05 (as E7 is dominant in A Major.)  If you have a keyboard, play the F# and the A during each transition.  The shift seems to happen before the "tonic arpeggio" is played, but instead during the dominant chords that lead to the new tonic.  Kind of cool!!

Wavering

“Music is a journey into the sub-conscious.”

Influences include:  Radiohead, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, Beck, RHCP, The Beatles, Coldplay, The Doors, Led Zeppelin, Shinedown, Genesis, Weezer, The Cranberries, Frank Zappa, Fleetwood Mac, Chris Cornell, Incubus, Muse, 10,000 Maniacs and more.

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