A Song Each Day

Here is Song #21 – You can stream it by clicking the little PLAY button, or download it by right-clicking the title:

This was another case of me having a bit too much fun with my old Casio keyboard – I played some chords and a little melody on top…and that was it. Once I had a basic rhythm track recorded, I played the melody over it with the Casio, and then banged on some drums to fatten it up. Ultimately however, I opted to leave the drums out of the mix (it was a bit too much!) and just used shakers instead.

I finished it up with a little toy piano interlude in the middle, and a vocal track that just popped out!

Instruments used:
Casio keyboard (80′s thing)
Shakers
Toy Piano
Vocals

Lyrics:
GIBBERISH!

Here is Song #17 – You can stream it by clicking the little PLAY button, or download it by right-clicking the title:

I am certainly not going to ramble on about this one – it really is the simplest of these tracks so far. I sat down with the toy piano and came up with a very simple part that I couldn’t envision becoming a full song. So, rather than force some other parts into it I just decided to treat it as an “interlude.”

So, its only a bit over a minute long and only contains toy piano, a snare drum, and a tambourine.

Maybe I’m getting lazy? Nah…the next song will be longer!

Instruments used:
Toy Piano (old wooden thing)
Snare drum
Tambourine

Lyrics:
NONE!

Here it is, the first song from the project. You can stream it by clicking the little PLAY button, or download it by right-clicking the title:

This song began with a simple vocal melody that came to mind. I then picked around on the Uke until I found some accompanying chords (in G), and then recorded the Uke and vocals. Once that was done, I needed another instrument to fill up some melodic space, and maybe mirror parts of the vocal melody; I grabbed my toy piano, hit the record button, and just followed along.

At this point, I got a phone call. That got me thinking about the cheesy little “Free Piano” app on my iPhone that I use for tuning instruments in a pinch. I launched the app, put the phone up to the microphone, hit the record button, and just played along. I added some echo and delay to that track, and once that was done…I just overdubbed another Uke part just to fatten things up. Then the song felt like it was done.

Instruments used:
Baritone ukulele
Toy Piano (old wooden thing)
iPhone (I’m not kidding)
Vocals

Lyrics:
In spite of her might
In lieu of violets of blue
I will find words to match her song
One day she’s here and then she’s gone
Fight all night
Right is right
I might just say some evil things
My how her disapproval stings
When truth be told
I am not too old
To find a new set of regrets
To lay myself in another bed