Multi-Speaker Challenge

This album feels like it's just about done. It probably isn't... but on my studio monitors and headphones, I think that it sounds pretty good at this point.  

I have now reached the part of the process where I listen to it through as many different sets of speakers as I can and then try to make it sound equally good on all of them. (I'm self-taught at all of this stuff, but this is more or less how I tend to think of mastering.) 

Check it out for yourself. See what you think.

You can hear all eleven of the new songs exclusively on my ReverbNation page: 

01. Shadow Puppets 

02. Light Pollution 

03. Rat Race 

04. Out to Get You 

05. The Regular 

06. Haunted 

07. Plastic Flowers 

08. Petals in the Grass 

09. Dandelion Wine (If Only...) 

10. Holiday 

11. Wasted 

You can also find all of the lyrics here.

This album will soon be available to stream or purchase wherever you get your music. 

Thanks for listening to my music and checking out my blog. 

Soon to Drop

I think that the new album is just about done. I expect to wrap it up in the next week or two, but we'll see how it goes.   

In case you're keeping score, this will be my second full-length album to be released this year. (That's prolific, even for me.) Embers just came out in January, and the opening track, Original Miles, has now been streamed over 32,000 times by Spotify listeners all over the world. This amazes me.

Releasing albums as I make them is one of those things that you don't necessarily get with most mainstream artists. To me, one of the advantages of DIY music-making is that I can connect directly with listeners and fans, and I don't need a committee to be in agreement in order to make something happen. Every decision that brought this music into existence was made entirely by me. If you don't like it, then I guess that's on me, too.

As I continue to polish these new songs, I upload them to my ReverbNation page so that I can listen to them on multiple devices without having to enter all of the metadata every time I post a new version. Once I feel like they're done, then I shall officially make them available on streaming services worldwide through a digital distributor.

I usually get some physical CDs, too, which I order from an automated company in Japan for what amounts to about two bucks per disc. They come in a professional-looking cellophane-wrapped jewel case, and they don't charge extra for the UPC symbol.

(I'm not getting paid by these companies; I simply wanted to share how I do it, just in case any of you are looking to do something similar.)   

The opening track on Petrichor (available soon) is the only instrumental track on any of my six eponymous albums that I have released since 2017. Not that it sounds anything like it, but I was thinking specifically about Pixies: Bossanova when I decided to open the album with an instrumental. As I recall, the first track on Nine Inch Nails: Broken is also without words. These were two of my favorite albums when I was first learning to be a musician (although it has been a while since I've heard either).  

Thank you for listening to my music and checking out my blog. If you like what I'm doing, please share it with others who might like it as well. 

Dr. Mix-a-Lot (no relation)

I've gotten a lot of reading done this week, mostly while waiting for my ancient laptop to process audio files so that I could listen to them and then go back and make adjustments. It takes about four minutes to export a song, which I have to keep doing until it's more or less where I want it. 

That said, I might finally be done with the mixing, and I'd like to think that I mean it this time. This is the part where I try to be as objective as possible when I listen to it, which isn't always easy. 

For now, you can hear all eleven of the new songs exclusively on my ReverbNation page. I've also provided links to each track individually below, along with a brief description of the song itself: 

01. Shadow Puppets (instrumental)

02. Light Pollution (about how ideologies can be blinding)

03. Rat Race (about being a cog in a corporate machine)

04. Out to Get You (about people who believe in batshit crazy conspiracy theories)

05. The Regular (about that guy end of the bar who seems like a permanent fixture)

06. Haunted (about the memories left behind when a person is gone)

07. Plastic Flowers (about how the American Dream adapts to the American Reality)

08. Petals in the Grass (an ekphrastic song about the first 16mm film that I ever made)

09. Dandelion Wine (If Only...) (about making the most of what you've got)

10. Holiday (about going stir crazy)

11. Wasted (about being consumed by unhealthy habits)

You can also find all of the lyrics here.

Thanks for listening. This album will soon be available to stream or purchase wherever you get your music. As of now, it's still a work-in-progress, but I think it's getting close. As always, thank you for supporting independent art. 

Almost

This album is getting close. Once again, I uploaded new versions of all eleven songs to my ReverbNation page. You can find all of the links in an earlier post. These songs are so exclusive that they are only available here. 

Thanks for listening.

Favorite Songs (That I've Written)

My own favorite song that I've written is constantly changing, depending on my mood and how often I've played or listened to it in recent weeks. That said, I thought that I would attempt to pick my favorite songs of each of my five released albums (and my album that shall be released in the very near future).

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Favorite track on Petrichor (2021 - coming soon):

    Rat Race

Favorite track on Embers (2021):

    We Are All That We Need

Favorite track on Better Days (2019):

    Be Civilized

Favorite track on Good Night, Fahrenheit (2017):

    Don't Forget Who You Are

Favorite track on Mechanical Bull (2017):

    Panic Attack

Favorite track on Weather Patterns (2017):

    Gravel Roads

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With some of these, it was pretty close, as I tend to like all of my songs. That's why I wrote them. In any case, I hope you like these songs, too. Thanks for listening.

I also added all of the new songs to my lyrics page.

If you like what I'm doing, please add my music to your playlists and share it with others. Thank you for supporting independent art.