For Those Who Write Original Music...

sergiodeblanc said:
If we’re all musicians, and all new music isn’t as good as old music, then we’re to blame. It’s completely our fault.
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I like to think we raised our kids to be better musicians (and people). Even though Mrs. B has difficulty with maintaining vocal key consistency, she steeped the boys i her wonderful combo of 70s obscure, 60 folk, 80s, 90s, and beyond…even disco! They’ll be listening to Mozart, Little Willie, Green Onions, KC and the Sunshine band, Snarky Puppy, Limp Biscuit, and Whitesnake all in sequence. Drew even took the History of Rock and Roll class at IU. Like cultural/racial blindness (they were truly color blind until middle school racists needed a beat down), musical diversity is another parenting success on our part. World, you’re welcome! Now hire these guys!!!?
 
Boy, so many tangents in one thread!! Chain response ENGAGE!!!

It’s no secret that my last project, Peyote ‘Burger, was an instrumental trio with decades of material composed by the bassist and drummer. They tried to add guitarists in the past but they just didn’t gel. When I first started, I was SO intimidated because their tightness and gargantuan musicianship bowled me over. How the hell do I just make up something to compliment that which wasn’t supposed to have guitar? “Just knock some sh@t out…the weirder, the better.” Honestly, Les (or anyone else here), have you ever had a call out for some “really weird sh!t”? Not me.

I sounded stupid at first. Murray frequently used his fretless and that added a tonal tension that normally bugged the crap outta me. But they were very patient with me and I added a dimension no other guitarist had presented. It wasn’t chugging metal-based.

Skip ahead. Developing “ideas”. Having the balls to step out front and not be afraid to completely suck was not my strong suit, but I learned. Besides, those messy tracks would never see the light of day, right? True, until I came here and shared my scariest moments with a bunch of guitarists - you guys. And I’m going to re-share one of those moments.

The longer we played together, the dynamic, organic evolution of a concept became easier. Easier to completely BLOW and easier to crank out a real clip. One out of 10 was a good number. In this one, Murray and I started with an atmosphere riff that had that intonation friction I spoke of, and it threw my mind down a completely different path.

I don’t catch the groove until 1:10. Even then, it was really organic…unrehearsed and a complete departure from our other stuff. That was my fault. But hey, they asked for weird.

https://soundcloud.com/prsboogie%2Fand-thats-that-clip
 
This is a bit of a tangent.

You want to hear someone with an absolutely fabulous voice? Dislike the idea of pitch correction? Nanette Scriba is a German singer with a trained voice who can really do the thing. Not only great pitch, not only great delivery, but the timbre of her voice is incredible.

Also...this is usually done with an orchestra accompaniment, not like this version (that's her on electric guitar).


The song is by Henry Purcell, written in 1691. Purcell was an English composer. The libretto was written by the poet Dryden.

Oh, I forgot, she also plays guitar...very, very well!


There are a ton of very, very talented people in this world who many of us have never heard of. What does that tell you about commercialism and music?
 
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Boogie said:
Boy, so many tangents in one thread!! Chain response ENGAGE!!!

It’s no secret that my last project, Peyote ‘Burger, was an instrumental trio with decades of material composed by the bassist and drummer. They tried to add guitarists in the past but they just didn’t gel. When I first started, I was SO intimidated because their tightness and gargantuan musicianship bowled me over. How the hell do I just make up something to compliment that which wasn’t supposed to have guitar? “Just knock some sh@t out…the weirder, the better.” Honestly, Les (or anyone else here), have you ever had a call out for some “really weird sh!t”? Not me.

I sounded stupid at first. Murray frequently used his fretless and that added a tonal tension that normally bugged the crap outta me. But they were very patient with me and I added a dimension no other guitarist had presented. It wasn’t chugging metal-based.

Skip ahead. Developing “ideas”. Having the balls to step out front and not be afraid to completely suck was not my strong suit, but I learned. Besides, those messy tracks would never see the light of day, right? True, until I came here and shared my scariest moments with a bunch of guitarists - you guys. And I’m going to re-share one of those moments.

The longer we played together, the dynamic, organic evolution of a concept became easier. Easier to completely BLOW and easier to crank out a real clip. One out of 10 was a good number. In this one, Murray and I started with an atmosphere riff that had that intonation friction I spoke of, and it threw my mind down a completely different path.

I don’t catch the groove until 1:10. Even then, it was really organic…unrehearsed and a complete departure from our other stuff. That was my fault. But hey, they asked for weird.

https://soundcloud.com/prsboogie%2Fand-thats-that-clip
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That was cool Mr. Boogie! And, I think you sell yourself short. You fit right in with those guys from everything I've heard you post. Heck, I'd get MORE weird than that. After reading what you wrote about the song, I'd be using a fuzz pedal and univibe and get ALL trippy with it. That would be a fun song to trippy jam over! You did great on it.
 
sergiodeblanc said:
sney kids and Lou Pearlman kids, being a Cyrus or a Knowles… brutal.
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I'll make a comment here that's more of an observation than anything else. Fame and commercialization are brutal, and they're crazy things. They brutalize plenty of adults, not just kids. People get bulldozed in the system. But to one degree or another, we're all vulnerable to our own personal fantasies and those of others (I could digress, but I won't).

However:

I have a ten year old granddaughter who's getting great professional theater roles, and did a Kellogg's commercial in June. She's starting a run in a German production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Lyric Opera in Chicago in September.

She doesn't do everything that has to be done to prepare and audition because she wants to be famous. Heck, she could be more famous if she made 'slime' in TikTok videos.

She just loves being on stage. She delights in it. And she gets roles because she's well-prepared, auditions, and leaves it all on the field.

I think it's pretty cool.

One of the most interesting things I've watched is how my granddaughter has become part of a community of young people and adults who are mutually supportive. She's made friends in these shows of all ages, but of course is very close with the other young actors. They go to see each other's shows. They root for each other to get roles - even though some are auditioning for the same part.

She likes being part of a community of actors and singers.

The first thing she did when she got back from a very normal summer camp was go see some of her friends in a show.

In other words, she's happy, for what we'd agree are all the desirable reasons. That's never a bad thing.
 
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LSchefman said:
I'll make a comment here that's more of an observation than anything else. Fame and commercialization are brutal, and they're crazy things. They brutalize plenty of adults, not just kids. People get bulldozed in the system. But to one degree or another, we're all vulnerable to our own personal fantasies and those of others (I could digress, but I won't).

But:

I have a ten year old granddaughter who's getting great professional theater roles, and did a Kellogg's commercial in June. She's starting a run in a German production of Fiddler on the Roof at the Lyric Opera in Chicago in September.

She doesn't do everything that has to be done to prepare and audition because she wants to be famous. Heck, she could be more famous if she made 'slime' in TikTok videos.

She just loves being on stage. She delights in it. And she gets roles because she's well-prepared, auditions, and leaves it all on the field.

I think it's pretty cool.

One of the most interesting things I've watched is how my granddaughter has become part of a community of young people and adults who are mutually supportive. She's made friends in these shows of all ages, but of course is very close with the other young actors. They go to see each other's shows. They root for each other to get roles - even though some are auditioning for the same part.

She likes being part of a community of actors and singers.

The first thing she did when she got back from a very normal summer camp was go see some of her friends in a show.

In other words, she's HAPPY, for what we'd agree are all the desirable reasons. That's never a bad thing.
Click to expand...
I think your granddaughter is in about the best time possible for a child star! As a result of all the things we have learned over the past 100 years regarding what fame and success can do to people (in both entertainment and elsewhere), as well as it being a more closely watched industry by all involved, child stars of today will I believe fare much better in the long run than in the days of old!! Back then, the only people who could have seen a problem with much of what child stars were going through were psychologists/psychiatrists and even many of them did not have crystal balls to see what some behaviors/environments would result in!!!

Congrats again on the success she has already attained, just like you and the rest of your family! Let me know when you NFT your DNA, I'll buy a few tokens!!
 
And so based on my previous comment (Let me know when you NFT your DNA, I'll buy a few tokens!!), a song popped into my head. Do not read any of this literal in any way, it is just a series of words that I thought sounded cool together and elicited thoughts and images! Took me 27 minutes to write and I have recorded a rough mix of the vocal melody! This happens to me nearly every day and although I love it and it is fun, it is sometimes overwhelming! Anyway, here it is, the next smash hit from Moondog Wily "I NFT'd My DNA":

I NFT'd My DNA - Copyright August 20, 2022 - ANO Publishing, LLC - All Rights Reserved

<verse 1>
I NFT'd
My DNA
Thought I'd see
Who wanted to play

Play in the pool
I was born
Play in the history
Of my family lore

Put up for sale
Just who I was
On the auction block
Just because

Just because
Molecule strings
Might give to others
That missing thing

<chorus 1>
Do you wanna buy
Who I am
Do you wanna try
To live my fam
Do you wanna know
What it's like
To be like me
Each and every night

<verse 2>
A fungible token
Of who I am
Put on the market
Like the other scams

Selling the make up
Of my life
Selling the strings
That hold me tight

Any takers
Do beware
This DNA could be a
Double dare

Consume with caution
Don't you know
Or you may end up
In my horror show

<chorus 2>
Do you wanna see
Through my eyes
Do you wanna live
My loves and lies
Do you wanna feel
The way I feel
Do you wanna wallow
In my minds fields

<bridge>
Deoxyribonucleic
Acid it is formulaic
Adenine
Bonds with Thymine
Cytosine
Clings to Guanine
In a ladder like
Double helix
Flies through your life
Just like a Phoenix

<verse 3>
Be wary of
What you desire
Take what you got
Light your own fire

Do not attempt
To be anyone else
You are a treasure
In and of yourself

Look to your loves
And love your dreams
Others lives are not
What they seam

The seams that hold
Our chemistry
Are all just ships
On a raging sea

<outro>
Do not try to buy
Who I am
Do not try to be
Some other man
Just live with who
And what you are
Live your best life
Like a shooting star

I NFT'd my DNA
Thought it'd be fun
To see some play
And then I realized
My mistake
Buyers would be livin'
A life that's fake
 
Moondog Wily said:
I think your granddaughter is in about the best time possible for a child star! As a result of all the things we have learned over the past 100 years regarding what fame and success can do to people (in both entertainment and elsewhere), as well as it being a more closely watched industry by all involved, child stars of today will I believe fare much better in the long run than in the days of old!! Back then, the only people who could have seen a problem with much of what child stars were going through were psychologists/psychiatrists and even many of them did not have crystal balls to see what some behaviors/environments would result in!!!

Congrats again on the success she has already attained, just like you and the rest of your family! Let me know when you NFT your DNA, I'll buy a few tokens!!
Click to expand...
Thanks.

She's lucky that she's gotten to do what she loves doing. But she isn't trying to be a star, heck she doesn't know what that is.

Here's my big digression, and this is NOT a rebuke of your very nice and complimentary post, Moondog, I'm strictly talking general principles here:

We all know that stardom is an artificial construct, a fantasy, that doesn't have much to do with the work itself, the process of creating it, or the preparation. We make cardboard gods out of human beings who aren't very different from us. In many cases, we actively want the fantasy to be real, yet we kind of resent them because in our hearts we know they're just people.

People talk about the problems of child stars because of the publicity, but every one of us knows that hundreds of thousands of people who were never child stars or in bands (and who never really did one f#cking noteworthy thing their lives) are in jails, rehab centers, overdose clinics, graves and what-have-you.

There was a study when I was younger that the profession with the highest suicide rate was dentists. Would anyone tell their kid, "Don't be a dentist, you'll wind up killing yourself!?"

Most child actors who don't continue their careers lead perfectly normal lives as adults. We just hear about the screwups. Because out of a certain amount of the resentment I spoke about above, the rest of us can say (sometimes with too much satisfaction), "See? It wasn't worth it for that person, I'm glad I was never a star."

For the most part, we humans are screwups who can't find our asses with both hands. Themes of guilt and redemption are a part of human society for that very reason. It's part of the attraction of religions, and always has been.

Yes, I'm getting somewhat far afield here, but I promise, I'm going to get to the damn point about being mutually supportive in our music...

To appreciate who we are, and what we do, we need to:

1. Release ourselves from the irrational fantasy of stardom.

If you're a so-called star, good for you, go buy more stuff. If you aren't take heart. You're still a valuable member of the community and can be appreciated for what you do artistically as well as in every other way.

2. Release ourselves from the corollary of the stardom fantasy, which is that if you're not a star, you've somehow failed.

Bullsh!t. You haven't failed. Stardom has nothing to do with success or failure and everything to do with people glomming onto some fantasy.

3. Do the damn work.

Create. That's it. Just do it.

4. Share the damn work.

Release the damn work to the public. Lose the fear of criticism. In fact, take criticism not as a put-down, but as suggestions of things that might be worth considering. Or not. But take no offense.

5. Your mom still loves you.

Play the work for your mom, if she's still around. She will give you a pat on the head if you need one. ;)

[This last suggestion is me just kidding around, of course; but yeah, play the damn work for your mom anyway. After all, she changed your diapers for free. At the other end of life you'll be stuck picking up the tab for whoever's going to change your Depends.]
 
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LSchefman said:
Thanks.

She's lucky that she's gotten to do what she loves doing. But she isn't trying to be a star, heck she doesn't know what that is.

Here's my big digression, and this is NOT a rebuke of your very nice and complimentary post, Moondog, I'm strictly talking general principles here:

We all know that stardom is an artificial construct, a fantasy, that doesn't have much to do with the work itself, the process of creating it, or the preparation. We make cardboard gods out of human beings who aren't very different from us. In many cases, we actively want the fantasy to be real, yet we kind of resent them because in our hearts we know they're just people.

People talk about the problems of child stars because of the publicity, but every one of us knows that hundreds of thousands of people who were never child stars or in bands (and who never really did one f#cking noteworthy thing their lives) are in jails, rehab centers, overdose clinics, graves and what-have-you.

There was a study when I was younger that the profession with the highest suicide rate was dentists. Would anyone tell their kid, "Don't be a dentist, you'll wind up killing yourself!?"

Most child actors who don't continue their careers lead perfectly normal lives as adults. We just hear about the screwups. Because out of a certain amount of the resentment I spoke about above, the rest of us can say (sometimes with too much satisfaction), "See? It wasn't worth it for that person, I'm glad I was never a star."

For the most part, we humans are screwups who can't find our asses with both hands. Themes of guilt and redemption are a part of human society for that very reason. It's part of the attraction of religions, and always has been.

Yes, I'm getting somewhat far afield here, but I promise, I'm going to get to the damn point about being mutually supportive in our music...

To appreciate who we are, and what we do, we need to:

1. Release ourselves from the irrational fantasy of stardom.

If you're a so-called star, good for you, go buy more stuff. If you aren't take heart. You're still a valuable member of the community and can be appreciated for what you do artistically as well as in every other way.

2. Release ourselves from the corollary of the stardom fantasy, which is that if you're not a star, you've somehow failed.

Bullsh!t. You haven't failed. Stardom has nothing to do with success or failure and everything to do with people glomming onto some fantasy.

3. Do the damn work.

Create. That's it. Just do it.

4. Share the damn work.

Release the damn work to the public. Lose the fear of criticism. In fact, take criticism not as a put-down, but as suggestions of things that might be worth considering. Or not. But take no offense.

5. Your mom still loves you.

Play the work for your mom, if she's still around. She will give you a pat on the head if you need one. ;)

[This last suggestion is me just kidding around, of course; but yeah, play the damn work for your mom anyway. After all, she changed your diapers for free. At the other end of life you'll be stuck picking up the tab for whoever's going to change your Depends.]
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Could not agree with your more Mr. Les! Good points all the way around!! On a personal level, here is my position on your 5 points (and I feel very lucky to be in such positions):

1. Release ourselves from the irrational fantasy of stardom.
NEVER wanted stardom! This is why I set up my publishing company the way I did, very hidden!! I also set it up in such a way that I can publish under multiple artist names and not have others trying to pigeon hole me to a specific genre!!! People who desire the fantasy of stardom, do not believe in themselves, therefore needing the adoration of others to feel good ;~((

2. Release ourselves from the corollary of the stardom fantasy, which is that if you're not a star, you've somehow failed.
As mentioned above, those who feel they failed were probably trying to achieve something other than creative output, they were simply trying to be fabulous to as many people as possible! I am lucky enough to not care what others think of what I do, because I am doing it for myself!! If others enjoy it, that is icing on the cake, but I am eating my cake with our without any icing and it tastes great!!! When I released my first song in 2014, my inhibitions about not having accomplished anything were lifted off my shoulders and I no longer viewed my life (from a creative viewpoint) as a failure!!!! Up until then though, I kicked myself almost daily for not doing anything with my talents for decades, but it wasn't a "I am not famous" kick, it was a "you haven't done sh!t with your gifts" kick!!!!!

3. Do the damn work.
On it! But I don't call it work, gives a bad taste to it IMO!! CREATE!!! One of the friends I was able to hook up with in my recent travels has the nickname of "Rockstar"! This is due to the fact that he was just that to me and our mutual friends in the decades past!! Lead singer of a popular band, all the chicks wanted him, wrote good stuff, etc.!!!! I was staying at his house initially on this trip, and ended up moving to my nieces house because it just made me cry that all he wanted to do was drink, and viewed his music as work!!!! We have been friends for over 35 years, and the only time we ever jammed together was at an open mic night they used to have at one of our hangouts many decades ago (played bass on Message In A Bottle one night). Now that I am able to play over 100 songs (including some of his), I was so excited about jamming with him, but it never happened and he got salty about me even suggesting that we should spend some time jamming because he is viewing music strictly as work these days!!!! Heart crushing to say the least ;~((

4. Share the damn work.
On it! Sharing your creations may help someone else as well and whether it does or not, it will help you to release it from within, which will make room for more creations (rather than that stuff just cycling through your brain and soul)!!! In the immortal words of Bob Dylan "I need a dump truck baby to, unload my head"!!!! If you don't unload what is in there, you will be driving around with a full load and be prevented from picking up a new a lot of new material!!!!!

5. Your mom still loves you.
And too much IMO all things considered! I did just play for her about 6 days ago, but it was early in the morning and the voice was not awake yet so I did not sing!! I had not seen her since the pandemic started, and I had picked up a beater guitar at CME a few days prior (Gretsch Streamliner - wanted a cheap jazz box I would not have to worry about and at $495, I thought it played and sounded great)!!! I played for her not because I wanted a pat on the head, but because I know how excited she is about me finally making the music that has existed inside me my entire life!!! But yes, play for your mom and other family/friends, I was excited to be able to do that on this 3 week journey I just had!!!!

This is all good stuff (the whole thread) and I hope that folk will find wisdom and confidence in the concepts portrayed here! Thanks again for starting it and contributing your knowledge/experience/thoughts on this topic, Mr. L!!!!
 
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