Music From The Depths

These last two weeks have bounced between Spring-like and "kinda not Spring" here in Florida. Some of my family in the north report that flowers are blooming, and the snow is gone. Regardless of how non-committing Spring may be this year, we always anticipate it with hope. It's our sign that life has survived the frost and snow and that summer is coming. 

While the last episode was brought to you by the sounds of an air scrubber I wanted to toss out of the house, this week I could really use that air scrubber. There's dust everywhere. Everywhere! And that's just part of the fun of drywalling things. But though my arms and legs are sore, there were moments of peace in applying the sixth layer of drywall mud. It's "satisfying" was my kids would say. Well, satisfying, wedged between times of wanting to take a hammer to the very same wall because the thing just won't level out. Ah well, back to it!

Not long ago, we found water damage in the kitchen of our house. In Florida, that means you get a mold test done. As a result of that test, a nice group of men wheeled an air scrubber into our house and began to tear our kitchen apart.  Then, they brought a second air scrubber because the first was lonely. Our house has been filled with the sound of moving air. You can't hear anything in the kitchen and living room. Instead of canceling the mix, or recording elsewhere, I had an idea.  What if the entire mix was made from samples of the air scrubbers?  So I got out the microphones and started recording. I sampled both machines, one recorded up close with the SM-57 and Shure KSM mics. The second was recorded through the exit chamber of the containment tunnel from the kitchen by jamming a SM-57 into it. The result was different types of "air moving past microphones" samples.  With a lot of finagling, I finalized 9 samples that I used to make this. And it's made entirely from those 9 samples. (Plus a whole lot of sound manipulation.)  If you're new here, this isn't a typical mix.  But I hope you enjoy it!

I don't know about you, but this year has started with an exaggerated pace of getting things done. And after the lull of 2020, I'm somewhat good with that. But at the same time, it's easy to compare a break-neck pace to an open flame. If left unchecked, flames burn whatever they can without an ounce of mercy. And, yet, there's still something peaceful and life-giving about a fire. Flames can be wild and frantic, full of energy, but they can also be smooth and subtle while they move across the surface of wood, turning it to ash. With oranges, reds, and blues, there's a lot of beauty to them as well. But that same beauty is consuming. Not unlike trying to do too much in too short a time.

When I was a kid, my dad offered the advice that we shouldn't wish to speed life along. I was probably six or seven years old, but I couldn't wait to be ten. As it turns out, my dad was right. Since then I've realized how much time we spend saying things like “I can't wait for Friday” or “my birthday is in 21 days!” There's nothing wrong with those kinds of hopeful anticipations, but they can quietly steal from the here-and-now. For me, these last two weeks have been a lot of fast-paced droning. The days are speeding by, but they hold one rapid motion while they go. I catch myself saying “I can't wait for this project to be over” or “I'll sleep on Friday.” But then I remember my dad's advice and that our days are short, numbered, and sacred.

When you really stop and think about it, isn't life a series of chances to start again? That's especially obvious in the first moments of a new year, or in spring. But each and every minute of our lives holds dozens of tiny opportunities to make new changes, or take alternate paths. We can choose to see those as either positive or negative things. Which will it be for you?

As 2020 comes to a close, I wanted to walk back through the material I've released on the podcast this year. There was a lot of motion in theme and style during the last 16 episodes, and I combined them all into one big track. Some of the episodes are fairly close to their original sound while others have been heavily modified for this mix.  I've had so much fun working on this for you, and I hope that you've enjoyed the mix. The next original releases for this podcast will arrive in January 2021. Have a safe and fantastic New Year!

Sometimes life is so crazy that you don't have time to sit down and ponder the meaning of things. In my case, this track. What I can tell you is that I wrote four or five editions of EP-016 before this one showed up. I hope you enjoy it!

There's this saying that people use sometimes, when they can't take much more. It varies a bit in how it's stated, but it's often something like "Jesus, come quickly!" Bono (of U2) worded it slightly different with, "Wake Up Dead Man." No year in my own life has this sentiment been more accurate (or often heard) than this year. I'm sure you don't really need another person commenting on what 2020 was like though. There's an interesting history lesson: In 1744, Charles Wesley wrote the song "Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus." You can paraphrase at least the second verse as, "Jesus, come quickly." But why he wrote that is the interesting part. The song came as a direct response from seeing the lives of orphans around him, and also how Great Britain was heavily divided by class. That sounds a bit too close to home for me, personally. When I started looking at the idea of working with a Christmas song this year, I knew this one was the one. I know that it sounds pleasant (like almost every other Christmas song), because a lot of the hymns from way back when were... (They often reused and borrowed music from other stuff, but never-mind that for now.) But there's a lot of unseen depth to this one. Here are the lyrics: Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free; from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee. Israel's strength and consolation, hope of all the earth thou art; dear desire of every nation, joy of every longing heart. Born thy people to deliver, born a child and yet a King, born to reign in us forever, now thy gracious kingdom bring. By thine own eternal spirit rule in all our hearts alone; by thine all sufficient merit, raise us to thy glorious throne.

The context of this episode felt worthy of a voice note. The full transcript is available in the description of EP-015.

In October of 1957, Russia launched the first satellite into space. I was born about 25 years later, which was plenty of time to get people to the moon and back, and inspire tons of kids to dream about space. I was one of those kids.  For me, the idea of space is certainly romanticized. But, in a real sense, it lets us do two important things. 1. Dream about what exists beyond our atmosphere. 2. Come together here on Earth to accomplish incredible things and celebrate them.  

I wrote this for a special person who is going through a lot right now. I can't be with her in person, but there's a lot that you can say through a simple song. 

I can't believe that I wrote this song 17 years ago. At the time, I was studying in college, preparing to take a semester abroad. I knew that things would change. I would leave, and friends would graduate and go on to do amazing things. With any case where paths separate, there's a felt loss. And it's easy to dwell on that part. But good comes, too. It's the bittersweet thing about how time passes. This song is about that. Or, at least it was 17 years ago. EP-012 revisits the original instrumentation and smooths it out. To fit in here, I gave it more of an ambient twist. Enjoy!

About fourteen years ago I wrote a song that only four people heard. I thought it had promise, but with "life stuff" I stopped work on it. This week as I was starting into the episode I decided to rework it. I may release the actual track at some point, but for now I hope you enjoy this ambient/drone mix of it.

Water is fascinating, but also very dangerous and sometimes deceptive. Years ago, I was in the ocean walking back toward the shore. I had been careful not to wander too deep because there are things hidden by the water. Without warning, the ground disappeared, and I was on my way back out to sea. This mix reminds me of that day. What started as an ambient mix quickly moved sideways when I added some guitar work that my friend RJ sent along. Sometimes sideways takes you back out to sea; other times, it just takes you someplace different.

A couple of days before I started work on EP-009, I caught a video where Adam Neely breaks down The Girl From Ipanema. I always found Bossa Nova to be fascinating, but I had never considered why it fascinated me. If you're into the technical or theory side of music, that video is incredible. Inspired by that, and Bossa Nova in general, I let it influence this week's track. Before you hit "play" with those expectations, you should know that this isn't a Bossa Nova song. It does take hints from how Bossa Nova builds drums and layers rhythms, but that's as far as the similarities go. And that's because about halfway into the song, my friend RJ sent me a guitar track that layered nicely onto what I had written. So, like how The Girl From Ipanema borrowed from Samba and Jazz, this song borrows from Bossa Nova, Massive Attack, ambient music, and Rock and Roll. Enjoy!

In EP-007 I re-visited a technique I used in the early 2000s – I built some of the background percussion by taking a sound or rhythm in the foreground, exporting it, manipulating it, and then re-importing it back into the track. In this episode I wanted to push on that a lot harder, so I gave myself a challenge. Every sound you hear in EP-008 is from the same starting point: one complex rhythm track. No additional instruments were used to create this one. Enjoy!

I started this song fully intending to make it a nice, calming, happy mix. The end result was something different. I thought about rewriting it, but sometimes we need the honest soundtrack for what is really going on around us. We need the reminder that there will be bad days. Sometimes even bad weeks, months, or years. Sometimes you're left standing in ashes. And that too can be okay.

I wanted to do something special for this episode to celebrate the 100th download. (It happened either during EP. 004 or Ep. 005, depending on how you count the numbers.) 100 is the first milestone I had for this, and hopefully the start of many. So, to celebrate, I wrote an hour-long ambient mix for you. ...and then had to shorten it to 45 minutes to fit within my upload limits. I'll be looking into that. Anyway, my friend once pointed out that some people like ambient music while working, or doing complex tasks. But other people prefer ambient music for things like meditation, and prayer. If you're listening to ambient music for that reason you want it to stay out of your way and let you focus. Well, this mix is a lot of that. Some mixes at an hour or more are just the same few bars on repeat. And there's a reason or two for that. But I didn't feel right just looping things a few hundred times and calling it a "special mix." While I did want to stay true to minimal, drone, ambient music, there are subtle themes that cross back and forth to give this a lot of subtle background intricacy while the main part of the song does stay its minimal course. I hope you enjoy it!

For this episode, I wanted to get back to playing guitar. And then promptly snapped two strings. Ah well, there are still four other strings on a guitar, right? ;) This glitchy ambient mix draws inspiration from the ocean. 

I starting writing this episode around the release of EP-002, and it was supposed to be EP-003. It began as a collection of hopeful textures and droning sounds, but with everything going on at the time the music took a different twist. With another week or two to write and adjust, it went through a few more changes to become what it is: a semi-cinematic, somewhat dark, ambient soundscape.

This episode is a little different from the previous editions, and it's a lot more musical. I was asked to create something to help fight anxiety, but the original track I made just wasn't right. I wrote and rewrote this release a few times, but I'm happy with where it landed. I know we're surrounded by chaos right now, but I hope this helps.

In this episode we explore ambient textures and soundscapes. Some of it gets a little dark, but it shouldn't have the kids screaming or anything. ;) The first portion of this mix is taken from the EP "Sources I," which is due to release in June, 2020. It features additional guitar by RJ Schodowski.

In this episode I look back through old work and give it new life. There are bits from video and game soundtracks, unreleased and unheard music. Styles range from ambient to upbeat electronic.

As a kid, I was always writing and performing music. So, I think it would shock a lot of people to know that I haven't been working with music full time for the last 15 years in some capacity. The truth is, I was about to be married when I was offered a great job on the web. So, I took it. In the years after that, I slowly set music aside. It wasn't that I didn't love it. There just wasn't enough time with learning a career, starting a business, and raising kids. I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I love my family, and my work has taught me so much that compliments what I want to do with music and digital art. I've even written soundtracks for games and videos, too. So it's not like I haven't had a chance to write music. It just hasn't been at the forefront of my life for a while. But the thing about setting aside something you love is, it'll probably haunt you a little bit until you make time for it again. So, every month I'll be releasing at least two mixes of original music. To do that, I'll dig into the music I made a long time ago, and some that I've written more recently. I'll probably have an occasional guest, too. Style-wise, these will often be ambient, atmospheric, soundscapes. But I also have a weak spot for intricate, glitchy, granular drums. And since I've written in a lot of styles, there's no telling where each mix will go. I hope you'll listen and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. I'll be over here dusting off the gear and working on the music in the meantime. See you soon!