The sky is blue & the sun shines, though a little cool, at least indoors as i sit & gaze out of my living room window in the early eve of Sat 30th April waiting for my bath to fill & ideas of what to write for VM blog. Inspiration in general is hard, never mind for music! Well I know sometimes my passion & thoughts on music are strong just like when I write poetry to which I have mainly created the few songs from, that I've produced.I love music whether by listening, practising, or performing etc; but its all mood & sometimes I just can't be fussed.But like with poetry, once started, you feel you have to keep going till you've finished it, though that doesn't always work. And work being the operative word, as you need to keep working at it until you get it right, which can really take the fun out of it at times.
Wonder if my bath is overflowing, best check as i have a bit of a history with this & can get easily distracted! : /
Its hard to find the energy after a long hard day at work then rush to get ready for singing practice, but however bad you feel when you get there, by the end of the session (even though you may still be tired) you feel alot better & the reward that you've made progress (well, sometimes that is:)
And not to sound cocky, but I was recently at a recording studio in Manchester as a 40th birthday gift I received from a bunch of close friends as a 'singing experience' to which it most certainly was. Friends can really surprise you at times with their thoughtfulness.
I went to the Recording studio this one Saturday eve with my girlfriend & another 2 couples as support to hear me sing 3 songs that you get to choose to sing & learn how it all works. So here I am in this wonderful studio where many great (& poor) artists had performed before me, I was 'living the dream'.
I was supposed to only have 2 takes of each song, but the engineer very kindly allowed me 3.I had woke that morning with a splitting bad head & a usual back ache & slightly strained throat & as I finished the 1st go at song no:1 feeling reasonably pleased, then had a panic thinking, damn! I have to sing this another 2 times, which may seem nothing to most people, & in the real world, you would have as many takes as was needed to get it right(or depending on budget:) but I had 3 & I knew i had to try & make each one good & this is the point where it becomes more like work than fun.
But I enjoyed it all, along with the photo shoot after & the editing of the raw copy as well as the proffesionalism of the staff along with the stories & anecdotes of the business, like a recent visit from 'One direction' off of the X Factor doing a Pokemon advert & with all their entourage.
And the thing i love about music & i suppose poetry is when it hits you with such strong feeling out of the seeming blue. Whether its from the melody or lyrics of a song, a smell even or how blue the sky is that sparks off that feeling of how good or how poignant or sad it can suddenly make you feel, but that connection, whatever the feeling, though hopefully good makes life come alive.
We were recently at a live mic night at the Cobble & Clay cafe in Howarth held on the 1st Wednesday of every month & has only been going for several months & it was the 1st one I went to with 2 singing friends Judy & Jennie, to which me & Judy sang a few songs.It was a great night the 1st time which urged me to get VM along to a session, which we did with just 2songs performed to a grateful audience & I thought a very good evening, though haven't heard back comments from my comrades in harmony!
And it was another great live mic night about a few months back at the Stubbing Wharfe in Hebden Bridge where we were warmly welcomed & with good feed back to keep us wanting to do more as entertaining is what its all about!!
Well, just to finish off, I best tell you about the 'Raise your Banners' Festival fundraiser organised by Keith & its title 'World in Harmony' & to be held on May 20th at Shipley & District Social club.Hope you can join us at any of our performances?
Dave Mc
Wonder if my bath is overflowing, best check as i have a bit of a history with this & can get easily distracted! : /
Its hard to find the energy after a long hard day at work then rush to get ready for singing practice, but however bad you feel when you get there, by the end of the session (even though you may still be tired) you feel alot better & the reward that you've made progress (well, sometimes that is:)
And not to sound cocky, but I was recently at a recording studio in Manchester as a 40th birthday gift I received from a bunch of close friends as a 'singing experience' to which it most certainly was. Friends can really surprise you at times with their thoughtfulness.
I went to the Recording studio this one Saturday eve with my girlfriend & another 2 couples as support to hear me sing 3 songs that you get to choose to sing & learn how it all works. So here I am in this wonderful studio where many great (& poor) artists had performed before me, I was 'living the dream'.
I was supposed to only have 2 takes of each song, but the engineer very kindly allowed me 3.I had woke that morning with a splitting bad head & a usual back ache & slightly strained throat & as I finished the 1st go at song no:1 feeling reasonably pleased, then had a panic thinking, damn! I have to sing this another 2 times, which may seem nothing to most people, & in the real world, you would have as many takes as was needed to get it right(or depending on budget:) but I had 3 & I knew i had to try & make each one good & this is the point where it becomes more like work than fun.
But I enjoyed it all, along with the photo shoot after & the editing of the raw copy as well as the proffesionalism of the staff along with the stories & anecdotes of the business, like a recent visit from 'One direction' off of the X Factor doing a Pokemon advert & with all their entourage.
And the thing i love about music & i suppose poetry is when it hits you with such strong feeling out of the seeming blue. Whether its from the melody or lyrics of a song, a smell even or how blue the sky is that sparks off that feeling of how good or how poignant or sad it can suddenly make you feel, but that connection, whatever the feeling, though hopefully good makes life come alive.
We were recently at a live mic night at the Cobble & Clay cafe in Howarth held on the 1st Wednesday of every month & has only been going for several months & it was the 1st one I went to with 2 singing friends Judy & Jennie, to which me & Judy sang a few songs.It was a great night the 1st time which urged me to get VM along to a session, which we did with just 2songs performed to a grateful audience & I thought a very good evening, though haven't heard back comments from my comrades in harmony!
And it was another great live mic night about a few months back at the Stubbing Wharfe in Hebden Bridge where we were warmly welcomed & with good feed back to keep us wanting to do more as entertaining is what its all about!!
Well, just to finish off, I best tell you about the 'Raise your Banners' Festival fundraiser organised by Keith & its title 'World in Harmony' & to be held on May 20th at Shipley & District Social club.Hope you can join us at any of our performances?
Dave Mc