I’ve been doing a lot of recording in the past several years where the guitar tones are important. Who am I kidding? Guitar tone is always important. I’ve recently made the switch to using software and computers for all my guitar sounds and amplification.
Great Guitar Tones
One thing I’ve found in my exploration of sound is that there is more than one way to get great guitar tones. This is a different mentality from a majority of guitar players that believe there is only one way which involves a classic guitar and a hardware amplifier. No matter where I go and mention that I’m using a computer for my guitar tones, I get people that say its not possible. Not possible that is, until they hear it. Then they change their minds.
Looking around on YouTube and other parts of the internet, I’ve been unable to find anyone who is really showing how to use a computer to get great tones. Thus I recorded a short series of simple tutorials on the subject. Here is the first one that gives a beginning look at how I’m doing it and part of what I’m using software wise.
The revolution is here. Enjoy and stay tuned for the next two videos.
Developing A Midi Foot Controller
In an effort to create a better live performance experience, I’m developing a midi foot controller. One that is more simple and more advanced than any other I’ve researched on the market.
Why? Well, I caught a glimpse of Ed Sheeran playing live and found that his rig is a customized device that is fairly large. Initially I went looking for ones on the market that I could twist to my will. The common problem is they’re generally too simple or way too complex. None of them actually show you the computer’s screen that you’re connected to. Most are made of thin materials and plastic, meaning they’re not super durable.
I had an old midi controller for a traditional guitar rig that I have of normal hardware like an amp, power amp, effects racks, etc. I connected it up to the computer to see if it would communicate correctly with the software I’m going to be using in a laptop. What I discovered was disappointing. It could do a few things, but not everything, despite being a very advanced midi controller. Oh well.
Next Step:
A couple of months ago I started sketching (using Paper by FiftyThree) on my iPad for a pedal board that would do what I wanted it to do.
Then I picked up a 20″ x 30″ piece of foam board. I started poking holes and tracing things out to make a bit more sense. My next sketch became this:
I mentioned my endeavor to a buddy of mine at lunch and how I was looking to find a fabricator that could make the casing. That sent me on a long journey. I learned about metals and how they get cut and/or welded. The original company I went to sent me on an excursion. First I needed a version of my design in a file format I had never heard of, dxf. Then he could give me an estimate. I called my sister and asked if she had heard of that format because she’s an architect. Sure enough she had and asked me to send her my drawings. A week and a couple of lengthy screenshare sessions later – she sent a dxf of the design that was improved upon initial vision.
I went back to the builders to get an estimate. Then he sent me on another journey to ask about powder coating. I ended up talking to about 8 different manufacturers. None of whom could do the case from front to back. Everyone had one thing they did and charged a lot for. So I went back to the first company and said: Let’s go with it. They responded, sorry – our cutter won’t do aluminum because it screws up their machines. I wanted aluminum because it would be strong a light.
Another round of hunting and I found a company that could do it from start to finish. And to make things even cooler, the guy rendered my case into a 3rd model.
And gave me a much better quote than all the previous people, by a long shot. Then came more questions and in the process of talking about it, he had additional ideas to help improve the design of my foot controller from a builders/welders standpoint. To which my sister agreed. The next rendition was:
At this point I was ready to say – let’s do this.
Story of the foot controller will continue in the next block post.
The pedal to Phoenix
Becoming a phoenix of sound. That’s my new mission as of January 1st 2015. I didn’t consciously make a new year’s resolution about it, but I’m definitely on the path.
While in Las Vegas to play a gig in 2014, I was hanging with a good friend. He put on the TV while we were chilling and on came the show Austin City Limits from his DVR. It was the episode with Ed Sheeran playing some of his material as he does – solo acoustic with a looping setup. Instant inspiration struck me. Right then, right there. I pulled out my iPad to do a little research into what Ed uses to get his loops happening. It was a bust on the net with every site saying, oh he uses the RC-30 or some such little Roland pedal.
No way was it a little Roland pedal that I saw on the screen. It was something much bigger, much better. My buddy Brian, who’s house it was and who is also a musician, obliged me as I freeze framed the show at the few spots that had his pedal board on screen. Unfortunately there was no real clear shot of the name, nor of the make. [not until early January did I find a little corner of the web that gave a good detail of the box: The Chewie Monsta, Ed’s custom board.]
But boy did it hit me about how to approach the new singles I’m going to be dropping this year. Hit me in how to perform them live when I’m sans band. Thus began the process in my head.
Phoenix of Sound
I called another fellow tinkering musician late last year and asked if he’d be willing to embark on the mission with me. Mostly because he’s into making weird instruments and knew he’d appreciate it. So far its only been talk about where to get parts.
It dawned on me in early this year that I have an old midi pedal that I had for my amp rigs, just sitting in storage. A real tank build of a midi pedal (image above). Lots of tap dancing happened on this device early in my career. It still looks the same. It’s a super solid construction. In fact I don’t think any other midi pedal controller was as expansive or solidly built.
Leave to me to be the one person to find a flaw in it.
[pause for effect]
I know you’re thinking, what the hell is the flaw? Well, it has to do with the position of the expression pedals when you hit a patch change. Turns out that if an expression pedal was at a certain point in its range and I hit a sound change on the midi wizard. It would send the wrong expression pedal setting.
How did you figure that shit out Jody? (you ask).
Like any inquisitive musician with a computer, I hooked the midi wizard up to the computer and started stepping on the expression pedals and the midi wizard. What I found out was that if the pedal was between 0-60 in its range, it would get sent as 0. Above 60 and it was fine, the number would go out. Man what a pain in the ass that was on volume stuff. I did mention it to the people at Rolls who promptly told me, who cares – we don’t intend on fixing the issue. Ouch!!
So I had to make due with it, meaning that I had to rework a whole lot of carefully crafted amp settings to work around it. Not fun when a company couldn’t give a shit about a product bug. I don’t think they make the midi wizard any more and now there’s a midi buddy. But I wonder if they kept the bug in that product.
When I made the jump to using a laptop for recorded and live sound, I put my pedal board in storage with the rest of my amps. There they sat, unthought about. Neglected. Miserable. Not any more!
Rebuild
As of moments after this post goes live, I will start tearing apart the pedal board, assessing which parts to keep, and which to sell off. Then I will start tearing apart the midi wizard itself and thinking how I can take its guts and finding a new housing for it. See I’m thinking of doing something along the lines of the Chewie Monsta. Only a little more in depth.
I want to be able to create multiple loops. I want to be able to erase takes if needed. I want to be able to turn parts on and off. I want to have visual feedback from the board. I want awesome sound quality.
The first things come from the computer I’ll be tied to and its software. Right now I’m contemplating using MainStage along with Mobius. Mostly because MainStage can do almost all the things I need it to do with a full band setup. There are a couple of things I want it to do which will require a call to Apple. Thus why not use the same software for the acoustic setup, then its only a quick change of programs between which type of show I’m playing, full band or solo.
I could still use Ableton, I have that all set up for the full band thing. But that takes the fun out of learning new software right?
The pedal part doesn’t have all the feedback I need. Not the visual cue anyway. What I wish to do is put a laptop screen into the box on the floor. This will give me the visual feedback that I need from MainStage.
The next step is to start pulling things apart and finding a metal worker. Actually I already know one. I’m hoping he won’t charge me too much money to create a custom case to fit all these pieces into once I get it into working order.
Stay tuned, more pics and story about the journey will come.1
Apple introduces an Apple Watch. Earlier today, like many people, I took a little time off to sit and watch the Apple Event. Yes, I’m still an Apple nut. Hell all the new singles I’m stockpiling for imminent release were recorded on a multitude of Apple computers. So yeah, I pay attention. Of course if you’ve been listening to the rumor mill then you’d heard the iWatch was sure to unveil and sure to be like all other tech companies who rushed their watches out to market to “beat” Apple. Instead they got the Apple Watch.
As a disclaimer, I don’t wear watches. It’s not my schtick to do so. There’s so many clocks around, on the phone, in the car, everywhere you look, there’s a clock. Thus, I don’t have a strong desire for a watch. That being said, I can very much appreciate the detail and fine design that has gone into the Apple Watch. Do I really want one? No. Would I get one? Maybe. Would I wear it? I haven’t a clue, but I did end up buying one – I’d make sure to wear it.
I wonder if it will be like an iPad? Actually, I kinda wanted an iPad when they were announced. I could see the usefulness of it immediately. I’ve started reading a lot of books since I’ve had the thing. I used it constantly. I just don’t see why I’d want a watch that requires me to have my phone with me in order to use it. Why look at pictures on a tiny Apple Watch face when I could whip out my iPad or my iPhone and see it there on a bigger screen? Same can be said for music? It’s got an iTunes app. However, they don’t show where you listen – again, I think it’s tied to the iPhone, or other iDevices.
I suppose it will come down to whether or not I think it’s worthwhile to get an Apple Watch as a health tracker. Then again, the iPhone already does all this and more. *sigh*
The real cool/frightening thing that was announced was Apple Pay. In my own efforts to reduce the clutter in my pockets I’ve stopped carrying credit cards or a wallet. I have to remember when I need them. However, it would be extremely cool to have it tied to my phone. As Apple has now done with the upcoming iPhone 6 and iOS 8. Their feature is super cool. The consumer version of their security features sound great, but the reality is something we know nothing about yet. Hopefully we don’t start hearing stories of Apply Pay horror like the recent Apple ID hacks of naked celebrity photos that everyone thought was a direct issue with iCloud. Mind you, I went and deleted questionable photos of myself off my iCloud when it was announced
We’ve all committed them, word crimes. The odd thing is, texting and the internet has increased how prevalent they are. Leave it to the master of the comedic reinterpretation of popular songs to come up with a brilliant new version of Blurred Lines. Sorry Robin Thicke, you have been bested by the man, the myth, the legend – Weird Al. Not since he’s done something like Eat It to Michael Jackson’s Beat It has there been something so funny.
Word Crimes is amazing in it’s ability to be funny. It’s like a cool version of a School House Rock song. Actually School House Rock stuff from it’s early days is brilliant, but it’s the video that goes with Word Crimes that really makes it awesome. The graphics are stunning. Plus the word play that goes on with the images is one of the most creative things I’ve seen in a long time.
Word Crimes
Everybody shut up, WOO!
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
If you can’t write in the proper way
If you don’t know how to conjugate
Maybe you flunked that class
And maybe now you find
That people mock you online
Okay, now here’s the deal
I’ll try to educate ya
Gonna familiarize
You with the nomenclature
You’ll learn the definitions
Of nouns and prepositions
Literacy’s your mission
And that’s why I think it’s a
Good time
To learn some grammar
Now, did I stammer
Work on that grammar
You should know when
It’s “less” or it’s “fewer”
Like people who were
Never raised in a sewer
I hate these word crimes
Like I could care less
That means you do care
At least a little
Don’t be a moron
You better slow down
And use the right pronoun
Show the world you’re a no-clown
(Everybody wise up)
Say you got an “I-T”
Followed by apostrophe “s”
Now what does that mean?
You would not use this in this case
As a possessive
It’s a contraction
What’s a contraction?
Well, it’s the shortening of a word, or a group of words
By the emission of a sound or letter
Okay, now here are some notes
Syntax you’re always dangling
No X in “Espresso”
Your participle’s danglin’
But I don’t want your drama
If you really wanna
Leave out that Oxford comma
Just keep in mind
That we see
Are you
Are words not letters?
Get it together
Use your spellchecker
You should never
Write words using numbers
Unless you’re seven
Or your name is Prince
I hate these word crimes
You really need a
Full time proofreader
You dumb mouthbreather
Well, you should hire
Some cunning linguist
To help you distinguish
What is proper English
(Everybody wise up)
One thing I ask of you
Time to learn your homophones is past due
Learn to diagram a sentence too
Always say to whom
Don’t ever say to who
Yeah, listen up when I tell you this
I hope you never use quotation marks for emphasis
If you finished second grade
I hope you can tell
If you’re doing good or doing well
Figure out the difference
Irony is not coincidence
And, I thought that you’d gotten it through your skull
What’s figurative and what’s literal
Oh but, just now, you said
You literally couldn’t get out of bed
That really makes me want to literally
Smack a crowbar upside your stupid head
I read your e-mail
It’s quite apparent
You’re grammar’s errant
You’re incoherent
Saw your blog post
It’s really fantastic
That was sarcastic (Oh, psych!)
Cause you write like a spastic
I hate these Word Crimes
(Everybody wise up)
Your pose is dopey
Think you should only
Write in emoji
Oh, you’re a lost cause
Go back to preschool
Get out of the gene pool
Try your best to not drool
Never mind I give up
Really now I give up
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
Go Away!
Woo hoo! Now go out and stop committing these common word crimes!
I feel like I’m sitting on pins and needles wondering about Touch and if things will come what may for it. Which leads me into a new song coming out from Ian Thornley and his group Big Wreck. In the course of his music, it’s more progressive sounding than his progressive past.
What do I mean by that?
Some of my favorite songs by Ian are song that are very different in their rhythmic structure. My favorite where he mixes odd time with a tune has to be Ladylike. There’s such a cool combination going there. However, this new song of his Come What May is pushing that balance into an uptempo number that feels like it could be some sort of pop style rock song. Unfortunately it contains chords and movements that will cause most people to scratch their heads. Unlike most of his melodies, this one isn’t instantly catchy, but damn it sure has a cool movement to it.
Come What May
Break off a little piece of happiness
No body gets hurt more or less
Whatever it takes to get you through
The night is gonna have to do
Under the weight of daily bread
You’d rather wake to cake instead
Would you believe a photograph
Was all it took and all that’s left
Of missing pieces
I throw myself in the river
I need to wash my head and float away
‘Cause I know that I’ll be delivered
Everything cast adrift
Come what may
I’m fed up with the pace of saving face
I’m squeezing what I can’t replace
Fiddled with the fire ’til I got burned
With all I’ve lost you’d think I’d learned
By missing pieces
I throw myself in the river
I need to wash my head and float away
‘Cause I know that I’ll be delivered
Everything cast adrift
Come what may
I throw myself in the river
I need to wash my head and float away
‘Cause I know that I’ll be delivered
Everything cast adrift
Come what may
I throw myself in the river
I need to wash my head and float away
‘Cause I know that I’ll be delivered
Everything cast adrift
Come what may
Enjoy your day!
Who knew that my horizons would get expanded by a Chandelier?
Happiness is knowing that you can learn, grow and expand. Such is where I’m heading in my own career. Even as little as a few years ago I would have never been into hyper lush production of a song. At least not beyond getting a good sound and making a good blend with a standard type of band setup and maybe adding a few additional sounds. Now I’m checking out songs that are humongous arrangements with track counts that number well over 48. Ones that have awesome sounds in them built in layers and layers. Such is the case with Chandelier sung by Sia. The production on this tune was achieved by Jesse Shatkin and Greg Kurstin.
What I really enjoy with this song is phrase “1, 2, 3, Drink.” There’s a really clever use of prosody in music with that part. It’s something that a musician would appreciate, but the consumer would just think “oh that’s cool.” What happens where she’s singing 1, 2, 3 is that the vocal is parsing in triplet quarter notes over the beat. Three counts getting a division of three across beats – as I said: clever. The melody soars when it hits the word Chandelier, which also has a sense of prosody thanks to the fact that Chandeliers tend to hang from a ceiling up above.
Sonically, there’s a ton of ear candy and while a pop song doesn’t have to be chock full of ear candy to be good, said ear candy can take a good song with a memorable melody and push into great. I could listen to this on repeat and be happy.
Chandelier by Sia
Party girls don’t get hurt
Can’t feel anything, when will I learn
I push it down, push it down
I’m the one “for a good time call”
Phone’s blowin’ up, they’re ringin’ my doorbell
I feel the love, feel the love
1,2,3 1,2,3 drink
1,2,3 1,2,3 drink
1,2,3 1,2,3 drink
Throw em back, till I lose count
I’m gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
I’m gonna live like tomorrow doesn’t exist
Like it doesn’t exist
I’m gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry
I’m gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
And I’m holding on for dear life, won’t look down won’t open my eyes
Keep my glass full until morning light, ’cause I’m just holding on for tonight
Help me, I’m holding on for dear life, won’t look down won’t open my eyes
Keep my glass full until morning light, ’cause I’m just holding on for tonight
On for tonight
Sun is up, I’m a mess
Gotta get out now, gotta run from this
Here comes the shame, here comes the shame
1,2,3 1,2,3 drink
1,2,3 1,2,3 drink
1,2,3 1,2,3 drink
Throw em back till I lose count
I’m gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
I’m gonna live like tomorrow doesn’t exist
Like it doesn’t exist
I’m gonna fly like a bird through the night, feel my tears as they dry
I’m gonna swing from the chandelier, from the chandelier
And I’m holding on for dear life, won’t look down won’t open my eyes
Keep my glass full until morning light, ’cause I’m just holding on for tonight
Help me, I’m holding on for dear life, won’t look down won’t open my eyes
Keep my glass full until morning light, ’cause I’m just holding on for tonight
On for tonight
Enjoy your day and the song!
There’s a tune that’s passed through my iTunes radio called “She Looks So Perfect” recently. The surprising thing is that iTunes Pop is saying that this band’s other single called “Good Girls” is the #1 on the chart. I’m wondering why the hell it is. Mostly because the first time I heard GG – I immediately was like who the hell would rip off Blink 182, RUSH?!?, Green Day and other pop punk bands so blatantly? I mean the riffs of the guitars in Good Girls were so obviously stolen it’s silly. I decided, who did it and found it was a band called 5 Seconds of Summer.
I was taken aback because I really enjoy She Looks So Perfect. It’s got that typical teen angst anthemic quality – retaining a very familiar vibe without being so blatant of a rip-off. My favorite line in the song is “She looks so perfect standing there in my American Apparel underwear and I’m so down; Your lip-stick stain is a work of art I got your name tattooed in an arrow heart and I’m so down.” It’s pure fun and I dig it. It’s a perfect beach/summer romance. My only hope is they’ll branch out into their own thing.
She Looks So Perfect
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
Simmer down, simmer down
They say we’re too young now to amount to anything else
But look around
We worked too damn hard for this just to give it up now
If you don’t swim, you’ll drown
But don’t move, honey
You look so perfect standing there
In my American Apparel underwear
And I know now, that I’m so down
Your lipstick stain is a work of art
I got your name tattooed in an arrow heart
And I know now, that I’m so down
Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
Let’s get out, let’s get out
‘Cause this deadbeat town’s only here just to keep us down
While I was out, I found myself alone just thinking
If I showed up with a plane ticket
And a shiny diamond ring with your name on it
Would you wanna run away too?
‘Cause all I really want is you
You look so perfect standing there
In my American Apparel underwear
And I know now, that I’m so down
I made a mix-tape straight out of ’94
I’ve got your ripped skinny jeans lying on the floor
And I know now, that I’m so down
Hey! Hey, hey, hey hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
You look so perfect standing there
In my American Apparel underwear
And I know now, that I’m so down
Your lipstick stain is a work of art
I got your name tattooed in an arrow heart
And I know now, that I’m so down
Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Hey, hey, hey
You look so perfect standing there
In my American Apparel underwear
And I know now, that I’m so down (hey!)
Your lipstick stain is a work of art
I got your name tattooed in an arrow heart
And I know now, that I’m so down
Enjoy your summer kick off!
For most people there are only the biggies in the music app world. That would be apps like Spotify, iTunes Radio, iHeartRadio, and Pandora. I can’t forget the biggest purveyor of music video discovery as a means to find music, YouTube. None of these services suck. None of them are fulfilling a perfect music need either. However, being the forward thinking musician I am, I went hunting for some more music apps that tread paths off the beaten road. All because music junkies need to fuel their appetites. I found 5 music apps cooler than Kanye West. Because according to Kanye, he is the biggest thing in rock. So here we go:
5 Music Apps Cooler Than Kanye West
In no set order, the first app on my list is:
Lisnr
To start with, you can tell they’re taking a cue from Tumblr for their app name. I can roll with that, but I’m not sure dropping letters is the best way to title a service. What do they do?
From the Lisnr website: “Lisnr gives artists a new way to connect with their fans. By installing Lisnr on your mobile device, you’ll unlock exclusive content created by the artists you love, just by listening to your favorite music. Lisnr works at live events too, dynamically responding to your environment, and giving you a secondary experience to share with your friends.
Lisnr only ‘hears’ the ultra-sonic frequencies embedded in Lisnr-enabled tracks. Once this frequency is picked up by your phone’s internal microphone, you’ll receive a push notification if any content has been unlocked.”
As I’ve been checking out the app a vast majority of the artists jumping on the service are rap and hip hop types. Though I’ve also come across some singer/songwriter types too.
It’s a very forward thinking concept that requires your phone & the app to unlock content from the app. This app provides a cool way to connect already eager fans to new material using a watermarking technique. Content can range from messages from the artist, show tickets, videos, bonus tracks and more.
Personally I’m not a big fan of watermarking music files. I’m more of the mindset that audio fingerprints of the music itself work much better and don’t alter the content in the slightest. If Lisnr could make their app work with an audio fingerprint then the service becomes a major boon to both the artist and the fan. As it stands – it’s still really cool and the idea is there.
Stereomood
Listening to music based on the mood you’re in. Novel concept right there. How often to people just put the radio or some other streaming service on to be background noise to their life. Well now you can enhance that by picking the music to fit the mood you’re in at any given moment.
Where do they get their music? As per their website “Stereomood’s songs are all aggregated from the best music blogs across the net and filtered by music aficionados, so you never know when you’ll discover something unreleased and unheard!“
If you find a track that you really dig on Stereomood they have direct links to iTunes and Amazon. I’m unable to find information about whether or not they pay out streaming royalties. But they do have a way for artists to submit music to the service and a way to serve a take down notice if something has submitted your music without your consent.
I really dig the idea of the way it uses mood to help you find new music. Every song I heard on the service was something I had never heard before. Better yet, it was good music too. That’s a great quality to have.
MPme
Welcome to another app that runs across multiple devices and platforms all syncable. That’s a great thing for our modern world. Means you don’t have to be locked into a particular thing like iOS (which I’m a fan of). MPme scans your library and then goes out and creates stations based on the music you already dig. If that’s not enough for listening to music, you can also search for artists or songs and it will curate stations based on the search words. Plus it has the social network factor so that you can share music discoveries with your friends.
Another plus is that it has direct purchase links so you can purchase the music you come across that you instantly love. That’s something that should be standard on all music apps.
As I’m sitting here grooving on music from the app, it’s playing tunes that carry on my own musical thing of making my head bob. Something stuff I write does to others. That’s an awesome thing.
8Tracks
The service with the ancient defunct media’s name. 8Track tapes were all the rage a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. Well before my time anyway.
What sets this music app apart from many others is that the music is curated by actual humans and not algorithms. Take that big boys like those mentioned at the top of the post.
One of the most beautiful things is that directly on their website they have a full page dedicated to how they pay royalties to SESAC, Sound Exchange, BMI and ASCAP. That’s music to my ears. Transparency in it’s best form.
Most of what I heard on the service was EDM – but it was EDM that I enjoyed. That’s a great thing.
exfm
Another socially oriented music player. It works like this: Create a profile and click on the heart icon when you hear a song you really like. It’s basically that simple. You can also follow other people, tastemakers, etc. They also feature hand curated playlists.
They don’t say how they pay artists anywhere on their website. That’s a little disappointing, but I’m going to assume they’re doing the right thing.
All the songs I heard on the service were by widely known acts that are already popular. Thus I’m going out on a limb and say that it’s not really about music discovery for more obscure music or by those without bigger marketing budgets behind them.
In Closing
There are a ton of new music apps coming out all the time. Taking a look at 5 of them being cooler than the greatest rockstar, a.k.a. Kanye West has been a fun exploration into the forefront of music tech. The one thing I’ve noticed about every one of them is that not one of them has solved the ultimate riddle of being the end all solution for music services. Got a favorite music app, let me know so I can check it out.
Happy Monday morning. Today’s little journey is going to be about remixes. When I did a song called Hero Unexpected I made a decision to seek out a few friends to do some remixes of the song. It didn’t hurt that so many people really dug the song. One of the remixes was by a friend who would come to my game nights, Chris Carter. No, not the Chris Carter that penned the X-Files. Chris ‘Von Pimpenstein’ Carter, as he’s known to go by. A master music mixer. It’s those game nights that bring us to this hanging with a hero for music monday. Rather this version of Hero Unexpected.
When you click on the audio button below, you’ll hear the version of my song that Chris came up with in-between our hanging out and playing games. It’s a darker, more urban embodiment that I never dreamed of. He actually came up with something super unique on it. I love that. Part of the whole reason I wanted to have remixes done.
Hero Unexpected – (Chris ‘Von Pimpenstein’ Carter Remix) [audio:http://jodywhitesides.com/media/crumbs/Hero Unexpected – (Chris ‘Von Pimpenstein’ Carter Remix).mp3]
If haven’t heard the original then I’d say hit the Hero Unexpected music page and listen to the audio clip there. Notice how night and day different Chris’ take on the song is. I have a wonderment about his audio wizardry and twisting my vocal into a new melodic value. That’s what caught me most off guard about his remix when I first heard it.
If you’re enjoying it as much as I do, I implore you to purchase the song at your favorite digital service. I also ask for you to sign up on my email list and keep abreast of new musical developments from me. We’ll both be happier for it.
Since those nights, Chris has moved to the east coast so there hasn’t been any hanging out together. We do stay in touch via email, phone and such. At some point we’ll get a chance for hanging out and/or work together again. If not for my music and his mixing talents, then most certainly for my pizza making skills. He loves my pizza.