New Song: (KP1-8.5) SACRED MUSIC (LONELY NIGHTS), composed and arranged by Kevan Paul

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This song came from a combination of several ideas. The first element was a riff that I kept hearing on the guitar and wanted to incorporate. The second element was the flute and drums as the basis of sacred music for native cultures, especially natives of North America. The third element was finding a process for gathering the melody and chord structure together. The first and second elements were easy because I already had some melodic content in my head that I wanted to develop -- especially the flute and violin trading melodic lines.

The title was changed from "Lonely Nights" to "Sacred Music" during the course of the week that I worked on this piece. The intent for the first title was a reflection of the idea that for someone to produce something on a creative level, there needs to be often lonely and quiet moments in time that allow the mind to assemble and "get-in-tune" with the ideas that are getting the "creative-attention". Then yesterday I heard the quote that "music is love, looking for expression", and I wanted to change the title to reflect that music can be a sacred experience, and can have great healing strength. This is in keeping with the theme of this album of songs. If there needed to be a sub-title, it would be "Lonely Nights", as I think back to all of the time that I've spent in my life practicing music, reading, thinking by myself at night. This is a necessary sacrifice, as I do not have the luxury of being able to go to work everyday as a musician --- my music must be attended to at nights and on weekends. For me, "sacred music" and "lonely nights" go hand-in-hand.


The third element of composition process was the hard one. I have tried several software tools in the course of the last week working on this song, but so far I'm not coming up with a process that works for me. When a composer starts with a melody, the chord structure can be a stumbling block to getting the musical ideas written or recorded. When learning someone's song, it is easier to dissect the chord arrangement as a first step; composing seems to be a bit different than that for me, but I want to follow correct musical principles of arranging the chord progressions, etc. I will continue my investigation into finding the right mix of tools and processes to help me build the original songs and compositions that I want to produce.

New Song: KP1-6.2 SOLAR ENERGY, composed and arranged by Kevan Paul

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This song is written in a traditional jazz idiom, so it reflects a style developed well by Jon Luc Ponty, Regina Carter, Charlie Bishart, and other great jazz-violinists.

The song title "Solar Energy" reflects the flow of the song, from slow sunrise, to intense noon-day sun, and final sunset. The use of the sun for our daily energy needs is available to all humans on the planet. No more excuses for not building the infrastructure to support this process. We all need to be solar-energy pioneers right now! This is my anthem to that process.

The use of the midi-converted violin melody provides the basis of the synthesizer effects. I started working on this piece in August, but it was not developing as I wanted. Yesterday, it seemed to come together, and the last violin track I used was not edited at all -- this could be considered a live performance from that perspective. No recording tricks on the violin --- that's the real deal.

Remix Song: KP1-5.1 RIVENDELL, by Rick Wakeman

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This song is short and sweet. I wanted to add violin to this song to demonstrate how acoustic piano and electric-violin work so well together, and move beyond the "classical" music cliches when other sonic elements are added. Of course Rick Wakeman and YES have been doing this for decades. YES has always been one of my favorite bands and I was listening to them extensively when I was a senior in high school (along with Led Zepplin, Moody Blues, etc.).

I recorded this for my brother Rex, as I am anxious to work with him on performing with him in the same style - acoustic piano and electric-violin. He mentioned that he wanted to learn to play the dumbek drum, so I thought "why not add the ceramic-drum sound to this piece?" If you read this brother, I hope this motivates you to find a piano and call me.

This song was re-mixed from the Rick Wakeman album "The Lord of the Rings". Rivendell means the "deep valley of the cleft" (see Rivendell in WikiPedia), and was the valley that Bilbo Baggens stopped with the dwarves before going to the Lonely Mountain. In this case, we are coming back from the lonely mountain, and are traveling back to the mythical "home". I love Rick Wakeman's work, and would like to add electric-violin to some of the other solo pieces -- although I find solo piano soothing, it always beckons me to add violin to it.

Although this is a short piece, it took me all day to rehearse and edit the violin tracks. Rick Wakeman is absolutely masterful on piano, and I wanted to be as precise as possible with this piece --- I would love to perform this live.

Thanks for everyone who has listened to these songs -- there will be about 15-20 songs posted by the end of November, 2008, so keep coming back for more musical analysis, comments on home-recording techniques, and electric-violin experimentation.

Remix Song: KP1-4.2 Baal T'Shuva, by Michael Hedges

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This was another Michael Hedges solo track from the "Beyond Boundaries" album. I didn't know what the title meant, until I looked it up on WikiPedia. The phrase means "He Who Has Repented", but I don't know what the reference is as far as why Michael gave the song that title.

The title seems appropriate to the message of healing, especially spiritual healing. Repentance can be a very emotional and painful experience, but the after-effects are a feeling of relieve and composure. There is so many moments that need reflection and repentance, For me, I want to repent from procrastinating this recording project --- I started this project last winter, as far as the concept, and the methods of recording. I'm not really sure why it has taken so long to get the project going to do the actual recording and editing, but I have no more excuses.

As I was playing through the song, I kept hearing allusions to the Hallelujah hymn that is sung at Easter time, I don't know if this was sub-conscious or not, but I echoed the allusion in the violin part.

I love the way the guitar sounds (hopeful, full), and this was main reason for choosing this track to add violin and percussion.
Upon request, I've added another link to this song provide connectivity via viddler.

New Song: KP1-3.2 MOVE FORWARD, composed and arranged by Kevan Paul

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"Move Forward" is an original composition based on a violin theme that has been going around in my head for about six months. The addition of the 104 beats-per-minute drum track gave my original version of the theme a whole new feelling, and I just went where the rhythm wanted to take me while trying to keep the run intact.

I was desperate to find some guitar samples to go with this, but I had to settle for the cheesy GarageBand sample loops for lack of a better option. The intent was to give it a sporadic "heavy-metal" sound in certain sections to give the impression that sometimes you have to just "grind it out" and keep moving forward regardless of the circumstances or how many people are expecting or predicting your failure. When failure is not an option, this is song that I want running around in my head. I had recorded this song last Sunday, and had it running in my head all week. When I get the chance, I want to re-record the guitar tracks with my own electric guitar or from a friend.

The primary violin part is going through the DigiTech GNX4 with IPS (Pitch add = 4th Up). This may seem a little "bright", but I wanted the theme to stand-out. I can't remember what the RaySpace settings were, but this was the first song that I applied RaySpace to after I bought it online from QuikQuak.com,

The recording isn't as perfect as I would like, but the artistic intent is representative for what I was trying to achieve.

Remix Song: KP1-2.2 Rickover's Dream, by Michael Hedge

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This song is a "re-mix" from a solo guitar recording by Michael Hedges, on his "Beyond Boundaries" album. I added original violin parts that I feel adds a whole new dimension to the song, as well as the synthesizer percussive effects that give the song the "dream-like" essence that keeps true to the title that Michael gave it.

The violin part was essentially a one-take improvisation, with mild editing (I did not hear too many weird notes), and the synthesizer track was deliberately random to give a sub-consciousness effect of the Rapid-Eye-Movement phase of sleep (when the dreams occur).

Dreams are an essential part of daily healing, and the reason I selected this song via the title and ability to add violin tracks (one with dubbing to a second track for the runs and fills).

I can't remember the synthesizer settings or the DigiTech GNX4 settings that I used on this song, so I hope I can replicate if I need to someday. I'm going to use the blog to keep better record of the settings for future reference.