Summer Sessions 2018, Liner Notes, part one

The songs in this collection were all written in the last 3 or 4 years, but most of them were written this last year.  I think that after they were first written they evolved with a bit of influence from performing them weekly at local farmer's markets.

track #
1. You and Me
    This was really the first song I ever wrote, or at least the first song I began to write.  I remember that when I started it, and even when it was basically finished, I had it in mind that it should be song and played by somebody else, because at the time, I had not yet learned to play or sing in any way that was acceptable to me.  There was a local singer/player who really impressed me, John Moroski, and I had always imagined that he and a girl he had performed with a few times would sing the song. That's not happened and in the mean time, I just started playing it.  The song is a reflection of my life with my wife.

2.  Sleepy Head
     This song happened, as a few of them have, in a moment of realization one morning standing outside and greeting the day.  I often think about my son, when he was just a little guy, and of my dog/friend as she lay on her dog bed, and of my wife, and how I have gotten such joy from just watching them sleep.

3.  Take, a climbers song
     I rock climbed, the mother of my son climbed, and my son started climbing a bit because the woman he was seeing climbed.  When I was climbing, the lead climber, if he started to loose his grip on things, would shout down to the guy on the other end of the rope "Take".  It was a quick way to say take up all the slack in the rope and stop me from falling.  It seemed a good metaphor for a relationship and since my son now had both a climbing partner and a lover, well there you are.  I wrote this song for him, for them.  They married in 2018.



Well this is a start.  I'll get back to this with "Summer Sessions 2018, Liner Notes, part two"

Music style

I just heard back from a family member who took a listen to "Summer Session 2018".  "Folksy" was the descriptive used about the music.  I can agree with that.  The funny thing is that I would not have forecast that this is the music I might someday make.

reclaimed chairs and drum kit

For me, the creative process is really an structured kind of improvisation.  The entire genre of music called jazz embraces this kind of work.  But I didn't create jazz.

What has been coming to the page, thru my fingers, and thru my voice is a bit, "other" for me.  By that I mean that what I end up with isn't what I might set out to do, if I worked that way.  In truth, I don't work that way.  I have a compass point, a direction, but like any path thru the woods, or over the sea, a look back at the course reveals many moments traveling in any direction but the one I might have set out upon.  Because of this I don't always reach any final destination, but I always end up somewhere I want to be, but had no knowledge of before I set out.  I wouldn't change that method of travel, or method of discovery, or creation because it allows for something much greater than I my mind can imagine and allows me to be enriched by the experience, real time.  A bit deep for such simple music, I know.

The art that comes out is deeper than my conscious mind can fathom.  That is what makes making art such an adventure.  It is also what makes life an adventure too if one can allow oneself to be live a bit of a free form jazz version of life.  Really great jazz has some common elements, most of which I aspire to posses in my creation someday, and they are always, virtuosity thru practice and discipline, coupled with sensitivity and openness to feel and be in the present moment, and fearless freedom and acceptance of ones identity.  I think this is true, and the more I look into the artists that inspire me, the more this belief is affirmed.

Yes the music on this album is "Folksy", sure, why not, it's just a word to describe something that is best left unlabeled, and instead just experienced.  Call it what ever you want.

PEACE

Recording session

Today the studio had a guest doing a recording session.  It was good fun and a chance to be just an engineer, or tech person/producer, and not the one at the "sharp end of the mic"

the homely mic set up.  looks ugly, silly, but works well.

The take away is that the BSMS is a comfortable place to make music, and record it, which I already understood to be true for me, but now it's affirmed by another person.

Again the most impressive thing for me is the amount of technology that is available to most of us, and how affordable it is.  The microphone and a set of headphones are, literally, the only thing is this set up that had an out of pocket expense.  The computer was a gift/reclaimed from another persons upgrading their system, and graciously offering it to our household.  The software came with the computer, thanks APPLE/Mac.

I recently got two great chairs/stools, wood and leather, from the side of the road.  They are comfortable, not bad looking and great for music sessions.

I haven't tried recording the drum set that I found being thrown in a neighbors trash, but I'm about ready to try adding a percussion track to some of my other pieces.  Looking forward to figuring out the best way to record a drum kit with the equipment I have already.

The next big expenditure for the studio is going to be a splitter, or Y adapter for a mini stereo connection so the artist recording can listen, as well as the engineer.  I just found a 5 way splitter for
$12 at BestBuy.  Have to check with accounting to see if we can get it. 😉

Music as a mindful meditation

In the year 2018 it is amazing how much music is available to us, which means that it is incredible how much music is being made, and then recorded.  DATA, DATA,DATA!! It's everywhere.  I suppose that in a way, it is consciousness.  Being, is the biological process of digesting and evaluating data, using our brain.  Anyway, that is really for a different blog isn't it?

My reason for recording music was, in the beginning, just for personal documentation and analysis.  After a while I got a bit satisfied with my music, and then got happy about my music.  That's when the recordings had a purpose outside of being for my own personal use.

I firstly shared them with my brother, and closest friend, just as a way of keeping up with each other and what was going on in our lives.  Then it started to be a thing unto itself.  Making a recording that I was able to enjoy was a throwback to my younger days when I would make mixed tapes, or even before that when I would collect albums.  the difference now was that I didn't really have to record a song to enjoy it, I could just play it.  But I enjoy the tech side of being able to make a record.

When I was young, have the technology to make a decent recording was not a common thing.  One could transfer data that was already recorded if you had a tape to tape cassettes deck.  But not many had the equipment needed to make new recordings of any quality.

With todays technology almost everybody has enough recording equipment in the palm of their hand, almost constantly, to make airable quality recordings, by todays standards and by the standards of yesteryear too.

I'm old enough to really be thrilled by the possibilities that are available to me now with the current, and very common technologies.  Making an "album", or the individual tracks that make up an album, is a  process of creation of it's own that I kind of enjoy.

Holding up a cell phone and hitting record is one thing, but balancing the inputs of the different elements of a song, and then choosing the right kind of mastering effects for a particular recording, is a bit of a puzzle that I find engaging.  It used to be that only the engineers with access to million dollar studios got to play with this kinds of toys, but now with little more than the standard software of a common computer or tablet or even smartphone, anybody can play.

Like most things these days, many have the power but not so many have the wisdom, or artistic adeptness to use that power well.  I like the idea of developing these skills.  It's a bit like the playing of an instrument, the more technique I can acquire, and practice, the more potential for really good recordings.

I had a friend who was really good at making mixed tapes.  It was a whole thing just to sit down with ones music collection and sort thru, trying to imagine a playlist, and then a song order that worked best for a particular theme, or intended recipient of the mix.  It was fun, and a bit of a way of putting oneself into a process creative.  I think that today, using the algorithms that one can sign up for to make choices for you, removes a bit of the fun and participation that was required when I was younger.  We were one step more participants rather than consumers.

Producing a record is fun.  It is fun for me, and I know that the guys who do this on a professional level, record company level, also have fun doing it.  Creating is fun, and it seems as though a large bit of us are kind of missing that point in our consumer society.  It may be that all the uptake of social media has something to do with the fact that creating is fun.  Each persons representation on social media is a chance to "create" in an almost constant stream.  The problem is that it seems to be less like bringing forth something from ones mind, and moe like evacuating ones brain.  With the increase in the amount of data out there has to come the increase of boring, derivative noise.

Not everyone will like my art, my music, but then again, why should they?  It is personal, and in order for another to appreciate what is personal to me, I must first be known and important to them,  or, at least, I must being saying things that are common thoughts to many, and in a way that is easily understood by others.  So I don't really expect my creations to connect.  But then again, that isn't why I create.  Like I stated, it is an act of mindfulness, and act of meditation, a bit of yoga, or tai chi, a practice that does not try to separate the mind from the physical world that it exists in, but rather celebrates and nurtures the phenomenon.

It's meditation, yoga, tai chi and poetry
My Guild D150 guitar, pulled from a trash pile and restored to usefulness.  It's
the subject of my song "Second Hand Heart."  photo: Luis Bruno.

Beta Version, Summer Session 2018

Original album "artwork"
Only a few of those got released into the wild.

CD's as a medium are kind of fun.  If I was a wealthy man I might do what Jack White (White Stripes, Third Man Records,...) has done and just start pressing vinyl.  How cool would that be?  But then, how cool is Jack White.
   The CD is a medium that is actually accessible to me and though it is digital, it still has a tangible presence, and needs to be treated with a little bit of care.  It's an actual thing, and I like that.
   I recently came across a composer who was avoiding the whole physical recording aspect and was going to sell his music solely thru digital downloads.  I get it, it requires much less resource, such as money or material to make the item.  But there is something about having the little disc in my hand that makes me really happy.
   I happen to find the blank CD's that are stamped to look like little vinyl records.  I love 'em.  Only wish they left more room on the label for personalizing.
   The creation of an "album" is a whole different thing than the creation of a song, or piece of music, but it is a bit of fun as well.

     Here is the playlist of songs from my CD, and Album Artwork.

1. You&Me
2. Sleepy Head
3. Take, a climber’s song
4. The Last Reef
5. Missing Parts
6. Around Town
7. Second Hand Heart
8. Dreaming of Yesterday
9. Heart at Sea
   10. Going My Way
   11. Sweet Retribution
   12. MoonFlower Waltz
   13. Another Season, Alley’s song
   14. Casting Shadows, a song for Gretel
   15. The Moments

All songs property of Richard A Maldonado, copyright 2018. Cover art, “Eye”, digitized watercolor, Richard A Maldonado, 2018.  It takes inspiration from Tibetan Sand Mandalas, and the Great Rose Window of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, in NYC, where I was lucky enough to work for about a quarter century.

     So, yes, it's 15 original songs, all of which I played at the farmer's markets each week of this summer.  I think it's a pretty good cross section of the songs that I create.  I do have some work that is a bit darker, or grittier, or more experimental, and a handful of instrumentals that were the first things I wrote, but this selection seems like a good mix.
     Because of various computers dying on me, and my lack of enthusiasm for the work of backing up the digital documentation, I have lost some of those early Instrumental pieces, and my aging brain can only retain so much, it seems.
But I have found recordings of a handful of pieces from that era of music creating, and I hope to go back and revisit this work during the winter when I should be able to give it more time.
    I may take what instrumentals I do have recorded and put them together as a small album.  The organizing of elements to create an "album" is fun, though a bit tedious at times.  Just picking the artwork to be the visual signature for a collection of songs is really interesting.  I'm committed to making all the art mine, from the music, to the recording, to the cover art, and texts.
    Like the farmers markets I play at, and the local food sold there, I like my music to also be a local, small scale, and sustainable.  I like the Low and No pressure approach to marketing, which for me is basically, not marketing my work.  The creation of this CD came from being asked if my music was available.  So now it is.
     The best way to get a copy is to come by the markets and here me play and sing.  Try it before you buy it.  Maybe don't buy it, and instead just come to the market, buy some good food, have a cup of tea or coffee and a nosh, and enjoy some live, local music while you mix with your local community.
    I will be, slowly, maybe one song per blog entry, posting some info on the songs of this album, maybe even lyrics, for those who might be interested.  Until then.
Peace

Nyack farmers Market, Thursdays 9am-10am (market,8a-2pm)
      https://www.instagram.com/nyackfarmersmarket/?hl=en
        https://www.nyackchamber.org/nyack-farmers-market/

Haverstraw Market, Sundays 10am-1pm (market, 9am-1pm) come and play and sing along!

About 7 years ago, or maybe 40 years ago.......

About 7 years ago I started on an adventure, experiment, journey, education, and, or, a dare to myself, to learn to play guitar.

No, big deal really, lots of people do it.  I knew of people who had instruments, and some took lessons, some just dusted them off every so often.

I wanted to learn to play because I have enjoyed music since I was a child, but never had the discipline to study music, not really.  At this age, I'm 55 now, discipline and patience, and even tenacity are much more available to me than in my youth.

The paradox is that I feel I need less of these qualities because learning something new is just more fun now, and solving puzzles is something my mind loves.  I just prefer large puzzles that exist in the world, rather than on a dining room table or in a newspaper.

So, one day at a time, I've spent a few years learning day by day, note by note.  I'm still learning everyday.  But now I have the accumulated knowledge and experience of many, many days.  It's even more fun now.

"Summer Session 2018"

This CD is a collection of some of the songs that I wrote and then play at the local summer farmers markets, twice a week.

I hope to put up what would have been the liner notes for the album soon.

Peace,
R

Summer Sessions 2018

To acquire a CD copy of the album "Summer Session 2018" just contact me thru my profile email or leave a comment and a place for me to respond.

Peace!

Welcome

This site will be a source for info about any thing music related including performing, recordings and musings on music and the evolution of the Boat Shop Music Studio.

Make music, Peace!