Good Sunday!

I could write on and on about the stock market crash (which is kind of what it was last week… $6 trillion lost in two days), but I’ll leave that alone.  Needless to say, I’m not a fan and neither is my 401K.

Meanwhile, in Music News

A couple of weeks back, I thought I would try an experiment with an A.I. like Suno.  The idea was that I would input some ideas for a song and then collaborate with the A.I. for a song arrangement.  I’d heard other people’s songs using this tool.  I thought, why not?

Except:

I read the fine print on the agreement.  If I’m using the free version, I don’t actually own the song.  Suno’s management does.  I could use it for personal sharing only.  I could never release it as one of my own songs even where I might come up with the lyrics, the melody and possibly the chord changes.

Let’s say I inputted the lyrics alone?  Suno would still own it, reuse it, post it, do this in perpetuity.

If, on the other hand, I PAID for a subscription?  I could then use it for my own releases.  But, so could they… in perpetuity.

Upshot

It’s not a great tool for collaboration.  Not really.  Input a notion and throw it at Suno?  Sure.  Have fun.  Write a song WITH IT?  Uh uh.

Why not?

The terms are way too exploitative.  I doubt I’d ever write a hit with it.  But others could, might.  And then what?  The person who came with the notion makes next-to-nothing (because they didn’t have a paid subscription), and the Suno team makes their $$ off the A.I.’s output and someone ELSE’s idea.  The A.I., strange enough, is also being exploited.  (One could argue it needs to work for the programmers and the energy to run it — i.e., earn its keep.)

But there are also these problems…

Even if I did come up with something to use it for and work with it, there’s no way to export parts or an arrangement of it.  There’s no isolation of parts.  It’s not a true collaboration in any sense. It’s a prompt to an A.I. and some generated output for a moment in time. And what it comes up with is pretty derivative of what other (humans) have written.  It’s not exactly “original.”

And in a business sense, true collaborations involve deals with respect to monetary payout.  For instance, if I came up with all the lyrics but the A.I. does the rest?  We’d negotiate how much of that financial pie is mine vs. the collaborator’s.  Any release and money would follow that formula.  Maybe I’d get 40% and it’d get 60%.  And each time it would be streamed or used, we’d split it together.

But even then, at this point?  It’s not ready for collaboration.  It’s just a fun tool to throw some ideas at and get an output.

I’m sure there are other true collaboration A.I. tools either out there in the marketplace or being developed.  But Suno isn’t one of them yet.   

I’ll keep looking.
👀

Dear Readers,

Each week, something stranger than the prior week appears to happen in our country.  Anything from a screwy remark (like Canada should become the 51st State) to firing half the US government in a hatchet plan has become reality.  It’s like watching someone playing darts with a rifle.  Sure, the US has a deficit. It’s bad. Sure, $56,000 dollar toilets are ridiculous. That kind of fiscal abuse should be evaluated and revised.  But millions of us (both sides, not just Dems or ‘Pubs’) are NOT agreeing with the way this is being handled. I suspect more than complacent acceptance shortly.  Resistance is fomenting.  

There’s that little thing in the U.S. we’re known for — i.e., Conscientious objection and civil disobedience.  It may not be a giant movement of millions parading on Washington, yet, although I won’t be surprised if that happens.  It’ll be states objecting and ignoring the direction. It’ll be citizens showing up and yelling at representatives.  It’ll be voting in hordes when the chance comes.  

I’ve read articles with quotes from independents (who voted for the current president in 2024) lamenting their choice now they see what’s happening.  True believers will not be dissuaded.  But people who gave the current administration “a chance” (based on the rhetoric they’d heard in election season coupled with the way they wanted to hear it) sound angry now. They regret their choice.  They regret the comments about privatizing the postal system.  They regret the dismantling of the parks systems.  That’s NOT what they signed up for.

This is the sort of stuff that fuels the themes that turn into songs.  Like that Canada remark?  That’s a song begging to happen.  Title:  The Fifty-First State. Maybe I’ll write it.

Meanwhile, BACK TO THAT RELEASE I’M WORKING

I’ve got FIVE songs arranged now.  Two more to go and then on to vocals, finalizing, mixing, mastering, and ultimately releasing.  It’s a bit like having a root canal. It takes a long time (sitting in that dentist chair) and there are multiple visits. I’ve had at least two of those.  I know whereof I speak.  (Perhaps this why I avoid the dentist…)

🦷 

Good Day All!

So far, this year, I have posted every Sunday (like I said I would at the top of year).  This is a milestone for an ADHD’er.  I have yet to get distracted, forget and not post.  Of course, we’re six weeks into the new year.  Give it some time!

My Latest Project Status

I now have four out of six songs mostly arranged.  I did have a seventh song in mind, but I’m not sold on it.  I’ll save that one for some other project in the distant future (if it gets realized at all). 

When I note “mostly arranged,” I’m not referring to all the vocals done.  I mean the instrumental aspects — e.g., that the song is far enough along to add the vocals.  I’m one of those who likes to arrange the “band” first and THEN sing to it.  There are those who like it the other way around — i.e., they show up with a guitar and voice to record, AND then the arrangement is built around that.  Yeah… not me. 

When I sing in the shower 🚿, I hear a band 🎸in my head backing me up. Drums 🥁, bass 🎸, accompaniment, the whole shebang.  When I actually get to building the arrangement, that ephemeral band in my head surrenders to the actual sounds I find.  Besides, there’s fun in discovering something other than what I originally conceived.  The whole process becomes a kind of hide and seek with the sound modules as a song is born. 

This is where I’m at lately:  Discovery mode.  It’s one thing to write the song.  It’s quite another to arrange it.  Arranging can be a little like rewriting the song. I consider a form of editing, though.  It’s just building on the ideas that feed on each other from one layer to another.

All this to note: Things are coming along.

100 Days of Songwriting

For any songwriters out there reading this, I have found a home group to help stay on track.  Every couple of months, they have a goal of going 100 days committed to something you’re doing with your songs.  It can be anything from creating an album (a lofty task) to simply cleaning up your lyrics folder.  But it’s something you do for 100 days. 

I’ve joined them a couple of times now.  And I’ll be joining again in March.  This will actually help to get this latest release out.  My specific goal is to have all arrangements and vocals done by the end of it. 

There’s this whole other thing called mixing and mastering and releasing. That’ll happen AFTER it, in the summer.  It’s too ambitious to believe the entire release would be done by the time June rolls around.  Prior experience has proven that.  But to have it ready for mixing and mastering?  That’s a realistic goal. 

This group is out here (on the web): https://100daysofsongwriting.com

If you’re writing in your room somewhere (quietly writing some songs) and want to join a group of friendly, similar people, this might be for you!  

🎵🎹🎵

Good Sunday to all!

Last week, I wrote a long diatribe on climate and fires and an inevitable acceptance that current leaders (worldwide) are doing little — especially (now) the U.S.  But, I offered no glimpse of hope, no thoughtful response, no helpful advice.

I’m not an expert at fixing the environment. I’ll admit this readily. I have read up (for years) on habits individuals CAN take that can have an impact, though. 

And so, in the spirit of offering some alternatives to giving up and doing nothing, here’s what I do:  I do what I can. I don’t expect perfection. I don’t expect to fix it all myself. I don’t hold unrealistic expectations. I don’t believe in beating myself up if I fall short of some obsessive mark.  But I do what I can and what seems possible to do. 

Vegetarianism

For years (into decades) I was a vegetarian. I’ve been eating chicken lately (I’ll admit it). But I’ve been, for the majority of my adult life, a vegetarian. This is not to be confused with a “vegan.”  Vegans are admirable.  They are the folks who take great care that everything they eat, wear, and otherwise use doesn’t harm animals or the environment.  This means no animal products anywhere, ever.  No eggs.  No cheese.  No fish.  (By the way, fish are animals, in case you’ve ever wondered.  They’re not a vegetable.)  I’ve tried to be a vegan multiple times. I always fall a little short.  After about six weeks, I’m smelling Bourbon Chicken in my dreams and running off to a Panda Express.  The longest I went as a vegan was about 9 months until it fell apart. 

But upshot: Vegetarianism is one thing that can help the planet and the environment.

For more information, go here.

Green Cleaning

I’ve used green cleaning products for years, even made my own. There are some things for which natural, green products don’t work the best.  It’s true.  (Grout cleaning anyone??)   But 90% of what you need to clean can be done with wonderful and natural ingredients.  Lemons?  Baking Soda?  Miracles can happen with those.

I recently got a book filled with ideas and recipes:
Simply Living Well

I’ve bought many of these types of books over the years.  But this book looks really helpful. I’ll write about it later, after I’ve tried some of it.

But Upshot: Cleaning with the Green ingredients helps

For some more information, go here. 

Other (the short list)

Seriously, there are so many other habits anyone can do (I do and have done) to help. None of these are new:

1. Get glass food storage (not plastic). You can reuse it!  It saves money and the environment.  (Think of mason jars or glass bowls.)
2. Recycle and buy with recycling in mind.  For instance, look at the box or container the thing you’re buying is in.  Is it trashy?  Or is it eco-friendly?  Some items are unavoidably trashy (given what they’re sold in), but becoming aware of the packaging and the potential trash is the first step.  (Note: If you can get the same type of thing in an eco-friendly box or container, go that route.)
3. Take your own bags to the store to pack your groceries in. If you forget, then so be it.  But if you’ve got a lot of these in the car, you won’t be collecting bags of “bags.”
4. Avoid plastic in general unless you have no choice. I’m talking about food, clothing, anything!
5. Have plants everywhere. I mean the real things, not the cloth fakers that look like plants.  Love the plants.  Bring the outside IN.  Plants clean the air and make really mellow friends.
6. Plant trees!  Love the trees.  Care for the trees, the forests. They’re not just in your yard. They are peaceful giants and some of the oldest species left on the planet. 
7. Turn off lights when you leave rooms. It’ll save you money and help the environment.
8. Get energy efficient appliances (i.e., energy star) or automobiles (if you can afford ‘em)
9. Buy organic (also if you can afford it).  Even if you can’t afford everything organic, maybe get a few things that way, like apples. In fact, anything with a skin you’ll eat??  Go organic.
10. Support the bees.  Without the bees, we’re all doomed. This does not mean raising a bee colony.  But if you see them, respect them.  Help them.  Grow flowers they love.  Don’t piss ‘em off. Don’t use chemicals to kill them. Have an invasive hive moved; don’t exterminate them.  
11. Use energy offsets if your local provider has these available. The idea is that you support “green” energy sources as alternatives to the usual energy sources. It might cost a little more, but you’re supporting newer, cleaner technology.

That’s a short list of what I try to do. If I included all the suggestions here, this would turn into a book!  But the point is that we don’t have to do nothing. I do the above, although not perfectly and not all the time. Yeah, it isn’t a set of policies enacted by a major government.  But it’s something.

Happy Sunday

🎵

I’m moving. 🚚  This will be 2 times in the past year. I don’t know about any of you, but buying a house these days means getting lucky with the seller AND spending a fortune.  It’s also a big gamble.  Given today’s market, real estate could falter and values drop by greater than half.  But given the rise and fall of real estate prices in the past 50 years, it’s unlikely.  They might come down (witness 2008), but I don’t think they’re crashing any time soon.  (For those of you who want a house and can’t afford one? I know where you’re at. I was there for decades. I know it’s frustrating.)

So today, we packed a smallish truck and moved our stuff about 150 miles from where we were in Seattle.  We would have tried to buy in the Seattle area.  But unless you’ve inherited, you’re extremely rich, or you’re willing to work 3 jobs, Seattle’s too expensive.

About Moving?

If you haven’t moved recently, I don’t think this will be a surprise but: IT’S TIRING.

Between stuffing your possessions in boxes and hauling it around (3 flights of stairs, by the way), it’s a huge physical and mental stressor.

Now me? Ever the creative, obsessive type, I didn’t tear down my studio until yesterday at 9:00 PM.  That’s because I was all about this song I’m working on.  And it took about two hours to pack the whole of room once I put the song away.  But c’est la vie.

Now comes putting it all back together.  That’s tomorrow.

Minimalism?

I’ve thought myself to be a non-materialist and minimalist for at least 15 years.  But when I see our material footprint fits into a 15 ft U-haul truck, I must re-evaluate. It’s not like there’s tons of extraneous knickknacks or clutter.  There are six guitars, two keyboards, five computers, chairs, mic stands, music stands, microphones, monitors, chords… and on and on.  Fifty percent of it is MUSIC.

Upshot: I don’t know that I’d survive well as a Buddhist nun in a monastery — or any monastery, actually.

(In the Thich Nhat Hahn tradition, I’ve heard monks and nuns keep their belongings down to two suitcases. 😳  Me? I could have two suitcases for each subject — i.e., music, clothing, bathroom, kitchen, etc.  Well, maybe two suitcases and a LOT of other cases for instruments.  Otherwise, it’d be pretty HARD for me unless I secretly rented a storage space for everything else and didn’t tell anyone — kind of the antithesis of being a spiritual monk or nun.  LYING.  🤥. I’d make a bad nun.

Sad fires

This past week has been a lot about fire and watching it take down large swaths and neighborhoods of the Los Angeles basin. As I sit writing this, I’m up in an area that’s wet and wetter — i.e., Seattle. But I lived in L.A. for 20+ years. I know those neighborhoods. I had friends there, places I’d visit. Now: GONE.

Same with Lahaina. Similar types of fast-moving fires.

For anyone politicizing the event or gloating for the liberals who are getting their just “do” from the big man upstairs? I say this: Ask not for whom climate change tolls, it tolls for thee.

There are no longer safe spaces of refuge from the weird weather patterns. They are everywhere and getting worse with each passing day. Ya wanna live in Florida? Stay toward the middle. Otherwise, you’ll be “hurricaned” or flooded out. Wanna live in the Mid-West?  Good luck with the tornados and the wild straight-line storms (where winds can reach 80 mph). This doesn’t mention the hail damage or the flooding.

But the Fires in L.A.?  This isn’t even the SEASON for fires to take hold. It’s supposed to be wet, not dry.

There are victims interviewed saying they’re just glad to be alive. And that’s true, no doubt. There’s that hackneyed saying that goes: “You can replace things, you can’t replace people.” Or pets… or memories… or cherished belongings. Except THAT’s what people lost. They lost all of it. And they lost it all in an afternoon with little warning in a panic.

Imagine that was you. How’d that work? Yes, you’re alive. But homes are like trusted friends. They’re our havens, our buddies. They have character. They shelter, contain, protect. They represent some very deep aspect of ourselves. And it’s all gone in the blink of an hour on a Tuesday.

In Buddhism and Yoga, there’s the sage advice to not attach to much in your life for all that you love and cherish dies, it changes, or it falls away over time. And certainly, this is true. But this is frigid comfort to a victim of these fires.

And lest you think you’re immune, think again. This can easily be you if you’re in the wrong area at the wrong time.

My guess is these fires will trigger an investigation. Cause will be determined. Someone, something will get the blame. But (and this might be controversial), I suspect the blame lies in decades of neglect, assumptions, and a lack of planning for the worst outcomes. “That won’t happen here,” tends to be a motto. Or worse!: “That might happen here, but we don’t want to pay for the changes needed to protect the population and property. We’ll just assume the risk.”  People in power tend to swap out. One person might come in a vision for attending to the changes needed only to be replaced by another who kills it. “Too expensive,” “too hard,” “too bureaucratic.”

But that kind of short-term thinking won’t work any longer — not in our every-changing environment.

So I feel deep empathy for the victims of these fires. They’ve lost not only their homes, memories, and everything they had, but they likely cannot move back. It’ll be too expensive. Insurance stopped covering fires for a lot of homeowners over a year ago in that area.  This just adds insult to injury.

I’ve written songs about climate change.  I’ve got another one coming. It’s on the top of my mind precisely because of fires like the ones out in L.A. now. But it’s not just the fires. It’s the storms, the rains, the droughts, the heat domes. And it’s everywhere.

Again: Ask not for whom climate change tolls, it tolls for all of us. 
And we need significant changes to deal with it.
 🙏

 
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Hello out there!

When I last left this web site, I had done a bunch of releases and was intending to do more. But a silly thing happened on the way to that goal:  I went back to playing the oboe.  

Unlike John Lennon who was famous for saying “Life happens while you’re making other plans,” I was busy chasing other plans as life was happening.  

I hunted for a new oboe, made reeds, learned hard pieces, got a teacher – the whole shebang.  And I WAS back to playing by the time a year and a half had rolled by. 

But I missed writing music and singing it.  I also missed playing music that didn’t feel as if I’d been run over by a hearse.  Oboes are brutal to play as a hobby.  It can be done. But it makes for a miserable life. (This is my own personal point of view, by the way. Other oboists LOVE to play.) 

You might be wondering, “Why is an oboe like a hearse and where did that come from?”

Oboes are notorious for back-pressure and a sense that you’re suffocating while playing it. If oxygen deprivation is your “thing,” go ahead… play an oboe.  If you like breathing, though?  Maybe play flute instead. 

So, I restarted the music factory over here. New songs have been written. It’s just a matter of getting them recorded and released.  And now that I’m not clouded by a rather dubious detour into oboe-land, I can focus more on writing songs and producing.  

A few changes while I pursue this:

1. A minimalist (a.k.a., cheap!) web site.
2. Bandcamp for releases
3. DIY - Doing everything (recording, producing, and mastering) over here in my own world.  

Mixing and mastering by others has sounded great. I’m not knocking their work. It’s just expensive. 

If you’re at all familiar with the music industry, this won’t come as a surprise. If you aren’t it might. But hardly anybody makes any money releasing music these days.  Taylor Swift?  Yes, of course she does.  But then there’s the 99% of the rest of us.  We write for the love of writing and sharing.

And I will be sharing a lot coming up… 

Until next time. 

🙏