If you'd still like to...

...you can download the files listed in my last post. The stupid file hosting service I was using had a download limit, and shut off once enough of you downloaded it. So, as I like to be forward-thinking with my use of teh intarwebz, I introduce you to a cool new music-sharing service: Soundcloud.

Below is a player. Each song has a little download button next to it if you'd like to have a copy of the mp3 to put on your ipod or other such device. And remember, the lyrics are in the previous post:

new track: 'Making the Grade (A Robot's Lament)'

Once again, my songwriting class prompted me - out of necessity - to take an old song idea (this one from last summer) and finish it up.  Well, finish it enough to turn it in.

For this project, we had to collaborate.  Our professor - who always stresses the fact that in the music business, writing music by one's self is the exception rather than the rule - assigned us into groups of 2-3 people.  Now, up front, this filled me with terror.  Let's just say that I would rather stuff angry hornets under my eyelids than collaborate with some of the people from this class.  Most of them are decent songwriters and cool people, but there are a handful that I just can not stand.  That said, there were several times while he was naming off groups, that my bowels froze in fear of a painfully forced collaboration of contradictory styles and artistic philosophies.

I was pretty much exhausted by the end, because my group was named last.  I lucked out and got put with my good buddy Sage Min.  He's a fantastic musician, has a great ear for chords, plays the keys like a maniac and we have similar tastes in music.  When we got together to collaborate, we had lots of ideas but weren't sure which direction to go.  In a moment of goofing off, I showed him a track I had started last summer which I'd decided needed to go back into the oven for a while.  Like I said in my last post, this is par for the course for me.  My typical progression happened here as well.

Sage liked it and decided to help me finish it off.  The chords were kind of chunky and disconnected, and Sage helped me to smooth them out and transition more nicely.  Also, the song didn't have a bridge.  I came up with the first chord, and Sage basically finished it off.  Since I haven't reinstalled all my old synthesizer plugins yet, we actually took slices of the audio from the bass line from the verses and re-sequenced and re-pitched them to create a bassline for the bridge that matched the rest of the song.  Sage also laid down a perfect keyboard solo with which to end the song.

I wrote the lyrics for the verses last summer, and couldn't come up with lyrics for the bridge until I this project.  The impetus for the song was that I was newly married and I felt like I wasn't very good at it.  I loved my wife so much and I wanted to do everything perfectly for her, but I was learning about shortcomings and inadequacies that I never even knew I had.  Not because she was pointing them out - certainly do not take it that way - but because I was devoted to her and wanted desperately to be everything she'd ever need.

I often think in metaphors, because I'm usually thinking of ways to phrase my thoughts in such a way that they'd be convincing if pressed to defend them.  I guess that's what I get from growing up with a brilliant older brother who is a master of rhetoric and argumentation.  Or maybe it's because about 5 or 6 years ago, I realized that lyrics were far more important than I had previously given them credit for, and that since I was terrible at writing them, I should start working on the art of lyricism.  I think it's about six of one and a half-dozen of the other.  But anyway, the metaphor that came into my mind as a result of the newest addition to the pantheon of my shortcomings, was that of a machine that wasn't very good at doing the the main thing it was built to do.  I thought it a simultaneously amusing and sad thought and began considering how that machine would feel if it could feel.

The result of my musings on that silly idea are the lyrics to this song.  I realized that the verses made it appear that my marriage generally saddens me, which couldn't be further from the truth.  I've never been happier in my life.  So, since the bridge of a song usually represents a shift in thinking or some sort of catharsis, I used it as a vehicle to demonstrate the happy meliorism that my original chain of thought eventually led me to.

Now, after being a blowhard for several paragraphs, I'll let you listen to it. The lyrics are below.

Verse 1:

I'd like to hold her hand

but sadly, I don't have one

I've come so wrongfully equipped.

All my components were

just makeshift substitutions

and when she ordered, I was shipped.

Verse 2:

I know the purpose in my blueprint

was to love her

and all specifics that entailed.

I came with all the right intentions

but was missing

the knowledge needed not to fail.

Bridge:

Not everything that serves our purposes

and needs is tailor made

and even less-than-perfect tools

can even prove to make the grade.

Oftentimes we find that we prefer

a move we wouldn't normally play

even with things we think that we are certain

that we want another way.

lyrics: 'Does It Matter?'

Back during my firts year at BYU, when I wasn't even a music major yet, and hadn't yet realized that I wanted to minor in philosophy, I took Philosophy215. It was "Introduction to Philosophy of Religion." I had studied Descartes when I took Phil101 in community college, and had found his ideas captivating, though disappointingly inconclusive. Descartes' Evil Genius concept, basically stated that for all we know, we could be decieved about all of our external perceptions, so how do we know that some evil genius isn't deceiving us about everythign we experience? How do we know anyting about anything? His answer to this is discouragingly circular, and the question stuck with me. (As a side note, this also made me think of the "Real President of the Galaxy" in the Hitchhiker's Guide series of books, if you've ever read them.)

I studied a little David Hume as well. Hume stated that there is no truly objective way to prove causation. That is to say, that there's nothing except the raw experience of things seeming to happen consistently, upon which to base any belief in things being "caused." This was also a concept that stuck with me.

When I took Phil215, I was exposed to my now favorite philosopher, William James. James was the father of the Pragmatism movement, which states that practical consequences or real effects are vital components of both meaning and truth. In simpler terms, James basically says that a belief or idea has its "cash-value" measured by it's relevance to your actual, practical life. This brought me back to the Evil Genius... and enabled me to never worry about the evil genius again, because, even if there was one, does it really matter? If he never shows himself in his work, does it matter? That was the idea that spawned this song.

I thought the idea of a philosophical love song was kind of fun, so instead of the evil genius, I had the song postulate about the existence of a lover, and the ramifications of trusting not just your perceptions, but also your heart. I recently took the idea, cleaned it up and presented it in my songwriting class. Also, if you pay attention to the rhythm of the lyrics (and the music, once I get that posted up on here), you can probably tell that I was listening to "I Don't Trust Myself With Loving You" by John Mayer... a lot.

Now, hopefully it wil be fun to see if you can point out how all of that ties into these lyrics:

Does It Matter?

by Jake Hawken

VERSE ONE:

How do I know what the truth is?

How can I find out what’s real?

Is it the things I can reason,

or is it the things I can feel?

Should I believe my perceptions?

How do I know love exists?

This all could be a deception,

Yet still this feeling persists.

CHORUS:

But does it matter if this is an illusion,

As long as you’re part of my confusion?

It don’t matter a bit if this is true,

If I can go on believing in you.

VERSE TWO:

You could be just an enigma,

And I could just be deceived,

Am I a creature of habit,

caught in this web that’s been weaved?

Let’s just assume for a minute,

that this has all been a dream,

I wouldn’t take back a moment

Even if this wasn’t quite what it seems.

[CHORUS]

BRIDGE:

In the end, I have nothing but faith

to inform me and to warn me,

Even if you don’t exist

You have transformed me,

So I have to ask…

[CHORUS]

more from the MFJQ

Since my last post on the subject, I've played 3 more shows at Muse Music and one more at FroYo with the Mathieu Foley Jazz Quintet.  The Muse shows went alright, but the FroYo gigs have an energy that's unlike any other venue at which I've ever played jazz.  Maybe this is how all the heavy-hitter jazz musicians feel when they go and play for people who actually enjoy jazz, hahaha.

But seriously, even though we usually make less money there than at Muse (due to the fact that at FroYo we only play for tips), playing at FroYo is usually more fun for both us and the audience members.  Everybody is always hootin' and hollerin' and last time we played there, people were even dancing!  People seem to pay attention and to cheer at the parts they like (as one is supposed to at a jazz show), and at the same time, they're talking, laughing and getting to know one another.  It's great.  I'd say that it's about 50% of it to our playing, and 50% the venue. 

We have another show at FroYo this Friday.  I'm so freaking excited.  In addition to a ton of other tunes, we're going to be playing an arrangement I did of "Someday My Prince Will Come" in 5/4. I was surprised at how nicely the phrasing turned out in the odd time signature.

I hope those of you who live nearby can make it out.  It's at FroYo (in the Albertsons parking lot, across University Parkway from Movies 8, right next door to Las Tarascas) and we'll be playing from 8-11pm.  Come and go as your schedule permits!

[We now also have a Facebook group for the MFJQ and a Facebook event for this show.]

It is also my sad duty to inform you that A Band Called Riley no longer exists, thus making the MFJQ my main gig.  The lead singer, Travis, is moving to England at the end of the summer and the bassists is taking 17 credits of English.  To be fair, I'm taking 17.5 credits of Music (11 classes), but the decision was made before I was consulted, and - funnily enough - I heard about it second-hand from the rhythm guitarist's roommate. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted!

final synth project: 'Pick Up the Phone'

Here's my Christmas gift to you! Haha.

So for my synthesizer lessons, I had to create a pop-type song using the materials we had in the project studio on campus. I took that to heart and actually recorded most of the instruments live. I brought in my good buddy Tyler Nickl to play electric bass and acoustic guitar, and actually pulled out an old, crappy drumkit that was hidden in the back of the room. I had forgotten my DI box at home, so we had to record everything with the one mic they had set up. Luckily, it was the wonderful SE M1C Mini (discussed at length here), which I cherish and adore. We tracked each instrument separately, including doing a mono drum track I played which distorted like hell but sounded fun and funky nonetheless.

I had decided to do a mockup of a song that will be on my next album called "Pick Up the Phone." We recorded a verse and a chorus and then some more, but after that, it started falling apart like crazy. Since my "synthesizer lessons" focus mainly on production, I took the tracks home, to tweak them there. The mix went basically as follows:

1. I spent some time manipulating the tempo to get things synced up.
   
2. I went all the way through the first verse up to the end of the chorus and stretched everting so it grooved right on the beat. This mainly consisted of stretching the beginnings of certain measures and leaving the rest alone, though there were a couple measures where I did a lot more.
   
3. I created a lowpass filter send to boost the kickdrum, and sidechained the lowest frequencies of that to the compressor on the bass guitar, so they wouldn't step on each others' feet. I also created a reverb send to gel the track a little more.
   
4. I put Native Instruments "Guitar Rig" on the bass guitar and fiddled with the settings to give it a little more growl. I think that in the end I gave it a little too much "growl" and not enough "boom."
   
5. I panned the keyboard and guitar off center, opposite from one another.
6. I smashed the heck out of the background vocals, panned about 3/4 left and right, and put them on their own submix so I could manipulate them with onefader.
7. I added a couple clap and latin percussion loops I had on my computer, dialed in fairly low, to just add a little more texture.
8. I created a submix to which everything except the lead vocals were sent, to make the balance of melody to backing track a little easier to play with.
9. I used the Izotope Ozone mastering plugin on my master bus.

That's about it. Not much to show for all that explanation. Here it is:

In case you're interested, here's a screen cap of the Arrangement View in Live (click to enlarge):

all is hip and funky in the MFJQ

Well after 6 years of prodigality, I have returned to my roots. Throughout jr. high and high school, I lived, ate and breathed jazz. I was in zero-hour jazz band, I was in numerous jazz combos (including one which took 1st place in the AAAA division at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival), and I spent an ungodly amount on concerts at Seattle's wonderful Jazz Alley. I have continued to be a consumer and lover of jazz ever since, but have had precious few opportunities to play. I have a ton of fun in the rock band I play for, but jazz is something that I've been missing for years now like some kind of precious, lost teddy bear. Enter my friend, Mat Foley.

Last week, I was working at my recording job at the Madsen Recital Hall and a buddy from one of my classes, Mat Foley, came up to me and asked - knowing that I was a drummer - how my jazz chops were. My ears immediately perked up, and I informed that jazz was my bread and butter. He then asked if I could sit in with his combo at a gig that Friday. I just about crapped my pants with excitement. I asked if it was cool to bring a friend, and when given the green light, I got my good and incredibly talented friend, Tyler Nickl in on the action.

I had heard Mat play rock, and had jammed with Tyler countless times, and on top of that, I found out that a sax player whom I had heard and been impressed by before was going to be playing with us. I couldn't have been more excited.

The gig was at FroYo, a new frozen yogurt place in Provo (yeah, that sentence was a mouthful). Friday rolled around and as we all showed up for the gig, it looked pretty sparse. I didn't give it much thought, because all I cared about was playing some stinkin' jazz. As the night progressed, however, more and more and more people continued to filter in, out and through the room. And it wasn't just a good turnout (quantitatively speaking), but the also a great audience (qualitatively speaking). They were attentive, interested, expressive and into it.

Tyler and I settled into the combo, which already played well together, as if we'd always played with them. It was so incredibly natural. It was like the locked-in groove that Ty and I have when we play together was designed to fit right into the Mat Foley Jazz Quintet. Also, much to my pleasure, we supplimented our jazz repretoire with a healthy dose of blues and funk. It was so incredibly fun. The audience members who had watched the MFJQ before seemed to take to me well and apparently the band did as well, because at the end of the night, they told me that if I wanted the position, I was their new drummer. I accepted, chomping at the bit.

We have a show next tuesday, December 16th, at Muse Music, and now have a standing, monthly gig at FroYo. Hope you all can come out and see us! I'll try to get some pictures and video up soon.

battles and battle wounds

Well last night (it's not really 'last night' for me at this point, as I have yet to go to bed) was pretty darn fun. The blues/rock band I play in, A Band Called Riley, played in Day 2 of the Muse Music Battle of the Bands. Muse is hosting a 6-day battle in which Monday through Friday are mini-battles and the winners from each night play again on Saturday. We played probably the best show we've ever played (in terms of our performance) and won. It was a fun night. Man oh man, how I missed playing the drums my first two years down here in Utah. I absolutely adore my instrument. And, though it's not the kind of music I'd ever write myself, this band is fun as hell.

One of my favorite things about playing in this band, is that we're a bunch of nutballs on stage. In particular, our bassist Nate is certifiably insane when armed with an instrument. While playing, he is prone to stumble like a drunk, twitch like an epileptic, put his bass on the ground and smack it, chimp-style, and do generally manic things. [For an example of his on-stage stumbling, check out this video, from a concert we played during the summer, and skip forward to 2:23.]

It might come as no surprise then, that tonight he broke his freaking finger while playing... and then proceeded to play the rest of the set. After the show was over, he was quite cavalier about bringing it up. "Um, yeah, I think I might need to go to the emergency room once we get all our gear packed up. I'm pretty sure I broke my finger." I took one look at it, became certain that he was right, and then began to laugh uncontrollably at the utter nuttiness of the situation.

And I don't even need to ask him to confirm this, but I can gaurantee that we will still play on Saturday. Ah, rock and roll....

nerdcore for life

So, there is a relatively new genre of music. Actually, it's a subgenre. It's called Nerdcore Hip-hop. My brother recently blogged about it, as there's a documentary being made about it right now. It's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Nerds rapping. The founder of nerdcore, qua official genre, by the pseudonym of MC Frontalot, describes it as hip-hop that doesn't require you to be cool. Nerdcore is hip-hop that feels totally comfortable discussing computers, science fiction and RPG's, and - as opposed to traditional rap - being incredibly self-deprecatory.
After this most recent* hip-hop project we did, Aaron and I decided it would be fun to do a whole album. I introduced Aaron to Nerdcore staples like MC Frontalot, Optimus Rhyme and MC Chris, and he said, "We have to do this." As the title of my blog denotes, I am all for embracing my nerdity, so we've embarked. Keep your ear to the ground, and check back on the blog regularly for updates and advance leaks.
Oh, and my nerdcore hip-hop name (or rather, my handle)? One and the same with this blog's name: Geek is the New Cool.


*Way back in 2006, Aaron and I made a 3-track hip-hop project, titled "Nimbus." To hear the tracks click here and go to the tracks that start with the word "Nimbus."

contest entry: 'Old Scratch'

My buddy Aaron and I are regular participants (he much more than I) on a remix contest website called Acid Planet. Recently he and I collaborated on an entry for a unique contest. As opposed to a traditional remix contest, the samples are to be extended into a song and then rapped over. Yeah, I know I'm white, but I can bust a pretty decent rhyme, and Aaron's production makes me sound pretty good.

The .zip file you download to get the contest samples was named "scratch," which I assume implies a "scratch track" or to the proverbial, manual turntable-shuttling procedure (i am such a dork). Either way, Jasinski had the idea of making it into a play on words and calling our track "Old Scratch," which (if you were unaware) is a nickname for the devil. Surprisingly enough, I think these are some of the best lyrics I've written in years.

Our entry can be heard HERE. Check it out!

(Also, for a point of reference, check out the provided contest track, and some of the other entries.)