Hi All,
I decided to dust off the keyboard and start preaching again. I have been pretty lazy of late with this blogging business but i'm trying to change. So what has changed in the last 2 months. Very little, I had 2 weeks in Barcelona(Gaudi is a legend) and Beziers in the south of France. It was quite the break, all I had to worry about was sunburn and what time I had to eat at.
You may be glad to hear that FAWM has reared it's head again. Every year the organizers ask participants to submit polished versions of their FAWM songs for a compilation cd which will be released early next year I think. Naturally I will chance my arm and submit one of the songs. If anybody has any suggestions which song to submit let me know. Feedback was best from the Whistling Windows and it got mentioned by a few other FAWMers in some of the forums it also met the 2 chord trick challenge so it's probably a good candidate. Post your opinions here. I will re-record the song sometime next month. I 'm not sure what the deal is with licensing and that but if I can post it here I will.
I have been plugging away at the open mic on wednesday's in the cellar bar. I will be down tomorrow night if anybody is around. There are a few new songs in the works, I am trying to book the harlem gospel choir before I fully record them otherwise I'll just have to do my "Oh no you di 'nt", 'Gavo from the block ' impression and recorded it in Harmony.
I have nearly finished another instrumental track for my "Masterpieces of Head Massage" compilation cd, this will be aimed strictly at the elevator music market so be warned.
Watch this space for weekly posts.
Peace Out,
Gav.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
April Bluesings
This is a brief communiqué just to let you know I'm still alive (all 2 of you). I have a rough recording of a new song mountain girl, posted to the music player. I haven't had much time to try and sort out a better player yet but it will happen eventually. This PhD business is keeping me busy. So feel free to comment or rant. Hope you like it. It's fairly bare, but i have some plans for harmonies and slide guitars, there is a nice groove in it.
Gav.
Gav.
Friday, March 2, 2007
Post Fawm Euphoria
Well Fawm is over and like a boat cut from it's moorings i drift aimless again. I managed a modest 5 songs with the bones of about three others unrecorded. The feedback was great, got lots of it, lots of good comments and then not so much bad comments, I think ye all clamed up when ye heard the stuff you weren't mad about.
So what I have learned is this, it's very possible to sit down and write an album's worth of material in a month especially if you are doing it full-time, I had about 2-3 hours in the evening to write, record, post and blog and managed to equal the number of songs i had written in the past three years (my instrumental period). I guess you learn from similar tasks done in relatively quick succession because your not as likely to forget your mistakes.
There were a few great songwriters on the site who gave some excellent feedback. Phil Norman and Burr Settles (who started FAWM) have some great songs. You should check them out. The benefit of having so many heads sit down and do the same thing and be forced to post regularly is huge, everybody seems to get clued in very quickly to what works and what doesn't. Even if you write 14 crap songs thats 14 crap songs you were going to have to write anyway before you write the good stuff. It really is a win win exercise. And it applies to all types of writing, the Fawm idea was borrowed from a poetry writing month or novel writing month.
So if you're itching to write some music, or poetry or paint but are lacking gumption get on to one of these forums, everybody is in the same boat. The criticsim is very constructive and positive.
I'm going to keep up the pace of the songwriting and will continue to post it here. It's doing a lot for my interest and my outlook, everything adopts an angle when you think in terms of trying to reproduce what you see in an original light. It's like capitalizing on everyday experiences, something fairly ordinary can get your imagination going. Then i'll look at re-recording the stuff properly if i can meet some good musicians to play on an album, using some of the Fawm songs and some of new stuff. I may do a bit of playing in the cellar at some stage. I bumped into the regular acoustic duo they have there they do a cracking version of tom waits' ice-cream man, they said there is a bit of work going.
So in summary, thanks for all your feedback, the musical momentum will continue as fast as i can maintain it. I'll continue to post new music to the blog, i will also get a proper player with all the Fawm songs and others up, this one song job doesn't cut the mustard. I think the FAWM site will be active for a while, if you want to download some of the tracks.
Thanks again,
Be good,
Gav.
So what I have learned is this, it's very possible to sit down and write an album's worth of material in a month especially if you are doing it full-time, I had about 2-3 hours in the evening to write, record, post and blog and managed to equal the number of songs i had written in the past three years (my instrumental period). I guess you learn from similar tasks done in relatively quick succession because your not as likely to forget your mistakes.
There were a few great songwriters on the site who gave some excellent feedback. Phil Norman and Burr Settles (who started FAWM) have some great songs. You should check them out. The benefit of having so many heads sit down and do the same thing and be forced to post regularly is huge, everybody seems to get clued in very quickly to what works and what doesn't. Even if you write 14 crap songs thats 14 crap songs you were going to have to write anyway before you write the good stuff. It really is a win win exercise. And it applies to all types of writing, the Fawm idea was borrowed from a poetry writing month or novel writing month.
So if you're itching to write some music, or poetry or paint but are lacking gumption get on to one of these forums, everybody is in the same boat. The criticsim is very constructive and positive.
I'm going to keep up the pace of the songwriting and will continue to post it here. It's doing a lot for my interest and my outlook, everything adopts an angle when you think in terms of trying to reproduce what you see in an original light. It's like capitalizing on everyday experiences, something fairly ordinary can get your imagination going. Then i'll look at re-recording the stuff properly if i can meet some good musicians to play on an album, using some of the Fawm songs and some of new stuff. I may do a bit of playing in the cellar at some stage. I bumped into the regular acoustic duo they have there they do a cracking version of tom waits' ice-cream man, they said there is a bit of work going.
So in summary, thanks for all your feedback, the musical momentum will continue as fast as i can maintain it. I'll continue to post new music to the blog, i will also get a proper player with all the Fawm songs and others up, this one song job doesn't cut the mustard. I think the FAWM site will be active for a while, if you want to download some of the tracks.
Thanks again,
Be good,
Gav.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Fawm #5 - le dernier Faume?
Hi all,
The latest FAWM post is up. It's called the Weavers of Ardragh and can be heard from the player to the right. You can get the song with the lyrics at the FAWM site here .It's a little of departure in terms of style. It's a proper ballad, folk type song. Ardragh is a small town near the Donegal coast in the northwest of Ireland. I saw archive footage a couple of weeks ago about three bachelor brothers who worked as weavers there all their lives. I wrote and recorded this all last night, the emphasis is more on the story and melody, there's not much groove to it. Just guitar and vocals. I hope you like it, I thoroughly enjoyed writing this one, it's my first song with some sort of explicit Irish content in it.
I have the bones of FAWM#6 done, but i'm not sure if i'll get time to record and upload it, the deadline is midnight tonight. Thanks again for all of your comments and e-mails they have been a really great boost. As always feel free to post here or e-mail.
Enjoy,
Gav.
The latest FAWM post is up. It's called the Weavers of Ardragh and can be heard from the player to the right. You can get the song with the lyrics at the FAWM site here .It's a little of departure in terms of style. It's a proper ballad, folk type song. Ardragh is a small town near the Donegal coast in the northwest of Ireland. I saw archive footage a couple of weeks ago about three bachelor brothers who worked as weavers there all their lives. I wrote and recorded this all last night, the emphasis is more on the story and melody, there's not much groove to it. Just guitar and vocals. I hope you like it, I thoroughly enjoyed writing this one, it's my first song with some sort of explicit Irish content in it.
I have the bones of FAWM#6 done, but i'm not sure if i'll get time to record and upload it, the deadline is midnight tonight. Thanks again for all of your comments and e-mails they have been a really great boost. As always feel free to post here or e-mail.
Enjoy,
Gav.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Fawm #4
Hi all,
I've just finished writing and recording my fourth song for February Album Writing month. It's called "The chapel and the Stream" it's about an aged drifter and his wife arguing over who was responsible for them marrying. It's another bluesy/gospel type song with an emphasis on rythym and harmony. I've lost my objectivity as far as this one is concerned so I'm dependent on feedback.
It's posted on the music player to the right and also at my FAWM page where you can also get the lyrics. It was written as part of the week 3 challenge for fawm. The challenge was to write a duet or a song about something shown from two perspectives, hence the harmonies and shift in lyrical perspective in the second verse. So I think the song accomplishes it to a reasonable degree but whether or not it makes for good listening is another day's work. There are only 3 more days of FAWM left so I obviously won't be hitting the 14 track mark I may get one other song done.
As always, feel free to post your comments below, or e-mail etc.
Be good,
Gav.
P.S. I just discovered there are forums on FAWM where you can discuss different aspects of the FAWM experience. I found this in the "best unheard fawmers/fawm songs" forum by a songwriter called Maeflower:
"Man, it's been a while since I took the time to listen to people's tracks and I am BLOWN AWAY by the quality of what everyone's writing. Here's one that knocked the two-chord challenge out of the park...by Gavin Corley/Bureaudio called Whistling Windows. It's told from the point of view of an apartment building, and the harmonies are to die for!"
and yes i did go looking for my name in this forum.....
I've just finished writing and recording my fourth song for February Album Writing month. It's called "The chapel and the Stream" it's about an aged drifter and his wife arguing over who was responsible for them marrying. It's another bluesy/gospel type song with an emphasis on rythym and harmony. I've lost my objectivity as far as this one is concerned so I'm dependent on feedback.
It's posted on the music player to the right and also at my FAWM page where you can also get the lyrics. It was written as part of the week 3 challenge for fawm. The challenge was to write a duet or a song about something shown from two perspectives, hence the harmonies and shift in lyrical perspective in the second verse. So I think the song accomplishes it to a reasonable degree but whether or not it makes for good listening is another day's work. There are only 3 more days of FAWM left so I obviously won't be hitting the 14 track mark I may get one other song done.
As always, feel free to post your comments below, or e-mail etc.
Be good,
Gav.
P.S. I just discovered there are forums on FAWM where you can discuss different aspects of the FAWM experience. I found this in the "best unheard fawmers/fawm songs" forum by a songwriter called Maeflower:
"Man, it's been a while since I took the time to listen to people's tracks and I am BLOWN AWAY by the quality of what everyone's writing. Here's one that knocked the two-chord challenge out of the park...by Gavin Corley/Bureaudio called Whistling Windows. It's told from the point of view of an apartment building, and the harmonies are to die for!"
and yes i did go looking for my name in this forum.....
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Fawm Song #3
Hi all,
Sorry for the delay with the latest Fawm song. As usual it is posted to the right. It's called whistling windows. It was a doozy to write i had to use only 2 chords as part of a weekly Fawm challenge. So my take on it was to do a kind of bluesy, rythymic song that's not too dependent on chord transitions. The blind boys of alabama do this kind of thing a lot to great effect, Hence my three part harmony. Let me know what you think of it. (harmonies or otherwise).
On another note i have started in Galway, i'm living out on Taylor's Hill a 15 minute walk from town. I have a jog on the prom at salthill this morning, the sea is pretty impressive even at it's greyest and angriest. There will be plenty of stuff to sing about by the looks of things. The city is overrun with musos and drunk students (it's ragweek), So there is a lot of debauchery and carousing. We say one guy on his knees having a full blown barking competition with some woman's dog yesterday. There are some good gigs on in the roisin dubh, yann tiersen (of amelie fame, happy dude to the right) is playing in april amongst others. I think i'm going to get along nicely here...
Hit me with your comments.
Be good,
Gav.
Sorry for the delay with the latest Fawm song. As usual it is posted to the right. It's called whistling windows. It was a doozy to write i had to use only 2 chords as part of a weekly Fawm challenge. So my take on it was to do a kind of bluesy, rythymic song that's not too dependent on chord transitions. The blind boys of alabama do this kind of thing a lot to great effect, Hence my three part harmony. Let me know what you think of it. (harmonies or otherwise).
On another note i have started in Galway, i'm living out on Taylor's Hill a 15 minute walk from town. I have a jog on the prom at salthill this morning, the sea is pretty impressive even at it's greyest and angriest. There will be plenty of stuff to sing about by the looks of things. The city is overrun with musos and drunk students (it's ragweek), So there is a lot of debauchery and carousing. We say one guy on his knees having a full blown barking competition with some woman's dog yesterday. There are some good gigs on in the roisin dubh, yann tiersen (of amelie fame, happy dude to the right) is playing in april amongst others. I think i'm going to get along nicely here...
Hit me with your comments.
Be good,
Gav.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
InterFAWM communiqué
Apologies for the delay with this post. I promised regular updates at least every monday but the life of an aspiring busker is a busy one full of ponderments and wonderings to be absorbed and 'crafted' into musical bite-sized mars bars only to be devoured by your good selves. I understand just how devastating it can be to be deprived of the bubbling genius that is my blog. I feel your pain.
Anyway... You will have to wait a little while for more musical posts. I'm between houses at the moment. I have a place in Galway but will be in Limerick for the next week so my recording gear is in the obvious location of Ennis. I'm still writing though, and plan to have another two songs done by friday. As soon as they are recorded i will post them here and at the FAWM.org website. I'm looking forward to finally making the move to the salty city.
I'm planning on writing a great little number about being bitter and single on account of the day that's it in it tomorrow. I'll call it the loneliest lemon in limerick. (thank you tabloids for some honest schooling in alliteration). Watch this space....
Anyway... You will have to wait a little while for more musical posts. I'm between houses at the moment. I have a place in Galway but will be in Limerick for the next week so my recording gear is in the obvious location of Ennis. I'm still writing though, and plan to have another two songs done by friday. As soon as they are recorded i will post them here and at the FAWM.org website. I'm looking forward to finally making the move to the salty city.
I'm planning on writing a great little number about being bitter and single on account of the day that's it in it tomorrow. I'll call it the loneliest lemon in limerick. (thank you tabloids for some honest schooling in alliteration). Watch this space....
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Fawm Song #2
Hi all,
My second Fawm song is ready. It's called "Worry" it's all about being an anxious individual, (i have some first hand experience at this, it's all part of my 'expect the worst, hope for the best' dictum). At this stage i should really have 3.5 songs done if i want to meet the 14 track target. Nevertheless I took my time with it.
The lyrics were hard enough work on this one, the melody lends itself to easy singing so i was very tempted to mouth random words or whistle but i eventually managed to sit down and write some coherent verses. The guitar is an attempt at old hobo style tabaccy spittin' finger picken. It meanders along at a nice pace. It's great fun to play and sing this song. Have a listen and post your comments.
Thanks for all your comments (posted or otherwise) about the previous song. I'm getting a great kick from them. Again, you can get the lyrics and song here also.
Lyrically yours(?)
Gav.
My second Fawm song is ready. It's called "Worry" it's all about being an anxious individual, (i have some first hand experience at this, it's all part of my 'expect the worst, hope for the best' dictum). At this stage i should really have 3.5 songs done if i want to meet the 14 track target. Nevertheless I took my time with it.
The lyrics were hard enough work on this one, the melody lends itself to easy singing so i was very tempted to mouth random words or whistle but i eventually managed to sit down and write some coherent verses. The guitar is an attempt at old hobo style tabaccy spittin' finger picken. It meanders along at a nice pace. It's great fun to play and sing this song. Have a listen and post your comments.
Thanks for all your comments (posted or otherwise) about the previous song. I'm getting a great kick from them. Again, you can get the lyrics and song here also.
Lyrically yours(?)
Gav.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
FAWM Song #1
I'll be brief. I have posted my first song in this FAWM escapade i was telling you about. You can download it from the player to the left. This weeks theme was 'colour' (appropriately abstract as you can see). So i stepped up to the plate and wrote a song about being seduced by a woman with wine (red water) in spite of mama's best efforts. I would appreciate some posts if you have it in you. Fawm #2 is nearly finished but needs to be recorded and polished. You have been a wonderful audience and i have been....
audibly yours,
Gav.
p.s. you can get lyrics and song here.
audibly yours,
Gav.
p.s. you can get lyrics and song here.
Monday, January 29, 2007
The Build Up
Hi all,This will probably be my last pre-FAWM post as the music-thon starts in 1 days and 14 hours from the time I posting this. As you can see i managed to get a music player onto the website. I should probably just have asked Danny how to do it but pride got the better of me. The song i have posted is a really old one called tears from the mountain, it was intended to be a slow oriental instrumental. I like it, it's like a good head massage. I will also post it to my Myspace account.
By the way if you're idly browsing you should check out an irish band called UltanJohn. They are 'friends' on my myspace account. They are great, amazing harmonies and the songs are pretty awesome. Have a look at the video for 'isn't it clear' if only for a look at the size of John's (?) beard.
I'm still hunting for accommodation in Galway. I was up there today, had no luck. The busking market is pretty competitive by the looks of things. Shop street was littered with singers, songwriters, sanders, welders, jokers, smokers, bluesmen, boozemen, tradheads, hippies, drummers, drunks and bums. They're a lively lot an i look forward to knacking some shelter from them.
I'll leave it at that i must take out my pencil and guitar and start working on a 14 song miracle album.
Later,
Gav.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Album Writing Month
Hi All,
It's to inform you of a music-thon i'm doing. It's called FAWM which stands for February album writing month. It's a low-key affair you can read all about it at the website (linked @ right). The idea is to write an album in a month. So you start on the first of February and submit a 14 track cd on the 1st march. To put this in perspective i have maybe written 14 songs/pieces of music in the pass 4 years. So i will need to increase my songwriting productivity by about 3800%. Which is a bit. The objective is to get all us musician bums, off our bums and work hard at 'the craft' for four weeks. Naturally i will blog extensively on the songwriting, i may even song write extensively on the blogging if things get very bad.
I will keep a daily blog on the songwriting process and post the results at my myspace account at regular intervals. It would be great if you could tune in. It's a bit like turning up to watch someone finish a marathon. It mightn't look or sound pretty, there will probably be a whole lotta hurtin' but the support is appreciated. Heck you might even learn about what not to do while writing music. I'll do my best to preserve the integrity of your ears.
Thanks to Alan for bringing this great gimmick to my attention.
Be good,
Gav.
It's to inform you of a music-thon i'm doing. It's called FAWM which stands for February album writing month. It's a low-key affair you can read all about it at the website (linked @ right). The idea is to write an album in a month. So you start on the first of February and submit a 14 track cd on the 1st march. To put this in perspective i have maybe written 14 songs/pieces of music in the pass 4 years. So i will need to increase my songwriting productivity by about 3800%. Which is a bit. The objective is to get all us musician bums, off our bums and work hard at 'the craft' for four weeks. Naturally i will blog extensively on the songwriting, i may even song write extensively on the blogging if things get very bad.
I will keep a daily blog on the songwriting process and post the results at my myspace account at regular intervals. It would be great if you could tune in. It's a bit like turning up to watch someone finish a marathon. It mightn't look or sound pretty, there will probably be a whole lotta hurtin' but the support is appreciated. Heck you might even learn about what not to do while writing music. I'll do my best to preserve the integrity of your ears.
Thanks to Alan for bringing this great gimmick to my attention.
Be good,
Gav.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Same old song on an old background
Alright, so the latest song is posted at Myspace as promised. It's an oldie, so the voice is a little delicate. It's called Magdelena, after a polish girl i met on retreat in france. She was in a discussion group with me for two days before she left. I never spoke to her (you would imagine i would have in a discussion group..) but my imagination started ticking. I'll leave it at that in case i over inform you, spoil the song
You'll see i have posted a neat little link to Ray LaMontagne's myspace account. I saw this guy in Limerick on friday. You probably haven't heard a voice like his since Otis Redding got high on Creedance Clearwater Revival's doob. It's likely it will be a long time before you will here another voice like it.
Have a listen to the song. If you want me to post lyrics i will do. Again i really appreciate the feedback and comments so go crazy.
Gav out.
P.S. I'm think Bertenernie as a name for my Midi controller Whaddyafink?
You'll see i have posted a neat little link to Ray LaMontagne's myspace account. I saw this guy in Limerick on friday. You probably haven't heard a voice like his since Otis Redding got high on Creedance Clearwater Revival's doob. It's likely it will be a long time before you will here another voice like it.
Have a listen to the song. If you want me to post lyrics i will do. Again i really appreciate the feedback and comments so go crazy.
Gav out.
P.S. I'm think Bertenernie as a name for my Midi controller Whaddyafink?
Monday, January 15, 2007
Fame wasn't built in a day (& other short stories)
Hi all,
I'm just after posting a new track onto Myspace, it's rough, it was recorded today but it's the latest song i have. It's called 'Paper man'. I was even conscientious enough to pop up the lyrics so Dave could have another grammatical stab at me :P.
My first week as an independent artist passed relatively quietly . The A&R guy from EMI hasn't busted down my door yet but i guess word of mouth is a little slower than previously anticipated. Actually it's probably on a par with a geriatric sloth however, it has been an education just getting stuff up that's listenable and sorting out pictures and all. I'm not planning on conquering the world or anything but there is a little kick from the feedback, all 1 comment of it (thanks james).
My music arsenal was increased by the addition of a new midi controller (keyboardie, knobby, button thingummy) the axiom 25 by M-audio, compliments of my other half, Brian. So if you start hearing house music coming from this direction you'll know who to blame. Other pioneers of midi controllers are Hystereo, Daft Punk and Autechre.
This is a picture of one i built from scratch for my final year project last year. I haven't named it yet, my madness didn't sink to those depths, but if you think of something shout it.
That's it for this episode, have a listen to the new track and post some comments, the longer the better.
Be good,
Gav.
I'm just after posting a new track onto Myspace, it's rough, it was recorded today but it's the latest song i have. It's called 'Paper man'. I was even conscientious enough to pop up the lyrics so Dave could have another grammatical stab at me :P.
My first week as an independent artist passed relatively quietly . The A&R guy from EMI hasn't busted down my door yet but i guess word of mouth is a little slower than previously anticipated. Actually it's probably on a par with a geriatric sloth however, it has been an education just getting stuff up that's listenable and sorting out pictures and all. I'm not planning on conquering the world or anything but there is a little kick from the feedback, all 1 comment of it (thanks james).
My music arsenal was increased by the addition of a new midi controller (keyboardie, knobby, button thingummy) the axiom 25 by M-audio, compliments of my other half, Brian. So if you start hearing house music coming from this direction you'll know who to blame. Other pioneers of midi controllers are Hystereo, Daft Punk and Autechre.
This is a picture of one i built from scratch for my final year project last year. I haven't named it yet, my madness didn't sink to those depths, but if you think of something shout it.
That's it for this episode, have a listen to the new track and post some comments, the longer the better.
Be good,
Gav.
Monday, January 8, 2007
MySpace Initiation Day
Hi all,
Today was a special day for this particular muso, i finally managed to upload my music to my MySpace account. After circulating e-mails, popping champagne corks and receiving hearty congratulations from friends and family , Dave - "Such a fag. Can't believe you set up a my*%$£ account. That's fagatronic", I sat back and waited for the Profile views and Ratings to roll in.
By the end of the day i was approaching 60 which is pretty good though i probably account for 20 of those.
There are three pieces posted at the moment, one song (Underground) and two instrumentals. I'll pop up some new ones at the start of each week. I will try and get some music onto this blog but in the meantime follow the link to your right. Feel free to have a listen and leave comments, ratings etc.
Gav.
Today was a special day for this particular muso, i finally managed to upload my music to my MySpace account. After circulating e-mails, popping champagne corks and receiving hearty congratulations from friends and family , Dave - "Such a fag. Can't believe you set up a my*%$£ account. That's fagatronic", I sat back and waited for the Profile views and Ratings to roll in.
By the end of the day i was approaching 60 which is pretty good though i probably account for 20 of those.
There are three pieces posted at the moment, one song (Underground) and two instrumentals. I'll pop up some new ones at the start of each week. I will try and get some music onto this blog but in the meantime follow the link to your right. Feel free to have a listen and leave comments, ratings etc.
Gav.
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Gav Goes Live!
Having dodged the Hell spawn of noughties culture (Bebo) for so long, I finally succumbed to the allure of Internet web logging. Or blogging as I believe it is called. This blog is supposed to keep all of you posted on my musical endeavors over the coming months. I have a link to my Myspace music account over on the right where i will be uploading my music. I will probably post some of the music to this blog once i get a handle on this technology lark.
Laters,
Gav.
Laters,
Gav.
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