"Don't call it a comeback!"

As per the request of two of my friends, I'm going to attempt to update this blog a little more regularly. I seriously doubt my life is going to be interesting enough to have something to post about every day, but perhaps weekly will work. Anyway, on to the content!

Major events as of late: If I Fell cover in the works, arrangements for yell band, Hey Jude cover in the works, going to Rachel's house last Tuesday, first day of driver's ed., acquisition of Kingdom Hearts stuff, and a fantastic Friday.

If I Fell:



This is a song that has been close to me recently. As result, I've taken sometime to learn this song. I should have it recorded fairly soon; my only difficulty is that I take a different stylistic approach at the opening of the song. With my previous cover, I listened to the song as I sang and played. That doesn't look possible this time. My tempo has ended up being sporadic on the opening as result. I just have to get my hand to move next time I record. I have no way to easily add it to this post, but you can ask Rachel for a second opinion, since she has heard it as well.

Yell band:

I have three songs I have planned to have arranged by the end of summer. My first project was actually a collaboration with Chase. Our trombones managed found a piece entitled "Snake Pit" a few months before school let out. Unfortunately, it was made only for a brass quartet. I thought it would be an excellent piece for marching season this year, so Chase and I got to work. I shared a more manageable chord structure with Chase, as well as a rough demo I made, which you can listen to here,



He adjusted the rhythm to be more true to the original, and added an extra verse to the melody that I had forgotten. My ultimate contributions were a change of key signature and chord structure, a more even spread of all parts, and the drum break as well as the ending. I'm hoping the drum break will sound much better when we're using actual drums instead of these weak midi reproductions.

Push it



Trombones (as always) made played a rough version of this last year by ear. It caught on pretty well, but was never used in games or even pep rallies. It's time for that to change this year. The composition should be short, 30 seconds would be pushing it (no pun intended), but it should be effective. Instrument will be easy, percussion on the other hand. >_< She Loves You Do I even need to post this one? Eh, I will anyway,


Now then, our school is having a Beatles themed show this year, so I thought it would only be fitting to have something Beatles related in the stands. What better than the song everyone knows? Bass part is going to be a challenge, but it's going to be great if I can pull it all together. I believe I can.

Hey Jude:

One day on Skype, Chase, somewhat offhandedly, said he, Hanna, and I should make a harmonized cover of Hey Jude. Whether this works out or not, I'm attempting to learn the harmonized part. If I can at least do it, then I could make an a capella version on my own. We'll have to see where this one goes.

Rachel's:

Felt like I should mention this venture. Starting as a simple suggestion that we should do recordings together, I ended up being invited to come over to her house (perhaps I invited myself; I'm not too sure on that xD). It ended up that I would have at most an hour and a half, so I felt that we needed to get to work pronto. That idea didn't turn out too well. My mom and her brother were both crowded in her room like they were waiting for a show. I had to be stalling on the recording for almost an hour; I had hopes that they would leave. I finally attempted to do my cover of Somebody, and failed spectacularly on the fifth note. I concluded that I could just record my part at home if we were going to do it separately. Unfortunately, my whole reason for coming over had almost been obliterated at this point. Rachel decided she would do her part with the vocals and I left her room at that point. Unlike Gabe and my mom, I realize how important privacy is to a musician. Gabe followed me, and Rachel didn't have any trouble getting my mom to leave. She finally had it as we should have an hour earlier. She managed to get, in my opinion, a really good recording of her singing Somebody. She says she's not satisfied with it, but I've been able to build my guitar part around it rather nicely.

Driver's ed.

This is what caused my visit to Rachel's to be cut so short. It was my first time driving in months, and I have to say it wasn't too bad. Narrow roads, rain, afternoon traffic, I braved all of it for the first time and he only grabbed the wheel once. xD

Kingdom Hearts:

Thanks to a little...ok, a lot of influence from Rachel, I decided I'd take a look into the series by watching cutscenes from the first game. Everything about it just seemed to sync with me so well. It was a bit unfortunate though. I have no PS2, and it looked like the best I was going to be able to do was play it for a little while when I went over to Rachel's again. I expressed my concerns on facebook, and an old friend, Justin, contacted me a few moments later. He offered to let me borrow his PS2, controller, memory stick, Kh1, Re: CoM, 2, and 358/2 Day, as well as both walkthroughs he had. It was like a blessing! So I went by yesterday and picked it all up. It was just one of the many things that helped me to have a...

Fantastic Friday:

Avery contacted my mom earlier that morning asking if I was going to be busy, but I had already made plans to go over to Rachel's. When we got to town, she texted me saying she wasn't feeling well. I started feeling a bit sad knowing that this was just going to be another typical day. Hanging on to hope though, I texted Avery seeing if he wanted me to come hang out. Turns out he actually wanted to go to Tuscaloosa. It was a wonderful. From old ladies asking us where children's belt buckles were, to yelling Samuel Jackson quotes in Burger King, to listening to the apocalypse in Academy. It was grand. If I hadn't been typing this blog so long I'd get more in to details, but I think you can trust me when I say we had a good time.

Oh, and 1 more thing I'd like to mention, Crimson Camp! Now, the whole thing was a "you had to be there" event, but I can share a little of our shenanigans with you, http://www.justin.tv/sonicwiifan/b/265692184

I suppose this ends my impossibly huge blog post. Until next time~