Earlier today, I checked my Twitter page (@jms3music) and saw that Groove3 (@groove3inc) had released a new set of video tutorials: Songwriting Theory Explained. I considered it throughout the day, having instantly recognized that actually knowing the theory behind song creation could help me in just about any genre of music I ultimately decide to create.  I bought and downloaded it and started watching the videos tonight, getting through most of the first section, which focuses on chord progressions (definitely applicable to any genre of music).  Two thoughts:

First, my head is swimming!  There are terms being tossed about as if they are as commonplace as tires on cars.  The instructor (Eli Krantzberg) also treats the topic of songwriting theory as if the viewer is already fairly advanced and knowledgeable, which is a little off-putting in a way.  Thank goodness the chord progressions section uses actual notation to demonstrate the chords being used, otherwise I would almost certainly be lost!

The other main thought is just how much music theory I forgot during the decade or so in which I barely ever touched a musical instrument.  It makes me realize that the composing I have been doing over the past fifteen months or so has been so heavily based on my ears – what sounds “right” versus what theory dictates should logically come next.  There is certainly merit to working based on what sounds “right,” but now I am starting to see the theoretical logic behind what sounds “right,” and in the end, that can only be a good thing.

I have not touched Vocaloid Miriam in many, many moons, and have been wanting to do some more work with her/it, so perhaps working through Songwriting Theory Explained will help to nudge me in that direction again.  But if nothing else, at least this should give me a more solid foundation to aid in composing in general.

This is not the first time I have bought videos from Groove3.  In December, when I made the switch from Music Maker to Reaper, I also bought their Reaper Explained video set.  That has also been quite useful, even beyond the initial viewing, as I have turned back to it several times over the past few months.  I have a strong feeling that I will also be returning to Songwriting Theory Explained again and again.

The 50 Worst Band Photos Ever – somewhat amusing, somewhat cringeworthy…

Bobby Owsinski has some more detailed thoughts on some of these same images in his blog: http://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.com/

For a while, I have been thinking that I should look for some basic information on drum sets to help me to better use them (and perhaps percussion in general) in my music.  I happened to be at Borders today to buy a few unrelated books, and I saw the Simply Drums Kit (very short book and DVD).  I just got home and in just ten minutes flipping through the book, it already helps me to conceptualize using a drum kit, which I think has been the biggest obstacle for me.  At only $8, one cannot really go wrong with this kit

Here is the main mix of my latest project, “Tomorrow’s Deviants.”

This piece revolves around dialogue from the 1965 anti-pornography film Perversion for Profit. As noted in the previous post, the audio clips are from Loopmasters’ Movie Dialogue Vol. 4, set against the Brazenwood Piano and the Andromeda Bass SoundFonts from www.soundsforbeats.com, plus a number of sound effects from Freesound and SoundByter to give the dialogue even more punch.

Feedback greatly appreciated: jms3music at ix dot Netcom dot com.  Hopefully listeners will enjoy this just as much as I have enjoyed working on it!

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Getting closer and closer now to actually starting to sell my music.  My intention is to launch two projects when the selling begins.

The Goddess Project is a series of tributes to the three main goddesses of the Aa! Megamisama/Oh My Goddess! manga and anime series created by Kosuke Fujishima.  There are four pieces total: one for Belldandy, one for Urd, one for Skuld, and finally another based on Belldandy’s sidecar role.  Each of the four pieces is rather different from the others, while certain heavenly/religious instruments link the first three pieces as they form the true core of both the manga/anime series and The Goddess Project itself.  The cover art for The Goddess Project is already completed, thanks to freelance artist Ulrike Kleinert of www.dreamaddiction.de.

Tomorrow’s Deviants is still in progress, both in terms of the cover art (again by Ulrike) and the actual mixing.  This project is centered around the dialogue from Perversion for Profit, a 1965 anti-pornography film, audio clips of which are part of Movie Dialogue Vol. 4, created by Loopmasters. There are currently five mixes: the original mix, the no-dialogue mix, the choirs-and-music mix, the instrumental mix, and the Parental Mix (retains the dialogue but removes the sound effects, which are admittedly somewhat suggestive in nature).

If all goes well, I would love to have both The Goddess Project and Tomorrow’s Deviants available by mid-March.