I’ve gone to the Wayback Machine and retrieved an old post I made back in 2000 about an old classic – Grabbag. The post comes from the old 3d Realms Ultimate Bulletin Board, and it’s very in-depth about the song and the circumstances that led to its creation. The only thing it lacks is a musical analysis, but if things keep going the way they are on the Lee Jackson Audio Community Discussion Group on Facebook, you may find that coming up this weekend.
One Giant Leap For “Derivations”
A major milestone has been met in the production of my upcoming second album, Derivations. I’ve finished primary composition of all ten tracks for the album! That happened a couple of days ago, and I put what I believe are the final tweaks into place this afternoon. I still have fades and mastering left to do, plus I have to master the tracks separately for streaming services (Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, etc.), so the release is not ready, but it’s massively closer to completion.
One aspect that I will need to take care of is album cover design. I want to have a CD cover done that is “derived” from the Calibrations artwork. With this, I could use your help, fair readers. Who would you recommend that can handle the entire CD Baby submission package from their templates? That includes the cover, the liner notes, the CD label, and the back cover? My budget for this is flexible. If you know anyone (I’ve already checked Fiverr), please contact me via the comments section. Thanks!
In other news, NotCon at Sea is coming up on Monday, February 17th! We’ll be driving to Galveston the day before, so I’ll probably create a test CD of Derivations to see how it works in the car stereo. I expect that it won’t work on the first pass; if it does, it’ll be a miracle. (My wife and I will also be practicing our karaoke selections for the final night of the cruise Karaoke Party during the drive.)
Stay tuned here for more Derivations news!
New Album Coming in 2020 – “Derivations”
Almost two years after the publication of my first album, Calibrations, I am now ready to announce the upcoming release of my second album, Derivations.
Dictionary.com defines “Derivation” as:
- the act or fact of deriving or of being derived.
- the process of deriving.
- the source from which something is derived; origin.
- something that is or has been derived; derivative.
I see Derivations as an extension of Calibrations, with Calibrations being the source.
When finished, Derivations will contain ten tracks (I’ve got eight in the bag now and am working on number nine), including the previously-released single, “What It Shall Be.” The completed album will be released for physical CD and streaming distribution via CD Baby. Later, high-resolution versions of almost all of the tracks (more on this as the release date approaches) will be released via the Bandcamp service.
The CD will be released prior to the end of 2020 (with any luck, significantly prior to the end of 2020). Watch for updates and further announcements!
Words and Music – Update 2019-08-02
Now that we’re in August, it’s time for a quick update on how things are going.
Words:
- Sergeant Marcos’s Rescue has been through a couple of rounds of revisions, thanks to a critique on Scribophile. It’s a better short story now than before.
- I’ve added an extra chapter to Tapper. That brings the chapter count to 35 and the total word count to just over 97,000. It’s a desperately needed chapter in a crucial spot, even if it is less than 100 words in length. Still, it was worth going to the trouble of renumbering all of the other chapters beyond it.
Music:
- It’s been a bit more difficult to work on the Music section than it has been on the Words section. You see, I spent a good deal of time traveling from Dallas, Texas to Des Moines, Iowa with my wife in order to see an IndyCar race, and while I can bring my Words with me, I can’t very well bring my keyboards and my music composition computer. I’ve also had downtime due another lumbar rhizotomy procedure (a.k.a., radiofrequency ablation of the nerves of my lower back), but that only explains more recent absences from the workstation.
- Still, I have managed to complete the first phrase of a new song for the second album. It’s in fact a tribute song—more I can’t go into yet—and it involves two pianos playing off against each other in an andante 3/4-3/4-4/4-4/4 pattern. I have yet to program the tempo changes to make it sound as human as possible (yes, I mouse everything into the computer), but once I do, I think I’ll have quite a nice piece.
Thank you for reading, and watch this space for further updates!