Shows
Amado OhlandAffirmation [Aspiration to Change Course]Affirmation [Aspiration to Change Course] by Amado Ohland2023-08-2103 min
Amado OhlandYeah, Well. THIS.Yeah, Well. THIS. by Amado Ohland2023-07-3003 min
Amado OhlandThe Walkdown Progression - Arrangement Building Several VariationsThe Walkdown Progression - Arrangement Building Several Variations by Amado Ohland2023-07-1303 min
Amado OhlandShape Your FateShape Your Fate by Amado Ohland2023-06-1604 min
Amado OhlandWith All I've Learned...It's time to re-commit to my life's calling.
So, I put a little too much extra into this first one. I was in the grip of a hyper-focus, and I knew that if I didn't get something finished that the effort spent would be for little good.
What has circlesinging taught me about how music works? What about my academic studies of music? What about my love of the popular music I grew up listening to? Is there a way that all these different knowledges of music can inform one another and help me make an engaging, fun, meaningful musical...2023-01-3105 min
Amado OhlandEven So At SunsetEven So At Sunset by Amado Ohland2022-09-0503 min
Amado OhlandLucky Thirteen [an attempt to Audio Master]it's Friday the 13th. On a previous Friday the 13th, I recorded this. I thought I'd see if I could improve the audio quality. Did I get lucky?2022-05-1304 minAmado OhlandZed Oop Aw, Zeh Too Paydee KayZed Oop Aw, Zeh Too Paydee Kay by Amado Ohland2021-06-1102 minAmado OhlandKing Augmento The SixthWhat better way to learn about your Augmented Sixth chords?2021-04-0601 minAmado OhlandGlimmers Of GrimeIt started as a song to sing to people on Sunday the 28th of March (which didn't happen, but no matter), and as an experiment in using a "neutral third" scale degree (halfway between minor and major).
Turns out, I didn't feel like I'd gotten the Neutral Third to work. It just sounded disturbing.
I made some adjustments, and the part in question is a little more conventionally bluesy now, using the minor AND the major and sliding between them. But some relics of the experiment remain in this sound, and I hope they lend it a bit of grime...2021-03-2602 min
Amado OhlandIt's So Very FridayIt's So Very Friday by Amado Ohland2021-03-1102 min
Amado OhlandWhy Change Your Quest?Why Change Your Quest? by Amado Ohland2021-02-1502 minAmado OhlandNever Swung This Way BeforeI try the 57% swing (sort-of halfway between straight and 'standard' swing), based on septuplets.
NO, i cannot do this yet without studio trickery. The test—the proof-of-concept—is: does this sound straight, swung, or kind-of in the middle?
If I listen to this, maybe I can learn this feel.2021-02-0900 min
Amado OhlandWill It Sway the World?Will It Sway the World? by Amado Ohland2021-01-1802 min
Amado OhlandYemaya AsesuTraditional Cuban. Arranged by Brian Tate.2020-03-2403 min
Amado OhlandI Cant—YETJust a trifle, really, but I am attached enough to it to include it as an example of my compositions. Short, under three minutes. Initially written for 4 brass, I liked it enough that I doubled its length and scored it for standard Brass Quintet. Enjoy.2019-05-1101 min
Amado OhlandEvolving HopeI tried some "minimalist"/procedural things with it that make it go too long; it's static, or requires a long attention-span to appreciate the ways in which it gradually changes from "texture A" to "texture B" and back again.
Modified Arch Form—see if you can trace how it goes forward, and then backward.2019-05-1106 min
Amado OhlandLet The Light In"Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
It wasn't during the composition of this piece that those words of Leonard Cohen came to me, but just after. As I neared completion of the piece, it was a beautiful Spring day in Appalachia, and I pulled open the shades to let the light into my home. That's when this song got named.
Scored for string quartet + clarinet and French horn. Scores will be available once I clean them up and put more dynamics markings on them. If you'd like to perform this...2019-05-0706 min
Amado OhlandSouvenirsOver the years, knowing the composers' passion for music, friends and family had adopted the practice of bringing back gifts of music-related mementos from their travels. The composer now has an eclectic collection of instruments—some only decorative, some functional, all of them beautiful, and all of them charged with personal history and meaning. Souvenirs marks the first time that these instruments have been used for the creation of music. By sampling the sounds of these instruments (plus other sonic artifacts from the composer’s history), digitally manipulating the samples, and organizing them into a sound event, he sought to imbu...2019-04-2703 min
Amado OhlandA Counting AccountingBack at it, with the same tone row.
See, I also just picked up the cheap version of Melodyne. Not because I want to be a cheater-singer, but because I often have to work out musical ideas that are beyond my ear. It's a tool.
I today I sang sing-songy melodies into my DAW, and used Melodyne to round me off to the closest permutation of the tone-row I'm working with. (P[e], P[2], I[e], and I[8], for those interested.)
Long story short, this was the result. I know there are several ways I'm still not doing it right—ro...2019-01-3100 min
Amado OhlandTo Shun All Funk [mastered]More atonal business. Or is it?
20th Century Expressionists sought ways to express through music that didn't rely on our (I believe) natural tendency to organize the experience around a tone center. One way was to make the rules: "no repeating a note until you've done all 12 of them, and you must do your intervals in the same order throughout the piece."
That's all well and good, but I think we key into sonorities. Resonances. Combinations of notes that interact with one another in particular ways.
So, enough. I followed the rules, but selected an order for my notes that...2019-01-2900 minAmado OhlandJust A Quick CheckSo, am I ruined?
If you can't tell what I'm talking about, the answer is: no!2019-01-2700 minAmado OhlandGeese And Ducks [another experiment]Somebody stop me. I'm in a hyperfocus.
Nah but seriously, here's another look at what I can do with a new toy. It may not be terribly musical, but it is of interest to me as a proof-of-concept.2019-01-2700 min
Amado OhlandSleep Deprivation [for cello and piano]Sleep Deprivation [for cello and piano] by Amado Ohland2018-12-0504 min
Amado OhlandAllergic to Leading TonesJust a little chorale. But what happens when you split the [S] out as a lead, the [B] out as a bass, and make the inner voices a comping instrument?
Cute.
Starting from the part-writing rules of the Common Practice Period, I added N.C.T.s to minimize the presence of the leading tone (not entirely), then to add as many 7ths as I could (not many), then include as many 4-3 suspensions as I could. Here's what you get.2018-11-2400 min
Amado OhlandThat's The Way It Goes AroundNow here's thgat same "allergic to leading tones" track as four voices (mine, badly rendered).
The illustration here is that the voice leading rules of the Common Practice Period may not seem relevant to today's music, but it's all in what you do with them. I didn't even break any "rules." Imagine what you can make if you selectively adapt the rules to your harmonic language.2018-11-2300 min
Amado OhlandJust ThreeThree notes, three instruments, three minutes. One key change permitted, and one return to the original key. At least one slow section and one fast section. Go!2018-10-0603 min
Amado OhlandWildwood Bowers - Master Mix 3it got edited. Now I need to sing more parts to fill in these obvious gaps. But now it is done...2018-04-0504 min
Amado OhlandWildwood BowersA new composition. As in, finished yesterday (unless my professor wants me to edit it).2018-03-2802 min
Amado OhlandLove One Another [New Studio Performance]A new studio recording of the first song I composed for study at Radford University. Adapting Circlesinging textures to something planned-out in advance. This is quite closer to my vision for the song... the groove could be tighter in places, but the performance is overall cleaner,2018-03-0702 min
Amado OhlandIn My Eyes: Starlight [last verse, vocal parts demo]Still in the working stages, but I've decided (I'm pretty sure) that the end of the song I'm working on is going to sound mostly like this (but with a real Alto and Soprano, instead of my awful warblings).2017-05-2201 min
Amado OhlandToward Jazz Choir - What's The Secret Sauce?Alright, this doesn't suck.
But, is it the close voicings, the 7th chords, or the chromaticism that's doing it?
I don't think it's the close voicings. I tried that on something entirely diatonic and mostly free of 7th chords, and it didn't make it.
Come to think of it, in the example prior to this one, there were non-diatonic notes in all the same places as this one. And that one sounded "sometimes" Jazz-Choir, often Church-Choir.
So, I'm going to do an open-voicing one (because I already figured out the notes), but I think I have to write another one...2017-04-1000 min
Amado OhlandJazz Choir Is No AccidentI fibbed. One more today, then I step away from the mic.
This is a version of the very same thing, but with the chord progression changed so that there are no chromatic notes AT ALL—but every chord still has a 7th, or a 6th, and some have extended harmonies like 9ths or 13ths.
The voicing goes back and forth between closed and open.
IF this is still Jazz, then notice: it aint the chromaticism that does it (though it helps). It aint the closed voicings (though it has a particular effect). It's the 7th chords. Put 'em everywhere.2017-04-1000 min
Amado OhlandTake Jazz to ChurchAnd here you go. Combine the three, because why not. It's fun, you can hear the contrasts in the sounds, and I save the coda for the last time through. Enjoy.
This might even be listenable.2017-04-1002 min
Amado OhlandToward Jazz Choir - Open It UpwardsAnd here we are again.
I think this is still Jazz Choir. It sounds different though, I think.
I was able to use the same Bass track, and the old Mezzo track became the new Alto track. The Tenor needed just a note or two changed, so that was sung fresh; the new Mezzo and Soprano needed to be sung.
Don't ask how I got the Soprano. You would not want to know how much these exploratory tracks are the result of The Magic Of Recording Technology.
Thoughts? What's it sound like?2017-04-1000 min
Amado Ohlandis this Jazz Choir, or Church Choir?Friends! I need to know. Does this sound like Jazz Choir voicings, or am I still stuck in Church Chorale mode?
There's another step I want to take, but with this step I'm testing close voicings and non-chord tones.
I don't think it's there yet. There's like 1 moment that it takes a turn that's not conventional for a chorale in your Gray Hymnal. We'll see what happens when I go to a 5-voice choir and add in color tones to just about every chord.2017-04-0700 min
Amado OhlandWhere Did My Funk Go? [remaster]same deal. An oldie that came up in my "Facebook Memories" lately that needed a trim at the end, so I slapped some mastering on it so you could enjoy it fer reelz.2017-01-2906 min
Amado OhlandEqual Parts Each Opposite [remaster]A remaster of a good old one.2017-01-2804 min
Amado OhlandAll The Cool CatsI asked the Theory II class for which I'm a GTA for a poem, phrase, word, or topic for today's song. The first one I heard clearly was "cats."
What is it about asking for Prompts that sometimes gets me ones that are... outside of what I think I'll be able to do?
But that was the challenge, to find the place of truth that this had for me. I wasn't going to channel Queen's "Delilah," nor do I want to go too deep into Stray Cats territory. But this is what it is today.
Today. Of all days. Hail...2017-01-2004 min
Amado OhlandBe You Will, You AreIt doesn't thrill me, it doesn't. The song. It has issues.
What DOES thrill me is that I did it from my tiny office at school, that my Composition prof thinks that I should keep this up, and that I'm staying on top of it.
Enjoy.2017-01-1804 min
Amado OhlandThe Pure Joy Of Making MusicI didn't name the track until after I listened back to it. And then, I discovered that there's only one name that this song could possibly go by.
Enjoy. Oh, enjoy!2017-01-1704 min
Amado OhlandGet Right! Back To It!The joy of getting back to what you're supposed to be doing.
Might be same key and same tempo as a song I did called "Kidding Around" or "Just Kidding" or something. This is almost as playful and a little less kid-stuff. Not much.2017-01-1604 min
Amado OhlandLucky To Get Through This's'funny how I never seem to notice when it's a Friday the 13th.
Two challenges I'm addressing today and for the nonce.
First, what kind of chromaticism and "non-vocal friendly" things can I pull off with my voice alone? Is my mental model of the music strong enough that I can do non-diatonic things?
Second, once the musical material has been made, do I come to a full enough grasp of "what's it for," what the point of the song is and how I use the material in service of that point?
So many false starts today that it almost...2017-01-1305 min
Amado OhlandLet's Find What Was LostPlay on words. Let's find out what, if anything, atrophied from neglect of this daily process. Let's re-discover lost things.
Play onward.2017-01-1205 min
Amado OhlandFull Step Away, Half Step TowardMy task this week: to make sure that my return to academia is a step forward, not a regression to 20 years ago. To make sure it is a step toward what I want, and not merely a step away from things I don't like.2016-08-2503 min
Amado OhlandWhole Time Partial, Full StepThe title—and the image—are much darker than the song. "Move chords," I'm told, "a piece of music is an event that flows, and without harmonic motion it doesn't seem to go anywhere." Okay, I see that, as far as it goes. But I went to a weird other chord this time. Because all the other ones were taken.
I did, though, remember my guiding edict for the month: "do it because it's fun!"2016-08-1804 min
Amado OhlandSmiles All Wiley The Whole TimeThis bit where I sing exactly what I want to—and tell the voices in my head that are telling me how to be—this is turning out to be fun.2016-08-1704 min
Amado OhlandThe Dance Of The Easy SmileSomething about them Major7 chords seems to frequently take me to the water. Floating or sinking or dancing on the beach.2016-08-1604 min
Amado OhlandThe Dig, The Drum, And The Dance"Remember, sing what you want to! Remember, sing for fun!"
How strange that that's what I have to try to remember.
Not that hard though, really.2016-08-1504 min
Amado OhlandI Grow Accustomed To The DigToday felt like an excavation.
Still singing "exactly what I want to," reminding myself to be more in-tune with my deepest impulses than the things I've been taught—by myself as well as by others—about how I "ought" to do this kind of thing.
Even so, I found I had to dig.2016-08-1005 min
Amado OhlandWant To Be When I GrowNot this guy specifically.
When I grow, I want to be. That's all.2016-08-0904 min
Amado OhlandExactly What I Want ToAll these voices in my head. Not literal voices; I'm not hearing things. But I do hear echoes of the words of my various teachers, listeners, and my own critical judgment: "Make this kind of part, or that." "Solo this way, or that, or not at all." "Make your song this long, or shorter." "Use this many voices." "Enter this way; exit that way."
Well, for a little while and with all due respect, screw all that.
This Daily Song Project may not last past the end of this month, when I start music school. Or it may change in...2016-08-0804 min
Amado OhlandAbandoned To MarshA Blues feel (though not a Blues progression), slow, and need to be cut in half (or maybe 2/3?).
Still working out the details of the three-voice thing. For this one, I really needed to ask the question "why am I singing this?" As in, what needed to be said with it? Because I don't think I got to it directly.
Still, another fun entry. Much to learn.2016-07-2606 min
Amado OhlandHow Be? What Feel?So, this one has a trim job on it. The untrimmed will be here:
https://soundcloud.com/amadoohland/how-be-what-feel/s-elGPt
OH! and, I was going to give myself permission to go SATB plus a solo voice, but I think I managed to keep it to 4-voices only (never sang over when it was 4 voices). So, a small expansion, moving back towards my "anything goes" habits of the past two years.
Was going for three minutes, and in the untrimmed version I overshot it. In this version, were I to spend any more time on it, I'd cut out one of...2016-07-2502 min
Amado OhlandSay WhateverI just couldn't do it today. I'm still keeping it to three voices, but... well, hang out until the end of the song.
I think the verdict is: three's good to try for, and some songs will reveal to you that their arrangement and/or orchestration requires something else. So, this one goes down as an exciting idea that would need to be re-worked to turn it into a recording or performance that I'd be most proud of.
But dang. I like parts of this.2016-07-2504 min
Amado OhlandThe Small StreamWhat to say? This poem spoke to me today. But then, I sought a poem that said something like this. How it said it, though!
Poem credit: http://www.americantanka.com/june-2012-issue-21/michele-l-harvey-2/2016-07-2205 min
Amado Ohlandwith us as with migrant birdsPhooo! I liked the parts today, but boy did I struggle with the performance! Not typically acceptable to get more than 40% of the way thru a song not once, not twice, but three times and decide {{crap, I just flubbed it}}. And that after a false start or two. But I knew I had an interesting enough thing here to try to get it right.
So I powered thru the frustration and backed a bit away from my learning edge, for the sake of getting an arrangement I liked. And I do like it. It's a little short. But it...2016-07-2104 min
Amado OhlandWhen Sapling Grows To FlowerCombining one of the most productive things I've done in this project—using haiku—with the recent power-of-three work I'm doing.
Check out my song "I Planted A Tree" to see how I feel about trees. This song was something of a continuation.2016-07-1904 min
Amado OhlandChange Of Course Of CourseI met a guy today who did a mid-life career change. Two, actually. 15 years ago he became a full-time Dad, and three years ago he became an accountant.
It got me thinking about the word "career"; one website lists the word "course" as a synonym.
Do you become your career, or does your career become you? Depends on the person, of course.
It also got me looking up the idiom "mid-life crisis," a phenomenon which tends to start in one's mid-40s, if it is to happen at all.
I wouldn't call mine a "crisis." But it is a re-evaluation...2016-07-1805 min
Amado OhlandWhat's The First Power Of Three?The challenge: improvise something that could be executed live by three voices, or by a three-voice choir.
Use everything you've learned in the wide-open playground of Loopy HD, where you can layer and bounce-down to your heart's content... but WITHOUT the luxury of adding, like, a dozen layers going simultaneously.
Remember that there's a guy in this world named Bobby McFerrin that can sing melody, harmony, and accompaniment with just ONE voice; recall the techniques he uses to make that work.
This is a start. I think there will be many more of these over the coming weeks!2016-07-1505 min
Amado OhlandReturning Safe Home Some Day (ft. Beth Lyons)My collaborators in VoiceExchange sure like their melodies, Today's track, provided by Beth Lyons, called out for the three-part homophony treatment.
I did hold yesterday's question—"how do I approach this creatively, and in a fresh way?"—in mind. But this loop asked to be finished in this way, and not tinkered with overmuch. And so. This is my musical reaction to it.2016-07-1304 min
Amado OhlandIt's Out There In Here (ft. Paris Kern)Pro tip: don't read an interview with Esperanza Spalding before you go in to record you stuff.
...it'll have you questioning whether you're being creative enough.
...which might push you to re-record everything you did earlier in the day.
...which might not be a bad thing after all.
At the end of the day, I wish I had done the solo better, to do the seed loop (graciously sung by Paris Kern) better justice. But, as always... this is what I had in me today.2016-07-1203 min
Amado OhlandEveryday Operation (ft. Taunya Ferguson)Our guest loop today is from Taunya Ferguson - http://www.dccabaretnetwork.org/taunyaferguson.html
While visiting DC this weekend I was able to get loops from my partners in VoiceExchange. As my past few days of singing have been a little gloomy, it was time for something up!2016-07-1104 min
Amado Ohland"Nothing. Just A Rough Day." (ft. Morgan)I've long known that she has this kind of mojo. I was gifted a loop in 5/4 time with a swing feel, and challenged to use it as the start point for my sound today. Just the kind of challenge I like. And here we have it.2016-07-0705 min
Amado OhlandPreposterous/Disastrous (ft. Morgan)When we put these loops down last week, they were silly. They were going to be made into something fun.
But then this week happened. Fun aint in my heart today. I know that, on some level, it's my responsibility (as a musician, as a human) to bring some light and hope into the world, when it needs it most. But these are dark days. And I'm in need of some evidence that Human Nature isn't the cesspool it has been revealing itself to be.2016-07-0705 min
Amado OhlandTidings From Afar (ft. Beth Ullman)Today's guest loops come from Beth Ullman. She sent a beautiful multi-layered loop which, I suspect, was recorded in a big, reverberant space. I worked to make my recorded parts more reverberant than my usual, so you'll detect changes in the sound as it goes along.
I got a strong sense of trying to "receive the message from afar angels" and copying some of what I was able to hear.
Thanks for this, Beth. I never could have done this without you.2016-07-0605 min
Amado OhlandGotta Find A Flow (ft. Morgan)And we're off! To the races.
My darling bride's second loop offering was also 1-measure long, and there was a note in there that I decided to call the sixth scale degree. Mostly though it was the articulation—"deee beee doh"—that set a mood for me. I know she likes the up-tempo stuff, but I just had to half-time the snare; I compensated by putting a pretty busy shaker in there. Soon, there was a flow. Best to go with it.2016-07-0505 min
Amado OhlandThe More Things Change... (ft. Morgan)Tday's guest voice is Morgan! (Perhaps she'll be the guest voice for the whole month.)
She and I, we go through changes together. All the dang time. So for this, her first loop offering to my little project, I changed things around a part that she kept pretty constant.
Enjoy.2016-07-0404 min
Amado OhlandNever Change A Running SystemAn experiment. Again. Because that's (part of) what this is for!
At a composition workshop yesterday, someone mentioned "melody, harmony, and bass" in a sense that those were the parts that made up a piece. I'd been thinking in terms of motor-interlock (context), bass-percussion (reinforce context), motif (a short theme), melody line, and "solo." That's a lot more things than "melody, harmony, and bass."
My first pass at this, https://soundcloud.com/amadoohland/barely-running-system , was stripped. Minimal. I didn't think it worked, so I did this.
Does it work? (I think it's weak...)2016-06-3004 min
Amado OhlandMy Bizarre Gently BleepsIt's the tempos. The more I work with a wide variety of tempos, instead of just falling back on "how do I feel today?" , the more I tap into some new groove or manner of expressing where I'm at in that moment.2016-06-2906 min
Amado OhlandBarely Running SystemAn experiment. Again. Because that's (part of) what this is for!
At a composition workshop yesterday, someone mentioned "melody, harmony, and bass" in a sense that those were the parts that made up a piece.
Now, I'd been thinking in terms of motor-interlock (context), bass-percussion (reinforce context), motif (a short theme), melody line, and "solo."
That's a lot more things than "melody, harmony, and bass."
So here you are. Stripped. Minimal. Does it work at all?
I didn't think so, so I did its sister song, https://soundcloud.com/amadoohland/never-change-a-running-system .2016-06-2904 min
Amado OhlandWelcome Deliriumi've trained my brain
it's partially sane
& i'm sayin' the same
as i'm usually sayin'
but i juiced it loose
it went diffuse
& i deduced a use
for gettin' seduced
by the delirium,
the abandon,
the absorption of:
singing your heart out.2016-06-2804 min
Amado OhlandFantasia Solistatoday, an experiment. 12 beats in the loop, 25 repetitions of the loop (not that I planned that, but it worked out...), and SINGING ON TOP OF THE PARTS for this version/arrangement of the song. A 4:21 sound event, hopefully with a contour and a climax. Do you like this, or https://soundcloud.com/amadoohland/fantasia-ripieni its sister song?2016-06-2704 min
Amado OhlandFantasia Ripienitoday, an experiment. 12 beats in the loop, 25 repetitions of the loop (not that I planned that, but it worked out...), and NO SINGING ON TOP OF THE PARTS for this version/arrangement of the song. A 4:21 sound event, hopefully with a contour and a climax. Do you like this, or https://soundcloud.com/amadoohland/fantasia-solista its sister song?2016-06-2704 min
Amado OhlandRoaming At The MouthIt's really getting to that point. "What to sing?" Have I said all I have to say that I know how to say in the hour it takes to create what I say? Am I now at the point that saying what I want to say requires I sit and plan for much longer?
Until I have an answer, I'll go roaming at the mouth for a bit.2016-06-2405 min
Amado OhlandAggressively "Meh"My darling bride asked me how I was doing today, and to my surprise I didn't actually know. So I took a minute to check in, and discovered how I was feeling.
The feeling stayed until I was done with this song (a few minutes ago, as of this writing). I'll let you know when it changes.2016-06-2305 min
Amado OhlandFor My Imaginary CountryImagine, if it please you, an Earth 1500 years after a catastrophic, near-extinction-level event. Humanity has gone through another population bottleneck (say, maybe only ~200,000 survived, scattered widely throughout the globe) and is bouncing back. That we once had cell phones, nuclear power, and artificial intelligence is mere legend.
But agriculture has survived, and with the reduced environmental pressure from humankind, the Earth has become an abundant place. People can eat, and build shelter. City-states and regional powers are re-emerging.
The words to this anthem don't mean what they mean in English. "Anthem" doesn't even mean "anthem," let's say it means "a...2016-06-2205 min
Amado OhlandSorcery's Sometimes UnsightlyI thought it was a pretty righteous jam, then I immediately listened back to it and it's got some real honkers there at the beginning. But somehow I was able to stay in the "magic zone," the present-moment awareness, channel the musical impulses and ...well, I shouldn't get carried away with this. It's just a bit of singing, after all. Enjoy.2016-06-2105 min
Amado OhlandA Beacon UnsoundThe thing about people is, we've a remarkable intuition for when people are faking it. (Good actors are remarkable for their ability to fake it to the point where most people can't tell.)
I saw a sign that said "shine," and I worked that into my improv today.
And afterward, listening, I had an intuition about the "me" who had sung this song, just earlier in the day.
This, then, is the sound of *wanting* to shine, but feeling dull.2016-06-2005 min
Amado OhlandA Catwalk Too FarAh. Um. So. One coach said "don't worry about what harmonies you're making until they're happening," and another said "bring one of your pieces—or something you're working on—to the workshop."
So I tried to be "good enough," complex and interesting enough to over-compensate for the ostinato nature of this kind of music.
So I made sonorities that worked well enough. They're roughly represented in the chart, attached. But I just could. Not. Solo. On that stuff.
So I tried something that a third person has been urging me to do for months: no solo. I even unplugged the mic...2016-06-1503 min
Amado OhlandHeave-Ho, Iffy-PersnicketyI've been too careful for too long. Sunday evening felt that way. (I wanted to say that Sunday evening proved it to me, but I'm not sure anything is proved to me.) So today I gave the cautious, the questioning, the careful, the tentative the ol' heave-ho. Begone!
Questionable sounds resulted. Enter if you dare!2016-06-1404 min
Amado OhlandLines Of Free Verse [Naviarhaiku127 - Ink-black birds scatter]Returning to words—haiku specifically—will now be a regular feature of this project, since May 2016 went so well with it.
Poems supplied by the Naviar Haiku project will probably be the bulk of it. When they've got one that gets to me, I'll try to schedule singing about it before their deadline for that week.2016-06-1304 min
Amado OhlandCurious Alchemydifferent elements. journeyman chemistry. slower-acting catalysts.
maybe even something slightly new.2016-06-0704 min
Amado OhlandDon't Feel That Way [sss-emotions2]Me & a pretty wise buddy of mine, we been talkin' about this concept a bit, how it's hard to be there for the way that other people sometimes feel and yet that's exactly what (and all) they need. Is it one person's responsibility to make another person feel differently? Hmm...
This track is a reply to “Prompt 71: ‘Don’t Feel That Way.’” More on the Society for Spontaneous Singing at http://singthis.org. You can join the SSS at https://soundcloud.com/groups/society-for-spontaneous-singing2016-06-0605 min
Amado OhlandAccidentally Kinda NormalEvery once and a while I need to do intentionally "wrong" things, something weird to jolt me out of my habits. Examples:
* https://soundcloud.com/amadoohland/absurd-ditty-the-first
* https://soundcloud.com/amadoohland/reductio-ad-absurdum
* https://soundcloud.com/amadoohland/cloudcuckoolander
And I tried that again today. Problem is, it didn't turn out that weird. I actually think the whole "do something weird, then make it "work" somehow" approach might be good for me, shift me in productive directions.
So. Food for thought.2016-06-0305 min
Amado OhlandAs Sound As A SpellContinuing my practice of taking a step back. The first thing to come out of me was the "theme" part, the three-part harmony in the bari-tenor range. Other parts accreted.
The solo was ...hard. I feel like everything I do repeats myself, lately. So I stripped it down, took it easy, and committed to a limited number of ideas. I'm really feeling the lack of words. It's a place to grow from...2016-06-0204 min
Amado OhlandHow Quickly It TurnsI tried to take a step back today. I didn't know that I was going to be falling back a step or so. It's okay though, I feel like I need to keep stepped back for a bit, go into my process with some Beginner's Mind, and evaluate from that place.
It was nice to stumble.2016-06-0103 min
Amado OhlandIt Is What It IsTried to end the month with a bang. I'd done very little Blues this month, so I sought a poem that could be smeared around a lot. Turns out, the song does have a feature in common with the first song of the month: it uses a tonal ambiguity to end with a more "major" or "up" feel than it starts.
Be that as it may, I did what I often do: try too hard. I hope it doesn't suffer too badly for it.2016-05-2706 min
Amado OhlandReflected In The MeadowAbout a year ago, I saw more fireflies in my yard than I'd ever seen in one place before. I don't use this word lightly: I was in awe. I experienced wonder.
And naturally, I sang about it. (This song is something of an unofficial sequel to that song.)
This year, I've been on the lookout for the same phenomenon. And last night was pretty good. Clear night, stars above...
That's when it hit me that I had to write the haiku for today's song, rather than finding somebody else's. I had a specific experience, and the haiku I made...2016-05-2605 min
Amado OhlandSpring Rain, Lucky DuckSo, yeah, 23 days ago I was goofin' and I sent my wife a bunch of texts about a duck she saw. I made a silly rhyme out of it. It took 11 minutes to come up with a little verse, just off the top of my head.
I'd just started my "words month," and she said "there's your words for today." I said "this silly crap? Never."
Couple of days ago, a buddy hooked me up with an analysis of rap.
Today I found a poem by one of the Old Masters of haiku, Issa... on the exact same theme as...2016-05-2504 min
Amado OhlandGone From The WoodSaw this poem early on, this month. Knew that I'd want to sing it. Waited for the right day to arrive.
I had no idea the form that arrival would take.
But today's definitely the day.2016-05-2404 min
Amado OhlandShifting Sands Of Time [sss-constant-change]Goofy process today. Made it to my singin' place after a late lunch, wrestled with the tech, got it going, and tried my best to do a sloooow song as quickly and efficiently as I could. I made loops, looked at the time, and it was time to wrap it up before I sang the performance.
And it suuuuuuuuuuuuucked.
What to do? To pull the tracks into a DAW and correct pitches and timing, even in a loose sort of way, would have been a major violation. To start over from scratch would have been a kind of cheat. But...2016-05-2305 min
Amado OhlandEven The Stars Are Whisperingquiet? I take on a song that calls on me to be quiet? How is that a good idea?
As tempted as I am to wash this thing in reverb in hopes of smoothing out the timbral and intonation irregularities, that's not what this is about. So imma chalk it up to a pretty good idea that didn't fly as well as I'd like, because of deficiencies in my current command of my instrument.
But hey, maybe I'm the wrong person to judge. Enjoy!2016-05-2005 min
Amado OhlandClaims The SkyHa ha haaawr! There's only 8 words in the whole thing, and I screwed one up!
It is what it was.
Ravens, man. They don't just fly. They CLAIM THE SKY. I've heard it said: if you think it's a raven, it's probably a crow. If you think it's an airplane, it may be a raven.
Still. "Dusk" would have been better, poetically. "Dark" was more fits-in-my-mouth singerly.
Tough one today. Dunno if it worked. We'll see.2016-05-1803 min
Amado OhlandHey, I Was Just KiddingToday's song is in response to an "A Cappella Jukebox" request, a perk that I offer to people really helping me out through Patreon. Check it out at www.patreon.com/amado
"Sing a song for children!" they said. As complex or simple as I wanted. So! Here you have it.2015-05-2604 min
Amado OhlandThe Trepidation Waltz [sss-triple]This track is a reply to “SSS Prompt 17: Sing in Triple Metre.” More on the Society for Spontaneous Singing at http://singthis.org. You can join the SSS at https://soundcloud.com/groups/society-for-spontaneous-singing
On the one hand, it was simple - "do something in 3, in a waltzy kind of way." On the other, it was time to do something a little different with the chords, so I went with a simple (on paper!) i - bII7 - i - V7. Not so simple on the lead line. There was a false start or two in there, before this came into...2015-05-2004 min
Amado OhlandThere's A Lot Of Good In LifeTip jar: www.patreon.com/amado
Yeah there's plenty to be not-so-joyful about, but every once and a while it's important to remember a slightly larger perspective. And if you're doing it right, it's very very likely to cheer you up.2015-05-1905 min
Amado OhlandOn The Four We ...Breathe [sss-working]1 - This track is a reply to “SSS Prompt 15: Sing a song for Working.” More on the Society for Spontaneous Singing at http://singthis.org. You can join the SSS at https://soundcloud.com/groups/society-for-spontaneous-singing
2 - a special thanks to my Patreon supporters. See patreon.com/amado to see what that's about.
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Here's a little song about the importance of teamwork and, more importantly, breathing in due time.2015-05-0604 min
Amado OhlandFa Pa Tha Dzoh ClooThe music is free. Your support is invaluable. patreon.com/amado
Today I had "A Cappella Jukebox," and my Patreon supporters asked me to use a Mouth Sounds chart devised by Mal Webb to come up with some specific sounds to vocalize. I have to say that I found it challenging to use *just* those sounds, and I know I could have used them as a jumping-off point, but that didn't seem like the right approach.
So! For the first time ever, this is a "solo-free" song. I felt like I could only put stuff out there that had been...2015-05-0103 min
Amado OhlandWhat Else Are Ya Gonna Do?!The music is free. Your support is invaluable. www.patreon.com/amado to take part in my mission!
Funny story. I have this elaborate justification in my head, along the following lines:
One of the few questions posed in common between my Philosophy classes and my Music classes was "so here's a person who toiled away in obscurity and never saw appreciation (or remuneration) for their work, in their lifetimes -- never knew that their work would be 'important.' Why, then, did they continue? Why should YOU continue, knowing the likelihood that you'll meet the same fate?"
And I...2015-04-2904 min