i've put together a 4-song EP which is now available to download for free HERE ! kind of odd, as i've actually been (and still am) working on a full-length album. this just sort of came from nowhere. it's a bit of an odd mesh.
last week some friends of mine [including fellow RPMers kara adams and eri chan ] helped me to perform and record a version of my 2008 rpm preferred track... check it out here! :D
i remember reading this a year ago, but for some reason it was brought to my attention again today. i think most people here can relate to it. worth a read. and worth a re-read if you've already seen it! http://asthmatickitty.com/sidebar.php?sidebarID=170
i've done two new instrumental tracks, continuing this creative commons project thing. this time, i've added new [electronic] elements and the results are a lot more fully realized... i've also uploaded all these new electronic samples (including some unused ones) for all to use! links for downloading/streaming and further info can be found here !
finished. yes! and off it goes... after a rough start (and by start, i mean the first 24 days...), it just sort of came together in the end... it's very different from last year's rpm. while that was all electronic and precise, this one's acoustic and all over the shop! and - yeah - i'm pretty happy with it. anyone who wants to check it out - feel free to download via here! till next year...
still working on lyrics. percussion issue yet to be resolved. but i've prematurely settled on title and titles - which will be helpful at least with artwork: [maybe] : inaccurate charm promenade casual trap panna felsen the danger of one historical need charm offensive a safer type uninformed home pinafore apricots to have you here
i spent a large bulk of my non-drinking time this weekend trying to record percussion for the album. as i don't have any drums, i was using various implements and objects around my apartment. i suppose i was hoping it would have a beat happening-style quaintness to it. anyway, having sworn off any effects/processing, the resulting, untreated tracks sounded, well, completely shite. and it wasn't just the sound, i was also feeling a huge lack of confidence about my (non-)abilities with respec... (273 more chars)
(Thursday, 14 February 2008) Written by david ding
in light of decisions made yesterday , i asked a bass-playing co-worker if a) he had an acoustic bass guitar and b) could i borrow it... should have it on monday. in titling news, (i think) i have settled on names for three of the songs: track 4 = 'the danger of one' track 5 = 'historical need' track 7 = 'a safer type'
(Thursday, 14 February 2008) Written by david ding
i'm not sure whether the following is down to the pressures of the time restriction, aesthetic reasons, or just plain laziness on my part. it's likely a combination of all three. i have been recording quite a bit this week. the distraction of saturday's gig is now behind me, so it's easier to focus on the task at hand. over the last couple of days, i've come to make some decisions/realizations about how this process is and will be playing out. everything i've recorded so far has been playe... (1357 more chars)
yeah, this first week i've taken a fairly relaxed approach - you might say TOO relaxed. i've been a little bit distracted as i'm playing at a show tomorrow night. i probably could (should) have worked harder at this new stuff and incorporated it into the set, but the set is an electronic one with a bulk of stuff from last year's rpm included - and i did set out to avoid repeating last year's rpm... either way, once sunday comes, it'll be time to get a bit more hardcore ... (807 more chars)
after doing basically nothing on saturday (friday was a late night...), i got myself motivated and picked up my guitar and... wrote the whole album! ...okay, not exactly. but i now have at least one part/element written for each track. obviously, it's unlikely that all of these parts will remain as they are. i'm sure many will be altered, and some will be scrapped altogether. but i feel good about getting each one off the starting block. as this all happened in the space of an afternoon... (273 more chars)
last year i first came up with almost all of the music first before moving on to the lyrics. on the 21st of feb, i sketched out a loose narrative in ten parts - to go with the ten pieces i had created. i spent the last week writing the lyrics. this time, i'm using the narrative approach again. but unlike last year, that's what i'm starting with. i'm going to have the structure ready first, then (hopefully) write the music and words specifically for each point along the way. put meat on th... (538 more chars)
(Wednesday, 30 January 2008) Written by david ding
so, last year, i banned myself from using guitars in order to take me out of my comfort zone and "embrace the challenge"... with that album, i ended up doing most of the "creative" work in the editing and mixing stage. the songs were basically assembled from little snippets of recording that were then cut up and looped extensively. it was a new way of working for me and since then, i've found myself using it a fair bit. ...i even considered going further in that direction this year - i toy... (1217 more chars)
(well, everything i still have copies of...) ...is now available for download via newly updated davidding.com . currently (finally) working on post RPM material. should be up ... at some point!
yay, my album has been listed as received! all that sleep deprivation was not in vain! in other news, i've also joined in on the virb bandwagon and now have the album streaming and available for download there/here: http://www.virb.com/davidding you can get the artwork via: http://music.davidding.com/ *** or get the whole lot together at http://rapidshare.com/files/21773154/secret_battle.zip !!!
(Wednesday, 28 February 2007) Written by david ding
snuck out of work to head to the post office just before lunchtime. and off it went. thoughts feelings are mixed. definitely have a big sense of achievement and accomplishment going on. i'm also sick to death of the ten songs i've been working on continuously. i'm glad i'll have free evenings again. i'm dismayed that i won't be driving towards any challenging goals any time soon. i'm excited to hear what everyone else did. i still love music. next year?
i still have to complete lyrics for half of the songs, record vocals for all of the songs and finalize mixes, but i can reveal some titles: the album will be called: secret battle it will have 10 songs : part two zenza gaijin crime the ties that don't rsg parallel dig fast always sincere vanishing point day 5 as it stands, total running time is a very lean/pitiful 26 minutes, 20 (ish) seconds! today will be dedicated to getting lyrics finished not much happening at work, so i should hopefu... (250 more chars)
(Wednesday, 21 February 2007) Written by david ding
after a slightly stuttery start (though with alliteration skills like that, i don't know why!), the lyric writing train is now moving forward, picking up speed. not many actual words done yet, but ideas are flowing and - pretension ahoy! - i've come up with a kind of concept/narrative for the album... whether or not i'll stick rigidly to it is debatable, but it has given me jump-off points for each song and has decidedly reinforced the structure of the whole thing. finish line is in sight.... (3 more chars)
i have put a moratorium on recording new sounds. in fact - to prevent me from dicking around, i've packed away the 303 and the midi controller. i've reached my goal wrt coming up with stuff; now i need to focus on getting it together. luckily most of it is together.. structurally anyway. i just have to do some mixing and editing. after that, there's just one more small, tiny task... right lyrics and record vocals for all ten songs! fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! ;)
(Saturday, 17 February 2007) Written by david ding
in one three and a half hour burst of activity i started and finished the music for the 9th song, which, coincidentally, will be the ninth song on my ten-song album (chances of 11+ happening now seems highly doubtful) this ninth one is probably the most "electronic" one i've done. i mean, they're all electronic, but the feeling on this one is decidedly so...
i did this little drum thing - then decided i preferred it as a synth bass thing - and... well, i'm not sure how exactly the ensuing hour or two turned out, but i've ended up with a solid basis for the 8th new one. this, i'm feeling, will be the album closer... i also did further work on a couple of others, bringing them closer to musical completion (everything lacking vocals still) tracklisting looking something like (possible prospective titles in parenthesis): 01 - 08feb ... (265 more chars)
the palm of my right hand is itchy from some insect bite i received while asleep the other night... but, with more relevance to the RPM thing, i am itching to get home to do work on the album. i'm at work; i finish in about five and a half hours. i'm half considering plugging in earphones and doing some mixing on my laptop right here... but i really shouldn't - and i probably won't. i have seven songs in development, with a track order taking shape: i have a block of three that will prob... (236 more chars)
(Wednesday, 07 February 2007) Written by david ding
despite previously stating that i was going to keep things supersimple, i've found myself complicating matters - drifting into that old thought process that the more complex something is, the better... and the results of that drift have not been good. so now i'm taking steps back, stripping away some superfluous stuff. taking it back to the basic beat. at the moment i'm also wondering if i should take steps further back, and renounce my decision to not use any guitar. i had to learn a song t... (191 more chars)
i now have six songs in varying stages of development - most in the not very developed stage... listening to the streaming songs on the front page, i definitely need to up my game... both in work rate and work quality... i am starting to get an loose idea of what kind of track order i might end up with, this means i can (try to) work at the transitions between songs as i go. also, yesterday, in a burst of "inspiration" i managed to to write a another song, apart from these six - one that'... (221 more chars)
it's early days - i have yet to fully complete a single song; one's pretty much just awaiting vocals and i've laid foundations for two more - BUT, because of how i'm feeling and because of the limitations due to time/instrumentation constraints... i think i can say this album's taking shape. before, i would usually write songs with the idea of a four piece (drums/bass/two guitars) band playing them. not that i was in a 4 piece band - i just figured that was standard... so i'd write basslines ... (2885 more chars)
(Thursday, 01 February 2007) Written by david ding
well, it's just gone 2 am and i'm calling it a night. i didn't get started till about 10 due to a hectic schedule on this cold day here in nagasaki (it snowed!). i was tired, but determined. came up with two things, both on the 303, which i'm beginning to get a hang of... the first is an ambient type thing, that - if used - will probably remain vocal-less and serve as an intro to another piece/song - or possibly as an intro to the whole thing. typical of me (and possibly other electronica... (784 more chars)
since coming to japan, before i signed up for this, i'd bought an acoustic guitar, a korg k25 keyboard midi controller and a macbook with a built in microphone... since signing up, i've bought a cheap sony microphone and... a second-hand roland mc-303 groovebox - which i have no idea how to use! so, the plan for the next few days: do all those odd jobs i've been putting off for the last while and get them out of the way; (start to) figure out how to use the mc-303; restring my guitar; ... (131 more chars)
