REVERIES is an ongoing project of music making for the sake of joy for the sake of music making for the sake of time for the sake of self therapy for the sake of sharing moments for the sake of making your day better. They are all instrumentals, a way to share the ongoing improvisations and compositions and whimsy of cellist/guitarist/composer/whatever Luke Janela. Listen either as an ongoing soundtrack or as a palate cleanser between talkie talk. Listen underwater, in midst of revelation, and especially while walking.
If you’ve discovered and enjoy this unique music podcast please leave a review. More though, take it with you, this moment that you are reading this, remember: you are alive yeah.
B sides are always around in my boxes. I have a lot of ideas that eventually would lead to a melody, but sometimes, like in the case of this one, will never be duplicated because the performance is so unique.
So here you go, so amazingly uncut or edited:
Here Is Enlightmenent
permalink to this post: http://midnightdoor.com/word/?p=558
I was playing around with vocal range in this one, total Mariah Carey inspired (kidding), it’s pretty rambling for sure. I’ve got a “holidays” ish song coming next week, so stay tuned!
OK so I’ve been talking about this for a while but now the album is getting mastered this Friday!
I’d really like to have any and all of your voices on the backup vocals for the chorus (just the chorus… easy!) of my song ‘True North’
The lyrics are simple and maybe cheesy, but whatevs. They are:
“Start a great fire
start a great fire
start a great fire
in your hearth
turn a blind eye
turn a blind eye
turn a blind eye
to the lie”
The way I envision you being able to do this is to simply open up any audio recording program on your computer (garageband on mac, audacity on PC), put headphones on in another program (say, itunes) press play on “true north”, press record on your audio program and sing along during the chorus into the computer’s mic. Yup, that mic is fine. It’s ok if it sounds treble-y, it will create a roomy ambience, it is the easiest option, and I will fit it in the mix however it goes. I don’t care if you sing it amazingly or not. I want the sound of many voices. If you have a better mic that is fine too.
Then you press stop on the audio program. Save the file as pretty much any audio format, and email it to me. No, I won’t hear the rest of the song because you had your headphones on, but don’t clip it down to just the chorus or anything like that so that it is easier to line up with the recording.
If you have time that is more than great. If you don’t, I understand. But please just take 5 minutes to do it if you want/can! You will be immortalized forever and most likely a radio signal will send your voice into space. Most likely. You will get credit on the album. You will be irrevocably awesome.
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!
Let me know if you think you will. I need it by thurs at the absolute latest (Sorry for the late notice… )
The mp3 is noted here. If it doesn’t show up in this facebook post, go to http://midnightdoor.com/word/?p=467
The albums are coming along. I had the pleasure of recording some drums with Molly from Huff This!. She adds such a rock sound to the tracks. It’s perfect for the feel of the album.
So here is a more rounded out version of the song I posted a few weeks ago. This is the sample of the more rock, acoustic guitars and cello based album I’m calling ‘Redwood Summer’. Enjoy!
I’ve been working like mad lately and in my late night hours I’ve been burning through my music list. One of the tracks from my old band “The Key” came up and I decided I’m really proud of this whole album, especially in retrospect. Especially in retrospect because I wrote this song about the approach of the US warplanes at the beginning of the Iraq war from the point of view of an innocent kid. Maybe my age, maybe in Baghdad… I still think it fits. The sounds at the end are from a giant (80,000 plus people) anti-war rally on the eve of the war. Before that scumbag W. pulled the trigger. Listen and enjoy…
In other news, I’m super busy in life and otherwise.
After that I’m driving down to Los Angeles to do some cello recording with Huff This! They’re putting together their album and I’m super glad to be able to contribute perhaps.
In the meantime, good progress is made on the solo cello album, the new cello/beats/vocals album. Those two will probably be released at the same time, in early spring.
Canyonlands National Park a few years ago… there are these amazing ledges that drop many hundred feet. Stopped and played guitar and recorded this song there…
So I’ve begun work on one of my next albums, which is to be all cello, all the time. No vocals, no beats. And I shall try to resist the temptation to add piano and guitar or… whatever. Point is, a sparse album.
I usually have a motive in mind with my albums to some degree, and with this one I think that the appropriate listening experience would be something like: quietly in the summer evening. Warmly by the woodstove in the winter.
Oh yeah, I was going to post a song. So here is one approaching completion, Would Dent Sky. I cannot call this finished, but it is an encouraging beginning.
I don’t think I will be posting all the songs here as I go in this case, but keep your eye on the site, or subscribe to the podcast, I will certainly not be able to resist sharing them as they come along.
Be sure to stick around for a minute or two, as the development begins to get more layered then… Thanks for listening!
I originally recorded the song ‘Pinon’ off Midnight Door as a long, meandering piece. The idea was simply to open on the I chord, in C Major, and linger on the V, G7 for a good long time.
It worked better for the album for me to split it into three parts, because I really felt that this song in particular felt like the road.
I found out, naively, that I can record with, hold the phones, TWO microphones at once. I didn’t have to buy a mixer or anything. Well, I already had what I needed.
And so, the blueprint for the cello & voice only album is laid out: two mics, live recordings.
This song was recorded as a test of my setup, the room, the mics, positions, et cetera, and I am quite happy with how it turned out. The mic on my cello is big and right, and the vocals (hint of sick still in my voice, I hate recording when I’m sick but I can’t stop myself) are the ever faithful SM57 at work.
So, preface this song with: a test. Lyrics… not quite worked out, but I will keep some of them and rework the whole thing. I wanted to give you a little something, as I have been far from the external world lately in the land of illness. But I’m back again!
It has been a long busy and good week for me. And yet, I have not shared much music. I like the beginnings of this song, and especially I like the way that just cello and voice is going to work on the just cello and voice album I’ll be releasing this year.
Practicing tonight, working it out. Here is a short sampling of what might happen… Here I am playing the cello (with my hands) and the beatbox (with my feet).
I’ve been working with a few things lately, trying to make the new.
First of all I recorded an album for my dad, akin to something I did for my mom a few years back, where really, its just me sitting down with the cello and playing what happens to come out.
Second of all I took the tracks and have been putting them to video. For this first one, I asked Kate to do some drawing in the same manner, and used that as the footage.
I hope you like. It SHOULD be iPod compliant if you are into that kind of thing.
Here is the permalink, and below might be (if I can figure out the technology) a video player.
