In the Mood….for Love (video)

Helloooo!  Well, I have some good news.  I think that I have finished the writing portion of the album I’m putting together:).  Of course, that may change.  But, for now, I think I’ve said what I wanted to say.  Now, the hard part of tracking/recording, adding backup vocals, adding other instruments, missing, mastering, etc, etc, etc.  Ay ya!  Lots to do.  But, I promise you this, I am enjoying myself.  So, I thought I’d share one of the songs that may (or may not) make the cut for the album.  It is actually one that I wrote to accompany a track that a fellow SC Hero/Producer, Jaze Baqti made.  I love that version, it has a different tone than this acoustic version though.   I included both my video/acoustic version and the produced/audio version so that you can compare.  Here you go, may you feel the love: and pass it on!

 

 

Btw, don’t forget! This is the last week to join the “Audiobiography ” project put out by the Soundcloud Heroes!

Audiobiography Re-Cap! Help us reach 5,000 by March 31st!

Helloooo! Time for an update! In case you missed when I first announced the launching of the Soundcloud Heroes community collaboration project called Audiobiography a while back, let me refresh your memory.  We, the Soundcloud Heroes, put out collaborative projects for people in the SC community to get involved in.  All of them are centered around the sharing of sounds. Audiobiography is the latest project and is still underway.

We asked people to share a sound, any sound, that expressed who they were and what was important to them.  People have chosen to do spoken word, an interview-type format, a musical composition, or all three of those combined! Our goal is to reach 5, 000 contributors by March 31st.  We haven’t met our goal yet, but we’ve had some wonderful, creative submissions so far! Every week one of the Heroes members has been curating everyone’s submissions and doing a re-cap on the Hello Heroes feature on the Soundcloud blog.  Here is last week’s re-cap.

And…here is a re-posting of the piece I submitted:

As we are reaching the half-way point for the month and nearing the end of the project, I encourage you to visit the blog and check out the submissions that have been turned in.  Hopefully they will move you, make you laugh, and INSPIRE you to do an Audiobiography of your own.  We tried to make it as easy as possible to participate.  Here are the basic steps from Soundcloud’s Hello Heroes blog:

• Record or creatively share a sound that describes and answers the question: who are you and what’s important to you? Perhaps it’s a freestyle rap, or a recording that features your latest piano composition as background music. Keep the track to ~90 seconds.
• Name the track Audiobiography with your name, as such “Audiobiography: Ben Z.” Add a description.
• Tag the track “audiobio” and upload.
• If you have the Spotlight feature, pin the sound to the top of your profile. You can also add the sound to your profile’s description under your

For more on the steps and to get the translations of the details of the project in another language, please see this post.  Tell your story through sound and help us reach our goal of 5, 000 by March 31st!

Peace comes at a Price

Mulling…mulling….then, more mulling.  That little thought in your head.  What could I have done differently?  It swims around inside your mind, making waves that crash loudly and overpower all the other things floating around loosely in there.  It will not stop.  No.  It will not stop until…..you pay the price.  What is the price?  It is different for everyone and for every situation.  For some, it is a simple “I’m sorry”.  For some, it is public shame.  For others, it is emotional or physical pain or a myriad of other things.  Whatever it is….there is a price to pay for peace to come, for the waves to settle.

So pay the price, and when you do, commit it to memory.  Remember what it cost you in order to make the tempestuous upheaval ravaging the corners of your mind cease.  Then…and only then….will the price you paid be worth it.  For, then, it will not have only bought you peace, but also…..wisdom.

Some more Vlog entries……A BIG thank you to you!

Hellooo! So, these are two recent vlogs.  They are basically what I put in my last written blog, but as a fellow blogger said, “some people prefer to hear it straight from you.”  Thus….

 

A BIIIIIG thank you to the 20,000+ followers on Soundcloud and Facebook!

 

An announcement….

Sam I Am

Hellooo! Hope you had a great weekend.  I spent mine in sand and surf:).  Perfect.  A quick update.  As mentioned before, I have decided to go forward and put together an album – a complete set of works.  So, much writing and thinking and resting happening.  Yes, resting.  The best stuff happens when you just stop and rest….take a moment.  I’ll be taking as many moments as I can because I want the album to reflect the deepest parts of me….the things I love, the people I love, the life I love.  Can you see a theme developing?:).  I only plan on doing one album.  No more.  I do not intend to make a career of this as it really is just something that I enjoy and that brings me peace and I don’t want for it to become a “job” for me.  I think when it becomes a job, the magic slips away.  So, this album is it.  So, may my heart and soul be poured out all over it.  I have about 7 songs down now and am still writing.  Then, there’s a whole hell of a lot of stuff I have to figure out how to do….like mixing and such;).  We’ll see how things end up taking shape. I’ll keep posting updates as things progress.  Thanks for taking this journey with me!  Here is a rough, acoustic version of a song called “Sam I Am” I just wrote that may or not make the cut.  Let me know what you think.  Have a great week!