General Music Chat

Hey, out of curiosity, what is your take on Nostradamus?

You mean whether he was a true seer or not?

Well, he is certainly undeserving of the degree of fame provided him. An entire culture has developed around his personage, until it is nearly religious in nature.

He himself declared in several correspondences that he was NOT a prophet.

The problem with his "Les Propheties" or The Prophecies, which is the main body of work that admirers use, and which has remained in print almost continually since his death, is that the prophecies, written in the form of quatrains (4 verse poems), are exceedingly vague and contain no dates. This method allows future generations to basically fill in the blanks, and apply the quatrains that seem to fit, to events AFTER they have occured.

Since as early as the 17th century it has been discovered that Nostradamous copied much if not most of his "prophecies" from previous authors and works. Plagaerism was not something considered immoral or even criminal in that time, as it is today. Rather than passing things off as his own prophecies though, he likely saw himself as an editor of previous information, culled from various authors, including the Bible, and worked them all together into a cohesive collection of prophecies and warnings for the future.

I think he was something of an opportunist, looking to make a buck.

He had success in printing an almanac and encouraged by that success, branched out into prophecies and also wrote several medical books, and a book on chemistry of sorts, with recipees for medicines and potions and even cosmetics.

I think he was probably very intelligent, charismatic or at least had a good undersanding of psychology, and probably enjoyed to some degree his fortune and fame, and the acclaim and attention it brought him.

It is through the centuries that he has now become a larger than life figure. I doubt, based on the considerable evidence, that he was a truly gifted psychic or seer. He did dabble in the occult, but most likely, rather than receiving many unique visions of his own, he generally borrowed everyone elses, compiled them, and arranged them into quatrains to avoid the horrors of the Inquisition, which he feared could be his fate if he were not cautious and clever.

Sorry if this is disappointing in any way. I know Irminsul hates it when I take the "magic" out of stuff. Translation: Through research and some basic logic, I tend to demystify certain things, and it makes it more difficult to worship at their altar, once the veil is removed and the truth becomes a little more obvious.

But don't despair. We live in a cosmos vast and mysterious enough to be in awe of it's beauty and complexities for millenia to come, without the need to believe in the "rock spirit" or Mother Mary's visage in a PBJ sandwich.

btw...

Those songs are badass!

The one song "Burn" or "Help Me" which is it? It's titled differently on your MySpace and Bandmix. Is that original?

I dig it. Immensely!!!

I would buy that CD bro.

I write stuff like that, but I am in a Southern Rock band right now. Sometimes I feel like I need about a dozen side projects. My interests are far too varied. LOL

Hahaha... The song never really had a name that stuck. But yea, I wrote it. It's an original.

I do very little covers. The only covers I did in the past were:

Piggy- NIN (acoustic version)
Daddy- KORN (acoustic version)
Blue- APC (acoustic version)

I only do covers in acoustic form. I completely rearrange the music to suit a different interpretation of the songs.


Throw the Hammer is actually one of my completed original songs, done in true hard-core fashion. But I'm thinking of doing a different clean version. And that's what this recording is. A test drive. I'm not really going any further with this particular recording. I'd rather spend the time doing it in a real studio. I recorded it on a $100 recorder at home.

It had nothing to do with the "subject matter" of the song.
You just wrote a big long post for nothing.

That's why I asked bro.

I wasn't sure if my support of seeing the Iraq war through, had you pegging me as some intolerant fundie. The kind that hung witches in Salem, back in the day.

I'm pleased to hear that was not the case.

That would have sucked, cause somehow, I only now heard your songs on your profile, and they're awesome. I like your writing, I like the melody and lyrics, the whole feel, the emotion, the marriage of the dark moody chords with the sustained vocal melodies, the arrangement. I'd have been proud if it was mine.

A former band said you couldn't sing? f**k those losers. You sing just fine bro. And with the writing, you're very valuable as an artist. By now those dweebs probably have a nice screamer they are happy with, and they're writing songs for him, that no one will remember. Your stuff is artistic but also marketable, and won't fall prey to the "whims of trends", cause it will be just as good 5 years from now, as it is today.

I'm sorry to read that you don't do this song anymore (Burn). I've listened to it like 4 times already, wishing I had a whole CD of more, if it is as good as that one was.

If I still smoked pot, I'd fire one up and listen to it 4 more times. LOL

You just wrote a big long post for nothing.

My "big long posts" are NEVER for nothing.

I have a reputation to maintain.

LMAO!

(But thanks for the compliments. I do value your opinion. I think you're a killer musician. I hope the movie thing works out for you.)

The compliments of your stuff are deserved.

Thanks for the ones returned, very much!

Movie: The song "Come" was pre-screened and passed the first stage, so it is being sent to the film's producers for consideration. We'll see what happens. Strangely enough, the screener called "Maria's Song" brilliant and full of raw emotion. (It's not brilliant, but it's a good song) but then they sent the other one instead. Go figure.

Hey, out of curiosity, what is your take on Nostradamus?

You mean whether he was a true seer or not?

Well, he is certainly undeserving of the degree of fame provided him. An entire culture has developed around his personage, until it is nearly religious in nature.

He himself declared in several correspondences that he was NOT a prophet.

The problem with his "Les Propheties" or The Prophecies, which is the main body of work that admirers use, and which has remained in print almost continually since his death, is that the prophecies, written in the form of quatrains (4 verse poems), are exceedingly vague and contain no dates. This method allows future generations to basically fill in the blanks, and apply the quatrains that seem to fit, to events AFTER they have occured.

Since as early as the 17th century it has been discovered that Nostradamous copied much if not most of his "prophecies" from previous authors and works. Plagaerism was not something considered immoral or even criminal in that time, as it is today. Rather than passing things off as his own prophecies though, he likely saw himself as an editor of previous information, culled from various authors, including the Bible, and worked them all together into a cohesive collection of prophecies and warnings for the future.

I think he was something of an opportunist, looking to make a buck.

He had success in printing an almanac and encouraged by that success, branched out into prophecies and also wrote several medical books, and a book on chemistry of sorts, with recipees for medicines and potions and even cosmetics.

I think he was probably very intelligent, charismatic or at least had a good undersanding of psychology, and probably enjoyed to some degree his fortune and fame, and the acclaim and attention it brought him.

It is through the centuries that he has now become a larger than life figure. I doubt, based on the considerable evidence, that he was a truly gifted psychic or seer. He did dabble in the occult, but most likely, rather than receiving many unique visions of his own, he generally borrowed everyone elses, compiled them, and arranged them into quatrains to avoid the horrors of the Inquisition, which he feared could be his fate if he were not cautious and clever.

Sorry if this is disappointing in any way. I know Irminsul hates it when I take the "magic" out of stuff. Translation: Through research and some basic logic, I tend to demystify certain things, and it makes it more difficult to worship at their altar, once the veil is removed and the truth becomes a little more obvious.

But don't despair. We live in a cosmos vast and mysterious enough to be in awe of it's beauty and complexities for millenia to come, without the need to believe in the "rock spirit" or Mother Mary's visage in a PBJ sandwich.

I see... His quatrains are annoying because it is all about figuring them out and linking them to current and past events (Ones that happened after his time).

I do not know what to think about him, though I am really fascinated. I have seen a couple of documentaries on him, I still have no real opinion. I cannot tell if he is real or not, I would like to sit down and analyze all of the data these people have personally - then I could make up my own mind.

I asked you because I wanted another intellectual opinion on the subject. I will be curious to see as well what Irminsul says now, if he reads this thread.

I think the problem is wanting to believe someone can do that versus the true logic that someone cannot.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I liked reading your opinions on the matter.

Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.

I think the problem is wanting to believe someone can do that versus the true logic that someone cannot.

Oh, I did not say it was not possible.

It clearly is.

People have premonitions that are VERY detailed and end up becoming reality. I have had such experiences myself, although few and far between. But spiritual reality, IS reality. This has been proven to me over time. My wife had some major trust issues, because she had been screwed over much of her life, especially by her ex-husband. I fought through all that with her, proving my committment to her, and often prayed about the situation to God. One day, God.... and yes, I believe it came from God, put a vision in my head. I saw something, like it was a video. A little girl kneeling in a garden and singing. She was happy. And God gave me a message with it "Tell her, that this is when we (her and God) were closest, and I am longing to have this again with her. Tell her that the little girl in the garden is still there, inside of her, she has just pushed it as far as she could, out of her life and memory."

I told my wife about this. Exactly as expressed above.

She started crying profusely. And in between sobs, she told me that when she was a little girl, after church, she would go out to her grandfather's garden, and pick flowers from it, and sing to God. she told me she had been closest to God at that time, and had not felt that close since.

How could I literally see a video of that in my head? And have God give me a message with it, that obviously turned out to be true? It was a pivotal change in our relationship.

Also with my wife, another time, we spent the night at her parent's house, and we were up late in the living room. We both looked in another room about the same time, then looked at each other. We asked almost at the same time:

"Did you see that?"

"Yeah, a little girl?"

"Yep. She had bonde hair?"

"Uh huh, and she looked about 8 years old?"

"Yes. I saw her too."


We provided details back and forth, and we had seen the same little girl. We were not asleep, so it was not having the same impetus, maybe a girl talking on TV or something, that caused the same dream. It was not a mass hallucination, where people look up in the sky, and think they see something, and someone says "It's a UFO" or something, and the suggestion melds with the reality.

We didn't talk about this beforehand. We didn't both see the same doll, that just LOOKED like a little girl. It WAS a little girl, playing on the floor, and WE BOTH saw the exact same thing, with no mental pre-suggestions helping us out. She was there. Be both saw her.

Yes, spiritual reality, IS reality.

Was Nostrodamous a seer? Hard to say for sure, but the evidence is more on the side of his being an "editor" of prophecies, rather than the vehicle by which they came.

Nice post there, Craig, lol. I really liked that, that was very fascinating. My point was that sometimes people tend to want to believe things even if they are not real. Almost like false hope, so to speak.

I think there are people capable of precognition (In your case you were experiencing a form of retrocognition). I studied ESP for a long time back then, I know a lot about it, well, not an overwhelming amount, but enough to get by so to speak.

I think that people are capable of these things, I just think there are people who advocate it and never listen objectively to other view points about, things stating that it could be false for instance.

That was an amazing story about your wife and you, I am happy you too are so close, that is nice to hear.

I have never really had any ESP related experiences, personally. I know people who have though. I have been through a lot of times in my life however where things happen and I know I am not alone. Bad situations, where somehow something good comes out of no where to pull me out of it. I will not go into much detail, it is personal, lol. But I have seen some miracles in my life. I hope to be one of those people giving the miracles someday, what I mean by this is how I want to be a doctor, or more so a scientist who designs the cures. I hope I can save peoples lives, I know I will do my best, that is for sure.

Nostradamus in my opinion had something going on, things just do not add up in that equation. I do not think he was just an "editor of prophecies," I think there was more too him than meets the eye. Although, I will admit that I did not know about any of that editing stuff until you said it (That is what I mean about analyzing something before commenting on it, because if you do not know all of the facts you are likely to screw something up).

Life is complex in my opinion. I have strong faith though, in God, in myself, and in my family.

That is all that is important to me. I need not talk about specific religions to detail God, just let us say, God, period.

Peace out, GuitarAnatomy.

A former band said you couldn't sing? f**k those losers. You sing just fine bro. And with the writing, you're very valuable as an artist. By now those dweebs probably have a nice screamer they are happy with, and they're writing songs for him, that no one will remember. Your stuff is artistic but also marketable, and won't fall prey to the "whims of trends", cause it will be just as good 5 years from now, as it is today.

I'm sorry to read that you don't do this song anymore (Burn). I've listened to it like 4 times already, wishing I had a whole CD of more, if it is as good as that one was.

If I still smoked pot, I'd fire one up and listen to it 4 more times. LOL

Get ready for this Craig.

(I'll dedicate this post to you as well, cause it's gonna be long.)

Are you sitting down?


I got kicked out of that band because of the song "burn".

This recording isn't a mastered mix, it's the mix of the other (rather selfish) guitar player. It's not my guitar in the fore-front of the mix. You can barely hear my guitar in the mix. I was actually playing a Gibson Les Paul (with Duncan Blues Saraceno trembuckers * a rare secret to solid tone when tuned down*) through a Dual Rec. Had my guitar been evenly mixed in.. The heavy parts in the bridge would have sounded like a freaking freight-train.

When we were in the studio, he sat down at the board after everything was done and turned his mix up, mine down, and burned a copy. He said he just wanted something to take home right away so he can hear what he did. But before he did that, the sonic quality of the engineer's mix was freakin' astounding!! I only wish you were there to hear the difference.

The very next day after this recording.. There was an ad by them and our manager for a new singer.


There was also a great response from some people at WBMI. There were people there who loved the song.

We had only been a band for 1-month before this recording. The song was only 2-weeks old.


I was crushed beyond belief. So bad I gave up on music.



The night they finally told me they were moving on.. They asked me if they could still rehearse here.. At my house.. For the next couple of weeks.. Without me in the room.

Of course I flipped 'em a big fat bird on that one. Everybody out now.


The Guitar player and Bass player no longer play music in any band. And haven't since they disbanded a few months after leaving here.

The drummer is in a fairly successful band. And rightfully so. Listen to the track again, he's a click master.

The problem they had was, none of them actually knew how to write a song. Sure they could play their instruments well, and create what they felt would be good verse and chorus musical parts. But none of them could sing, or write lyrics..And they didn't exactly have Jon Davis beating down their door to please let him sing for 'em. It just spiraled out.


The reason I don't play this song anymore, is because the ones I've written since then are 10x's better.

The guys in One Day Broken have embraced what it is that I do, and I thank them for it. Not only do I get to freely express myself, I get the feeling all the time that I'm writing about things that they feel too. The "burn" band just wanted hits. They didn't give a sh*t about anything else.

I guess this is a good time as any to tell you that our drummer has decided to stay. We're not looking anymore. And I couldn't be happier about it.

Rest easy dude.. We've got some fat songs coming.

Hey Shredd,

Glad to hear it bro!

Sounds like I had them pegged didn't I? LOL

Your writing, as I said, is the missing element for them. Sure, there are stronger vocalists than you, but you ARE a good vocalist, and that combined with the writing is what makes you very valuable.

You know, when I posted praise of that song, I thought that some artists here, would go check it out, and maybe think "Hmm... it sounds good, but why is Craig over the top about it?"

Well, I didn't want to critique your recording, cause I knew it was a demo. But I could tell something was missing. In other words, it wasn't radio ready, cause there are sonic bald spots in the song that needed to be filled. Reading what you wrote, I understand why now. But as a fellow writer, I knew when all the elements were in place, that would be a non-issue. I kind of wanted to tell the guys here that I was looking at the song from a writer's point of view, in case they wondered why I was so enamored of it, but I left it alone.

As a writer, I hear it all in my head. I just need the basics to know whether something is really good or not. And that song is REALLY good. You have me anxious to hear the "10 times better" stuff now, but DON'T LOSE THAT SONG. It's a hit bro. I hear it all over alternative radio.

The arrangement is really good almost as-is too. Was that yours also? It builds well, stays interesting throughout with appropriate changes of sound and emotion. Love the intro. I hope you keep that as-is, coming in with the vocal and simple arpeggiated chord.

One suggestion is around :40 of the song, after "what I have become" the turnaround is doubled or repeated. You may want to limit it to one time through, or else have the drummer bang a few snare and tom hits together, single strikes for effect, kind of a fake build, or the beginning of a run that doesn't fully develop, coming in a little into the second, or repeated turn around. I understand where you are going on the length, by repeating it. That "feels" right, but it's too much dead space. Something needs to come in on the second time through, or it is a little dead, a little boring, and the other problem is that what is coming up is stronger, and nothing is setting it up, or helping build in anticipation of it. Not sure if you understand where I am coming from on this, it's kind of hard explaining what I mean using text alone.

btw... your vocals.

Once again "f**k the haters" who don't know any better. You sing well. Your voice is a little thin, on the strong parts, but what you do good, you do very well. You have good emotion and style that comes through quite clearly. You are "acting" the song out, really well. Meaning, you can feel the anger or various emotions in your voice, just as clearly as if we were watching an actor play it out onstage. That's really important, and not all singers have that. I'd rather have that part down, then just have the power. There are various effects, like doublers and many others, that could thicken your voice up, and make it sound a little meatier and stronger, though I think it is nominal, whether it is needed or not. But if any band member, engineer or whoever, felt that was lacking, the effects would solve that satisfactorily.

You SHOULD be the lead singer. You can carry it. And because you write the songs, you understand what is needed, emotionally, to sell the song, and have it match your vision, of what you wrote. Someone else, may not necessarily embody the song as well, even if they had stronger vocals. I believe, almost more than the music itself, it is the emotion that moves people. You can see a technically amazing musician or singer, and people are in awe of their technical skill, but that won't change anyone's life, or have them leave the show, feeling something has happened that they are now carrying with them for a long while after the performance. And conversely, there may be less technically skilled artists, who put such emotion into the piece, that they BECAME the song.

And everything they put into the song, EVERYONE there feels, and it changes them, it pulls them in, and they carry it with them, even when the show is long over. I think you have that ability, and being able to faithfully express the same emotion that went into the writing, is what will make you great one day.

I expect backstage passes when you make it!

Oh yeah...

"One Day Broken"

Cool name.

Hey Shredd,

Glad to hear it bro!

Sounds like I had them pegged didn't I? LOL

Your writing, as I said, is the missing element for them. Sure, there are stronger vocalists than you, but you ARE a good vocalist, and that combined with the writing is what makes you very valuable.

You know, when I posted praise of that song, I thought that some artists here, would go check it out, and maybe think "Hmm... it sounds good, but why is Craig over the top about it?"

Well, I didn't want to critique your recording, cause I knew it was a demo. But I could tell something was missing. In other words, it wasn't radio ready, cause there are sonic bald spots in the song that needed to be filled. Reading what you wrote, I understand why now. But as a fellow writer, I knew when all the elements were in place, that would be a non-issue. I kind of wanted to tell the guys here that I was looking at the song from a writer's point of view, in case they wondered why I was so enamored of it, but I left it alone.

As a writer, I hear it all in my head. I just need the basics to know whether something is really good or not. And that song is REALLY good. You have me anxious to hear the "10 times better" stuff now, but DON'T LOSE THAT SONG. It's a hit bro. I hear it all over alternative radio.

The arrangement is really good almost as-is too. Was that yours also? It builds well, stays interesting throughout with appropriate changes of sound and emotion. Love the intro. I hope you keep that as-is, coming in with the vocal and simple arpeggiated chord.

One suggestion is around :40 of the song, after "what I have become" the turnaround is doubled or repeated. You may want to limit it to one time through, or else have the drummer bang a few snare and tom hits together, single strikes for effect, kind of a fake build, or the beginning of a run that doesn't fully develop, coming in a little into the second, or repeated turn around. I understand where you are going on the length, by repeating it. That "feels" right, but it's too much dead space. Something needs to come in on the second time through, or it is a little dead, a little boring, and the other problem is that what is coming up is stronger, and nothing is setting it up, or helping build in anticipation of it. Not sure if you understand where I am coming from on this, it's kind of hard explaining what I mean using text alone.

btw... your vocals.

Once again "f**k the haters" who don't know any better. You sing well. Your voice is a little thin, on the strong parts, but what you do good, you do very well. You have good emotion and style that comes through quite clearly. You are "acting" the song out, really well. Meaning, you can feel the anger or various emotions in your voice, just as clearly as if we were watching an actor play it out onstage. That's really important, and not all singers have that. I'd rather have that part down, then just have the power. There are various effects, like doublers and many others, that could thicken your voice up, and make it sound a little meatier and stronger, though I think it is nominal, whether it is needed or not. But if any band member, engineer or whoever, felt that was lacking, the effects would solve that satisfactorily.

You SHOULD be the lead singer. You can carry it. And because you write the songs, you understand what is needed, emotionally, to sell the song, and have it match your vision, of what you wrote. Someone else, may not necessarily embody the song as well, even if they had stronger vocals. I believe, almost more than the music itself, it is the emotion that moves people. You can see a technically amazing musician or singer, and people are in awe of their technical skill, but that won't change anyone's life, or have them leave the show, feeling something has happened that they are now carrying with them for a long while after the performance. And conversely, there may be less technically skilled artists, who put such emotion into the piece, that they BECAME the song.

And everything they put into the song, EVERYONE there feels, and it changes them, it pulls them in, and they carry it with them, even when the show is long over. I think you have that ability, and being able to faithfully express the same emotion that went into the writing, is what will make you great one day.

I expect backstage passes when you make it!

I'm sorry it took a while to respond to this Craig.

Honestly.. I really don't know what to say. I've never been really good at responding to compliments. It's funny how you sometimes work so hard to achieve them, and then when they come around, you don't really know what to do with them, or know how to respond. Hahaha..

All I know to say is, thank you, and hopefully I can live up to that. It is an inspiring post, and I do appreciate it.

To answer some your questions..

I've been lucky enough to work with musicians who at least get the basics of arranging the songs. So I can't take full credit. I think it's important to involve every member's ideas as to how it should be arranged, unless I feel like it will throw the song too far off track for the vocals. But all of us were involved in the arrangement.

We do still practice this song from time to time, but I was the one who wanted to pull the plug on it. When I joined One Day Broken, there was another singer (the lead singer). And he just couldn't pull it off.

Every vocal part was doubled manually except for the bridge. I literally sang the verses and choruses twice. But I've gotta tell you, even I'm not happy with all of the vocals on this recording. There are obvious spots where I could've done better. But I don't think it was deserving of being axed considering the circumstances. I can sing this song like no other these days.

I do understand what you mean at the end. It is the one thing I focus on the most. Being able to sing a song with emotion is a gift. I can't take any kind of credit for studying how to do something like that and pulling it off. It's not something I consciously try to do. It's just the only way I know how.

I was just having a conversation in the gender displacement thread about how, generally, female singers will choose a different path other than Rock as a more lucrative career choice even though they are fully capable of singing Rock music.

I was gonna use this video as an example in that thread to show how whether something is Rocked out, or soft and subtle, it's the same song and can be pulled off with the same emotion. (so why not choose the more lucrative path)

But I think it applies to what you're talking about as well.

Watch this video. It's freaking crazy how it goes from rocked out raw emotion, to subtle and soft, and back (even though it's a collage). The emotion is there in both versions, but just in different moods. I've always taken my songs and explored the differences in what they could be in more than just one way. And I think as a singer/songwriter, that's probably where that raw emotion comes from. Exploring 2-sides of a coin to keep things honest. Does that make any sense?

Check this out. I think it's a cool video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L12VJO1Z ... re=related

btw..
For that post.. Absolutely. Just hit up will call. They'll be there.

Peace Craig.