- You're a Star2013/01/19
This is some dreamy, spacey pop, I guess. I didn't have any real instruments around, so it's all GarageBand plus two vocal tracks.
- Xena2012/12/22
You ever drink so much whiskey that you recorded the main title theme of Xena the Warrior Princess? I did.
- Pound For Pound2012/10/19
I've been obsessing so much over the opening track on the new Bad Plus album, I recorded it on the banjo.
- Fluttering2012/10/10
I made some acoustic math rock today.
- Waning Harvest2012/10/07
I wrote this little ditty tapping on the banjo in seven. I added instruments and stuff.
- Voxen2012/10/07
I found some vocoder app on my iPhone, so I used it to make this strange, robotic choir.
- Scape 382012/10/02
Here's something ambient. I made this with Scape (the new app by Eno and Chilvers), smart drums from GarageBand, Animoog and a microphone. The shaker noise that comes in around the two-minute mark is actually just an undoctored recording of me rubbing two of my fingers together. That's how intense the Tascam iM2 is.
- Ave Maria2012/09/28
Have you ever had so much pumpkin ale that you ran down to your cellar to write and record a Hail Mary in Latin? I have.
- Onward2012/09/22
This was written on the banjo, using all hammer and tap on the fretboard. I felt I should add some other instruments to it, so I did. The playing is quite sloppy, but I just wanted to get it down.
- Nova part 12012/07/31
This is a piece of a prog instrumental I have in mind. The timing of this part is 7+7+7+6, with the 6 alternating 3+3 and 2+2+2 feels.
- Pyramid Song2012/07/08
I've been obsessing over this Radiohead song for the last couple days, so I learned it and played it (on the banjo).
- Moonshine2012/06/04
I trapped myself on the back porch with a banjo, an iPad and a bottle of corn whiskey. This is the result. I'm not sure what to make of it, but there are a lot of time signatures going on.
- Syzygy2012/05/21
This is a four or five iPad jam in seven. This is based on a groove from Jam 13 from the Bungalo Jams.
- Mars (So Bright)2012/04/18
I first recorded this song in 2005 when Mars was in opposition. I recorded it again this year with seven years of added technology. Overproduced or still lo fi?
- Cool Out2012/04/18
This is a banjo driven instrumental that has some strings in it. Apologies for my sloppy bass playing.
- We Remain2012/03/18
This is like that last song I just made, but even cornier and more precise. I swear I'll stop with these and get back to the arty stuff.
- The Best Things2012/03/17
For some reason, I just busted out with a little twee indie pop tune. This isn't a Mates of States song, is it?
- Keizaal Lovaas2012/03/15
I just kind of heard this song in the back of my head, so I recorded it. It supposed to sound like a voyage across a wintry landscape near dusk. The title means Skyrim Song in the Dragon language. Geek out.
- Red Rain2012/03/10
Here's my take on the classic Peter Gabriel tune. I haven't heard this song in a while, but I always do covers when the song isn't fresh in my head. I recorded the vocals in a sub-freezing stairwell. It was really echoey in there, so the vocals lack presence. I'm using the stairwell conditions as my excuse as to why I forgot the HEEEEEY WE TOUCH lyric.
- Soft Snow2012/03/09
I busted out a short, mellow little ditty on the banjo with some iPad accompaniment. My fancy mic wasn't working for some reason, so the sound quality isn't the best. There was some snow falling really slowly with no wind. I was watching it while I wrote and recorded this.
- Thresher-Harvester2012/03/09
There's a lot of attention deficit going on in this track. I started making a rockin' prog tune and then I suddenly wanted to put a string quintet in there. I haven't really tamed these new GarageBand strings yet, but I will.
- Five Suns2012/03/06
Info (Show/Hide)A couple nights ago, I had a semi-lucid dream in which I was listening to a band called Slay. It was kind of doom metal, but a little faster. Maybe you could call it hard post-rock. The CD cover was black with dark gold writing on it. All the titles of the songs were written in wingdings and this particular one had five suns with faces on them as the title. It was like a wall of guitars. I recorded it the best I could remember it.
- In the World2012/02/02
This demonstrates the iM2 mic, plugged into the iPad, recording eight tracks with no noise gates or anything. Again, I trapped myself on the porch with a whole bunch of beer, a banjo and an iPad. I just jammed out on the banjo and then recorded seven tracks over that. The percussion parts are stomping on the floor, slapping my leg, hitting the banjo, flicking a beer can and beatboxing.
- Blossoms of Gold2012/01/24
Info (Show/Hide)I wanted to try out my new mic, so I needed some banjo and vocals, but I was devoid of ideas. I drank a bunch of Genny Bock and used the label on the can as the inspiration for the lyrics. The whole song is in eleven, but it's broken up in different ways in different parts. The scat vocals in the middle part were recorded with the iPad mic, 'cos I forgot to record them with the iM2. The banjo sounds brighter than ever, though.
- Fifteen2012/01/03
This little groove hit me last night, so I laid it down. It's in 15/8.
- Gerudo Valley2011/12/27
This is a song from The Legend of Zelda (I think). My brother mentioned something about it tonight, so I googled it, learned the song and recorded this.
- Cumku2011/12/27
This one clocks in at just under a minute. This is part of an ongoing series of songs that I've been making for a few years-- one song for each "month" of the Mayan Haab calendar. Eventually, I'll finish all 20 and put them together.
- More Dry2011/12/23
I took the instruments from Optimum Dry and recorded another song. This one's in seven.
- Optimum Dry2011/12/22
I was putting stuff in the dryer when I saw OPTIMUM DRY on a knob and this song hit my ears. I ran upstairs and recorded it as a rock trio.
- Tuesday's Trio2011/12/21
I wanted to make another song in 6/8, so I did it again the next day with a instrumental rock trio.
- Monday's Waltz2011/12/21
I see that GarageBand supports 6/8 time now. I felt compelled to make something in 6/8, so I recorded this last week. It's all acoustic and pseudoacoustic instruments.
- Mr. Ramanujan2011/11/25
I wrote this song over five years ago, but I never played it; I just heard it in my head. I wrote it when I worked at EDS. This is about the sys admins over in India that did the needful for us when things went wrong. It's a reggae song with "do the needful" in the chorus. What more could you ask for?
- Curtains2011/10/27
I seem to recall trapping myself on the back porch with the iPad and a bunch of beer the other night. It turns out I ended up recording a song. This is pretty mellow and jazzy.
- At First I Was All2011/10/05
This is quite sloppy and pretty silly. It's a bunch of loud guitars and Cookie Monster style screaming. I was hesitant to post it but I think it's kind of fun. It's a companion piece to "...But Then I Was All". I might put them together to make one track, but I'll probably rerecord them first.
- Phoenix2011/10/02
This is a pipe organ jam from a couple nights ago.
- So Fast2011/09/28
I was thinking about neutrinos while I was washing the dishes tonight. This is the song that came out of it. This is an epitomal indie rock song in the Matt LaGoy style.
- Dirty On the Nasty2011/09/24
This is a really sludgy song I just busted out really dirty on the nasty. It's an instrumental trio (overdriven guitar, string bass, drum kit) playing in four.
- 502011/09/17
I wrote this one on the banjo tonight. It's very short and very busy. It's mostly in 50/8 (interpreted as 14+13+12+11 with a lot of triplets). It was really hard to play, so it's sloppy.
- I Ain't Gonna Work Tomorrow2011/09/15
This is a sludgy take on a traditional bluegrass song.
- Iddle Diddle2011/09/14
This is just a little acoustic jam.
- Gentle Breeze2011/09/09
Of the three songs I recorded today, this one is my favorite. This is just straight up two-finger picking on the banjo with some string bass and drums to support it.
- Up 'Til Four2011/09/09
I couldn't get to sleep, so I made a song with four instruments playing four chords in 4/4. It's just another jam.
- Just Changing2011/09/09
I just busted out a mellow little acoustic ditty tonight. Nothing too groundbreaking here. A temperate tune.
- Mow2011/09/08
I wanted to mow the lawn this weekend, but it kept raining, so I couldn't. I got this song in my head as I stewed over this.
- Alpha Tauri2011/09/03
I was listening to a bunch of Zombi tonight and I had the strong urge to combine a bunch of synths with a driving rock beat. This was the result.
- Dog Porch2011/08/31
I recorded a little riff on my kid's toy banjo and then accompanied it by hitting various things on my back porch and humming. I played the window blinds with a ball-point pen. I found a neat, metallic, clanking noise from a step ladder.
- Happiness is a Warm Gun2011/08/27
I feel like this is the archetypical proto-prog song-- for me, at least. This is the song that shaped me as a youngster, probably more than any other song. The fact that it had crazy changes and strange time signatures really opened my mind and it has never shut since then. Anyways, yeah, it's hard panned, Beatles-style. It just really makes me want to hear Martha My Dear.
- But Then I Was All2011/08/21
I got this idea to make a two-part song, the first half being technical death metal and the second half being new age. This is the second half of that song. This is the first iPad song I've recorded with apps besides GarageBand. This one uses Air and Seline along with GarageBand.
- A Neuf et a Neuf2011/08/20
I decided to break my two-week hiatus with a short, progressive instrumental. Yeah, it's in nine.
