Ah, romance, that wonderful and exciting feeling, that most glorious intertwining of two hearts. So intense, such a high, but so fleeting, and so often for so many once gone never to return. But does it have to be that way? Can we intentionally create and sustain more romance in our lives?

Most folks profess to want more romance in their lives. Indeed, for some, romance is a goal unto itself, or at least high on the list of goals for their love relationships.

But if having romance in our committed love relationships is a highly prized goal, and if so many people want more of it in their lives, how can we create, cultivate, and encourage it? What concrete steps can we take to make sure that romance takes seed and flourishes? (more…)

As a saxophonist and recording artist who’s out and about quite a bit, I constantly hear from people who tell me how the sound of the saxophone effects them in their hearts, their souls, and their lives. There is something about the sound of the saxophone that has a clear and profound effect on many, many people.

Here are a few typical comments I hear on a very regular basis:

“It puts me in the mood, and helps me to remember how lucky I am to have someone to love.”

“…it put me into a trance. In my mind I was transported to a Paris street side café looking into the eyes of my wife; it was a magical daydream – the air was filled with love.”

Now I’ve been playing the saxophone for 45 years and I do have some modest talent on the instrument. However, the point I’m making in this article has nothing to do with me. It has to do with the saxophone itself, and how the very sound of the saxophone effects the human nervous system. (more…)

Everyone loves music. Music is everywhere, it pervades our world. Everyone knows music has power and importance. But have you ever stopped to consider why? What it is about music that gives it so much power and importance?

Here are 7 top reasons:

1. Music is a universal language. It inspires common human feelings and bridges gaps between cultures that spoken languages cannot. It brings people together and creates universal community.
2. Music inspires and evokes emotion in a healthy way. It touches our emotional being and evokes moods and feelings that are sometimes difficult to express. It can change a difficult mood and make it happy or excited; it can change a light mood and take it deeper and more profound.
3. Music enhances learning and makes it more enjoyable. It is scientifically proven that music enhances brain functioning. Playing music uses many brain functions simultaneously: motor control, imagination, hearing, sight, memory, etc. (more…)

(Part 3 can be found here.)

Next, I started doing something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.

In the sequencer that I use, Digital Performer, I have installed a plugin sampler called MachFive. And in MachFive you have the ability to load any sound into it and then trigger that sound on your keyboard.

In my case, what I’ve always wanted to do, and have done here, is load a bunch of sax licks into the sampler, then bend, fold, and mutilate them – that is, edit them – to see what I could come up with.

Here’s an image of the MachFive sampler with a bunch of the sax licks I’ve already recorded in this song loaded and ready to be triggered by each keyboard key:

So, after much experimentation, frustration, persperation, conflagration, and consideration of my situation, I’ve come up with a working version of the song with a bunch of triggered sax licks, some of which play backwards.

My goal is to not only experiment with the sax-in-the-sampler idea, but also to make it pleasing, musical, and transcendental. With this in mind, I’ve decided to change the name of the song to “Transcendance”.

Here it is. Enjoy!

Transcendance

(I’m going to leave it here for a while and move on to another song; I’ve got several lined up in my head.)

(Part 2 can be found here.)

A big part of what I do with any song I’m composing is edit sound files. This is where I take recorded parts, cut them up into smaller pieces, then move them around so they are exactly the way I want them. (I can spend hours doing this kind of stuff and I never get bored.)

In this case, I’ve gone through all the bass parts that Chris recorded, and also some of my sax parts, and edited the sound bites to my liking. Here’s what it looks like on my screen:

You can see that I’ve sliced up the Tenor 2 part and moved some of the notes around so the more exactly match the Tenor 1 part.

I’ve also sliced and diced and mixed and matched and copied and pasted Chris’ bass part. Believe it or not, this is all very normal and an accepted part of creating music.

So now that I’ve got the whole first section of the song done – the sax and bass parts are solid, and the other parts are edited and arranged just the way I want them – I’ll turn my attention again to the second section after the transition.

I’ve created a really nice little background chord sequence for this section that uses a looped section of Chris’ bass part and some cool ambient chords and sounds. Here’s what it sounds like without any bass, drums, or guitar.

Ambient Background

Also, I’ve decided to throw out the more aggressive second drum groove I created earlier and simply extend the original drum groove. Here, then, is that same ambient chordal section with the original drum groove, plus bass and guitar:

Ambient Background With Instruments

So. Now what I have is a fully formed first section, and a nice start on a second section, and the whole thing sounds like this:

Basic Song With Ambient Section

Here’s what that transition section looks like:

You can also see in this image all the parts I’ve created for this song, including parts that use synthesizer sounds called Belly Flop, Earfarker, and Must.Hit.Snooze.

Continue to Part 4 —>