If you have yet to hear… I went ahead with my plans on Bongo One. In fact I have a new song in post at the moment and as I mentioned I believe I have at least one other song somewhere on my computer ready for a Bongo One make over. I am very excited to get started on this but wouldn’t you know it… I came up for this idea for a web series and put it into immediate production. Unfortunately with my schedule of classes and the fact that they involve computer programming, plus filming and editing and setting up this web series (despite the fact that it’s small) means I’m not sure when I’ll be returning to Bongo One. I actually have plans to return by the end of the month if not the end of the week but I don’t want to lead you astray… so keep following my posts ’cause whatever happens I know I’ll find a way to fit music in! Rock on!
Bongo One: Not That Radio
So instead of working on one of my other music projects, I sort of started a new one. The Background Kid wasn’t working out and I’m still stuck on my Lan Party stuff. Over my hiatus, I decided that I would move forward with this A Capella project I’ve been working on… it was actually supposed to be a new sound for TBK but I ultimately decided to go with a different name.
Today I released the first vocal for the project… though it’s nowhere near a full song… but I’m hoping I’ll get some early feedback on it and perhaps tweak my process before I get in too deep. So please, check it out at http://www.reverbnation.com/BongoOne… it’s labeled as Snippet: Not That Radio.
I have a few full songs but I’m not sure if they’ll work with this or have to be redone. Plus, I don’t actually know where they are on my hard drive. If I find them and can make them work, you can bet they’ll be up soon!
Focus On Lan Party
I plan to focus my musical attention on Lan Party for the remainder of the year. I didn’t come to this decision lightly and I really feel bad because The Background Kid is really important to me. I have a few more ideas for TBK but I really want Lan Party to come out and I’m at a point in the year where I have to choose!
With TBK I do hope to finish up a few of the loose materials I have and finally re-edit some videos I’ve been sitting on for quite awhile but I don’t expect too much more… maybe the digital release of a song or two… but I’m not promising anything.
Currently there is only a short downloadable album available for Lan Party. The plan is to make a deluxe version of that as a physical CD and put a bonus track on there or maybe with a few extras. Separately, I have been working on some all-original music and I plan to put that together on a full album… which is why I have to put the TBK stuff on hold.
Also… and I just thought this up right now… I want to do another video. I’ll have to think hard about how I want to do it… it’d be kinda cool to do it as a cartoon… but I’m not sure that is in the cards at the moment.
Plus I really want some new pics… the old image is great but it’s old… it’s time for some new.
Contemplate
This is probably my favorite Lan Party song! It is the first Lan Party song I created myself using the program FL Studio… I was making songs before but I was using and manipulating music loops.
For those unaware, music loops are repeatable musical clips made by themselves which can be used by another to make a full song. A loop might have a free or a paid license which is something one should check before they use it… the one’s I use are free but Contemplate is loop free. As are most of the songs I’ve been working on… I want a larger selection of my own personal music clips.
I then decided to set my song to a video… actually, I think I had to film something simple for a class: a walking scene in a park. So, I set my video to my song and viola… it became a music video! Well, I guess it’s not a real music video since it doesn’t really credit anyone or anything but it works. In the video you can see that I’m writing a letter… it was actually a concept idea for The Background Kid’s song Dear Arron…
Unfortunately I wasn’t too happy with the way that or any of The Background Kid’s first album songs turned out so I incorporated the idea into the Contemplate video.
For those who are curious… I honestly don’t know when the next Lan Party release will come out. Currently, you’ll find the Looped EP and several solo songs you can purchase and download from the Lan Party Store. I hope to have a completely finished CD for you out before the end of the year… and Contemplate will be on it. In fact, I’m going to work on it now, so keep checking in for updates!
Bowling for Soup
Eh… it’s a couple weeks late but I wanted to talk about the Bowling for Soup concert I went to at the House of Blues in Anaheim (That’s Downtown Disney). First off, it was a really great show. I didn’t go in until almost the end of the Dollyrots (another band) but even they were pretty good.
House of Blues in Anaheim is a much smaller venue than I thought… at least it looked it… I mean, it’s still big but in comparison to some of the theaters I’ve been in, it was pretty small. My thought is they probably know someone there.
If you don’t know Bowling for Soup, they are a pop-punk band from Texas… well pop-punk is relative since music genres have become… ill-defined. Either way there most popular songs you may have heard are “1985″, “Almost”, “Punk Rock 101″, “High School Never Ends” and the newly released “Turbulence”…. at least I assume “Turbulence” is popular… it sounds like it would be… I don’t really listen to the radio.
The point is that you’ve probably heard of them even if you don’t care for them. I like there music and was very surprised at the song selection they played as it was really an eclectic mix of their lexicon… not just the newest and most popular stuff… although they did all of their most popular songs… but off of the newest album, I believe they only did one song… “Turbulence”… which is a really good song!
The greatest part is it isn’t just a straightforward concert… it’s almost a comedy show and they will take large bits of time to talk or do something like stand up comedy. They even stop their songs in the middle and talk about something completely different for several minutes and once you’ve forgotten there was a song going on they start it up again! One time, they completely stopped the show for a photo-op and put some Dolly Parton song on whilest they posed around stage! It was a lot of fun and I really would love to see them again!
As far as I know, their tour is coming to a close… I think that’s what they wrote on Facebook. But if you ever get the chance to see ‘em, go for it! Some of their language is a bit strong and occasionally their content drifts into the unsavory but it is always in good fun and they don’t do anything dirty… so even a younger kid might enjoy it… although I understand if parents don’t want their kids to go to see Bowling for Soup… but if you have any say in the matter, go!
Lips: Number One Hits Review
Title: Lips: Number One Hits
Platform: Xbox 360
Summary: Sing on pitch to get points…
Overall Opinion: Pretty fun, probably more so in a group.
Who Is It For: Those that enjoy singing but don’t want to get into the whole Rock Band thing or those who like party games… if all you want is serious gaming, don’t look here!
My Thoughts: I bought the game for two… well… three reasons. First off, Number One Hits was only like $30 and came with the microphone for the Xbox… secondly, I like music and think it’s fun to sing… third, a few years back, I had a party with some Karaoke game for the original XBox and I thought it’d be fun!
Well, I do like it but I know it’s not a huge gamer game… and honestly, if you don’t like singing, it isn’t going to be fun for you.
The game comes with forty songs… I had a certificate for a 5 pack but I believe it expired so don’t expect it if you buy it now… and the choices weren’t that good… for the free ones. In the game there is a pretty eclectic mix to choose from so people wouldn’t have trouble finding what they want to sing from.
You can also download hundreds of other songs, provided you buy them! You can actually download the Lips store for free and listen to the samples of available songs. Or you can use the songs from your own collection to increase how many you have… but songs from your own collection won’t give you the words.
Other games have thrown me out for not hitting enough of the notes but this one hasn’t done that. Maybe I’m better at hitting the notes and I just haven’t been kicked out yet though…
Interesting Tidbits:
There are three games in the series but I’ve read that the songs don’t transfer from one to the other.
You can sing either the full track or about half the song.
The vocals turn from the original song are intact and can be heard while you sing.
The microphone can also be used to strum or as a tambourine or a bunch of various other stuff.
Not A Great Moment
I’m sorry to all but it looks like I won’t be putting together any albums in the next few months. I plan to eventually put together new albums for both Lan Party and The Background Kid but while I was hoping to put out new albums this year… it just doesn’t look like it is in the cards.
I have a lot on my plate now… and I think I’ll have a lot more once my classes start in a week… especially the one on programming. I also want to build up my portfolio and blogs so I’m gonna take a break here for awhile.
However, music IS important to me and I know I’m going to be posting on this blog as well as creating new music… it just wont be in album form.
So be sure to check out both the Lan Party and Background Kid reverbnation pages as well as this blog for further updates!
You might also find the Conceptual Poetry blog interesting… or any of my blogs really… but the Poetry one especially!
New Lan Party Song
Today I tried to make a new song for either of my music projects… it didn’t work out… I guess inspiration is pretty haphazard. But in looking through my files I found an unpublished file called pop. The first time I listened to it, the song seemed to only go for about 30 seconds… it was a good star. Apparently I stopped it too early as the song is over two minutes long… so I rendered it and put it up on Lan Party’s reverbnation page… you can also buy the song as a download on the store… it’s called Popped.
Listening to Music
I think I have enough material for a second Background Kid album. I still have quite a long way to go… but I was listening to music and some Fall Out Boy song came on inspiring a few lyrics. I was very excited about it… I even considered making a poem out of it but the lyrics were just too good.
So for those of you aching for a new TBK album… I am making progress… and it’s gonna take longer ’cause I want it to sound better. If you have no clue what I’m talking about… head to http://www.reverbnation.com and search for The Background Kid.
