Steemit Open Mic Week 50 - "Becoming" - Original a cappella song
Live looped vocals as accompaniment to an original song of mine - "Becoming".
My parents are in town and playing with Thing One and Thing Two in the yard so I was able to get a rare moment to myself today - I even waxed my mustachio for your viewing pleasure.
My sincere thanks and respect and admiration to @luzcypher and @pfunk for sponsoring this amazing contest. Remember to upvote and resteem the Open Mic week 50 contest post - the submissions here every week are so much fun to listen to, this contest has really become must see TV. And I don't even watch television LOL
This is an old song and it is a new song. I wrote the first two verses two years ago when I was laid off from my upper level corporate job as a district manager for a large market research company with research facilities across the country. It is always interesting to find yourself standing at the crossroads when the possibilities are endless and the hopes and fears are competing for your heart. Love always wins though - just choose to go with love and you will be fine wherever you go.
I wrote the last verse just a few minutes ago before I recorded this. I find myself again laid off from a different job and standing on the metaphorical mountain peak surveying the kingdom of my life. Thing One and Thing Two are princes who will carry me far in my new campaigns, and @dillemma is as beautiful and talented of a loving wife as a man could ask to stand by his side.
Cheers and thanks for stopping by - much love - Carl
Becoming
Becoming lyrics
What else should I become in this life?
What form should I assume?
Echoes in an empty room
Whispers in the forest
Water runs and water is frozen
Echoes in an empty room
Echoes in an empty room
What else should I transform in this life?
What things should I consume?
Echoes in an empty room
Silence on the mountain
Water deep and water runs shallow
Shadows of an afternoon [repeats]
What roads should I avoid in this life?
What dark places still loom?
Echoes of a friend who is gone
Whispers of a lover
Water cleans and water remembers
Every rock will crumble to sand [repeats]
THIS IS FUCKING BRILLIANT! This reminds me of really nice vocal harmonies from the band Gentle Giants. They didn't have half your beard thickness so you are the best!
Wow high praise from the samurai master himself! Thanks dude! Really if this contest is judged on beard thickness I think I should do okay.
Or if it's judged on pure concentrate of awesomeness, first place for you!
I just came back to hear this again thinking I must have dream it.. it can't be .... but no it's all real. Incredible, amazing are pale words for your performance....
Agreed. That was sick! Those harmonies - wow.
... but I still have beard envy....
It makes me happy that this song found its mark in your heart. You are an amazing musician in your own right and all around talented crazy man of mystery, so your praise means a lot to me. Much love
Damn, that's the first time I have heard a live-looped a-cappella for Steemit. It's gotta be hard to loop everything on the first try like that, pretty crazy. Looking forward to more acappellas in future weeks :-)
Thanks @heymattsokol! Yes, you have hit the nail on the button - I hope that I made that look easy but in actuality laying down the five part backing harmony loops on the first take is anything but. This is a shorter loop which makes it easier of course, but I am still happy with how this came out. Cheers - Carl
amazingly great - the vocals, the lyrics and your technical skills!!!! following you - hoping to hear and read more, upvoted and resteemed! Have a great weekend with you familiy - had to smile so well knowing when you wrote about you're parents playing Thing One and Thing Two :-) Our youngest are 6 and 4 and I was lucky to have my eldest son's fiancee here today... :-)
Thanks for the great compliments and the resteem - much appreciated! Sounds like you have quite an age range with your things! Much love - Carl
24, 16, 6, 4 ... so, I have some things to tell for young mothers, "just right age mothers" and old mothers... ;-) having run the 24 yrs of being a mother - and just as well running through all of the politcal correct ways of being a woman... arriving at being a wife finally :-)
First of all, I love the Grinch Tee, okay! Now that that's out of the way, this acapella of your's is "killer!" I just love the looped harmonies and of course, the lyrics are "Carl Gnash" profound! Loved this brother... Enjoy what little freedoms the visit from Mom & Pops brings relative to thing-1 and thing-2... haha... Really great, Carl!
yes the grinch tee is a fav :) Thanks for the kind words @passion-ground - love having my parents here, they adore the little things and vice versa of course. Sending the love right back at ya - you rock!
Love the loops and deep lyrics.
Thanks Luz! I am having a lot of fun with this contest, you are the man!
Love wins ❤️ sweet vocals dude and your moustache is looking beautifully curly :)
Thanks @juliakponsford! If I had more time last week I was planning on breaking out the Octopus Beard for a performance of an alien love song to enter in your contest - but here, have an Octopus Blast from the Past from a few years back when my beard was not quite as mighty as it is today! Facial Hair Ahoy!
Wow you should enter this in a competition, or better yet start a facial hair comp on steemit 😮
Now that is a great idea!
What she said!
Now you're just rubbing in my beard envy... not funny man, not funny. ;)
You, too, could have an octo-beard ;)
Holy S...! That was very impressive!, i am guessing you used a looper right?, outstanding man!
Thanks @dreamrafa - that means a lot coming from a wizard like yourself! Yes, just the ole Shure SM58 mic straight into my looper - I have an Electro-Harmonix 45000 with footpedal which is kind of like a cross between a 4-track digital recorder and a looper.
👏👏👏👏👏 If Brian Wilson had possessed a looper in the 60s, it would have been "The Beach Boy" singular. I totally respect performers with the ability to naturally harmonise as you do and I believe it is partially innate and partially learned (from parents at an early stage in my case). Yes, I am able to do it and I consider myself blessed*, however, unfortunately I was at the back of the queue when they handed out vocal quality and mine is fairly shite! Yours is great Carl and it's a brilliant song all round really. Well done mate. 10/10 👏👏👏👏👏 👍
*Means I can occasionally boss others around when they have little or no idea in which direction to take a harmony! 😂😂😂
"The Beach Boy"... that is hilarious! And totally true. Man I bet Brian Wilson with a looper would make some cool music.
I grew up in a very musical family, singing rounds and harmonies to pass the time on car rides and such. I also consider myself blessed in that respect, I didn't really use to think it was unusual but now I realize that not everyone can just spout out harmonies on the spot. Which is too bad really because harmonizing is such fun. It really tickles the brain in a good way :)
Thanks for the high praise, you are too kind sir! Much love - Carl
That is excellent! You get my third musical resteem in four months on Steemit! Do you have any recordings from prior to having children?
Sweet the @andybets resteem is worth a lot, as I hold you in high esteem. A highly esteemed resteem :)
Yeah I have been recording myself since high school. Not a whole lot is publicly accessible on the web but there are a few dozen songs on my youtube. I used to have a ton of music up at carlnash.com but I let that domain expire.
That's great thanks, I didn't think to check the older stuff in your youtube channel! I'm listening now. I had a myspace with some of my stuff on at one point, but that seems to have gone now too.
Oh hey myspace! Your reply made some neurons fire that haven't fired in many a year, so thanks for that! As it turns out I do still have a few songs up on myspace, these are earlier than the material on youtube and are multitrack solo recordings:
https://myspace.com/carlgileadnash/music/songs
EDIT - hmmm well the songs claim to be there but for whatever reason the player isn't actually playing anything for me when I click on a song. Oh well. Myspace. What a trip.
I have to thank you for the myspace mention, it got me looking there and reminded me of several albums of old songs. I have had a nice little walk down memory lane today going through some digital archives and I have started posting a few selections to Dsound. Cheers - Carl
Great! I'm pleased I did, I like what I'm hearing. I'm listening using my experimental search engine/player here.
It's good to go through your old stuff sometimes isn't it, I have found things that I've totally forgotten ever recording!
Holy crap dude thanks for linking to your search engine! That is awesome! So are you the mastermind behind steemreports then?
I am indeed. It's all a bit rough at the moment, but like everything, I hope it will improve over time.
Holy Loopin' Cows @carlgnash. That was amazing. You are a monster. The vocal parts you layered in were right on the money. Great tuning, well rehearsed, Great original... Man oh man! For anyone out there with a looper, this is how it is done!!
... and I have serious beard envy :(
Thanks Bucky! I honed my vocal looping skills holding the wee little ones - it is hard to play guitar whilst holding a teeny tiny baby but it is easy to sing and step on a foot pedal :)
Great idea!!
love the do doot harms. this is great my friend love the lyrics. fantastic work
Do doot thank yoot!