Can I see something of what you are doing?

Yes, and about time too.

This is a recent offering from some Wikiloops friends with my singing and original lyrics. Title is "Keep Your Eyes Off My Fries". Yum.

Wow, can link direct from my Youtube channel. Ain't technology darn amazing? I may yet submit to Twitter.





No. No Twitter. 

So what is it that you do exactly?

Hello again.

What I do is sing and write lyrics. In this, sometimes the singing is to karaoke backing, sometimes to original music created by the musicians on the Wikiloops site.

I record my singing onto the music to create the finished track using the continually amazing Garageband program that came free with the Mac. I mix the track down to output and master the result through Audacity and copy to my iTunes.

The backing music is created either by dragging a .mid file into Garageband or by sourcing from minus one music from various, er, sources.

I will then look for images that help to tell the story of the song, using Google image search. These I will arrange in sequence in iPhoto and, having attached the finished track, output the whole as a movie. I prefer the use of static images as I feel they allow for breathing space that sometimes the more dynamic styles overlook. I also feel they more easily allow for multiple interpretations, though I do attempt to make them as precise as I can.

I have declined to monetise anything because I would anticipate people claiming a percentage for use of something over which they would claim ownership. And rightly so - anyone makes a buck off of someone else's sweat and results should pay. But my research suggests that where a buck is not made, then there is little damage. I look to attribute ownership where I can and so direct traffic, though Google with its multiple results makes this difficult. I also look to use copyright free images that allow for some modification, again with attribution where possible.

I have had difficulty in trying to encapsulate all of this into a snappy name for the result. It's not quite a Music Video nor a Movie cos I don't feel there is enough action in them to qualify for that name. And I don't want to mislead. And a Music Powerpoint seems snuzz, not to mention that the big M would probably come after me for using the Powerpoint tag. If anyone can come up with a tag that describes what I do, that would be brilliant.

If someone can also come up with a decent business model that lets everyone get paid, also good. Though it feels pretty complex and legally expensive and I am probably too old to want to mess with it. Worst that could happen is someone says take the thing down. We'll see. At least it will be on the iPad for my entertainment.

Why are you doing this?

Good question. Partly because I can, mostly because there is a drive to get these songs that I love recorded before my rock voice loses its balls. I used to sing Rock and Blues in my Band days in the 1980s and I want a memory that I was once able to roar and bawl like a bear. So when (god willing) I am on my last breaths in a bed with my iPad containing all my videos and with a pair of headphones, I can have a final listen and watch before heading off into wherever, whatever or not-ever waits in the afterlife. Also be something to play when the coffin rolls into the burner. Morbid, maybe, but there you go. 

But mostly I do this cos I find it fun and satisfying, especially when the result makes me smile. Which it does pretty much most of the time and still does after many times of viewing.

I also enjoy the idea of greater engagement that early video once promised but seemed to lose in the search for spectacle over connection. Greater connection and emotional engagement through audio plus visual feels somehow right - and looking to create these in a way that also has a signature hint of "me" feels....  artsy. There are some stunning creations on Youtube that blend recorded audio tracks with some amazingly sensuous and sublime images and sequences. There is expression here beyond the verbal and visual which is what I feel that Art can and should be. And I would want such art to be created and alive in the world. Again, because I feel I can and because I feel what I have to say in this sense has worth and merit - creating something audio-visually new and engaging.  

To be frank, there is also a bit of ego that hungers for recognition and adulation. But it doesn't define me. At least I don't think it does. The validation would be nice and welcome but I'm too old to want for it that badly. I'm content enough with the singing and writing and good food and wine and company. And reasonably good health. And living this life with a soul mate. Legacy sounds perhaps a bit grandiose and pompous, but there is an element of immortality that I think many of us crave and which drives us to do what we do. Though it's always good to keep perspective on these things. Macbeth feels apt here:

"To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing."

Sound and fury. Indeed. 

Hello!

I have been uhmming and ahhing about creating a website for all of the audio and video I have been creating with a view to creating a showcase for all of this musical output. Hasn't seemed to have happened for the last few years.

In this, though, me keeping a food and wine blog seems to have been quite... regular and resonant with me. Four years and still posting. Which must mean something.

So this new blog is an experiment to see if the Blog Instinct can work with the music. Also to see whether Blogspot can handle all the video and audio.

Having so said, pretty much most of what gets on this blog is already up on Youtube under this Blog's name, though the direct link is https://www.youtube.com/user/gwailoah

The gwailoah handle is also the one I use for the brilliant wikiloops site. This is where musicians from all over the globe can come together to jam and collaborate on musical ideas. The link to my wikiloops profile is http://www.wikiloops.com/artist/gwailoah.php

There is material on wikiloops that might not make this blog as envisioned, though it offers a decent history of my development and ideas since I joined in late 2014. But you should go there anyway to get a sense of some of the most amazing music being created across the planet. The Internet is truly a wonderful thing.

Anyhow, this is just a test posting to see if the thing will work. Do please let me know your thoughts and view, what you like, what you don't like, what you would like to see or hear.

Cheers, and here's to whatever...