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A good rule of thumb (ha ha) on any instrument is to play the root lower than any of the other notes. On the keyboard, I'll usually play just two notes with my left hand- to my ear this keeps the chord from sounding muddy. With my right hand I play the notes that best define the chord, ie the...

Get out of the house and EXCERCISE! When your body is exhausted it's harder for it to be stressed. Good Luck and remember: You're making an f'ing album! It's fun!

When playing those extended dominant chords like 9th and 13ths I always include the root, the 3rd, the 7th as well as the extended tone (9th or 13th in this case). The 5th is the first tone you'll want to leave behind as it's the least important in terms of tonal flavor. That said, it's easy to...

I've got a cool technigue-- 1. Record your vocal. 2. Split the last word or words that you want to echo out onto a seperate track from the original vocal. 3. Apply a delay plug-in to the echo vocal track and go wild. The main vocal will be untouched by the echo processing while the delayed...

Chazba = genius

"Ive got an orange door hinge"

I like pop filters, they never hurt. A good starting point is about 6" out, 2" up (from the mouth) and angled down just a tad. The best vocal recordings come from vocalists who know how the mic responds. They lean in and out, they turn slightly with dynamics.... they listen to themselves. It's a...

The "feedback" parameter is what you want to experiment with. That's what controls the duration of the decay. Also, you'll want to experiment with when your bringing the effect in. Try fading the delay in gradually as you near the end of the vocal.

I love the cigarette line. Great song, great performance, great mix. Jon

Simplicity is in the ear of the beholder. Melody, harmony, rhythm, rhyme... it doesn't matter as long as the mood and message are conveyed to the listener. It's all so subjective, thank God. Jon

My "sing thoughts" involve trying to hit the right note. As far as training and warming up I think you're onto something with the vibration/hummy thing. It also works great for meditation. So you know, I'm no singer but I sing anyway. Jon

Normallizing is bad- don't do it. It's like letting your computer set your levels.

Awesome post. I guess no matter what I ain't got the blues. There goes my "Stock Market Blues" idea... Lumbago Apricot Eisenhower

Rhyming and alliteration aren't necessarily the same thing. Alliteration is the use of the same consonants or vowel sounds- as in "the sweet smell of success". Rhyming is easier to understand and it's quite grand. A rhyming dictionary is a great tool, and you have one. Experiment with it, try to...

I'm 18 again. I love this tune and the sound. I love good time bluesy rock and this is all that. My hearing is shot too so you've mixed it perfectly for my ears. The slow downs are great. Nice work. Jon

I really like it. Cruel pop punk. "Just try to figure out the lyrics" if you dare. I like the drop outs in the guitars and the buried vocals. I'm not going to compare it to anything, cause I'm an old far who is out of touch (37). I just like the energy and sound. Jon

Boy was I naive. I followed your link and found out a lot about TAXI. Forget what I said in the earlier post.

John Prine is THE songwriter I aspire to be. Actually, there's a few others but Prine is something special. The John Prine album with him sitting on a hay bale is probably my favorite. "Far From Me" (excerpt) -Well, I started the engine and gave it some gas, And Cathy was closing her...

You make it sound so easy! You might try- http://www.taxi.com/ They're an independent a&r company that serves as a vehicle for songwriters and composers. They charge a fee, but from what I've seen they do a good job of exposing material. Good luck. Jon

It sounds really personal. Too personal in fact. If you want someone to identify with you and understand your feelings (and that's what storytelling/songwriting is, in my opionion) you need to write lyrics that others can relate to other than abstract feelings. Create some images, use some...