Skip to content
KCWM Music

KCWM Music

Featuring the DMCA-Free Rock of KCWM & Cold the Winter

  • Home
  • DMCA-Free Music
    • KCWM
    • Cold the Winter
  • Blog
  • The Gear
    • Guitars
      • 197x Session Les Paul Custom Copy
      • 1992 Fender Telecaster
      • 200X Squier ’51
      • 2009 PRS SC245 Ted McCarty
      • 2012 Gibson Les Paul Traditional
      • 2017 Gibson Les Paul Classic
      • 2018 Fender Roadworn ’50s Telecaster
      • 2021 Epiphone ES339
      • 2022 Squier Classic Vibe ’60s Stratocaster
    • Basses
      • 2018 Fender P-Bass Special FSR
      • 2022 Squier Classic Vibe Late ’60s Jazz Bass
    • Amplifiers
      • Fender Princeton Reverb
      • Mesa Express 5:25
      • Previously Used Amps
        • 1978 Fender Vibro Champ
        • Egnater Tweaker 15 Head and Cab
    • Pedals
      • Pedals
      • Pedals From the Past
        • Eventide H9 Max/Core
        • JHS Muffaletta
        • JHS Sweet Tea v3
        • Zvex Distortron
  • The Recording Process
  • D&D
    • My D&D Story
  • Contact
  • Toggle search form
  • My Guitar Amp Journey Amplifiers
  • A Nostalgic Purchase: MIJ Squier Contemporary Stratocaster Gear Talk
  • To Friends Who’ve Said Goodbye – New Upcoming Single DMCA-Free music
  • Creativity, Balance, and Burn Out DMCA-Free music
  • New DMCA-Free Rock Music Coming in May 2023 KCWM
  • A New Song for a New Album KCWM
  • New and Sold Guitars Guitars
  • The Hondo H-737: Are “Bad” Guitars Actually Bad? Gear Talk

Two New Songs for July 2023

Posted on July 5, 2023July 6, 2023 By kcwm No Comments on Two New Songs for July 2023

We’re halfway through 2023 and a little over a month out from where I gave myself the possibly unrealistic goal of releasing a 14-song album alongside a re-release of the 28 original songs I’ve released between Volumes One through Three and the singles “Go On”, “It Feels Familiar”, “Fire Intro Song”, and “Crashing Through the Heliosphere”. It’s a good load of work for someone who previous experienced significant burnout after six months’ worth of work.

Looking back, I messaged my friend, Cotie, about coming up with artwork for the first single, “To Those Who’ve Said Goodbye” (now referred to as TTWSG), on May 27th. I already had the song recorded, so without checking the date the Studio One song file was created, let’s say that I started work on May 20th.

In the 44 intervening days, I’ve completed writing on three songs: the aforementioned “TTWSG” and two additional songs, “Another Day Without” and “The Best Revenge”, the former of which has been uploaded to the distribution service I use and is already up on YouTube Music.

I should be doing these posts as I write and release the song, but, alas, I didn’t have that kind of foresight

"Another Day Without"
"The Best Revenge"
What I Used
"Another Day Without"

The Verse

I’m about to talk about some toddler-level music theory because, honestly, I don’t know much about the subject. If anyone who knows even the basics of music theory reads this (well, nobody will actually read this, but that doesn’t stop me), you have my apologies.

I’ve long been fond of adding notes that move around a droning root note, generally on the E or A strings. It’s a simple, but effective, tool that sounds great, and I’ve been abusing it regularly for at least 20 years. My common go to is adding a 3rd (or is it a 10th?) an octave up. With E, this means adding an Ab on top of it (the 11th fret of the A string), or adding an a Gb to a D (most commonly the 4th fret of the D string while in Drop D tuning). You can then move that note up a fret to add a 4th or down two frets to add a 2nd. They’re all simple additions used in guitar and vocal lines alike-, one that’s been used by countless musicians in the past (and famously in the Smashing Pumpkins song “Cherub Rock”).

I was messing around with a simple movement in Drop D and decided to start things on G. When I play these notes, I tend to do octaves, so I was playing the G at the 10th fret of the A string and 12th fret of the G string. I then did a basic walk down from G to Gb to E and then to D. I changed it up by going back up to G, quickly resolving that to Gb, and then back down to D. Easy peasy, low level stuff. That progression made for a nice, laid back verse.

I varied the movement of the notes the 2nd verse and the 3rd verse at the end of the song to change things up a bit, but I don’t expect most listeners would notice.

The Chorus

I then had to change things up on the chorus and went with a really off the wall chord I learned from playing Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun”: G6sus2(#11), except I moved it up to Bb to make it Bbsus2(#11). I then resolve the chord as seen below to make it a nice, simple Bb6sus2, chords I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t found Yeah, a Guitar Chord Analyzer on Google.

 

The drums I found in Superior Drummer 3 would go on to shape the rhythm I’d attempt to play the chords in, and, if I recall correctly, are actually a bunch of fills back to back. I did edit some of the drum hits to better go with the note movements I was doing, but kept things stock as much as I could.

I then played a G7no3 (as seen below) where I move that F to a G to make a really overly complicated 3-octave G5 power chord. I thought it sounded cool, and my tiny music brain is easy to please.

The 2nd guitar part I’d end up writing accentuated the E to F of the Bb chords, but for the G chords, I wrote descending harmonizing notes.

The Bridge

The bridge would follow as a fairly vanilla Eb – F – G with a walk up to A – Bb – C – Dm – C – Bb – C – Dm – Eb – Db – C. I can’t recall if the drum grooves were a halftime feel by design or if I ended up doing that. I know I altered the bass drum hits and added cymbal hits on each chord change, but I can’t recall the original placement without getting into SD3 and looking.

At this point, I liked where the song was going but it lacked something of substance, but it wasn’t a second guitar part that I was hearing in my head. It was a piano part. I did put a 2nd guitar part together, but it mostly just mirrored what the rhythm guitar played by playing the D string and playing notes on the G string that matched what the rhythm guitar did. \

The Keys

I’d used Toontrack’s EZKeys to put piano parts into some previous songs. I’d take a MIDI groove, change the chords to fit my song, but the original EZKeys lacked a step editor, so I was stuck with the way the grooves were played. That changed on May 16th, 2023 when Toontrack released EZKeys 2. This version did include a step editor, so I figured I’d find a groove I liked, change the chords, and adjust the notes being played in those chords to fit whatever my needs were.

Then I remembered, my cousin, Rachel (the namesake for the song “Rachel” on Volume One) married a dude named Jonathan that can play piano. I asked if he’d like to contribute some keys to this song and he agreed. The challenge was getting the part he’d written to me. He wrote and recorded a part for the chorus, sent me the audio of it, and then he and Rachel played that audio back while simultaneously playing the song, but lining stuff up like that is hard.

EZKeys 2, unlike the previous Toontrack release of EZBass, does not include an audio tracker so I wasn’t able to use the audio to create MIDI I could edit, but Jonathan was able to use a keyboard to get MIDI into a program and then mail me the MIDI file. That did the trick. I also threw some basic pads over the verses: a droning D sustained and hit on every time the guitar changed the note it played.

I imported the MIDI in, but ended up changing up a bit of the arrangement to better fit the idea I had in my head. I cut out parts he played over the guitar chords, as I’d originally envisioned the guitar chords playing and the keys playing in the space between the chords. I checked in with Jonathan to make sure he was good with the changes I made and he offered a suggestion on the timing of the chords you hear in cycles 3 and 4 of the chorus. He suggested they be on the up of 1. I’ll be honest. I…didn’t like the suggestion at first and hesitated to make it. However, after further listening, I decided to compromise and move the chords to 2, 3, and 4 because THAT, at least to my ears, did sound better. Another friend suggested the cymbal hits on 1 didn’t sound right before the chords on 2, 3, and 4, so I moved the cymbal hits and that section came together.

Realizing the keys dropping out when the guitar played a chord didn’t sound right, I built the chords pictured above and approximated the rhythm I played the guitar chords on. For the G chord, I put in key hits walking up to mirror the guitar.

Using EZKeys 2, I found a bridge groove and rearranged the chords to fit and adjusted a few notes to better work within the chord progression above.

I used the word “personality” to describe what Jonathan’s part gave the choruses of this song. Badass is another word that I think fits. My friend JD said the song reminded him of rock music from the 70s, like Pink Floyd, that would have these really cool keyboard parts and I have to agree. I used the Classic Electrics expansion and specifically the Rhodes Mk-1 preset “1970s” which has a phaser and distortion effect, though I lowered each significantly.

The Bass

My approach to bass was simple. I played a lot of drop D, D an octave up, and G. I tried to play G when the guitar hit a G note too. I kept this bass part simpler than most of my relatively simple bass parts.

The chorus and bridge simply followed the guitar…I think. I could listen to the song and confirm, but I’m lazy.

"The Best Revenge"

On July 2nd, I decided to work on a new song. I found some a set of grooves within Superior Drummer 3 that were designed for 68 bpm, and figured I’d go with that instead of the typical 80-120 bpm most of my songs are set at.

The Bass

Like I always do, I started with some guitar chords and while I stuck with the progression I played, I wasn’t happy with what I was playing. I remember thinking that it’d be cool to start with a focus on bass, similar to the verses of “You Should Have Been There” from Volume Three.

I had an idea of what I wanted to do for the chorus, so I went ahead and fleshed that out on the bass, with the progression that became the E-C-G-A actually starting off as something else completely.

The bridge came about the same way. After the second half of the chorus progression became E-C-G-A, I kept the bridge to E-C and then A on the 4th cycle through.

After finalizing the arrangement (as simple as it is), I opted to go ahead and record the parts so I wouldn’t forget them. The recording turned out. I made a few adjustments to the drum hits to better match what I played on bass.

The 2nd Guitar

July 3rd was my wife’s birthday and also the day our city planned their fireworks display. I did get some work done, but spent very little time working on the song, mostly coming up with what I thought worked as a 2nd guitar part.

As the bass was all I really had to go on, I based the part on the bass instead of the guitar. It’s not crazy complicated, as it really just harmonizes with the bass part, and because of that it ends up still sounding like “me”.

I left that process not having a bridge or verse part.

That night, while waiting for the fireworks to start, I had my acoustic guitar with me and thought I’d work on ideas in my head, but spent all of about 5 minutes doing that before moving on and playing random bits and bobs.

After I wrote the rhythm guitar, as described below, I went back and played some dyads, which I added a delay plugin to.

During the verses, the 2nd guitar can be heard panned hard in the left channel. During the choruses and bridge/ending, it moves to the center channel, though I might split it L25/R25 or L50/R50 to open the center up more.

The Rhythm Guitar

When the 4th came around, I decided to return to the song. I decided to work on the rhythm guitar. I played an Em up on the A string but left the 1st string open, moved down to a C power chord with the B and E strings open, then to a B minor, and finished up with an Asus2. Eventually, I decided to arpeggiate the chords instead of strumming them.

From there, I decided to go full distorted on the choruses and just play power chords, but opted to play Bm for the second chord. The bass part support this because of the walk up that I did.

There was something about the bridge that reminded me of the 4/4 stuff Soundgarden would do, mostly because of where the cymbal hit/chord change was placed, but the fills from that section definitely helped that impression.

After recording the guitar, I decided to double the rhythm using a different guitar, pedal, and mic focus.

During the choruses and bridge/ending, the Rhythm 2 guitar can be heard panned hard in the left channel.

The Song

All in all, this song came together in about 5 to 6 hours of total work before I rerecorded the doubled rhythm part. I’ll be honest, at some point during the 3rd, I wondered how things were going to come together.

Everything felt incredibly disjointed, I felt like nothing I did was working right, and I couldn’t hear all of the parts as a cohesive whole. Then, on the 4th, everything defied my expectation and things quickly came together.

Listening back to what I’ve uploaded to Soundcloud, I already hear the need to redo the 1st chorus because I play part differently during part of it than I do anywhere else in the song.

Actually, the more I listen, the more I think I need to redo the entire chorus and bridge part for the 2nd guitar. My tele is ever so slightly out of tune and detracts from the song, at least to my ear. As my ear is the deciding factor, I see a redo in the near future.

This song, like the many I’ve recorded will see numerous mixes over the next few days, especially as I rerecord parts, but I forsee uploading this to the distribution service I use this weekend.

Edit (11:26p on the same day): Yup…already rerecorded the 2nd guitar for the choruses and bridge because it sounded out of tune to me. Also redid the 2nd rhythm guitar for the bridge because I randomly muted a hit of the A string. You can still hear the old version on Soundcloud.com/kcwmmusic

What I Used

“Another Day Without”

Instruments and Pedals

• Rhythm: 2012 Les Paul Traditional  + Wampler Ego Compressor
• Lead: 1992 Fender Telecaster, bridge position (GFS Power Rock) + CKLAB VJR pedal for light drive sound
• Bass: 2022 Squier Classic Vibe Late ’60s Jazz Bass

 “The Best Revenge”

 Guitars and Pedals
• Rhythm: 2017 Les Paul Classic, neck position (GFS Pro Alnico V) + Zvex Double Rock, Wampler Ego Compressor during verses
• Rhythm 2: 1970s Session Les Paul Custom copy, bridge position + Munnyman Pedals Knock Out Tone (vertical)
• Lead: 1992 Fender Telecaster, neck position (Seymour Duncan Antiquity II mini hum) + Boss HM-2 (MIJ) and Wampler Ego Compressor during verses
• Bass: 2022 Squier Classic Vibe Late ’60s Jazz Bass

For Both Songs

Amps and Mics
• Fender Princeton Reverb (wet signal) mic’d with a Royer R10 and Sennheiser e906
• Strymon Iridium (wet signal) set to Vox 2×12
• Mesa Express 5:25 (dry signal) set to 5-watt
• Fender Rumble 40 Studio (XLR out, post-effects)

In a world of noise, be sound

– KC

DMCA-Free music, KCWM Tags:90s music, 90s rock, alternative rock, dmca free music, guitar, guitar rock, kcwm, rock, rock music, songwriting

Post navigation

Previous Post: To Friends Who’ve Said Goodbye – New Upcoming Single
Next Post: A Nostalgic Purchase: MIJ Squier Contemporary Stratocaster

Related Posts

  • To Friends Who’ve Said Goodbye – New Upcoming Single DMCA-Free music
  • kcwm: Volume Three KCWM
  • New DMCA-Free Rock Music Coming in May 2023 KCWM
  • Two New Songs On the Horizon KCWM
  • KCWM Music and Some Thoughts KCWM
  • A New Song for a New Album KCWM

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Instagram

kcwm_

kcwm_
It’s a @bugdayband kind of day. You should make It’s a @bugdayband kind of day. You should make it a Bug Day kind of day too. Because #guitar #altrock is good for the soul.
Remixing the first 7 songs from Volumes One and Tw Remixing the first 7 songs from Volumes One and Two is coming along. 

Some songs sound better after the first attempt, some require a tweak or two, and others require whole new parts be recorded. 

I still need to re-record “Octivation”, “Lost It All In Factory”, and “Let’s Get Behind Them” for different reasons. 

I’ve learned a lot between the beginning of this whole process and now, and you can hear the difference in the originals vs. the remix. 

Want access to listen to the remixes? DM me and let’s talk about it. I’d love to talk about the process and hear your feedback.
During the 9/13 @pearljam show, we were treated to During the 9/13 @pearljam show, we were treated to Eddie Vedder dressed up as a mirrorball and a story behind the jacket and helmet for “Wishlist”. I recorded very little during the show, but him spinning around was too good to pass up. I tried to catch it on the big screen but only caught a moment of it.
I worked out two separate trades on Sunday that in I worked out two separate trades on Sunday that involved a #strat as part of the deal. Funny thing is that the #stratocaster is not my favorite type of guitar to play, but both were interesting. This doubled the number of strats I have.

1) The red #Fender is made up of parts from Fender guitars, but I do not believe that any parts are from the same guitar. 

• The body is refinished matte red with some roadworn-ish type relicing, which is just gold underneath...maybe the original color?

• Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups with a Clapton mid-boost mod. It sounds really good. 

• Neck is from a 2013 MIM Floyd Rose Fender. It's a really nice, comfortable neck. 

• Thick solid steel block. It has excellent sustain

If I keep this one, it will get some Fender Locking Tuners

2) The black one is a #Squier Affinity Strat, but it's not a normal Affinity. It's a 1997 model, the first year they offered the Affinity line and it's a full-sized, hardwood (likely Alder) body with a 22-fret rosewood neck. It's a pretty nice neck, especially for a Squier. 

It's hefty for a strat too...it's not light like so many of the Squier Affinity line. Having that full-sized body adds some weight. 

The pickups leave a bit to be desired, which is par for the course with the Affinity line, but this guitar would make a great modding platform for someone interested in doing so. 

Heck, if that red one hadn't come through and I didn't already have two other nice strats (both Squiers, interestingly), I'd likely look to make some modifications.

----

In the end, I will take time to consider whether I like the red partscaster or my Squier Classic Vibe '60s strat more. Whichever one wins gets the Vintage Noiseless. Clapton mod, and stainless steel block (as long as it fits the Squier). 

I have some decisions to make.
New upgrade for KCWM music purposes. Next recordin New upgrade for KCWM music purposes. Next recordings will feature this 2004 Dr. Z Maz 18 Jr. 

#NAD #newampday #drz #maz18 #guitar #guitaramps
Back in '95, my grandmother bought my first real e Back in '95, my grandmother bought my first real electric guitar from a pawn shop in the small town I grew up in. I think we paid $85 for it with a hard case. 

I played that guitar a lot, its pictured with me in the Jazz Band photo from my junior year (covered in a ton of stickers...so classy), and I recorded songs with it. 

When the electronics started to die, I wasn't as knowledgeable in what could be repaired and I junked it. I sold the parts and moved on. It wasn't until years later that I realized what I'd given up and I've often priced them, but never pulled the trigger. 

Yesterday (7/19/23), this popped up on Facebook Marketplace from a local shop. At first, I thought it was interesting and didn't intend on buying it, but after giving it some thought, I went and did just that. 

This was a bit of a nostalgic purchase. If I named my guitars, this one would be called Dot or Syb (short for Sybil), after my grandmother.

This Squier Contemporary Strat (27-6800) was made from '84 - '87 in Japan. From the info I've gathered online, it's a 24.75" scale instead of the normal 25.5" Fender Scale. The pickups each have an on/off switch so you can turn all three on at the same time, and the humbucker has an on/off/coil-tap switch. The tuners are Fender-branded Gotoh. 

It has some definite wear and tear, but I don't care. 

You'll definitely be hearing this on some upcoming songs, as I intend for it to split time with the tele I use for lead parts, as I did with the modified Squier '51 it's replacing did. 

Anyone in the DFW area looking for a cool modified Squier '51? 

#guitar #fender #squier #stratocaster #strat #fenderjapan #mij #ssh #rock #kcwmmusic #dmcafreemusic #dmcafreerock #nostalgia
I need to clean up my desk a bit more but I just r I need to clean up my desk a bit more but I just replaced my two 1440p monitors with this 34” ultra wide. I’m able to see every track on the mixer of Studio One 5 and so much of Superior Drummer 3. It’s so awesome.
Ignore the number of takes it took me to get secti Ignore the number of takes it took me to get sections of power chords done, but that KOT in the track names represents a @munnymanpedals Knock Out Tone I recently acquired. Paired it with my (maybe) 70s Session Les Paul copy for a great tone for a rhythm track. The track without it is a dry signal to my Mesa Express 5:25. 

I just uploaded a new song for release and the one pictured should be coming in the next two weeks. That will make 3 of the 14 songs I hope to write and release for 2023.

You can give the new track a listen at https://on.soundcloud.com/WYiEr and hear that KOT in the left channel during the choruses, bridge, and ending.

#munnymanpedals #rock #dmcafreemusic #guitar #guitarpedals #supporlocal #dfwpedalmakers #homerecording
Here’s a close up of the pickups in my 1992 Fend Here’s a close up of the pickups in my 1992 Fender Telecaster. 

I used to have a set of GFS Power Rock pickups, but I felt like the output started to wane on the neck pickup. 

I’ve been fascinated with mini humbuckers after talking about putting them in my PRS SC245 Ted McCarty. After learning that the p90s in that guitar are Seymour Duncan’s, I opted to install a Seymour Duncan Antiquity II in this one. 

It’s a good mix of more oomph than a single but not quite the same as a full-sized humbucker. 

The bridge pickup remains a GFS Power Rock, and the one I use for most of my lead work. GFS pickups may be hit or miss, but these have been a home run from day one. 

Lastly we have the Fishman VT Powerbridge. This piezo pickup adds such a great tonal option into the mix. I often roll the volume of that pickup down to half to mix in a bit of brightness to the mini hum. I’ve used this to supplement my acoustic guitar on tracks.
You can see the discoloration between the 1st and You can see the discoloration between the 1st and 7th frets where I most often play this guitar. It’s the one I’ve owned the longest. @bigjohnsguitars set up and refrettedthis #telecaster in 2010. It’s required a tweak or two here and there, but it’s been the slightest of tweaks. The neck, body, and Fishman VT Power Bridge are original, and everything else has been modified. 

It’s my number one and what I do most of my writing on.
I’ve been sharing these videos on TikTok, and I’ve been guilty of getting stuck on the name that’s on the headstock. I now have a handful of “cheap” guitars that I feel are competitive with their more expensive counterparts, especially with a good setup by @bigjohnsguitars 

I sold a 1995 USA Fender Strat and kept this Squier Classic Vibe ‘60s Strat. We put some Texas Specials in it and John wired it up with a 6-way switch. I used this in the left channel of my most recent single, “To Those Who’ve Said Goodbye”, the song that you hear in the background. 

I took a minute to talk about this guitar but could easily talk more about how it plays, how it felt right out of the box, the changes I’ve made and others I want to make, and plenty else. 

#guitar #fender #stratocaster #strat #guitarsofinstagram #kcwm #dmcafreemusic #cheapguitars #squier #squierguitars #bigjohnsguitars
New single, artwork by @cotiecat. Hoping it will b New single, artwork by @cotiecat. Hoping it will be live on Spotify, YouTube, etc by mid-week. 

In light of the recent passings of our resident matriarch, Frau, and Cotie’s Kuwabara crossing the rainbow bridge, i thought it fitting to honor them both, and Chiclet as well. This song is dedicated to their memory, as well as anyone else who’s lost a pet at any point in time. 

This is the first single of 2023 and I hope to release 5-6 more that I’ll collect in the form of an EP in addition to remixing, rearranging, and rereleasing my previous 3 albums and 4 singles into two 14-song albums. 

I have to find balance between music and D&D. That’s my current goal for this year…creative balance.
Started posting videos about my instruments, amps, Started posting videos about my instruments, amps, and pedals I use to record music. I started off with my 1992 Fender Telecaster that’s my go to when it comes to lead parts for almost every song I’ve ever recorded. Hard to say everything I want to about this guitar in a 1 minute video. #guitar #guitarsofinstagram #fender #tele #telecaster #seymourduncan #gfs
Stripped some ghouls, skeletons, and cultists usin Stripped some ghouls, skeletons, and cultists using LA Totally Awesome and redoing them for uniformity using a rough slapchop paint job. 

I love putting color on the tabletop for my #dnd sessions, and have a soft spot for some cultists. 

There are some unpainted buddies there, one of which is my kid’s mini. Focus here is for some minion-esque baddies to sponge up some action economy. 

My players still steamroll my encounters.
Trying out the slapchop painting method for some # Trying out the slapchop painting method for some #tabletopquality orcs to use in a #dnd session. 

The three taller archers are from one of the 4e dnd board games and the others are Reaper minis, though the three squat orcs aren’t my favorites. 

I do wish I’d spent more time choosing colors for them instead of gray fur with gunmetal, but they work for what I need them to do: sit on the table in color rather than white plastic.
Load More Follow on Instagram

Copyright © 2023 KCWM Music.

Powered by PressBook News Dark theme