Rob Astor

There always seems to be time for the unexpected, even when there’s a million things that need to be done. Of the three days I had this last week to accomplish anything, I only got to use two. ----- On Monday, those home made doughnuts took up every spare minute. It really is an all day job. Fortunately, I like to cook. On Tuesday, the first signs of a cold took hold. And if you now me at all, you’d know I really hate catching colds. They just get in the way! That was the unexpected part of the week. However, the first signs of a cold didn’t stop me from making the apple pies and the lemon pies for Thanksgiving dinner. ----- Wednesday saw a mega dose of chicken soup. This was the day I was a slacker, battling that darn cold. The soup certainly made my throat feel better! Dinner on Thursday was perfect. I might not have been at 100%, but my appetite sure was. Everything was so delicious! My mouth waters at the memory. In fact, I’m getting downright hungry just thinking about it! ;-) ----- The sparks for future musical projects made a visit very briefly that day as well. My brother Scott told me he’d found a Bass player. They are going to record some more material or me to use at some point. ----- Back to work I went on Friday. Having finished the Ecco track and the Tangerine Dream track the previous week, I was ready to sink my teeth into some more music to use for my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION. The first song chosen was originally recorded by John Farnham, his protest anthem speaking out against censorship, “You’re The Voice”. ----- In my musical collection, I have a few versions of this song; John Farnham’s original, a live version he sang with Olivia Newton-John in the late 1990s, and two versions by Heart (one left off their 1990 album Brigade, and the live version from their 1991 release Rock The House LIVE). All of these would help me shape the hybrid I wanted to create for myself. ----- My idea was to come up with something combining Rock & Roll elements with Classical (similar to what I’m doing with AD ASTRA). Starting the track was fairly easy. Using a Drum count-in leading into Guitar, Piano, and Strings set the tone for the rest of the music. The other part I wanted to change slightly was the ending. The original version of “You’re The Voice” has two complete choruses (if I remember right). I extended this version to four, reflecting the Heart version in some ways, although the Guitar I used for the Vocal only plays in key spots during those last two, making the music just different enough to not get boring or too long. Finding the right voice for both Guitars (the Vocal and the Solo) was a bit of a challenge. I didn’t want them to sound exactly the same, nor sound too widely different. The tone I picked for the Vocal guitar part is slightly lower than the final one used for the Solo. Played together, it’s easy to tell when the singing part pauses and the other part begins. ----- One final alteration went into the ending. It’s punctuated. With a slight extension, there’s more power, I think. I’ve been listening to “You’re The Voice” all weekend. I really love how it turned out! ----- Should I tell you about this girl I knew once back in the early 1990s? Her name was Ann and she was blind. She told me this story about how she was trying to tape this song off the radio when it first came out. The picture I had in mind was hilarious. To get the signal in right, she had to climb up on furniture and spread limbs out holding hangers. (She lived in the mountains out in the country where signals weren’t easy to make come in clear.) Well, the picture I had in mind was the girl on top of a dresser stacked on a table balanced on a chair. She’s doing a Swan Lake kind of pose with hangers in each hand and tin foil wrapped in her hair while being wired to this little transistor radio propped on the window ledge. As a human antenna, Ann did manage to tape the song off the radio. But, the visual image she left me was priceless! She’d probably hunt me down if she knew I told you this story. So, let’s keep it between us! LOL ----- The next track I worked on is a bit more obscure, however, the group of people who recorded it have been a more recent influence on my music. The track is called “Rain”. It was put together by Tim Jensen and Yoko Kanno. ----- Yoko Kanno’s group Seat Belts performed it with two different vocalists. The official version was sung by Steve Conte. The version I like best was sung by Mai Yamane (who’s a very powerful singer, by the way). In the late 1990s, Yoko Kanno recorded a lot of music for the Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop. Steve Conte did some great work on the songs “No Reply” and “Call Me Call Me”. Mai Yamane, however, really scored vocally on a handful of tracks that included her version of “Rain” as well as the show’s ending theme “The Real Folk Blues”, “Blue” (featured in the very last episode), “Pushing The Sky”, “Want It All Back”, and the lyrically brilliant “Knock A Little Harder” from the Cowboy Bebop movie. (My favorite piece of music from the franchise is called “Ask DNA” sung by Raju Rammaya, also a lyrical masterpiece. I also like the Reynada Hill sung “Cosmic Dare [Pretty With A Pistol]”. The melody is irresistible.) ----- “Rain” is an Organ heavy track, much like Medieval Cathedral music, or something puts me in mine of funerals. The idea I kicked around was very similar to “You’re The Voice”, go in and create a cross of Classical and Rock & Roll. Well, considering the song is a ballad, the Rock part would have to be heard or felt in some other way. ----- Seven parts of “Rain” were written for Organs. In my version, only one remained. The other parts transitioned very well into String instruments, thereby creating a semi-Classical feel. The Rock & Roll part came through the Vocal layer where Electric Guitar takes center stage. Three different sounds were auditioned. Again, the Voice had to differ from the Solo Guitar part. Clearing that hurdle before with “You’re The Voice” made it simpler to do this time around. In the end, “Rain” turned out beautifully. Provided I can figure out the legal way to pay royalties to someone in Japan, the track should be on my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION. ----- I’m in the process of updating my cNet page (music.download.com). Last week, I put in a request to remove almost all the tracks to make room for new stuff from BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS and RAHU. Once again, the remaining time of the week was spent uploading. When the tracks are approved, here’s what will appear over there: ------ Raion Kapella----- Chocotopia----- Skyboarding----- Get Vertical!----- Flight In Ursa Minor----- Six Moons Of Pluto----- Aurora On Planet Rahu------ Summer Rain On Ganymede----- Walking In The Garden At 3 AM----- Forest Of The Black Moon----- And, here I am again at the end of another week. Still lots more to get done. The cold is clearing up and I feel The Moody Blues coming on. What’s headed your way? ----- See you next weekend! ----- Rob

There’s a certain appeal to meeting challenges head-on and conquering them. This last week saw two such instances, two I’m particularly proud of for my upcoming INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION. ----- Before we cover that territory, some more behind the scenes stuff took place. I’ve been following leads and suggestions for self-promotion. Some of it involves registering at various websites. Some sites work for me and some don’t. It’s a fact of life. The sites I tend to like best and that work best are those where I can upload tracks. So, I sort of put myself into the position of spending a lot of time uploading. (Yes, you hear me complaining about it, but, all grumbling aside, it does work. ;-) ) ----- The site in question this last week, someplace called Last.FM. I went over and spent two days uploading my entire released catalog. Keep in mind, four of my six CDs are double disc albums, so, that’s a significant chunk of time and effort. But, you can hear all the tracks by streaming them. Be sure to go check them out! Now that you can hear a complete piece of music, you’ll be able to decide for sure if it’s worth downloading from iTunes. ----- Right after this little project, I went over to upload the new material on TuneFlow and SoundClick. Unfortunately, SoundClick has a size restriction. Because of this, I didn’t upload either BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS or RAHU there. I didn’t want to have just partial albums for sale. (As a sales outlet, I don’t do well there anyway. Remember the fact of life comment.) Note to SoundClick; please increase the upper limit for the size of a track. :-) ----- It was at this point in time where I could get back into creating music, or more correctly, recreating it. Back to the world of video game music I went, back to “Dolphin’s Intrigue” from Ecco - Defender Of The Future. ----- The track itself isn’t too terribly complex. What was are all the differing volume levels used in the mix. They rise and dip all over the place. To bring out some of the hidden textures, I added a Keyboard to go with the Violins. Bringing out the String levels was more of a challenge. (The Synth layer worked wonders.) Good experience, though. The end result is always the reward. “Dolphin’s Intrigue” turned out to be a beautiful piece of New Age music with an Electric Guitar thrown in. ----- The only other track I managed to knock out was “Song Of The Whale, Pt. 1 (From Dawn)” by Tangerine Dream. I’d wanted to do this one originally last year. I thought it would be too difficult. Working with Classical music (Holst’s “Planet Suite”) helped boost my confidence levels. ----- “Song Of The Whale” is on Tangerine Dream’s 1986 release Underwater Sunlight (as well as Journey Through A Burning Brain Anthology). I first heard it around 1988. The experience, for me, can be likened to a religious experience. This track was completely unlike anything I’d heard before. The only way I can describe hearing the music was like being deaf and hearing Mozart, Beethoven, or Chopin for the very first time. I was that moved! Over the years, I’ve become more and more fond of the track. It’s one of my very favorite pieces of music in the entire world. ----- Tangerine Dream proved a band could create music and not have to have a singer to make it special. Another of their albums I really love is Lily On The Beach released in 1989. (I’d dearly love to find music for “Radio City”, “Desert Drive”, and “Alaskan Summer”.) The group combined New Age with 1980s Synth pop, creating the sound of perfection as far as I was concerned. It’s this kind of perfection I continue to strive for in creating my own music. ----- Unlike last year when I felt daunted facing “Song Of The Whale”, I dove in head first this time around. The all round challenge of it was a very good experience indeed. To stay true to the original version, a lot of work went into getting the track to sound as close as possible to the original recording. Some parts of the music and very large chunks of Percussion were missing. (I’m getting much better at filling in the gaps, that’s for sure!) ----- Picking the instrument sounds was no easy task. I couldn’t get some sounds to match perfectly, obviously, but, what I created has all the depth and feeling I felt when I heard the track for the very first time all those years ago. Much like with “Dolphin’s Intrigue”, I did the recording in little chunks of a few minutes each. There are some time changes and instrument parts that needed to align exactly, making it a tricky proposition. I also had to figure out a few ways to lend power to the overall track and to the memorable punctuated spots at the end of both movements. A lot of Electric Guitar tinkering took place as well. Picture me jumping back and forth between my track and the original, making sure everything was all in the right place. You get the idea! ----- When finished, I was not only pleased with the final outcome, but also glad I decided to undertake it. “Song Of The Whale” is a part of my life’s soundtrack. I’ll be very proud to set it aside all the other tracks I’ve recorded thus far for my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION (Led Zeppelin, Heart, The Beatles, Electric Light Orchestra, ect.). ----- I’m unsure how much I will get accomplished this next week. Here in the United States, Thursday is Thanksgiving. (Happy Turkey Day to all who read this!) On Monday, I’m making a batch of homemade doughnuts. Tuesday or Wednesday, I have apple and lemon pies to bake. Our family gets together at my mom’s for the big dinner. There’s a few days where I might actually be productive. When I emerge from the food stupor, that is! ----- What plans do you have for the holiday? Whatever they are, be safe. See you here next weekend! ----- Rob

Four tracks were finished for BELLATRIX’S MUSIC BOX this last week. It seems as if that project just doesn’t want to end! ;-) In some little ways, the music takes on a life of its own. Whether or not it’s completely finished yet, who knows. ----- At the beginning of last week, there were two new musical ideas to explore for the BELLATRIX sessions. The first had the working title “Mind Bender”. My idea here was to go for something in the vein of Mannheim Steamroller or the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. As the music evolved and the String sections took shape, the title no longer felt right. The new title became “Calabi-Yau”. ----- Okay, so a few of you are wonering where that title came from, right? Calabi-Yau is a theoretical construct of cosmology. It’s one way of looking at the overall creation of a place much larger and far more complex than our three dimensional universe. Calabi-Yau space is a nine dimensional manifold. Think of a ball with a lot of spikes all around its surface, and the ball itself as a complex intesestion of tubes. Every part is an alternate dimensional plane. Some are higher dimensions (five, six, seven), and some are lower (two and one). In this hypothetical multiverse, our universe rests on the point of one of the spikes. Every other spike represents some other universe. Clear as mud, right? LOL ----- Well, the music doesn’t pulse around in nine dimensions. Although its fun for me to imagine that higher dimensional planes not only have extra spatial directions, but also cause sounds to behave differently. Anyway, what I created musically is a track with that same feel as a huge, electrified orchestra. It pulses and undulates in its own way. Getting to that point required structural work, insturments playing in alternating octaves, Percussion changes, and finding the correct Electric guitar sound to sweep through the framework of the Verses. Using so many layers also led to the issue of distortion in somme parts, requiring the track to undergo a few more minor tweaks to get the final mix perfect. ----- The next track was a every bit as challeging to complete. It changed Keys threee different times and went through twice as many Electric Guitar parts. Some of the ideas worked while others simply didn’t sound good together. The track also changed Tempo several times for the Guitars to finally meld together. ----- The next complication was how to get the Strings to sound right. The final solution for creating a mood? Trill Strings. They lend a sense of building up power. Or of creating darkness and danger. Much like the previous track, this music went through sound adjustments before mixing properly. The finished piece of music bears the title “Parallax”. ----- For those of you wondering, parallax is a way of measuring distances in astronomy by using the diameter of Earth’s orbit around the sun to see distant stars move against even farther backgound objects. ----- As this point, I had every intention of finishing up “Dolphin’s Intrigue”. In fact, a few more hours were spent doing some mixing work. However, inspirations sometimes cannot be ignore. Two more track ideas popped up for me, demanding attention. ----- The first of these was something with a darker feel, something New Age along the lines of stuff from my first CD. The title would be, without any doubt, “Tesseract (Hypercube Labyrinth)”. (More on that shortly.) What the music wanted was a low, slow Rhythm with some Percussion and Electric Guitar. To achieve this, the track dropped to a lower Key right off, and the Tempo slowed a few times. ----- The original Percussion layer didn’t sound right took me. Keeping the same basic structure, I converted it to a deep Keyboard. That did work, very nicely in fact. Mixing it with a low Bass Guitar added the crowning touch. The original Guitar part also didn’t stay long. It became a Chime, creating the Percussion I was going for. Another part became Electric Guitar in three places, accented by Strings. ----- After getting the track togther and mixed, I waited awhile to see if it was still good later, and the following day. There was a nagging sense of something wrong. When I went back and listened again, I liked it better each time. It’s low, a bit longer, and creates a certain mood. Here’s why. A tesseract is a fifth dimensional, theoretical mathematical construct, also known as a hypercube. The music was intended to sound very geometrical and adhear to some strange math in the way I stuctured the music. In fact, Harry mentioned to me that the opening might be too long. I went back to see if I could safely trim it up and keep the longer version as an extended version. However, the way the math is put together, I’d written myself into a corner. I couldn’t do anything about the first part of the music without completely cutting the music in half. And, that’s not what I, or the music itself, wanted. So, I listened a few more times. It works fine for me. It does exactly what I set to make it do. (It’s okay, really, if not every single listener likes every single track I happen to right.) ----- The last track finsihed this last week came from some unusual place. I think I channeled Stevie Nicks. The music is called “Seduction Of The Minotaur”. The idea in mind here was to come up with another darker toned piece of music. However, much like “Kutulu” from XENOPHOBIA took on a lifeforce of its own, “Seduction Of The Minotaur” did the same thing. It went in ways I didn’t anticipate or dream of, but, completely surprised me in the end. ----- The Strings refused to stay dark, as did the Piano. What I’d written was a more romantic Melody than I’d realized. The second half of the track goes up higher, making the music lifting, heart breaking. Instantly, I was put in mind of Stevie Nicks’ “Beauty And The Beast”. Instead of having something dark and brooding, considering the title, the music if much more like some soundtrack for a fairy tale. In any case, it’s very pretty and works perfectly. “Seduction Of The Minotaur” is my own little “Beauty And The Beast”. ----- My ASCAP membership card finally came. I guess I should be really excited. And, I am, in a way. Now, doing all the busy work of registering all my works; that’s something I don’t look forward to. More busy work! LOL ----- Okay, I’m kicking an idea around that requires a little help from you. Off all of you reading this, how many of you have stuff up on iTunes? Show of hands, please. (I get around seventy reads a week at MySpace, many more at all the MyRealTalent sites, and who knows how many on the other dozen pages where I post this blog.) Please let me know. I want to include you in my idea, but, I can’t read your minds. Please let me know if you have music for sale at iTunes. Thanks a bunch! ----- We’re at the end of another blog. Quick and easy. See you all back here next week! ----- Rob

Some weeks I think fate conspires against my getting much accomplished! LOL In the States, did you all remember to set your clocks back? I didn’t until a little while ago. However, I could have used a few hours to catch up because I’ll still be behind! It’s been busy here, mainly behind the scenes. This blog entry will be a bit shorter. Most of what I have to tell you is a peek into the busy work that often entails and entangles my time. ----- BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS and RAHU both showed up in iTunes. They are out! Yes! It’s always a thrill to get more music out there. Go listen to some of the tracks. Download some. It’s good stuff! If you’ve visited my MySpace music profile, or any of the other number of pages where music is posted, you already know. ;-) There’s twenty-five, I repeat, TWENTY-FIVE over at Mood.MyRealTalent.com. What are you waiting for? ----- Only one piece of music was finished within the last week, and, it wasn’t even the track I expected. The SONIC REMIXED project was released over the Internet early in October. Currently, artists who’ve submitted two tracks were welcomed to send in a third for an extended version of the album. Naturally, I went right to work on an idea. ----- The idea in mind was a combination of two tracks. I wanted to segue them together, something I hadn’t tried before. The music in question comes from two very different games. First is a track I’ve always known as “Rusty Ruin” (the second level version) from the “Sonic Adventure” game (if my memory serves correctly). I’m sure it has a proper title, however, I don’t know who even wrote it at this point in time. I remember many years ago when the game was released that Sonic music enthusiasts said it was one of very best video game compositions they’d ever heard. After hearing it for myself, I did agree with the overall assessment. It is a darn good piece of music. But, I liked the second level music better. It was a touch darker, adding an element of challenge and danger to the tone. ----- The second track I wanted to run it into is called “Metropolis”, from one of the levels in the “Sonic The Hedgehog 2” game. (Again, I don’t know the music’s proper title.) The idea I had in mind was to start with “Rusty Ruin”, transition into “Metropolis”, and then transition back out into “Rusty Ruin”. The title I picked for my special remix is “Rusty Ruins Of Metropolis”. ----- Sonic music lovers might disagree with me, however, most of the music in the games is very simplistic. And I don’t mean that to sound bad. It’s just a fact. In order for this idea of mine to work, both parts needed to have the same basic Bass Drum beat, have the same time signature, and play in the same key. Fortunately, all three of these things worked in my favor. To match the Tempo of both tracks, I made the “Rusty Ruin” part slightly faster. ----- Okay, so I get right into the music. The second level music for “Rusty Ruin” has a very basic structure of three parts, all repeating. “Metropolis” is the same, except it has two repeating parts with a fade. So that the track wouldn’t get too long in my remixed form, I shortened “Rusty Ruin” into two repeating parts. ----- There’s a bridge part at the end of each part of “Rusty Ruin” that I was able to make blend into “Metropolis”. Here’s how. The Guitar part slows down. From that point, the Drum beat of “Metropolis” kicks in as the “Rusty Ruin” part plays itself out. At that point, the Guitar segues into “Metropolis”, which opens with a very distinct, wavering Guitar sound. At the end of the “Metropolis” part, the Guitar again fades back into the “Rusty Ruin” ending, because it’s lower in tone, and finishes up. “Metropolis” has a built-in pause in the Percussion, making the transition back fairly easy. The beginning opens with a live feel while the ending has a slight repeat, ending on sustained Guitar. ----- I was pleasantly surprised at how well the music not only works together, but, how well both blended together with the effort I took to make it happen. The track may very well be a part of the SONIC REMIXED collection in its extended version. Because “Rusty Ruins Of Metropolis” turned out so well, I’m also going to see if I can’t figure out how to include it on my INFLUENCES TRIBUTE COLLECTION. ----- Everything else this last week was geared toward announcing BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS and RAHU to the world. One of the first things was to make sure every site that has a store had the CDs listed. The only exception is MusicForte where I need to send them the copies. ----- Someone over at UnsungHeroRevolution.com wrote to me. They wanted to feature “Raion Kapella” on the front page over the weekend. But, to do so, I needed to set up a profile and upload at least that track. Well, I did set up the page and then uploaded all of BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS. I’ll be adding my other CDs as time permits. The drawback with uploading, even with DSL, is that the process takes time, no matter what. For that reason, I have yet to add the two new albums to TuneFlow or SoundClick. They will get there eventually. ----- The next thing I involved myself in was making sure the bio information on my pages was a bit more up to date. With so many pages, it’s tedious work, even if it’s only a matter of cutting and pasting. (Anyone willing to be a secretary? LOL) ----- Submitting the official press releases was still another time consuming chore. First, there are the free distribution services. (If you don’t think they work, Google my name with an album title once and see what you come up with. ;-) ) Second, there are bulletin boards to place them on. That’s the part that really chews up time. I don’t know how many I posted to. I can tell you it felt like several hundred. LOL And, I’m not even done! ----- If you want to get noticed, you have to do the work. I’m doing the work. Grumbling under my breath maybe. But, it’s getting done as much as one person can do it all by himself. I’ll keep chipping away until the levee bursts. Where ever you are in your musical journey, keep doing what it takes. I believe if you have the drive, you will succeed. ----- In the mean time, be sure to relax and blow off some steam. I have the perfect remedy. They are called BEYOND MARSTROPOLIS and RAHU. Pick up your copies from CDBaby.com or from iTunes. Leave me some feedback. You don’t have to like the music to leave feedback. Just tell me what you think. ----- Time for me to scoot! More work to be done. (I have sixteen places where this blog entry alone will get placed.) Have a great week! See you back here next Sunday! ----- Rob