Author: falala

11:59 pm. Shit. I drank tea at like 9. Can you hear my Long Island accent in that sentence?

The last time I posted (it was 12:12 am) I had laid down the basic drums, a foundation of sparse bottom notes. Earlier this week, I accentuated the drums with a lil’ snare roll and some cymbals to add texture. Tonight, I added the bass foundation. I may add more bass notes to make it bouncier or groovier, but I want to start sparse and build. Wow, this took a long time. 3 hours. Damn random syncopated beats that pop up in this song interfered with building any loops. so I couldn’t copy and paste one song part to another. For example, the bass line of verse 1 can’t be pasted to verse 2. Wow. Well, I’m going to decompress now. Thank you for listening as I build up Avalanche in the Cubase software.

Oh. here are the lyrics for this verse:

What was it that I said?
You didn’t hear or can’t believe.
If I repeat your face will redden, stiffen, then you’ll leave.
You’re a cherry blossom.
In a winter white your colors weave.
Oh this is all I said, I swear, no words hide up my sleeves.

It’s 12:12 am as I type this…hey, I used to be an 11:11 person, part of a loosely knit cult of people who always seem to look at the clock when it’s 11:11. Whew, now it’s 12:13, so I can get off this tangent.

Continue reading “Avalanche”

Omg, I’m barely awake writing this. I was hoping to post a new song over the long holiday weekend, but the project got stopped up like a monumental turd in a low tide toilet bowl. What happened? The…arrangement? Composition? Presentation? I’m not sure there’s even a word for it.

“Clap For Yourself” practically wrote itself. Sure, it starts off campy, but it reveals a deeper message as it progresses. “Dig down deep inside. Find your inner pride. Let it rise up to the surface, get goosebumps when you feel your purpose……” It was also born from a place of authenticity. I clap for myself when I train for long distance races; I find myself miles from home with nobody to cheer me on. As I wrote this song, I fought off many self critical, creative murdering voices and let the song express. I actually kind of like it. I wrote it on my acoustic, but heard flailing guitars in my head as I practiced until I was fluid enough to record.

And then I broke out the ole electric axe, and recorded, and re-recorded, and erased and re-recorded, repeat, repeat, repeat…ahhhhhhhh.

I’m dumbfounded.

I don’t have an answer yet, only to say that I’m digging this dance music version. Oh, it’s messy as hell, and where the rough, pitchy vocals may have worked for a distorted rock song, they will have to get re-done. Also it’s going to take much more work then I hoped, because “computer music” is a new instrument for me.

Well, thanks for reading. It’s one thing to finish a song, and quite another to get it ready for my blog. I didn’t want to wait that long to post again. Good night. I keep waking to find my head draped over the computer keyboards and my chin soaked in drool. Hopefully I’ll have “Clap For Yourself” posted sooner than later. xo, Fala

Read Lyrics

2 posts ago, I was thrilled to find out my recording software also made dance music.  I bought the upgraded software, only to be let down that I had to wait a week for this odd usb “license” key to come in the regular mail in order to “unlock” it. The anticipation was painful.  I raced home the day the UPS tracking said “delivered”.   I imagined the new drum kit sounds resonate around my ribs, and the electro bass punch me in the gut. Finally, I was home to unlock the software.   I loaded my song in progress…and..there was no sound. . It was the worst case of creative blue balls I have ever known.

Continue reading “Digital Hurdles And The Forces Of The Anti Beat”

For the first time in 7 or so years, I belonged to no band. The guy who played drums in The Pollynoses stopped returning my calls, so, yeah. I never did speak to him again, nor find out why. Maybe I smelled bad? I think it took a few months for the shock to wear off, and for the purpose of writing to re-set. This was the first song I wrote in my new band-less existence circa 2004. The reason I’m sharing it today is because it’s probably the opposite of dance.  I’ve been slowly drifting toward an electronic orbit so I wanted to break out some raw,  nasty guitar & no supporting instruments.  I wonder what ever happened to the person Ebony Eyes? In the bottom of my heart, I do feel that she is no longer with us, no longer on this earth.

Continue reading “The Opposite Of Dance”

Oh my gosh. Where do I begin? It’s like I’m stuck in a circle of excitement. I guess you have to jump in on a roundabout somewhere, so I’ll start with my LOVE of dance music.

Continue reading “Beats”

c. 1995 Written on a beach in Bayville, NY. People warned me that there already was a song called “Stormy Weather”. I’m so glad I lived in a bubble, and I’m so glad I didn’t care. Otherwise, the anxiety would have prevented me from writing this. After all, the people who warned me had never written a song.

Continue reading “Stormy Weather”

I wrote this song over 20 years ago. Strange revisiting old recordings. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but a song captured in time can say so much more.  Continue reading “Insomnia”

I came across a friend’s facebook post. There was this video, with no comment, but I can safely assume they played a show in her little town called Truth Or Consequence, NM. I absolutely love this duo. What a voice.  So full, rich and haunting. I am listening to it from my native New York, and it transports me to another place.

Continue reading “Wow, Love This Songwriter”