Build a Comfortable Environment for Creative Music

Find a comfortable place where you can cultivate your Imagination

I find many places to relax and contemplate new ideas for my music. The more comfortable the environment, the more creative I can be. I can let my imagination take my music somewhere new and different. I have a sunny room overlooking the garden dedicated to reading and music. Also, there is an extensive library and a wonderful baby-grand piano in ivory that lifts my spirit.

I started out as a piano player. However, I find singing is easier while playing guitar. Because both can be expressive, I often record tracks for each while working on a new composition. This music room is quiet, out of the way, and ideal for strumming and playing arpeggios on the keyboard. I will go back and forth between instruments as I work on the lyrics, rhythm, and chord progressions.

There is a separate studio for recording my singing, additional guitar tracks, and for mixing and mastering. I’ll include more of that with an upcoming post. However, I would rather by here by the piano. File transfers between my desktop and laptop help me to continue the creative process. I write down the music and lyrics using 2 separate programs – MuseScore and SongBook.

I complete the composition going back and forth between instruments and notation programs, and get out a recording for copyright purposes. After filing for a copyright I can continue to refine the recordings by adding new tracks or hiring a backup singer. I developed a system for gradually adding ingredients, analogous to making a stew.

The saying goes “Too Many Cooks”, so I need to return to my sanctuary frequently to get my new song back on track. Sometimes I just read and take a nap.

Doxter S and SIRI make Beautiful Music Together

The Real Story of SIRI by Doxter S

Doxter S was writing music for Hexagon in 2014 and came up with the idea for his song about SIRI.

Doxter S was driving to a Hexagon meeting in Virginia to discuss music for the next show: “I was using my iPhone for directions. I had other people in the car who were also using their smartphones ‘helping’ with the directions. It was disconnecting  in a humorous way. I offered to write a song for the 2015 Hexagon show about this experience and I came up with SIRI.  The director liked the song but did not see transforming SIRI into a live performance due to technical issues. The smartphone Voice of Siri was a computerized actor, and he wanted live actors.

Siri is, of course, much more famous than Doxter S. I recently had the good fortune to contact the Voice of Siri, Susan Bennett . Susan is a very talented Voice Over artist with many more offerings that most of us have experienced without making the connection. If I had known then what I know now I would have recruited Susan to perform off stage. Maybe there will be an opportunity to do something like this in the future.

Great music always needs a purpose. Writing songs for a show with a specific theme requires a special mindset. The critics are right there sitting with you at the table, drinking coffee, suggesting changes. This meeting of the minds is part of the teamwork needed to produce great music. Composing music and writing lyrics always goes smoothly working alone. Collaboration is more of a rocky road.

There were some other songs I wrote while working with Hexagon that never made the cut. One hasn’t been produced, one is a parody of an old familiar tune, and the third is the subject of an upcoming post.”

 

 

 

What the Stink was all about in Washington DC

Hexagon performs Stink during Midterm Madness

Hexagon is a musical comedy political satire troupe in Washington DC who puts on original variety shows every year. Doxter S was working with Hexagon in 2013 – 2014 writing some original songs, including Stink and Mr. ED. Stink was included in Hexagon’s show Midterm Madness in 2014. Stink was performed as a dance number, although I envisioned a giant Stink Bug singing a solo with the vocal character of Barry White.

I was certainly pleased to have my song selected for performance by Hexagon in 2014, and I understood the importance of allowing the director and producer to use my material as they saw fit. I never envisioned a dance number. Maybe Stink bugs flying around the auditorium, like they do in my bedroom at night.

Here are the lyrics:

Tips from Doxter S

Useful and Meaningful Advice

My favorite line sung by Old Blue Eyes goes: “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere“.  Tips like that are memorable but hard to come by. Doxter S will be continuing to offer useful opinions and meaningful advice here on a regular basis.

Anyone starting to make a go at being a music creator needs a regular source of income. Mozart always had patrons, freeing him to be as creative as he wanted or needed to be. Contemporary musicians usually do gigs that pay insufficiently and infrequently. The Tip Jar is an omnipresent site at the piano bar. Selling Merchandise is often more lucrative than the gig itself, but many venues require a cut of this as well.

Doxter S has learned from some very talented and industrious music creators that you can’t live off the income from making music alone. The saying “Don’t give up your day job” is offered frequently to those who are not already shooting stars in the industry. So what should the budding be doing differently?

My first bit of advice is to claim ownership of all your creations before someone else steals it from you. Anything original you produce belongs to you and can be used to bargain with those who have access to money. Content is King in the Internet Age, so the more you “own” the better off you will be financially.

Be nice to promoters and booking agents, but be smarter than they are. Be wise but not arrogant, Nobody makes money without something to sell, and that something is n this industry is Great Music.  your time working on your original music is your investment in yourself, your “sweat equity” sas they say in business.

And be generous with others like you when you can afford to be.

 

 

Whipped, Teased, Tormented, and Pleased

(and not necessarily in that order)

Doxter S says: Interpersonal relations are complex. Strange attractants are at play. Everyone has a hidden agenda. Who hasn’t felt Whipped, Teased, Tormented, and Pleased?

Believe it or not, this post is about great music by Doxter S. The image for this page was never used as cover art for any song, but it pertains to several, including the very first song published by Doxter S.

Don’t Ever Tease Me was composed, written, recorded, produced, and published in 2012. The original cover does represent some of the emotion from the singer’s perspective. It takes Two to Tango, however, and today’s post is about both participants. watch partners dancing the Tango in Buenos Aires to understand why we like our lives spiced with emotion.

Did you know there are five tastes me must detect to make any food tasty? They are as follows: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami (savory). The same can be said for relationships. Sweet equates to tenderness, bitter to discord, sour to moodiness, salty to being annoying, and savory to passionate loving. So when we want to Spice Things Up, we really mean to alter the balance of these sensations (just a bit).

Doxter S creates emotional music because he uses interpersonal relationships in almost all of them. The lead vocalist, either man or woman, is usually referring to someone else. There is always a mixture of the five spices of life brought out in the music, through chord progressions as well as the melody. But, the real trick is putting down ideas through words that complement the music.

Listen to any Doxter S song and try to understand the feelings being expressed. They are alternately joyful, heartbreaking, or humorous in a very personal way.

Bon Appetite!

 

Great Music is Everywhere You Go

Doxter S says: Visit the beautiful city of Venice, Italy to experience great music everywhere you go. You don’t need to spend money to go to a concert. In Venice the concerts comes to you on as Gondola!  There’s nothing like listening to music along the canals in Venice. The buildings lining both sides provide some reverb, but with no roof there is very little echo.

This singer and accordionist can barely be heard from the lagoon.The music gradually gets louder as your gondolier guides your boat into you the canal.  Getting closer, the accordion becomes more distinct and provides the perfect soundtrack for the colorful buildings and interesting people. Then the tenor begins singing an aria that fills the entire canal with vibrant emotion.

Everyone stops what they are doing and thinking for one moment, turning their attention to this impromptu performance. This great music provides such joy that it justifies it’s own existence. When the performance reaches its finale applause can be heard coming from the near by windows on either side, the bridges at either end, and from listeners riding in the many other gondolas cursing up and down the canals.

If you get a chance to visit Venice, don’t miss the opportunity to go to one of these local performances. Let the performers know how much you appreciate their artistry with your generous applause.

Just be careful dropping them tips!

Musical Composition: Create A Colorful Melody

We all can appreciate the color and variety of great music

Doxter S says: Creating a great musical composition is like painting a colorful image for the auditory mind.  Music intends to convey a message, instilling emotion and meaning into there heart of the listener. We create great music using a combination of melody and rhythm, tempo and pitch, and words.

The most familiar American musical style, the 12-bar blues, is divided into sections. This conveys a sense of call and response. Most popular music is built up using sections. These sections are commonly know as introduction, verse, bridge, chorus, and outro.

When creating a great song it is important to make each section distinct from the others. This will add variety and notify the listener (and members of the band) where we are and where we are going. The ability to make otherwise similar sections sound unique and refreshing is a useful skill in music creation.

I selected the image for this post because it illustrates the structure for a great song. These homes are on the coast of Grand Cayman Island. They are all essentially of the same design. Progressing from the front (intro) through the middle sections (verse, bridge, chorus), and ending in the back (outro), just like  great song should sound.

Adding varying colors for each section makes similar sections distinctly different, which make the whole complex much more interesting and enjoyable. This visual analogy should help a would be composer think about that next new song that’s been incubating in there back of the mind, just waiting to come to fruition when the time comes to start writing it down and recording.

Doxter S invites every one of you to join him on this great adventure into music creation.

 

Doxter S has been working on Nothing

(it’s everything I hoped for!)

( (Doxter S) wrote, recorded, and produced his original song entitled “Nothing” just a few years ago, and now it’s time to update and rework the performance and style. There are new transitions using triplets that resolve back into the initial syncopated beat that is carried by the drum track. The rhythm guitar intro uses more interesting chord shapes than before, wth built in mini-licks and there is more suspense leading into the bridge and the chorus. The score for the new version is available on MuseScore and can be found here.

Creating new songs is a complex process starting with inspiration and proceeding with ideas for lyrical hooks, and of course the musical equivalents, usually is the chorus. Nothing has musical hooks in the bridge transitions between the verses and before the chorus. These remain the same as was originally produced. The original version had a straightforward rhythm and standard I, VI, VI chords. This new version musically has more depth, complexity, and more feeling, in my opinion. It is very much like a vintage wine that is getting better with age, but with a lot of rewrites and a fresh new recording.

Since writing the original version of “Nothing” I have written most of my new songs using MuseScore, a Creative Commons website that encourage collaboration and sharing musical ideas. I decided to provide links to these scores along with the usual links to iTunes and CD Baby on my Discography pages in the same spirit of sharing.

Many successful popular songs are remembered more for the cover versions done by artists other than the composer, and I expect this new version of Nothing will be well received as an improvement. I’m just starting the vocal tracks and will be recording my self playing live piano and at least 2 acoustic guitars.

 

 

 

Doxter S Celebrates 5-Years

5-years after launching Crimson Studios

It’s hard to believe that 5 years has gone by since Doxter S launched Crimson Studios!

We were in Philly when I decided to start writing and producing music, looking forward to a new career that allowed freedom of expression and unlimited possibilities. Of course, there has not been any easy money, and it takes time to get any recognition. We were filled with hope for some new adventure, and I think we are finally getting there.

There’s Always a Critic Somewhere

Continuing an Ancient Tradition

Traveling along the Dalmatian coast these 3 Critics caught my attention and I just had to capture the image.

These guys are centuries old, dating back to the great Venetian empire along the Adriatic coast of Croatia.

Of course they had singers, songwriters, and performers back then, so why not a few Critics to spice things up.

I thought the features and facial expression on these guys reflected the true nature of a Critic of The Arts.

If you stare back at them you will see something very extraordinary happening.