NEW YORK CITY (WILL ALWAYS BE HOME) - peter j stein - THE SONG HATCHER - BLOG: A LONG WINTER

new york city and the darkness of winter

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 08:37:31 -0700

I love to feel the bitter cold winter,

when I have to walk my dogs on icy streets,

and the snow is blowing down my neck like icy splinters,

and the dogs won't pee, 'cause the earth is covered by sleet,

and they cannot smell anything familiar to them,

and my shoes and socks are soaking through,

and my hands feel numb and my nose drips phlegm,

and my 4 horsepower snowblower's sparkplug just blew,

and the tall gaunt shadows of the afternoon sun,

fall against unearthly empty phantom buildings,

where none of my friends live and no friendly faces come,

and I'm tailgated by aggressive cars on the Southern Parkway run,

whose windows are darkened by illegal tint,

and the diners' mediocre food feels toxic to my gums,

and there are flies even in the expensive restaurants,

and where I'm always running late and feeling the bum rush,

and where the taxes are too high,

and even the Long Island streets are congested,

and generally no one gives a shit about anyone else,

until I realize that I am either the no one,

or the someone else,

and the sanitation trucks roll, and the air pollution smells like

burnt toast and the gasoline of cars and buses and trucks,

and I cannot seem to want to leave this place,

and can never imagine myself living anywhere,

if you weren't there as a refuge,

as a safe place to rest

my eternally wandering heart.

"oh, loch ada" to be released

Sat, 12 Mar 2011 00:52:56 -0800

As described in my previous song-writing experiences, this song, "oh, loch ada", began as a fragment of a melody, about one week ago, in early March, 2011. I had last written a song, 2 months prior, expressing feelings of isolation, during a relatively harsh winter in New York. The initial theme of the current lyrics was completely unknown to me, and the words first began to lead me to a patriotic, but somewhat cynical, song, about "America". The ideational theme continued to develop, as I softened up in an optimistic way, to describe America (i.e., the U.S)., as a country of great purpose and destiny, that needed to stay on course and continue to mature, as a very special country, that would ultimately guide the world to lasting peace, to preserve the environment, reduce poverty, raise the economic and educational status of everyone, keep population growth under control, end the nuclear threat, and end bigotry. I was enthused about the song thus far, with feelings of exuberance emerging, but not fully comfortable with my idealistic vision; suddenly, 2 days ago, about March 10, there was a shift in my thinking, and a sense of a song far more personal emerged; a song about my finding ultimate peace, in a place where my soul would finally stop wandering.

NEW TUNE FOR 2011 - THE DARKNESS OF WINTER

Fri, 28 Jan 2011 15:47:45 -0800

PUT TOGETHER A FEW WORDS AND CHORDS AND INSTRUMENTS, AND NOW I HAVE A SOMETIMES SWEET, SOMETIMES GUTTURAL EXPRESSION OF HOW I FEEL, AFTER DIGGING OUT OF THE LATEST SNOWSTORM.

when "genre" has no meaning. be your own truth

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 18:02:59 -0800

A SYNOPSIS OF MY ORANGE PERIOD:

In the past 9 months, using my personal computer software, and driven by unknown forces, I have written and recorded several songs, under different album references, including "Uneasy Pieces", "Metro-Noire", "EastCoastProject", and "SteinTimesTwentytwo".

"Not An Ordinary Night", and "Always Tomorrow", are songs that were written for two couples soon to be married, and I felt the exhilarating, adrenalin rush of singing these tunes at their weddings.

"New York City (will always be home)", and "I Wish That You Never Had Gone", are ballads that uniquely define whatever it is that I do.

"Not An Ordinary Night - the instrumental" demonstrates the stand-alone capacity for that melody, that I so much enjoyed writing.

"Rock Sonata", and "Running From Time", are experimental instrumentals that round off and complete my orange period.

"A Young Girl Was Laughing (by the window)", is a ballad that was plucked on the strings of the heart of love.The album cover is graced by a beautiful work of art, painted by my friend and colleague, Al Gelber. Be your own truth. Thank you and goodnight.

"A Young Girl Was Laughing (by the window)"

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:34:11 -0800

"A Young Girl Was Laughing (by the window)" is a tune that emerged while writing a different song, a sequence which often typifies my songwriting. Usually, I am struggling with a melody and lyrics, when, suddenly, a new melody comes to mind, and the "real" song emerges from the struggle, within a few hours; the lyrics appear spontaneously, almost in full, and I feel emotionally relieved and exalted, that I have a new song for myself: to listen to on my downloads and in my car, to share with my friends, and to expose to the world market, that others may express interest in my creation. Of note, the first take, of both the vocals and the instrumentals, often end up as the most compelling, and the song literally resists further changes, but for a few minor corrections. In this song, "A Young Girl Was Laughing (by the window)", I attempted at one juncture, to record a new lead vocal, and the software stubbornly refused to cooperate; first there was noisy static and the mic would not function; then, the track reverb would not allow me to adjust the vocal, according to my tastes (reverb can be as deep as the Grand Canyon). These obstacles, at 3 am, given that I must soon arise for my day job, then guided me to stay with my initial lead vocal, only to add a touch of harmony, at the first and last line of each verse; and, according to my very personal tastes, this was the "touch" that was lacking. A couple of overlooked "pops" remain in the song, a few more fixes could have aligned the harmonies better, and some falsetto pitch adjustments would have been nice, but for what they are paying me, c'est la vie. Upbeat tunes do not move me; my preference is for the melodic and harmonic beauty of folk-rock ballads including: Yesterday (The Beatles); Catch The Wind and Lalena (Donovan); As Tears Go By (performed by Marianne Faithful; Rolling Stones); Long, Long Time (performed by Linda Ronstadt); Walk Away Rene (performed by The Left Banke); Hello In There (John Prine); Maybe Tomorrow (Badfinger); Something In Red (performed by Lorrie Morgan); Secret Gardens (Judy Collins); Dangling Conversation (Paul Simon); Song For Adam (Jackson Browne); Visions of Johanna (Bob Dylan); Sweet Baby James (James Taylor); and, more recently, Always On Your Side (Sheryl Crow). Countless talented songwriter/singers of the most beautifully written ballads, performed by the most superb artists, utilizing the finest audio engineering skills, all generally have in common their softness, simplicity, subtlety, sadness, and sincerity...pjs

Not An Ordinary Night (for Jackie & Chris) released in time for the wedding!

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:05:15 -0700

In February, 2010, my daughter, Jackie, asked me to write a song for her wedding. Within minutes, I found myself arranging, performing, recording, and producing this song, dedicated to the marriage of Jackie and Chris. The melody, harmonies, and instrumental accompaniment emerged spontaneously from an unknown interior source. One can hear my mic'd steel string Taylor acoustic alongside the electrified tones of my Gretsch White Falcon. Jackie and Chris are soon to seal their mutual pledge of love and devotion, in the warm presence of their friends and family. They will embark together, with even deeper intensity of trust and affection, into a brave new future.

9/11 reflections

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 23:48:13 -0700

today is a day of remembrance, a day of mixed feelings of sadness, horror, anger, grief, and loss, in response to those irreversible and unspeakable actions and events that occurred in downtown manhattan, on 9/11/2001. The psychological trauma remains vivid in the minds of those still grieving from their losses, in those who survived in the immediate vicinity of the devastation, in those who had the tireless strength to help in the months of the aftermath in the clean-up process, and in those who are now ill from the toxic exposures to the particulate matter in the air of the ghastly environment. I dreamt on that Tuesday night of 9/11 that I emerged from a downtown subway, that the city air was black, that there was a fiery furnace of desolate destruction; and I awoke realizing that the dream was true. I completed the song "Somebody's Lover" 7 years after 9/11, and, though my family was spared any personal loss, it took me 7 years to express musically, what I had not been able to verbalize.......pjs

MIXING SCHMIXING

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:14:42 -0700

It looks like we have about 30 diverse tracks for "Flying To The Sun", and there remains the challenge of finding the best, acceptable mix, trying to include various elements that will not drown each other out, placing the vocals and instruments in various proportions, positions, volume,EQ,effects,etc.The process is challenging, and the choices are often made by a 'feel', simple reflections of one's personal tastes, with some basic acoustic rules.

"...EVER SINCE YOU WERE A CHILD, AND STILL NO ONE KNOWS WHY..."

Sun, 18 Apr 2010 20:54:46 -0700

For all of you who are waiting with baited breath (eeuuwww), I am hoping to start mixing my latest 2 songs. With help from a guest musician, Greg Gibaldi, we recorded some additional tracks for bass guitar and keyboard. There is a lot to choose from, and to balance, and I think that a good time will be forthcoming, when we blend all the elements together; I hope that you will hear some astonishingly pleasing mixes................pjs

A Long Winter, but worth the slow and deliberate birth of a new song

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 18:04:45 -0700

It was a snowy, rainy, icy, windy Winter in the suburbs just outside of New York City, yet it was a blessing in disguise, a silver lining, a luck-of-the-draw, an opportunity-knocks, an all-things-come-to-those-who-wait season, for this cliche-ridden, part-time, free-lancin', good-as-his-last-game, song-writing, unnecessarily verbose guy, often fondly referred to as "me". With so much extra time, watching the white snow, watching the Winter unwind, feeling the virgin, crystalline flakes mock me, as I stared out my window at the icy streets, I took a 3 minute, 3 verse song, and stretched it, and stretched it, and stretched it even more, to its present status of grandeur, a 17 verse tune, over 9 minutes, 30 seconds, from beginning to end, capturing more than a few moments in time; check out these raw track clips, blemishes not excluded...........