Garden Distrikt

"P F Empathy" 1 997 Music by Martin Lomas. So named due to my love of the Italian prog-rock band PFM . All tracks recorded and produced by me. The two solos were originally electric guitar, which I then purposely allowed audio-to-MIDI software to inaccurately translate, feeding the results into software synths. Native Instruments' Reaktor software synth

Only 20 years old - a mere spring chicken, here's - "Hair of the God" 1998 Music by Martin Lomas, words from "The Eye of the Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran as read by Johnny Cash. All of the guitar tracks were created by sampling my own work at half-speed. Why? Serendipity. I had some recordings of mine on cassette tape. These were made on the typical TASCAM PortaStudio unit (see below), which uses the tape at double-speed to improve quality. I wanted to revive them, and so planned to re-record them digitally, double the speed (since I no longer have a double-speed tape deck), and clean them up. But I got stuck at the half-speed stage. Some wonderful new sounds become available.

Martin here. So, what'm I on about this time? Well, as an experienced audio fiend, I want to pass on some nuggets that are simple, but not necessarily obvious .... a series, perhaps. Okay. Essentials? Trimmings? The way I see it, when you really like, and listen intently to, any piece of music you enjoy, there are always one, two or three or four key things (essentials) that you are 'glomming' on to. And in other cases, there may not be any particular essentials that are key - it may indeed be the little extras , the attention to detail, the recording quality - stuff like that. Examples: When I hear Frank Sinatra sing, there's a few essentials I'm enjoying. They are, in order of importance: That wonderful voice ! FYI - people have said that Frank didn't really sing all that well. They may be right. But, and it's a big but, it's the sheer quality (as in properties, not skill) of his voice that is key. Simply put: Frank Sinatra had a voice that almos...

It is with regret ... that I must out myself for even making this post ... the sickness is all mine, but the news couldn't be better. This is Martin, and yes, this is a very personal and, again, risky post. But I have nothing to hide, I love who I am, and I'm into radical honesty. Later, I'll talk about this insanely great, yet insanely difficult idea. Now, allow me to explain this cryptic mess .... The first sickness, of MINE, is that I am making this post mainly in order to boost my temporarily flagging self-esteem, and show you that "I could have been something". Ugh. Oh, well. Okay, I started playing guitar 42 years ago when I was 16. Before long I was hanging with a good friend from high school, who also played. It happens we were both, let's say, "soft", "innocent", and "loving". We got along fine, always loved each other and our growing cast of musical friends. This became "the first band"; the one that was pr...

Here is some RAW video.  Eventually, there might be music to go with it.  I doubt I would try this on stage (but I might - sorry, there's a lot of mights in the arts).  I had Jeremy's camera, and was shooting everything - some I really couldn't post here (wait - there are NO couldn'ts in the arts). So, never mind free-styling, this is free-singing.  I had to go and shoot me going down the stairs, apparently, but this improvised melody and wordage was the result.  How is this done?  Simple, but not easy ... just let your subconscious take over.  Tip: Lots of meditation really helps.  How?  Well, if you meditate enough, and in a certain way, you will learn to stop thinking altogether, and THAT is the place to be.  Don't by it?  You should - the Buddha said just this - in so many words.  I'll tell you more about that later - if you want . - Martin "Stairs to my Home"   by  Martin Hmm, I Didn't Realize That...

http://storm-animal.blogspot.ca/

I'm not one for resting on my laurels ... except when I am. This here is a nice tune I wrote about the plight of the whales, and what they're up against ... namely, US . HOOKED 1997 music & words: Martin Lomas

Music I wrote, recorded (all tracks), and published in 1997. It's from what people tell me is my "best" album (Storm Animal - an anagram of Martin Lomas). I disagree; my fave album is "Loose" (all electronic & algorithmic). But "Loved By A Queen" is a decent song that may well be resurrected for The Garden Distrikt, or even sold to a name musician/singer.

What's it gonna sound like? We don't know yet. But here's some possibilities ...

Mick Ronson at Wikipedia . From Wikipedia: Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as one of the Spiders from Mars . He was a session musician who recorded with Bowie followed by several albums with Ian Hunter , also Morrissey , as well as a sideman in touring bands with Van Morrison and Bob Dylan . He also recorded several solo albums, the most popular being Slaughter on 10th Avenue , which reached No. 9 on the UK Albums Chart . Ronson played with various bands after his time with Bowie. He was named the 64th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone in 2003 and 41st in 2012 by the same magazine. Ronson died of liver cancer on 29 April 1993, aged 46.

Heaven Lyrics by Robert Janes, music by Martin Lomas - latin/pop feel (Intro: - with a simple guitar melody) Gmaj7        Cmaj7        Gmaj7        Cmaj7 Gmaj7        Cmaj7        Gmaj7        Cmaj7 (single strum, held) (Verse 1:) Am7                         Dsus4    D A gift from God when you believe in the son Am7                     Dsus4     D It's an open invitation for every  -  one Am7            Cmaj7    G                  Bm7 Come rich, come poor,...