Scavenger hunt!

Everyone needs a little fun, and everyone needs a little publicity. So here's the deal.

The prize: For each winner, I will promote something in a blog post. The winners will choose what it is that I promote for them. This blog is read by hundreds of people daily, so if you are doing a personal project that you want more people to know about and support, I can promote it! If you have a company, I can talk about it! If you have art that you make, I can show it! I'll talk about whatever it is that you want, provided that it is appropriate.

How to play: Follow the scavenger hunt instructions for each clue.

Every time you find the answer, you will be told to post a comment stating something specific. You have not solved the clue until you have successfully posted a comment with the appropriate information.

A really important thing: Make sure to UNCHECK the "Post to Facebook" box before you post your comments.

Normally, you'd leave it checked so that I can be sure to reply to your comment, but since this is a game and a competition, don't ruin it by posting a link to the answer on Facebook! Again, if you don't uncheck the box, I will have to disqualify you. Please be careful!

A few rules:

• The questions must be answered in order (Clue #1, Clue #2, then Clue #3. Don't skip around.)
• When prompted by the clues, you must leave a comment on the blog post that the clue is on. Don't leave the answers in the comments on this blog post unless you are specifically told to do so by the clues! You are not finished with the clue until you have been told to leave a comment somewhere and you left your comment.
• You must uncheck the "Post to Facebook" box for every comment you post.
• Don't share your answers! Please please please don't cheat this game -- that ruins all the fun!!
• In order to be eligible for the prize, you must have completed the scavenger hunt successfully before September 3rd at 11:59pm.

Soooo, get crackin'! Here are the clues!

Home from vacation and ready to finish the album!

Just got home from a family vacation, and I'm ready to add the FINAL final touches on the album and get this thing manufactured! A hurricane has slowed the process a bit, but not to worry! The album will be out in a week or two! To tide you over, head on over to this blog post to listen to samples of every song on the album!

Just a reminder: I am still looking for guest posts. Read the blog post I wrote about it here. So far, they've been a big hit! Check out the two guest posts already published: one on poetry and seeing art in unexpected forms, and one on music's effect on human emotions.

Visitor-created playlist: Cheer-up songs

When I asked you what rain songs you enjoyed, not only did we create an extensive, large, and diverse list, but it became a place for people to discover new music. (If you haven't read and/or added to the "rain song" list, you can do that by clicking here.)

This is a cool thing we've got going, in my opinion, and I wanted to try it again...

We already learned how music can influence our emotions. And I'm sure that there are lots of people that have specific songs they listen to based on what mood they are in.

So, question: What songs do you listen to when you need to be cheered up?

Songs about rain: What rain songs can YOU think of?

With Hurricane Irene on the mind of everyone in the United States, I thought I'd make a "rain post."

Just since 1960, there have been 5,000 albums released with at least one song with the word "rain" in the title. [source]


Here are four that I could think of... what do you got?

1. On March 28, 1973, Led Zeppelin's "The Rain Song" was released. Record producer Rick Rubin loves the song: "I don't even know what kind of music this is ["The Rain Song"]. It defies classification. There's such tasteful, beautiful detail in the guitar, and a triumphant feel when the drums come in -- it's sad and moody and strong, all at the same time. I could listen to this song all day. That would be a good day." [source]


I'm covering another one of Led Zappelin's hits on Bits and Pieces: Stairway to Heaven! Listen to a sample of the track here.

Hurricane Irene causes postponed release date

If you've turned on the news from anywhere in the US during this past week, you've heard about Irene, a dangerous hurricane that is hitting the east coast of the United States this weekend. This area has been declared in a state of emergency, and many of the east coast states have issued a mandatory evacuation.

The natural disaster has delayed the production of Bits and Pieces. The release date for the album, originally set for September 1st, will be rescheduled as soon as possible.

Guest post: Why does music make us feel what we feel?

This guest post was written by Tyler James, an enthusiastic cellist and a loyal Head Indie Clouds supporter. If you are interested in writing a guest post for Head Indie Clouds, please email me at mariajerniganmusic@gmail.com.

As I write, I listen to the haunting melodies of Barber’s Adagio for Strings. The massive, yearning waves are pounding at the shores of my heart’s affliction, eroding at the walls of my own subconscious, and destroying every thought that might have pierced the clouds of my own depression. What possible incomprehensible tragedy could have inspired such a masterpiece? For the emotions this piece conjures have sent men greater than I careening into the hazy abyss that stands as man’s true final frontier. How could mere notes played by a simple string section make me believe, without doubt, in the hopelessness of mankind, and the pointlessness of the world we live in?

Guest post: Music is art, and art is everything.

This guest post was written by Fatima Ajose. If you are interested in writing a guest post for Head Indie Clouds, please email me at mariajerniganmusic@gmail.com.

Art has recently become a big part of my life as I began writing poetry. For me art has no boundaries and is interpreted differently by every single person. Music and pieces of artwork are the most recognized forms of art, but my "art spectrum" opened up a little further to include things such as vacuums and shoes when I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art this summer. It surprised me when I saw a purple and orange vaccum displayed as a piece of artwork, but right then as I was looking at it I realized that I was being closed minded about art and the many forms it comes in.

We've hit 3,000 visitors!

Wow! Head Indie Clouds has been visited over 3,000 times! How exciting! Thank you so much. It means so much to me that people come back again and again to read and comment on my posts. And to the new readers, welcome!

People seemed to like it the last time I did a visitor profile, so I thought I'd do an updated one now that we've hit the 3,000 mark:

Looking for guest post writers!

As previously hinted, I have a lot in store for Head Indie Clouds. I'd like to share one of these with you guys right now, but first I have to find people who would like to do it!

I am interested in having some guest posts published on this blog. You know, guest posts: when a person other than the owner of the blog creates content to be posted as a special one-time thing. There are tons of advantages to having guest posts incorporated into a blog, including:

• Offers a fresh perspective
• New "voice"; every writer has a different tone and voice and word choice -- it's nice to have some variety every now and again!
• Gives the guest writers some experience writing blog posts and sharing their thoughts without having to maintain a blog of their own
• Provides opportunity to link to the guest writer's website, blog, etc.

Adding some final touches

September 1st, the released date for Bits and Pieces (the album!) is quickly approaching! I have been doing a few things this morning, trying to make these tracks as polished as can be, in addition to the touching-up I discussed last night.

Balancing tracks

I don't want the vocals to be overpowered by drums, but at the same time, I don't want the listener to have to strain to hear the instruments... it's a balancing act. Not to mention the fact that the instruments should be prominent during instrumental breaks; making the volume changes sound gradual and natural is very challenging, surprisingly.

Head Indie Clouds is FEATURED on GlitterBurned??!!

GlitterBurned is a design gallery that showcases the best blogs powered by Blogger. And they chose Head Indie Clouds to be a FEATURED blog on their HOME PAGE!!!

It's a big deal in the blogger world to be chosen for ANY blog gallery, but especially GlitterBurned... which is one of the biggest and most popular ones out there! AND humble little Head Indie Clouds is on the FEATURED FRONT PAGE! AHHH!!!

Look look look!!! (Click the image to make it bigger.)

This is a huge honor. Thank you so much to GlitterBurned for not only adding Head Indie Clouds to your gallery, but for featuring it on the front page of your whole stinkin' site!

Don't inhale the mic!

Removing breath-sounds from Sunday Morning -- click the picture to make it bigger!

I am currently adding finishing touches to the tracks (eep!!). A major thing that I am doing right now is Removing obnoxious breathing in between phrases.

Don't you just hate it when a singer is gasping for air, and you can hear it in the recording? I know that I, at least, find it very distracting. And while I don't make a habit of trying to inhale my microphone, it never hurts to try and clean up the breaks in between phrases in the vocals.

Learning the ropes: Graphic design for CDs

Sorry I haven't been able to post interesting stuff these past two days -- I've been working on the album artwork! And since I want the artwork to be a surprise, I can't really post pictures or say much of anything about it in a blog post.

I have never designed graphics for a CD before, so I started completely in the dark. I had to learn a lot, including the difference between a face and a tray card. (If you haven't read the first "Designing the CD's look" post I wrote last week, you should read that first by clicking here.)

I have a bit of a graphics design background from creating a few websites for law firms, but other than that, my experience is comprised of me playing around with software and experimenting with different combinations of color, shape, and effects.

Some stuff I have learned about graphic design for CDs:

Always use a professional graphic design program.
I'm using CreateSuite5 Adobe Illustrator that I am lucky enough to have access to through my dad's law firm. The interface is very similar to CS5's Photoshop, for those of you who are familiar with that program, but I would recommend Illustrator over PS for this job simply because I am making art from scratch in this project, rather than importing and manipulating lots of photos. Which program you choose really depends on what you have when you start the project designing process. If you're still on the fence, click here to read an interesting article comparing the two programs.

Hex VS CMYK VS RGB

CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black). CMYK is the process of mixing these four pigments in different ratios to achieve the desired color. CMYK is known as a subtractive color model. What this means is that, when mixing the four pigments to achieve a specific color, you input a percentage from 0% to 100%.

Different percentages of the four pigments create different hues.

Hex is a six-digit code used for web design. Every two digits represents a byte of information, and correlates to 24-bit color TrueColor. (A byte is made of 8 bits, and a hex is made of three bytes: 8 x 3 = 24). You can read about the hex color system more in depth here.

Coming soon: Surprises...!

New surprises are in store for Head Indie Clouds... but what could they be? Hmm... more info tomorrow.

Possible grant money from large corporation..?

A family friend told me this afternoon about a large company that grants money to kids who are doing special projects. I looked into it, and they had information on their website about how to go about asking for grant money. The website requested that you send an email answering specific questions. They also had very strict word-count limits!

I'm sure they gets thousands of requests for grants, and that it may be too late for me to get a grant from them, but I thought I might as well give it a try! Maybe they will be interested in my project.


Here is a copy of the email I sent them, except for that I removed my personal contact information, the company's name, the price of the project, and the amount of grant money I requested:

SONG SAMPLES!

FINALLY! The samples are here and ready to be heard!!! Feel free to listen to these clips as many times as you want! There are eleven total tracks on the album -- two of which are mash-ups (two individual songs that I "mixed" together to form one single track)!

Also, the album does in fact have a title: Bits and Pieces! When you buy the CD and read the booklet, you'll see why! (:

UPDATE 9/24/11 -- Bits and Pieces is now available for purchase online! Click here to learn more.


Track list:

1. Price Tag/Good People (it's a mash-up!)
2. Fix You
3. Sunday Morning (ft. Audrey Lamont)
4. Pieces of Me
5. Jar of Hearts
6. Over the Rainbow/What A Wonderful World (another mash-up!)
7. Stairway to Heaven
8. Cool My Heels
9. Rolling in the Deep
10. Keep Your Head Up
11. Hallelujah

Song samples are coming SOON!

Just to let everyone know, the technical issues are, for the most part, SOLVED, and I am now working really hard to get these samples up as soon as possible. If you don't know what I'm talking about read this, and then read this.

2,000 visitors!

The blog surpassed the 2,000 view mark at about noon today, and I just wanted to say thank you. The plan was to have the samples posted tonight as a thank you to the loyal readers of this blog, but I've been having some major technical issues. I'm sorry for the delay. I am working tirelessly to solve the issue as quickly as I possibly can. Again, I am so sorry!

In the mean time, although it's not the same thing as a sample of the track, you can check out a live version of me performing Hallelujah below. (It's a good song... hint... track list... hint hint.) Consider it a preview of what is to come on the album! It's the next closest thing I have to offer you guys if I can't post samples tonight. Enjoy!

Guess what I'm working on right now?

UPDATE (8/17/11 6:44 PM) - I've been having some technical problems that have stopped me from being able to make/post six of the eleven samples, and I didn't think half of the songs was worth it; I want to post all the samples together at once. Sorry they're not up yet -- believe me when I say I am working hard on it. I will keep you guys updated!

Click the picture to make it bigger!

Who's excited? I'm excited! My goal: samples of each song on the album to be posted by this evening.

Learning the ropes: Panning 101

A bit of pre-mixing (including panning) can be done
on the keyboard itself at the time of recording.

Today I taught myself about panning by reading great articles about the topic and experimenting with my tracks. I didn't know much of anything about it before, but now I am having fun incorporating this technique into my tracks!

Here are some of the basics. Even if you aren't planning on mixing and producing music anytime soon, I think this is something all music-listeners should understand so that they can enjoy it and appreciate it!

Getting a UPC! The album is all official!

So, when I order the albums to be manufactured (!!!!) from CD Baby, I can buy a unique UPC code for only $20. I am excited about this (as I am about everything)!

This will make the album an official, registered product that can be legally sold online and in retail stores. You can even scan it with your smartphone, and the album will be recognized and you will be given information about it!

Yeah, now the album is official. Or, at least, it will be.

Click the image to make it big enough to read!

Designing the CD's look: Basic terms and track order

As of 6 o'clock this morning, I have officially begun designing the physical album -- how it looks. The album cover, booklet, CD itself, inside back insert, back cover... I'm designing it all!

Bring. It. On.

The elements of an album that I have been learning about working on all day:

Click the picture to enlarge it!

When I sat down to plan the back cover, I realized that I haven't thought about the order of the tracks. I've put all this work into making sure these songs are awesome, but now how should I present them on the album?

The template I'll be working with for the back cover
of the album, also known as the outside of the tray card

So I did a little research. (Thank goodness for Google.) No one really agrees on a "right" way to order the tracks, but here are a few points I thought were interesting/valid:

• Start with a strong, possibly upbeat song that will hook the listener into listening to the album. It shouldn't be the best song on the album necessarily; think of it more as getting the ball rolling.
• Try to avoid putting songs that are in the same key back-to-back (I never thought about that one!).
• Make the whole album like a "story." (I think that's a little more difficult with a cover album, but hey.)
• Spread out the styles -- don't have two similar songs back-to-back
• Don't put all of the best tracks in first half of the album; the album shouldn't run out of steam midway

Three songs completed in one day + looking forward

I got two more songs (in addition to this one) finished today! That means I only have one more song left until all of the tracks are done!

That's very very exciting for many reasons:

• Track list and album title will be announced SOON -- as in, a matter of days
• Once all the tracks are completely finished, samples of all the songs will be posted and available here, on the blog, to listen to as many times as your little heart desires. This will also happen SOON -- as in, a matter of days
• Pre-orders will be open! This will also ALSO happen SOON -- as in, a matter of days (maybe a few more days than the first two)
• I get to create the album artwork! Then, once I finalize it, a photo of it will be, of course, posted here for everyone to see!
• And lots of other surprises I have up my sleeve... Hmm...

EXCITED YET? I KNOW I AM.

Sometimes, simple is better.

It's incredible. After working for three long days on the jazz song, and deciding that I should take a break from it, I had a nice surprise. Twenty minutes ago, I started a new song. Now I'm done with it. Say, whaaaat?

Hey, I'm not complaining, though! That's one more song crossed off of my list! When you are on the time-table I'm on, and under the stress I'm under, and having the fun I'm having, achievement never gets old.

In stark contrast to the jazz experience the other day, I am quite in my element in this song. My rendition of this song is simple, a welcome change after the complexities of the jazz song. I'm glad I have a mix of genres and styles on this album; every song is refreshing after working on the previous one.

Sometimes, simple really is better. Man, I love getting stuff done in one take. I managed to record the piano AND the vocals in ONE TAKE EACH. Holy cow, that never happens. I think fate took pity on me after these past couple of days spent struggling with incredibly complicated jazz stuff.

In unrelated news, my little brother Frank was kind enough to take some (a lot) of pictures for me while I was working this morning. (Thanks, bud!) It'll be nice to have some more photos to incorporate in my blog posts! I think it makes it more personal and real.

 Hopefully I'll have time to write a post my adjusted recording process, and I can use some more of the photos then!

Thanks again to everyone who reads this blog and supports me in this project. I can't thank you enough. Comments from people (in the comments or just in life) who are excited about my music is what motivates me. Seriously. Thank you. I hope you stick around!

Trying out jazz... and liking it.

For the next track on the album, I thought I'd try something a little different. Enter: jazz!

For every song on the album, I have to create the instrumental to sing with; I start from complete scratch. I've never really tackled jazz before, so my first attempt at making a jazz track was not jazz at all, but more like... soft-rock having an identity crisis. And not in a good way.

It forced me to really break down jazz to its core elements. To recreate jazz, or anything, for that matter, you have to first understand it at a fundamental level.

Knocking songs out right and left!

I've been working since eleven o'clock this morning, and I have officially finished another song! Yes! And it's pretty early in the evening, so I might be able to finish one up that I've already started. This song is a light, laid-back song, which was just what I needed after working on that melancholy-ish song all day yesterday!

I want to announce the track list SO BADLY. (I'm sick of referring to every song as "that song I've been working on.") I'm thinking about releasing the track list before I release the samples of the songs... say, tomorrow? Tonight? I don't know. I guess it depends how badly you guys want to know what the songs are... (:

Editing and mixing tracks for basic to intermediate users

Click to enlarge

Although I've been meaning to for a while, I have never explained how I edit and mix the tracks to make the songs on the album.

In a previous blog post, I covered the hardware I use to record my tracks. The software is just as crucial, if not more so. I use a multitude of programs, including:

A very productive day!

I have finished two tracks completely just today! That makes me feel awesome! Today was a good day... no distractions (for the most part) made it easy to be productive. Sooo excited that this is actually getting closer to being FINISHED! :D

It's surreal to have finished tracks to play in iTunes and on my phone... it's awesome and strange at the same time... I can't wait for other people (you all!) to hear these tracks!!!

Lesson learned: recording a keyboard

Apparently, trying to record an electronic keyboard (to be used as a synthesizer) isn't the greatest idea; you can hear the keys being pressed in the recorded track! It's kind of funny, actually. Take a listen if you want, and learn from my mistake! (Clicking the link will take you to a page to download a snippet of my keyboard recording failure.)  http://www.mediafire.com/?xjn3s7b3dfs5osv

Imagine hearing that on an album?

Another song officially finished!

Finally! I am done with that song that I have been working on for three days straight! What a great feeling of accomplishment!

Let's finish this song!

Okay. I'm going to finish this song in about two minutes! Yeah! Let's do it!

I just have to do final touch-ups on the vocals (removing 'plosives, mixing harmonies and melodies) and final effects on the end of the piano track, and I'll be one track closer to finishing the album! I can't wait for everyone to hear this song. I am so excited.

My first 1,000 visitors!

This blog officially has broken 1,000 visitors! Yay! If you were one of those first thousand, thank you very much. And if you're a new visitor who just recently got their Head Indie Clouds, welcome! You can help us reach the 2,000 visitor mark!

Some interesting facts about my first 1,000 viewers:

Hard at work...

Too much of a good thing, beating a dead horse, and other expressions about excessive work on a single song...

Poll: How should the album be sold?

I am looking into how I am going to sell my album once it is finished, and I want the opinions of the potential-customers (you!) about the topic.

When it is time to buy the album, what would be your preferred method of purchase?

• Paying in cash and receiving a copy of the album in your hand immediately (buying face-to-face) is the easiest and cheapest option if you see me regularly.
• Buying online through a website and having it shipped to you works if you don't see me in person a lot or live out of my area.
• Buying through Amazon makes some people feel like the online transaction is more secure.

Back in high gear!

While I hate it when people blog about why they haven't blogged, I'm simply stating I was heavily involved with a musical, and that is over with now; my full attention is now on getting this album ready for sell!! Eeeep!

Okay. I have lots of work to do still. I am planning on making some sort of rough schedule to manage the rest of my time working on the Head Indie Clouds project. I still have to finish recording EIGHT more songs (some are Working-In-Progresses, and some I haven't even touched yet); edit, mix, master, and remaster each song; design the physical album's cover art; create the album's booklet (the insert thing inside the album's front cover); send the album to be pressed/created/copied; advertise the album; collect orders (and PRE-ORDERS! More info on that coming soon!!)..... basically, I have a ton of work ahead of me.