Mark Hansen Music - LDS Rock Music - Free Downloads

Mark Hansen Music - LDS Rock Music - Free Downloads
Get the new CD, "The Third Time" HERE




WARNING: Listening to this music doesn't require parental approval. It's a bit of clean rebellion. It keeps your outlook up and your hope alive. It's got strong drums and screaming guitars. It pumps you up and drives your life. It's a hunger for exploration. It chooses the right and returns with honor. It's music you don't have to confess to your bishop.

It's not your parents' "Saturday’s Warrior".

It's "A Joyful Noise"

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

My Music-making Process

So, last night I was up way late working on the drum programming for “Under The Sun”. I dropped it to my thumb drive and was listening to it on the way to work.


The way I do things is:


First, the Demo:


1. I write the song. I’ll usually do this with the acoustic guitar. Typically, the lyrics, melody, and the chords all kinda formulate together at the same time. I might have a vague idea of what I’ll eventually want the arrangement to be like. I might even have a clear idea of the arrangement. I’ll play the song through a few times to make sure it’s solid in my mind, and to make sure that it works. I’ll also make sure that my typed copy of the words have chord symbols, so I’ll remember them.
2. I pick an appropriate drum groove and copy/paste it for about 5-7 minutes.
3. I’ll mic up the acoustic guitar and record a sloppy, messy acoustic rhythm guitar track, using the drums for timing and feel.
4. I’ll croak a quick scratch vocal into the mic and record that, so I have a guide for the verse/chorus form of the song.
5. Render that to mp3, tag it, and drop it to my zip drive.


Now, I have the song. Otherwise, I’d probably forget it. But now, it’s there, recorded, in a very rough form. Everything that I’ve done so far will be replaced, in all likelihood. I’ll add it to my scratch tracks playlist and just listen to it, possibly for months, stirred in with all of the other songs-in-progress.


Eventually, I’ll start to formulate cool ideas for the production, and I’ll want to revisit and revise the song.


1. I cut the bass track, matched to the drum loops.
2. I cut electric rhythm guitars
3. I recut the acoustic guitars, with more care and precision.
4. I might add scratch harmony vocals, so I don’t forget the things I’ve been singing along in the car for the last two weeks.
5. I’ll usually use time stretching in Reaper (my recording software) to tighten up the timing of the guitars and the bass.
6. After each step and session, I’ll render an mp3, and replace it on the zip drive playlist. Then, that will allow for more listening and more ideas.
7. Just as a curiosity, at this point all of the recordings are bone dry. No reverb. That will come in the final mix.


Now comes more listening, possibly for as much as another couple of months, while I work on other tunes.


1. Then, I’ll go back to the drums and program them with care, making sure that the basic beat is what I want, adding the fills, the crashes, the rides.
2. I add keyboards, if needed
3. I add any hand percussion
4. I cut the lead guitar track.
5. Another mp3, and more months of listening.


A big lag usually comes in at this point, because it’s actually ready for the lead vocals. It usually takes me two to three weeks to schedule in a singer.


1. Cut 3-4 lead vocal tracks
2. Cut harmony vocals
3. Comp (“Composite”) the lead vocal tracks into a single “best of” track.


Then, I set up Reaper for the mix and do a preliminary mix.


1. EQ and balance Lead Vocals, Kick drum, bass guitar. These are the foundation of my mix. Once I set these, I usually don’t touch them. I hang the other instruments on these three anchor points.
2. Add the rest of the drum kit (split out, so I can adjust each drum uniquely).
3. Add the guitars
4. Add the keyboards
5. Add any other sparkle tracks.
6. Add the reverb and other effects. I also check it out in three different monitor speaker sets, to get a good balance and similar sound in all three.
7. Burn an mp3 and listen for a few days.


The final stages:


1. Tweak up the mix, based on  a few days of listening.
2. Render it out as a full-res wav file, with the full vocal and the minus track (no lead vocals) for performance, if needed.
3. Create a new project, for mastering it for the web.
4. Add compression, EQ, and limiting (that’s a whole ‘nuther blog entry!).
5. Mp3 it and listen some more
6. Finally, upload it into Soundcloud.


The reason I went through this whole explanation is to tell you this:


In about the third set of steps there, when I finish the drums and have the timings tightened up, It’s usually a very exciting time. That’s when it suddenly leaps forward, from a general idea and a loose collection of scattered tracks... into a real SONG! It gets its breath of life!


Even songs that I felt very blase about can suddenly turn around at that point.


So, that’s where I am with Under the Sun.  It’s a cool feeling!





Come back often to hear about new songs and shows. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including his Dutch Oven blog: Mark's Black Pot and his LDS pop culture blog: MoBoy blog.

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

This House is Haunted

This one was written many, many years ago. Some friends in our neighborhood went through a very ugly divorce, and the house ended up abandoned for a couple of years. One day, I was walking past it and thinking about their lives in the aftermath and this song came to me.  It took me many, many years to record it!


This House is Haunted


This house is cold and empty. Broken windows are all dark
The paint is peeling, old and grey, the yard is bare and stark
When I walk by I feel the cold rustling in the leaves
And when I stop to listen, I hear them whispering in the eaves


Chorus


This house is haunted
By a love that's dead and buried
Haunted
By two souls that once were married
Haunted
Their ghosts still walk these halls
They're haunted,
Trapped in these four walls.


He was building onto it as he built his family
Another room, another child, kept him too busy to see
When money started running thin, he felt like he had failed
And since she couldn't read the signs, the sign now reads, "For Sale"


Chorus


Bridge:
Can’t you hear the children praying
Listen to what they're saying
"We don't need a house that's grand
Just don't give up on what you're holding in your hand"


I see them floating through their lives. To work, then home to bed
Hoping some new love will come and raise them from the dead
Lurking in the shadows, the days tick by so slow
Unfinished house, unfinished lives, they just can't let it go 'cause they're still haunted...


....haunted
By a love that's dead and buried
Haunted
These souls that once were married
Haunted
Their ghosts still walk these halls
They're haunted,


haunted,


haunted,
Their ghosts still walk these halls
They're haunted,

Trapped in these four walls.

lead vocals: Darren Howell
lead guitars: Bill Williams

Come back often to hear about new songs and shows. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including his Dutch Oven blog: Mark's Black Pot and his LDS pop culture blog: MoBoy blog.
Mark's Other Blog Posts: name post, name post, name post,

Sunday, May 28, 2017

New Song! Guru - or - Thus Spake...

This is a recording of the tune that I wrote years ago, and mentioned a few posts back.  Back then, I called it "Tiny Hill", but I later renamed it "Guru". It seemed to fit more.

This is a really sharp tune, with lots of layers of sarcasm and cynicism. Really, it boils down to being all about the weaknesses and self-centeredness of "the philosophies of men". And so, indirectly, it's about how much we need God in our lives.



Come back often to hear about new songs and shows. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including his Dutch Oven blog: Mark's Black Pot and his LDS pop culture blog: MoBoy blog.
Mark's Other Blog Posts: name post, name post, name post,

Friday, March 31, 2017

National Poetry Month

A lot of people in the songwriting community, that I know, seem to think that songwriting is NOT poetry, and poetry is NOT songwriting.

I disagree.

And, based on the reasons they’ve told me, I think that they’re reached that conclusion based on a misunderstanding of both things. I’m told that modern poetry doesn’t translate well into pop songs. Songwriting requires certain forms and certain structures, whereas modern free verse poetry has cast off the limitations of rhyme, meter, and form. They cite that the teenager that says “Oh, I write poetry!” can’t make those poems into pop songs without doing significant work on either the poem or the song.

The poets also point out that there is too much repetition in song, with repetitive hooks and choruses. They also point out that poems are made of the words themselves, whereas a song is intended to be sung, married to the music. If you were to remove the music from most pop tunes, the remaining words would be a pretty bad poem.

I agree.

With all of that.

However, I believe that both of these groups are talking about apples and oranges, and I prefer a good fruit salad.

I think that song lyrics are poems that adhere to certain rules. This is the same as sonnets, or haiku, or much of traditional western poetry. In a sonnet, you have to have so many lines, of a certain meter, with a certain rhyme scheme. In haiku, you have to have three lines, with very strict syllable counts, and a purpose for each line. In a song, you have a definite structure of verses, choruses, and bridges. There generally has to be a rhyme scheme that matches from verse to verse.

In both poetry and songwriting you deal with issues of quality as well. There are good songs and bad songs, as well as good poems and bad ones. The best songs have vivid imagery, and emotional connection, just like the best poems do. There are many song lyrics that don’t rise up to the level of good poem, but that doesn’t mean they are not poems, just that they are bad ones. Conversely, there are many poems that should not be set as pop tunes.

However, they could be set in other styles. There’s the “art song”, once made popular by Schubert and other romantic composers, now expanded with more modern sensibilities, where non-strophic poetry or even prose can be set to music.

It is true that song lyrics are meant to be sung, whereas a pure poem is just the words. But then, there are many art forms that combine and draw from other art forms. What would a dance be without music or a drumbeat? Or a movie without music? Can you imagine a movie or a play without a story or the words of dialog? Arts combine often, to the enhancement of all.

So, while this month is National Poetry Month, I’ll be posting up some of my current and past song lyrics in celebration of poetry!



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Come back often to hear about new songs and shows. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including his Dutch Oven blog: Mark's Black Pot and his LDS pop culture blog: MoBoy blog.

Saturday, March 25, 2017

NEW SONG! "Been There, Done That"


In this song, I took a subconcious clue from Supertramp. They had a string of big hits in the 70s and 80s. Slicing, bitter, cynical lyrics happily sung to boppy and happy melodies. They did "The Logical Song", and "Take the Long Way Home" for example.

So, this tune is all about the cyclical nature of depression. It kind of splits me in two. It's set in a time when I'm feeling good, and life is going well. Metaphorically, I'm outside, playing in the sun. I look at my metaphoric house, and I see myself moping in the window. There's a storm raging inside the house. I want myself to come out into the sunlight, but deep down, I know that I'll eventually go back inside where the storm is.

I was personally very encouraged by Elder Holland's conference address:  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/10/like-a-broken-vessel?lang=eng

Anyway, here's the song and the lyrics::

Been There Done That
By Mark Hansen
2/23/2011

I see myself again
Back where I started in
Looking out the window at the bright blue sky

I don’t like to see me there
With a dark and cloudy stare
I want to help but I don’t know what to try

The storm on the inside’s full of hopes and fears
The rain on the window’s dripping down like tears

Chorus
Been there done that
Been there done that
Don’t know why
Keep going back

Out on the sidewalk here
The sun is shining clear
I wish I’d come out where it’s warm and dry

I smile and wave and say
Hey, Mark, come out and play
But something holds me in and I don’t know why

I know that I’ve been out on sunny days
But I always end up inside, back in the rain

Chorus

I want to see me change
I watch me and it’s strange
I don’t know what else to do or what else to try

I hate to see the pain
To watch me in the rain
I want me to come out and see the sky

But soon I know that I’ll go up and step to the door
I’ll push it open, step inside and cross the floor, ‘cause I’ve..

Chorus
...Been there done that
Been there done that
Don’t know why
Keep coming back

Arranged and produced by Mark Hansen
Vocals by Serenity Seely
Other instruments performed by Mark Hansen


To hear the song:






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Come back often to hear about new songs and shows. Mark also has other sites and blogs, including his Dutch Oven blog: Mark's Black Pot and his LDS pop culture blog: MoBoy blog.

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