The S

One of my all time favorites. Absolutely love that song, only problem I have with it is if and when it pops up in my Spotify playlist I seem to be completely unable to stay within speeding limit, it's something about that song!!! ❤️ And you also talk about Townes, Phil Ochs...I must say, Mr Schmidt, you've got good taste in music no doubt.

Yes, what have already been stated. For sonic space only. If I wan't my song to sound like Howlin' Wolf, I'll have a Howlin' Wolf song imported to my DAW. I then compare overall balance of the mix, volume of instruments/vocals, fx's - correct/wrong - more/less etc... I always use it because without it I get lost in the momentum and then I'll unintentionally stray further away from the sound I intended to capture from the start. I usually have 1-3 ref tracks imported and muted in my DAW (Logic), when I need to check where I'm at I just unmute, listen, compare and adjust if need be. To me a ref track has nothing to do with writing. But I get that if you use your DAW as an instrument when writing and you have a fresh ref track up, I see where that could interfere with um...your own originality. That's like having a completely different song playing in the background while you sit with a guitar and try to write your own?!?! That's asking for trouble and inevitable plagiarism. 😃 So my advice is, use a ref track when the song is done and ready to be recorded, and use it only to capture a certain soundscape, for the whole mix or for certain instruments. Hope that helps. //Peter

Fixed that for ya! 😜

Ahhh, cool, I'm envious! I'd love to go there someday, not to live, but to see it, just to hang out and let the atmosphere of decades of music making sink in. I mean, it's a classic metropol of everything music, who wouldn't wanna go/be there?!!! I'd love to hear more on it. Keep us posted! All the best, Peter

Sure. This is me 2017. Rough demo and no solo on it yet so excuse the instrumental part. But still me.

I had to look up "quirky", you really sure it's a good thing?!?! Thanks!

Oops, well if you didn't hear anything out of the ordinary forget I said something will ya!?!?! Of course that would be ok with me, more than ok, I'd be honoured. Isn't that why we make music, to evoke, entertain and hopefully for others to enjoy it? /Peter

Kind words! Glad you liked it and thank you for letting me know! The recording woulda been better off if I didn't, in the middle of the song, try to beat the guitar to death by hammering on it, but I was in a flow and got exited, what can I say?!!! All the best, Peter

Today this. What a voice, what a place?!?!

And today this:

Well, I can only confess to this. Not as a musician because I do not believe that has anything to do with it, but the working environment and conditions for a struggling musician is hard. It was for me at least. I typically worked 7 days a week for 10 years, spending all my hours in the studio. There was always a deadline, always a record company waiting for results etc. And I could barely live on what I earned. I remember at the end of my so called career I had a strong and constant feeling of living on the outside of society because it was all work and no real award for it. So yeah, it was stressful to say the least, and when I finally gave in (to be honest at the time it felt like I gave up my dream) and looked for a "real" job with real hours, it took a long time to adjust and feel good about life again. But thankfully I made it back in one piece!!! I do not regret it for a second, but I won't lie and say it was a walk in the park either. Cheers, Peter

Today this.

Amazing vocals!!!

This plus a family, that's all you need. Then we start filling the world with tiny little musicians and before we know it, the world will be a better place!!! Let get to it! =) Oh and I loved your version of Blackbird Mahesh. As always great stuff. And your voice...man I envy that. =) All the best, S

A huge loss. /S