It is now July 27th, 2013. I ended my recording challenge nearly 2 months ago. Looking back at that month there are a few adjectives that come to mind…some positive, some not-so-positive: fulfilling, satisfying, educational, challenging, stressful, exhausting.

I started out with a great piece…I really liked #1. By day #3 I was wondering what I’d gotten myself into and seriously doubting my ability to compose, record and post a NEW song every single day for 30 days. By day #5…I doubted even more. I think…Read more

This is it! My last song of my 31 DAY CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!

Can you say, “Olé!”? I sure hope you can!

I am going to write another post within a couple of days as a summary and reflection on my 31 days so I’ll keep this post about my last composition for this challenge.

I wanted to end on a happy note…if you know me at all then that wouldn’t be a surprise. This composition took me quite a while today (4.5-5 hours) but it was worth it. I think it’s a great song for a FIESTA…hence, the name.

Please take…Read more

I write this blog with a bit of sadness as it is the penultimate recording of my 31 Day Recording Challenge! My, the time FLEW by!!!

I must admit, the challenge has lived up to its name…I’m dragging a little bit with my energy but I’d bet that has a little to do with the health challenges that have emerged this month as well as the demanding schedule and pressure of composing and recording a brand new composition for 31 days.

Today’s composition is a flamenco “Alegrías”. Lena is doing palmas for me. I…Read more

Ha! This new song is a quirky little guy!

I didn’t get much sleep last night because of a really bad stomach ache and then today I found out that I have SEVERE food allergies of which I had been previously unaware. A little scary knowing this will require a major dietary/lifestyle change on my part.

So…needless to say…I really, really, really was NOT in the mood to do my 31 day challenge today. But heck, if this was supposed to be easy, it wouldn’t be called a CHALLENGE!

I needed a little pick-me-up…Read more

Well, I’m WIPED OUT!

I really had a wonderful time making this composition. I used my guitar that I call “Little Red Riding Hood” and we had a blast together!

I’ve got to get some rest so I’ll leave you with my new song, “Star Dust”.

~CBJ

Does it keep within the rules?
1. Yes. 4:40 minutes long
2. Yes. LOTS O GUITAR and percussion and bonus sounds
3. Yes. Created, Recorded and Posted on 5/28/13

I actually composed and recorded 2 songs today. The first was for a commercial that I hope I get…cross your fingers! That one doesn’t pass THE RULES because it’s only 30 seconds long so I had to do something ELSE! I’ve been hard at work today, that’s for sure!!!

This is a piece in a key I’m not so familiar with so it really stretched my brain!

Enjoy!

~CBJ

Does it keep within the rules…
1. Yes. 2:54 minutes long
2. Yes, as long as I don’t record more than 8 other solo guitar compositions.
3. Yes.…Read more

Just over a year ago, Lena released a beautiful inspirational book that contained photos of one of our flamenco shows coupled with inspirational and motivational quotes from many significant figures. The book is GORGEOUS!

I wanted to collaborate with Lena again and I thought her voice would lend itself nicely to a kind-of “book on tape”. Instead of going through the book page by page however, Lena chose some of her favorite quotes from the book and read while I improvised melodies throughout. It came out…Read more

I came up with the rhythm/backing guitar part while on a gig today and I thought it would be nice to solo over. So that’s what you’re getting today, a nice little duet.

I think it’s pretty romantic so curl up with the one you love and...

Enjoy!

~CBJ

Does it keep within the rules?
1. Yes. 2:50 minutes long
2. Yes. 2 guitars
3. Yes. Created, Recorded and Posted on 5/25/13

I had the idea yesterday to make a warm-up “piece” for myself. Something that I could play without getting totally bored (which for me means it’s relatively musical) and would get my hands playing many techniques I use so that I’d be ready to go if I played the piece once or twice through.

I’m not done with it yet but here’s a section I developed and elongated into its own little piece.

Enjoy!

~CBJ

Does it keep within the rules?
1. Yes. 2:16 minutes long
2. Yes, as long as I don’t record more…Read more

Originally called this song, “Electric Chair” but in the end I didn’t think it went with the song any longer so this song is now called “Desert Mystic”.

I had a BLAST and this song literally took me 2 hours TOTAL! One of my strongest, IMHO, and it just flew together!

I think that even if you’re not in the desert you can enjoy this one!

~CBJ

Yes…I passed the rules.
1. Yes. 3:14 minutes long
2. Yes, 3 guitars, plus LOTS O percussion.
3. Yes. Created, Recorded and Posted on 5/23/13

Fandangos de Huelva is a wonderful flamenco palo. I felt like playing some Fandangos today so I hope you enjoy this piece I made. The main melody is reminiscent of the traditional singing melody but done with my own artistic license.

The name? Oh, I thought that if someone from Huelva heard somebody say, “I like this song called ‘Fandangos de Chris’” they would most likely say, “Fandangos de Quien?”

¡Olé! and see you tomorrow…it’s hard to believe I only have 8 days left of my 31 Day Challenge!

~CBJ

…Read more

Felt like doing something with an ocean/breezy feel today and what better music to bring an ocean vibe than Brazilian music! I came up with a melody and a nice chord accompaniment to it in a bossa/samba style and went to work.

Enjoy your tour of Brasil, my friends!

~CBJ

Yes…I passed the rules.
1. Yes. 1:56 minutes long
2. Yes, 2 guitars, percussion and some of vocals.
3. Yes. Created, Recorded and Posted on 5/21/13

I am so blessed to have my nephew, Braeden, in my life. It’s his birthday today and he’s now an official double-digiter…he’s 10!

I wrote this song for him today. I am going to have to go back and redo everything but at least you can hear a decent version. It was really challenging time-wise to write it, learn it and record it all in one day. I will need to spend some time after the 31-day challenge to polish it all up.

I did send this over to him earlier today though and he really liked it. Especially…Read more

Special day!!!

I had my student over this morning and we recorded 2 tracks!! I wanted to try out my microphone in a “Live” setting where I had it set up to just record the room while we played these 2 pieces.

The first song is one copla (out of four) from a traditional folk dance from Sevilla called "Sevillanas." My student, Mark, played the copla of Sevillanas and I accompanied him with rhythm. The second song, I called “Sunday Morning”. I taught Mark the chord progression and he rocked it solid while…Read more

Bulerías! Olé!

Please read the blog from yesterday about composing (go now! Do it!). When you’re back, now you’ll understand when I say that I basically have done the same thing here with the falsetas and rhythms. I hope you enjoy!

See you tomorrow…I’m off to watch The Hobbit.

~CBJ

Yes…it passes all the rules.
1. Yes. 2:09 minutes long
2. Yes, palmas tracks plus solo guitar.
3. Yes. Created, Recorded and Posted on 5/18/13

Solo guitar day…it’s Friday and now more than 1 day past the half-way point in this crazy recording month! Going back to my flamenco roots, this is a Soleá that I “composed”. I write “composed” because most of this couple of minutes is just different rhythmic variations and then there are a couple of falsetas (cohesive musical themes) that I did compose that are interspersed within the traditional rhythmic stylings of soleares.

Most flamenco guitar compositions fall in this category unless they don’t play…Read more

I guess it’s pretty obvious at home that although I’m exhausted from this songwriting/recording marathon, I’m having tons of fun.

Because Lena wanted in on the action!

So today, Miss Lena Jácome got to have all kinds of fun talking into the microphone, making silly sounds, singing and as you’ll hear…lots of laughing too!

We had a blast and I hope you think this song is FAR OUT! Yeah, it’s OUT…as in OUTER SPACE!!!

It seems that the 8th planet might just have some inhabitants because there’s some…Read more

Yoga!!! I love practicing yoga! I don’t do it very often but when I do, I LOVE IT!

To share a bit of a secret with you…I know you’re not supposed to compare your yoga practice with others but it is very obvious when I take a yoga class that I’m awful! I have to strain so hard (I literally start sweating) just to sit in a cross-legged position without my legs springing me directly onto my back.

Yoga’s peaceful practice is a HUGE FREAKIN’ WORKOUT for me!

Anyway, I was feeling in a very zen place this…Read more

So, you might not of ever guessed but this song has taken nearly 6 hours of work. Why, you ask? Because today was the day I needed to figure out a whole bunch of new stuff with my recording equipment. What is a “bus” and what’s it good for? How do I make a loop of something? I’ve worked with loops before but they’re pre-made, not something I create on my own. How to use effects? And finally I was able to try my acoustic guitar that I just plug in instead of having to mic. LOTS of experimenting and…Read more

Monday the 13th?

Well, I thought it would only be appropriate to play some BLUES!!!

This is NOT my forte but it sure is fun rocking out to the blues every once in a while! I think I’ve got some great guitar sounds going, do you agree?

I’ve got to run to an impromptu gig tonight so I’ll catch you tomorrow, my friend!

Does this piece keep within the rules?
1. Yes. 1:40 minutes long
2. Yes, 2 bluesy guitar tracks rockin’ away!
3. Yes. Created, Recorded and Posted on 5/13/13

~CBJ

My nephew Braxton and I were hanging out this afternoon and I realized that I had yet to play guitar for him in his 8 months on this planet! So, I grabbed the guitar and started playing this little melody for him because he was a little cranky (he’s got a cold!).

Well, he LOVED it! When I have his approval I know it’s gotta be good!!! I thought about the melody all the way home and then spent about 30 minutes finishing the song up and now here it is...

My “Lullaby for Braxton” is complete!

Does it keep…Read more

What is the purpose of music?

You can answer that question in an infinite # of ways but today the purpose of THIS music (per my intention) is to take you somewhere deep, somewhere guttural. Perhaps push you to go somewhere that’s not so familiar. We tend to shut off the unfamiliar, stay with what we know. This piece is pushing. A little tense. The sounds are both environmental and musical.

Let me know what you think as the Imps in this music take Action and see where they take you…

Does the new piece…Read more

Honestly......I’m wiped out! 10 days down though, yay!!!

I guess it’s a lot of pressure to come up with a new composition each day when you’re not used to it. I really liked the piece today but I’ve got to push myself a bit to be more experimental recording-wise. I’ve got the acoustic guitar recording down enough to feel I’ve got an ok handle on it. This weekend might be pushing it to try much experimenting because that takes time and we’ve got a lot on the plate right now but I look forward to delving…Read more

Oh, la Vida Loca!!! Super-busy day today just with LIFE let alone trying to have a few minutes to create and record a new song.

I don’t know that this qualifies as a song. I did 2 takes of improvisation. This is the first take…it came out better. I recorded this with my custom Les Stansell guitar…as you can hear, it is PHENOMENAL!

I hope you enjoy my improvisatory musings and see you tomorrow!
~CBJ

Oh, the rules…
1. Yes. 1:54 minutes long
2. Yes, as long as I don’t record more than 12 other solo…Read more

I think I might be getting a little TOO confident…I didn’t start creating/recording until 4:30pm today!!

I’m lucky I didn’t have a problem coming up with something. Tomorrow I’ll get back to starting first thing in the morning. What I don’t want is to start LATE like I did today and then get stumped for an idea. That would be BAD!!

So, I’m back on electric today. I played my Ibanez guitar that I call, “Little Red Riding Hood”. She’s a great guitar. I haven’t played her since I scored the movie my friend…Read more