Month: November 2006

Got a callback from the recording studio… not as good news as I had hoped. First , They really liked the song. but the individual tracks I gave them were not up to snuff to professional ears. The Bass track was muddy, the drums have volume issues, The guitar was allright but they would have liked to have multiple takes to mix together to get a “fat” sound. The Vocal performance was great but too colored with ambient sound of my room. They said they could mix it but that I wouldn’t be satisfied with the result. At the advice of their head engineer, I decided to not have them work on it any further, and re-track it later.. (more money$$) The sad part is that I know they are right, I knew my recording skills were wanting, but wow I feel totally amature now. Blow to the ego. I really want to hear my music reach it’s full potential, but to record it right it’s gonna cost big bucks.  More then I can afford I am afraid (Dreams bigger than my Wallet)

Been Disconnected lately. Probably need medication. I have suffered from depression in some mild form or another for probably all my life, so this is nothing new. Comes in waves, usually lasts a month or so, but it’s been a long while now and there hasn’t been any sign it funk is going to subside. Don’t fear for me, this is mild. I have a lot of joy in my music and with my friends. I just feel Disconnected. I see everyone in the Holiday spirit and I am just not there. I don’t remember dates or plans. I know it drives Jeannette crazy some times. I have been neglecting responsibilities… promises I have made. I see these things, I see that I have become Disconnected and I just havn’t tried to do anything about it. That ends today. Today I am making an appointment to see someone. On one hand, it makes for good songwriting fodder. But on the other hand, I thinkI’m ready to start writing happier songs.

Ah, a fine Marler family tradition. Jeannette is in the kitchen and that Fuckin’ Macy’s parade is on the tube. I Love her dearly, but honestly, that parade is about as entertaining as a blunt object in your eye. Right up there with the lolly-pop kids on the Annoy-o-meter.  Not to mention the mindless drivel spewing from Matt and Merideth’s over fead mouths. And if I hear one more marching band I am going to scream. Having endured the parade in person a couple years ago… The TV version is just fingernails on the blackboard of my Thanks giving day… Maybe later We’ll get to watch a football game Yay !

I have had my first visit to the studio.

Granted it was only 20 minutes but well spent. The gear at Tonic room is impressive to say the least. The owners/staff were friendly and put me right at ease. The environment is also amazing the place is soft and the lighting lends well to the mood, The rooms sound amazing! Floated floors and adjustable wall treatments make for a versatile space.I think I could be very comfortable in this studio pouring my heart and soul in to my music. (Now if I can just afford it)

I gave Chris my CD he told me he would load up the tracks into protools on Tue after Turkey day. Hope I have nails left to bite till then.

This is a first baby step in a long journey for me.  hope I don’t twist my ankle

Next Wed at 11:00 will mark a new landmark in my recording carreer. I am taking the day off work. I am taking Master tracks to “You Give Me Vertigo” to the Tonic Room, they are a local studio that comes highly recommended. I am going to have them remix and master it. I am wondering about the difference of my recordings vs. “professional” mix. it’s gonna cost $35 for the mastering and $65 hour for mixing so I am thinking a hundred bucks. If they blow me away It will be worth it. After that I am going to the spa and getting a massage. because that is what rock stars do. (Then maybe snort some cocaine from the thighs of groupies.)

A day in a life of Ronnie Marler

1:00AM
Went to bed wasn’t stealthy enough and woke my wife up …oops

6:50AM
Woke up, no time for breakfast I’ll have a Latte when I get to work.

7:10AM
My BMW has satellite radio and I like the 70’s station in the morning. First song of the day,,Back stabbers by the O-Jays. I wonder if that’s where he got the idea to kill Nicole & Ronald. Driving to work with my wife. I met her here at work 16 years ago. We drive together every day

7:40AM
Here I am another day in the salt mine. I work at  Micron Technology where I write computer programs for machines that are used to make computer memory and cell phone camera chips.

8:10AM
Coffee, We have a coffee cart in the cafeteria, I have a Vanilla Latte with my good friend Dave. He is my band’s sound man and a fellow programmer. He’s a big guy, Diabetic, kinda goofy, and terminally single.

8:30AM
Side tracked by the internet again. My cube mate Bill asked me If I knew where Kent State was. Half an hour later I am reading about National guard killings of 4 students protesting the US invasion of Cambodia. Yes I work in a Cubicle, I have a small shop too where I work with the hardware aspect of my job. It’s full of computers and cameras and misc electronic crap.

9:00AM
Rounded up a Video capture card and camera for Todd .. Listening to the Wicked Karma stream on my computer, Circe said she would put some of my tunes on the play list but never did. When I play one of her venues again I’ll ask her about it.

9:30AM
The program I am working on today takes the input from a camera on a machine and and analyzes the image. Keying off specific changes that I see in the image, I take a snapshot and save it to disk. along with time sensitive production data.Think of it like, watching a video poker game and every time there is an ace of hearts I take a picture. But instead of an ace of hearts, it’s a microscopic bonding pad on a silicone wafer covered with hundreds of tiny cell phone camera chips each the size of a tic-tac.

10:16AM
Computer crash, I just lost all the work I did yesterday…. 2 steps forward one step back….. I need to get away from This…. Takin’ off early for lunch.

10:20AM
Went to the post office mailed a package. kinda chilly today I’m glad I have my favorite Black Velvet jacket on. It makes me feel luxurious. Not many people round here can pull off velvet. But my personality and  reputation is just flamboyant enough. I feel sexy when I wear it. Does that sound gay?

11:00AM
Lunch with the boys in the cafeteria. Dave (see 8:10), Paul our keyboard player, Tim our Bass player.. we call him Timmay like on South Park. and Bob Guitars. every one but our drummer Jim who has lunch at 1:00. We had a little dirty joke contest Tim won with a joke who’s punch line is “a hungry rat on a string”. Then we chatted about band practice. I took my song “Darkness Within” to them a few weeks ago. OMG!, Friday night we played it for the third time ever as a band, Jim slowed the tempo by about a third. Bob’s Guitar was thick and wet with reverb his long tailed licks hung on each phrase he was completely lost in it. And my vocal was so strong I scared myself. It was a “moment”, In 10 years when Rolling Stone asks me “When did you know…?” I’ll tell that story, and you read it here first. My band mates are my best friends,We all work here at Micron there is probably 100 years of working here if you combine all our time at this company. I have never had friends this close. I love these guys.

1:00PM
Just got dumped on. A new project that will consume my life for the next week. and since it is not tied to any of my current goals set by my management, I will likely not meet my target dates and miss out on the company’s new profit sharing program for the quarter. This new system is a morale breaker for sure.

1:05PM
WOOT! just discovered my crash didn’t screw me after all. wheeeew!

2:00 PM
Just heard Emmylou Harris sing “Red Dirt Girl” such a sad song, made me well up. I must be hormonal. “One thing they don’t tell you ’bout the blues when you got em, You keep on fallin’ cause there ain’t no bottom there ain’t no end. least not for Lilly Anne”

3:00PM
Usualy the time of day I have break with the lefties, But not today everyone is to busy for break time. Our programming group is split right down the middle when it comes to politics and religion. Half of them are the worst kind of born again, gun toting, kill all the Muslims and let god sort them out, “Your sister is going to hell for being gay”, Christians. And the other half I take break with. The gay comment is an actual quote BTW. I prefer people who can converse with an open mind…….. Break by myself.

3:45PM
Back from break. Dave ended up going after all. I like Dave but when it comes to women, he can be a real pig. Just think of your stereotypical sailor that’s Dave, checks out every girl that walks past and always has a commentary. I really think if he just had a girlfriend he would cool it. But like I said before, he is terminally single.

5:00PM
Time to go home, Stopped by Timmay’s desk to pick up audio recording interface he had borrowed then into the car and into gridlock

6:00PM
Home and watching the news. Fish for dinner tonight

I have been giving this a lot of thought lately,so I thought I would think about it out loud here on Ronnie Blog.

It’s the big “What if?” If opportunity knocked, would I have the courage to answer?

I think about the security I would have to give up to follow my dream. If a recording deal fell into my lap would I quit my job and move to LA? Take a leave of absence head to the studio and go on tour? How much would my wife risk for my dream? How much would I?
The question has always been a theoretical. but recently I don’t know, it no longer feels out of the realm of possibility in today’s interconnected Internet world. I have friends who know people in the business. People with the power to realize things.

I had conference with my spiritual adviser today, and have decided to decide what I want and to ask for it.
So,

Putting this out into the universe…
I am going to be famous, It is my belief that people will be humming my songs in their heads. while they are doing the dishes. It is my belief that my songs will be on the radio so that when you are alone in your car, my lyrics may strike a truth in you, give you a chill, or make you cry, in your private realization of who you are. I believe that I am a proper servant to my art, and I am willing to accept my success. This is what I want and this is what I am taking. It is mine and I deserve it.