So far in The Hockey Project, we’ve had almost exclusively metal (with the exception of maybe “Allright, That’s It”, but even that’s a tenuous grasp at best). So it’s about time for a change, isn’t it? Yeah, I thought so too. Here’s a good ol’ uptempo pop-punk tune a la Vandals. I’m not gonna lie – this was a fantastic test of speed and endurance (especially the latter) on the drums.
Lyrically, this one is simple. Oddly enough, it’s also one of the most personal songs I’ve written in quite a while. Is that saying much? Well… no. This song is about how I went to the Frozen Frontier thing and froze my butt off watching a hockey game (which proved to be wildly entertaining) in a baseball stadium. Sing along with the chorus: “Merry Christmas / Crap it’s cold out / I can’t feel my toes anymore”
Hello there. It’s time for a new song! And how about a song with a little more melody than the last one? This time, I kept the harsh vocals to a minimum, saving them for the end of the song.
So let’s start with the music. It’s pretty djent-tastic, if I do say so myself. The first riff is a good ol’ 3-against-4 rhythm interrupted at the end to keep it confined to four measures. Outside of that, the real noteworthy thing is the fact that the song is in B-flat – not a good key for string instruments. It’s an interesting but still worthwhile challenge to play in keys that guitars don’t like. You’d be surprised how much we guitar players rely on open strings…
As for the lyrics: This song was inspired by the notion that the bonus point in the standings for games tied after regulation actually makes it more difficult for teams out of the playoff seeds to catch up. Therefore, if a team isn’t less than 5 points out of a spot by December 1st, then they’re pretty much done. But at the end of the song, I resign myself to the fact that I’m still a fan of a team that’s well out of the playoff picture and I’ll just keep watching anyway.
Hello again. After a bit of a recording hiatus, The Hockey Project is back on track. I’m all caught up to where I want to be, so expect a lot of music over the next month or two. NOW, on to track four!
The main riff to this song came about the way a lot of really good riffs do – completely by accident and with little to no thought. I’ve been obsessed with music in 7/4 and 7/8 time for years, so combine that obsession with the 8-string guitar and we get some new ideas on how to be heavy in compound time. I added some other riffs in different meters (including a clean section) and realized I had a bit of a winner.
Now, about the lyrics: As my friends and family know, my favorite hockey team is the Buffalo Sabres. Well, the Sabres are bad this year. Really bad. Really really really really really really bad. So bad that they were painful to watch in October. In mid-November, they fired their head coach and general manager – a move fans were clamoring for all season (or, in the case of the GM, since about 2007). This song is about those firings. Verse 1 is a fairly typical sports fan reaction while Verse 2 is the realization that wishing for somebody to lose their job is kinda weird. And then, the chorus: “Our coach was fired (now what) / GM was fired (now what) / Those guys are gone (now what) / We got what we wanted, so now what?”
Well, here we are again. Another calendar year has gone by, sooo… MORE CHRISTMAS SONGS! This year’s batch is a nice mix of secular and sacred with lots of twists and just as many guest spots. But, since we can’t just ignore traditions, all of mine are in place – the “way too fast” song, the harmonized guitar lead, “holy crap”, and even that awesome crashing sound. This batch also marked a first for me – I had never recorded a slamming door until now. Overall, this was a fun set to make and I’m happy with the results. Enjoy!
Recorded and mixed at The House, Rochester, NY, Nov-Dec 2013. Piano on “Blue Christmas” by Rob Klingenberger. Additional vocals/yelling on “Joy to the World” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” by Rob Klingenberger, Sarah Peangatelli, and Steve Begy.
Well, it’s about time for another Hockey Project tune! This one is a combination of the type of metal from the first tune and the subject matter of the second one, but this combination has resulted in something completely different.
Today’s new song is what I like to call a musical approximation of a hockey fight. There is no singing and speed metal is abound here. But what’s really different – and also solidifies the theme – is its length. Since the vast majority of hockey fights are over in 30 seconds, this song is also over in 30 seconds. In fact, this song is shorter than the introduction in either of the first two songs. It’s fast and ridiculous… and it was a lot of fun to make. Enjoy!
There is a far-reaching history of punk and metal with this sort of song length. In metal, it’s a whole sub-genre called Grindcore – my favorites are The Locust and Puig Destroyer. In punk, I tend to look at bands like Minor Threat and Black Flag, but there are plenty of other examples (one of my favorite really short songs is “I LIke Food” by Descendents). Have fun in that little rabbit hole and I’ll see you next time.
Allright, NOW it’s officially a project! Finish one song and that doesn’t really solidify things. But two songs? Yep – project time. This one is a few days late, but that’s because this song took more time than I expected. Oh well – it’s a good problem to have, really…
Musically, this was a pretty tough one. I have been a bit out of practice on the drums, (no) thanks to my time in Ohio, so this song was more difficult than I anticipated. BUT I got through it and they turned out allright. As for everything else: I like off-beats. A lot. Music would be boring if everything was on the beat, you know? But besides that, I wanted this heavy, groovy thing in 4 through two verses and two choruses, then drop all of it and have the rest of the song be completely different. Sure, that caused the song to clear the six-minute mark, but I’m still really happy with how it turned out. The ending section was definitely inspired by the band Tesseract (one of the absolute best “djent” bands out there now) and I guess is the minor key equivalent of the 50s progression. I like how it starts quiet and builds right up until the end…
That ending section also helped dictate where the lyrics went. The chorus was written first again. I’ve always been fascinated by “The Code” – it’s hockey’s version of baseball’s “Unwritten Rules.” As I went on, I started writing from the perspective of an enforcer… and that drastically different ending helped write the rest of the lyrics. He does something bad in verse two, gets thrown out of the game, and starts to deal with the repercussions in the ending. The weird thing, though? The John Scott Incident between the Sabres and Bruins happened within 48 hours after I wrote these lyrics. My brother thinks now I need to write a song about the Sabres winning the Cup…
So, here you go. Enjoy!
See you next time for a MUCH shorter song than this one… that’s, oddly enough, also about fighting. Hmm…
Ten years (and one month, but whatever) ago, I unwittingly embarked on my first sports project. Dubbed “The Football Project”, I would write and record a song – or, in a few cases, a bizarre sort of soundscape – while watching football. I was a senior at SUNY Purchase at the time and it seemed like the thing to do while being bored on campus on Sundays. Not that I’m a big football fan – I enjoy it, but it’s not my favorite fall/winter sport. Well, ten years and eight sports projects later, I’m finally taking on my favorite fall/winter sport. Introducing: THE HOCKEY PROJECT!
Here’s how The Hockey Project will work: There will be a brand new song about hockey on this here site every two weeks throughout the regular season. When the playoffs start, I will make one song per round. In total, I will (or at least should) finish with 18 tracks when we wrap up in June.
So, when does the first song go up? Well… NOW. A little bit of the Canadian national anthem, a little bit of speed metal, and a long intro are in the mix for this song. Lyric-wise, I decided to write about the drastic spike in “guys getting kicked out of face-offs” that started last season. I started with the chorus, then wrote everything else after that. Seemed to work pretty well… Anyways, please to enjoy and I’ll see you in two weeks.
One of the best things about creating your own music is the simple fact that you can do whatever you want. As long as it “works” and “makes sense”, your songs can be about anything. On the same token, it’s a little known fact that songs don’t have to be in 4/4 time in order to work. This little guy here is a case of both.
Lyrically (What? Lyrically?! Yes, this track has lyrics!), this song is based on a true story. In what must have been a truly harrowing scene, my brother was out for a run one morning when he was slapped in the face by a rogue leaf. As soon as he told me about it, the phrase “vicious leaf attack” popped up and the song started to write itself.
The first thing to show up was, of course, the main riff and chorus. I grabbed my trusty 8-string and started to play… and I had that riff within minutes. The fact that it’s in 7/4 made it even more fun for me (You know how I am with odd meters). So, as a result, the whole song is in 7 except for the “verse”, which is in 9/8 instead. Sometimes I think odd meters work better when there’s no 4/4 for contrast…
So there you have it – a weird prog-metal song about getting slapped around by Mother Nature. See? You really can write songs about anything. Enjoy!
Hey, look – a new thing! Instead of a full song, though, this is just a small little idea that I’ve had kicking around for a little while. GuessI just need to get back into the swing of things, so this little guy is nice fodder to get back into the ol’ habit. I think I actually came up with this idea in a dream… and woke up that morning with a headache. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.
I’ve always been fascinated by rhythmic displacement. An old formula of mine is to take a four measure riff/phrase and lop off the last eighth note to give it that sort of hiccup and keep the listener guessing. The displacement idea is also why I grew to really like Meshuggah. This thing here is sort of the best of both worlds. The last eighth note is lopped off in every phrase, but in true Meshuggah fashion, the pulse doesn’t move (the snare drum is the reference point). Instead of cutting it off early to round it into a 4 or 8 measure riff, though, I decided to see the displacement through right up to the point where it would reset… which is where this recording ends. Enjoy!
Ed Makes Things 