NALI Music

red is like the sound of a trumpet

Feb 7, 2010 Jeff's Original Tunes
Posted by Jeff

A blind man wanted to know what it really felt like to see colors.  After much deliberation, he claimed to have succeeded… he said, “Red is like the sound of a trumpet.”

Well, I don’t own a trumpet (and I’m not blind).  Crap.  So… 29 tracks later, key shaking, kicking furniture, can popping, lots of ticklin the ivories, processing and processing, a few moments of “what the hell”… Lets just say, it might help to be walking when you listen.

Listen Now: red is like the sound of a trumpet
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Gravity Can Hurt

Jan 21, 2010 Jeff's Original Tunes
Posted by Jeff

I kind of wanted to hold on to this longer to maybe work on it more, but I couldn’t.  I think I am done with it anyways.  I am not really sure what it is anymore… it started as a very indie rock thing and then just melted into what it now is.  And then I named it some random name.  I don’t know what happened…hah.  Also, this is a loud one as well so be prepared.

Listen Now: gravity can hurt
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Lost is Found

Jan 10, 2010 Chris' Original Tunes, Uncategorized
Posted by Chris

My brother and I wrote this together. I think it might be our first writing collaboration. So good to create together. From his report, it’s first play in South Africa was a hit!

Listen Now: Lost Is Found
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Glory Bound

Jan 8, 2010 Chris' Original Tunes, Uncategorized
Posted by Chris

I’ve been writing this song for years. The chorus came in a Jersey City apartment. The verse somewhere with my brother in Europe. The lyrics came along the way and have one autobiographical element that I thought translated well to general life. But in my case, the path was a hiking trail by a river and I was on a bike…the rest you can figure out from the song. Hope you enjoy. It’s one of my favorites.

And a special thanks to my friend Kevin Marshall for dropping down the electric guitar!

Listen Now: Glory Bound
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I’m gonna take this plane right off the ground
Hallelujah I’m glory bound
I’m gonna take my faith and make a stand
Fly the plane down to glory land

When I had finally fallen
AS the trail had reached the bend
I laughed at the beginning
And I smiled at the end
There isn’t much to contemplate I heard the angel say
So take your faith and get on your way

And take this plane right off the ground
Hallelujah I’m glory bound
I’m gonna take my faith and make a stand
Fly the plane down to glory land

In the lonely valley
High up in the clouds
Deep within the air I breathe
Far beyond the sound
There is only faith my friend I heard the angel say
So take this key and get yourself free

And take this plane right off the ground
Hallelujah I’m glory bound
I’m gonna take my faith and make a stand
Fly the plane down to glory land

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flying objects in the sky

Dec 17, 2009 Jeff's Original Tunes
Posted by Jeff

Careful, this one gets really loud…

I was talking to Chris last weekend about maybe trying to do a bit more free-form music comp and this song was a first attempt.  I switched on all the gear and sat down with the guitar under an assortment of nice space-filling effects and fiddled for a bit with the record button down.  That yielded the underlying five and a half minutes of rhythm guitar.  From that point I jumped backed in with layer after layer of instruments until I had the majority of the piece.  Funny enough, the drums are basically me smashing on my midi-keyboard to the rhythm I had with little forethought for which sounds to hit and any semblance of control.  At this point I realized that the piece was a nice opportunity to try and layer on ambient sound files that I have wanted to use in place of writing vocals (The ambient samples are pulled from freesound.org).  With that the song took on much more than the emotion of the music and added depth and almost what feels like a story to the different parts of the song.  Well…. enjoy.

Listen Now: flying objects in the sky
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You Can.

Dec 2, 2009 Jeff's Original Tunes
Posted by Jeff

I am not quite sure what this is.  But it sure is loud and fun.

Listen Now: You Can.
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ps.  I keep posting as Chris by accident.  This is totally a Jeff song if you couldn’t tell.

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Fall Back Into Me

Nov 23, 2009 NALI Collaboration
Posted by Jeff

A bit unexpectedly, Fall Back Into Me was created.  Chris came to visit this weekend and we were just fiddling with the guitars and at the very last second… right before we were going to stop… we stumbled on the main guitar progression.  Chris instantly jumped at the catchiness and led the creative process by arranging the rest of the song, writing the lyrics, adding bass and being a bit inventive with drums (table top, drum sticks, rice shaker, and some bottles).

The idea behind the lyrics concerns some good friends of ours who work passionately to help other people improve their lives.  The song is a reminder for them to include time to relax and unwind in order to stay healthy and creative for the long haul.  We need you in good shape!

Listen Now: Fall Back Into Me
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Leaving Massaponax

Nov 8, 2009 Chris' Original Tunes, Jeff's Original Tunes
Posted by Jeff

Chris and I took the weekend to address one of the holes in the eventual Epic of Orion story.  Leaving Massaponax describes how the main character, Orion, prepares for his newly assigned role to guide a group of protectors to take on a dangerous foe.  He is young and scared, but must find a way to mentally prepare himself for the march and eventual confrontation.  The song begins as he awakes from a fitful night of sleep and ends as the group starts their march even though Orion’s courage is stronger but still wavering.

Listen Now: Leaving Massaponax
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The Wind and the Hurricane

Oct 22, 2009 Chris' Original Tunes
Posted by Chris

Last week I was playing on my sister in law’s ukelele. She is learning how to play. But she said she needed a song to learn to get her motivated to play it. I told her I would write one for her. So I took home the ukelele in a massive rainstorm and started to strum out a song.

I originally thought it would be a ukelele only song, but once I played it a couple of times, I heard a lot more to it. I’ve put both versions up.

Listen Now: The Wind and the Hurricane
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Listen Now: The Wind and the Hurricane (uke only)
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If anyone wants a copy of the chords and lyrics, I can post.

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I Cannot Let You Go

Oct 20, 2009 Chris' Original Tunes
Posted by Chris

After getting back to the States and talking with Jeff about music, I got pretty amped to see what could be done through Garage Band on my mac. Since I didn’t know any producers in the area and didn’t have any cash for recording, I thought I would give it a shot myself. This is one of a few I’ve been working on over the past few weeks.

Listen Now: I Cannot Let You Go
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Tell me mister, open up your eyes
It’s been some time since my baby has come by
Have you seen her, have you seen her face?
The one that could bring light back in this place?

I guess you thought that this would be easy enough
Just walking out the gate to say free
Trouble is awaiting believe me
Child are you making me plead?

With that face I cannot let you go
In this place you have my hand to hold
With that face I cannot let you go
You have my heart. I won’t close the door
You can take my love you can come on back for more

Yesterday you held so close to me
With the dawn you packed your things to leave
As you walk I see you’re not yourself
It’s you that you fool when you act like someone else

I guess you thought that this would be easy enough
Just walking out the gate to say free
Trouble is awaiting believe me
Child are you making me plead?

With that face I cannot let you go
In this place you have my hand to hold
With that face I cannot let you go
You have my heart. I won’t close the door
You can take my love you can come on back for more

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