Click on the CD
cover to see the song title

Click on the CD
cover to see the song title

Click on the CD
cover to see the song title
Click on the CD
cover to see the song title
Click on the CD
cover to see the song title

 

I began "multitrack" recording almost immediately after I stopped playing music professionally. I really liked the concept of playing all the parts myself, it helped me to understand the "big picture" of a song rather than seeing only one musician's part of it. In the early days, the equipment consisted of two cheap tape recorders which were used to bounce the tracks back and forth (losing quality with each track!) the results were, needless to say, pretty poor back then.
Later, I bought my first real multitrack machine, a TEAC 4 channel reel to reel. At that time I was experimenting with keyboards and although I learnt a lot, not a great deal of productivity resulted.

I went through a long period where music took a back seat in my life, there were so many other things going on. It was in Bad Kissingen, living by myself during the week and commuting home on the weekends, that my musical interests were re-awakened. I bought my 8 channel Tascam Portastudio and began to record some of the songs that I had been playing and that had been going around in my head.

The results of that period resulted in my first CD (it was initially a cassette tape, but parallel to the musical development, my PC capabilities were increasing and I purchased one of the first (ridiculously expensive) CD burners, essentially to produce my music on CD.It was called Late Nights at Number 9, alluding to my Bad Kissingen apartment. I didn't show this first CD to very many people, after the thrill of completing it died down, I was not very happy with the quality of the music or of the recordings either.

Shortly after, started in the Bad Kissingen apartment and completed at the "Basement Studio" in Heidelberg, I finished The Fat Lady! This was the first of my CDs that "went public". There are a couple of originals (words and music by Darrell Hughes) and I also spent a lot of time designing the CD cover design which even had "sleeve notes". This was a time when I was heavily influenced by Brian Adams, DonHenley and Rod Stewart. Singers who I still enjoy now!

The next project was the Set in Stone CD. This was also done in Heidelberg in 1997. I had bought three new guitars shortly before and during this project so these were heavily featured on these songs. Each CD that I produce shows improvements both in the production quality and in the musical content as my standards and expectations grow. The Set in Stone CD featured a 10 page booklet with pictures, song text and sleeve notes. The most gratifying thing about these projects is holding the finished product in your hand knowing that everything, from the choice of music, the arrangements, all of the different instruments and vocals, all the way to the sleeve design and production was "all my own work"!

There was a long pause before I completed the Where Are You Now CD. Although I was playing quite regularly, I didn't seem to find the time or the mood to record. In the meantime, I experimented with "music video" (There's an example on the "Audio Video Samples" page !) and also a change of residence, leaving Heidelberg to move back to the Kaiserslautern area. This CD is something of a rarity... I only made 12 copies, which went to some of my closest friends. Before I had a chance to make more, my PC had a heart attack (welcome to the world of Windows) and a lot of data was lost. The music of course I have copies of but the artwork is all gone. I have decided not to try to re-create it.... it will remain a "Limited Edition". Since this CD contained two of the nicest songs that I have written to date, (Where Are You Now and What About Love), as well as a new version of an old composition I did back in the 80's (Canada), I may include some of the songs on the next CD.

I finished my latest CD, "A Little More Light" in August 2002. This one seems to have a completely different style to all of the previous ones. The new classical guitar has led towards an "acoustic flavor" with multi-tracked vocal harmonies. As an offset, the Fender Telecaster, my dream guitar) has added a direction of it's own which has influenced the sound of many tracks. I included a number of tracks from the "Limited Edition" (Where Are You Now) CD, it seemed a shame for them not to "go public"! There are a couple of originals and a number of old songs from the sixties and seventies featuring some very different arrangements! All of the songs were recorded digitally using the Magix Music Studio 7 DeLuxe. As technology advances (and I become more capable of utilizing it!) The possibilities, the number of tracks available as well as the quality improvement has greatly improved... it may not be quite professional standards, but I am very pleased with the end result. The "Light" CD also includes my first attempt at CD ROM features, the original lyrics, a "Details page with a description of each song and a short video can all be viewed on any reasonably up-to-date PC with Web Browser and Media Player capabilities.

And so to the present... I'm taking a breather...in between CDs until the urge comes to start working on the next one. I have a number of new ideas and as soon as those begin to gell... the reels will start turning again!