Tom Haard Music

Vexations for laptop

2012-03-04T23:43:00.000-08:00

På Musikvidenskab har vi som opgave at skrive programtekst for Pulsar Festival. Hver af vores skrivegrupper har to komponister at lege med, og skrive om. Den gruppe jeg er med i har fået tildelt den islandske komponist Gunnar Karel Másson og danskeren Kasper Rofelt.

Jeg fandt det meget svært at affinde mig med at forholde mig neutralt til en musik jeg ikke bryder mig om. Da det var en programtekst der skulle skrives, og ikke en kritik, blev jeg tvunget til at gemme min mening væk om den musik vi skrev om. Jeg skulle virkelig grave dybt for at finde de rosende vendinger frem, så jeg vil sige at det opgaven primært har trænet mig i, er at skrive i en kønsløs tone om musik, jeg ikke holder af, og finde på flagrende floskler for endnu en gang at fylde et dokument ud, efter at jeg for længst er løbet tør for ord at sige.

Der opstår et problem med at referere til artikler, når de ikke eksisterer. Som det tydeligt fremstod på flere forskellige netsider hvor Kasper Rofelt benævnedes, så var beskrivelsen af hans musik en reproduktion af de samme tekstbidder og sætninger om og om igen - dem alle lånt fra hans egen hjemmeside. De uinspirerede gentagelser fik mig til at tro, at trods de rosende ord, så er der ingen der har noget originalt at sige om hans kompositionsvirke! Hvilket fører videre mig til ideen om at det primære hensyn inden for ny kompositionsmusik i virkeligheden er det samme som i resten af musikbranchen - hvordan holder man hjulene igang i en branche der er kunstigt holdt i live, og ude af stand til at overleve uden den statslige økonomiske støtte den modtager?

... og er det virkelig så pokkers svært at skabe ny kompositionsmusik som er behageligt at lytte til?

En finne om dagen...

2012-02-28T06:05:00.001-08:00

Jeg stødte ind i Signe Gry Thorup for en håndfuld år siden. Jeg ledte efter korpiger til mit band, og hun var en af de seje, som meldte sig. Bandet blev desværre aldrig til noget, men jeg bevarede kontakten til Signe, og fulgte hende i de andre projekter hun var involveret i.

Sidste år udgav hun sammen med den London-baserede finne Vesa Haapanen albummet Strange New World. De kaldte sig Leaving Atlantis, og jeg var svært begejstret for deres musik. Det var en skøn blanding af Zero 7 og Dido. Tilbagelænet lækkerhed.

Efter denne lille forhistorie er jeg nået frem til det storslåede ved det hele... jeg er begyndt at arbejde sammen med Vesa! Jeg har pt. modtaget fire vildt inspirerende instrumentaldemoer i dropboxen. Det bliver intet problem at skrive gode melodier til dem. Jeg håber, at den ene kan blive en duet med Signe.

Hvis I kommer i nærheden af deres album, så fang det straks - 69,- kr på iTunes. Især sangene "Your blues", "Paradise", "Da capo", "The one", "The hill"og titelnummeret "Strange new world" er værd at tjekke ud hvis man ikke orker hele albummet.

Anmeldelse - Club Phusion

2012-02-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

Jeg kom desværre for sent ud af min dør, så jeg gik glip af første kunstner torsdag aften på PH Caféens Club PHusion arrangement… hvad kan jeg sige… det kræver en del selvdisciplin at bevæge sig udenfor her hvor februar er mest vred. Anyway, jeg ankommer midt i aftenens andet sæt, hvor mikrofonen er placeret hos sangskriveren og guitaristen Lars Bonde. Bonde er ingen virtuos på sit instrument! Så er det sagt! Men hans sange er smukke, og hans stemme ligeså. Der er lidt Elvis Costello over Bondes stemmeføring. Han fortæller mig, at han tekstmæssigt arbejder på at fortælle en vedkommende historie. Lyden slet ikke god nok til at fange detaljerne i hans tekster, men sangene var stadig velindpakket i et behageligt akkordvalg, der gjorde dem rare og iørefaldende.

Jeg fangede ham kort efter koncerten, og fik stukket en EP i hånden, og derpå var et nummer som virkelig fængede - Life supreme - det er storslået! Jeg må have gået glip af den, eller så spillede han den ikke, men gå ind på hans Myspace og lyt til den. Den er skøn, og resten af EP'en er også kræs for singer/songwriter fans.

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Tredie sæt vil jeg springe let og elegant over. Lyden på PH caféen var i forvejen ikke imponerende, men tre sange med en uøvet sangerinde og et ustemt klaver er tre sange for meget! Mikrofonindstillingerne gjorde ikke hendes stemme nogen tjenester, og jeg håbede, at det var klaverets skævklang der gjorde det svært for hende at intonere korrekt, men yderligere tre sange i selskab med en ferm guitarist beviste, at det bare var hende der ikke var en tilstrækkelig dygtig sangerinde.

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Fjerde sæt tilhørte De'Lailas. Sangskriversken Laila Menia havde taget en lille flok musikere med - Torben Lund på guitar, Rasmus Vennevold på kontrabas og Jakob Johansson på cajon. Cajon'en var lidt skidt mic'et op, med en meget skarp lyd, men bandet var stadig overbevisende og velspillende. Jeg har stor beundring for musikere der kan skabe et varieret lydbillede i deres repertoire med så få instrumenter.

Første sang "Star", en Buttenschønsk jazzpop sag var så groteskt i sine popfloskler at det næste var for meget, men på en humorisktisk måde. Den fungerede som den ironiske kommentar til X-factor kulturen, den var ment som. Næste sang "I don't know" smagte af Sade… og den smagte af mere…. af korsangerinder og rhodes og lækkerhed. Jeg ved ikke hvad resten af sangene hed, for jeg havde så travlt med at nyde koncerten at jeg glemte at tage noter!

Jeg kunne virkelig godt tænke mig at høre De'Lailas med større besætning. Sangene fungerer, selv med nedbarberet instrumentering, men Menias stemme mangler noget at læne sig opad. Som før sagt, mikrofonindstillingerne var ret nådesløse, men så længe hun insisterer på at hun er sopran, så mangler hun enten velvalgte rumklangseffekter eller gode korharmonier til at opbløde den kant hendes smukke, men skarpe stemme indeholder.

Build-a-Star

2012-01-04T13:01:00.000-08:00

So apparently the winner of X-factor DK 2011 is working at Build-a-Bear! How does it go again?... oh yeah... Talent shows are a quick route to fame and fortune!

You left me standing by the altar.

2011-06-17T03:13:00.001-07:00

Vores nye keyboardmand brændte os af inden han overhovedet havde nået at spille med os.

Kudos til hans fremsyn, der tilsyneladende fortæller ham at vi ikke er værd at spilde tid på.

Oh well. Jeg er sikker på at det også ville have været forfærdeligt at spille med på Rådhuspladsen til august.

Håb

2011-06-16T15:07:00.001-07:00

Har endnu en gang ramt panden mod den mur der hedder forudindfattede mennesker!

Det er en pokkers skam at musikbranchen er gennemsyret af ideen om at kun få ting kan lade sig gøre... at vi styres af en indspist gruppe af folk man skal gøre sig venner med for at komme nogle vegne... at alt er styret til mindste detalje og intet er overladt til tilfældighederne.

Jeg kan ikke kæmpe mod den slags indbildninger. Jeg kan ikke kontrollere folks misopfattelser. Så jeg lader være. Jeg koncentrerer mig om det jeg er god til, nemlig at skrive sange der vækker behag. Jeg lader mit øre fortælle mig hvornår jeg er på rette spor og gør en indsats på at sortere kedeligt disponerede mennesker fra.

Mit håb er at hvis jeg gøder jorden længe nok så kan der også vokse noget i den.

Undskyld, men jeg er nødt til at irritere jer.

2011-05-20T04:56:00.000-07:00

En af betingelserne for at deltage i Bands of Tomorrows line-up er at vi skal gøre en stor indsats for selv at skabe opmærksomhed omkring de events vi spiller til. Er lidt begrænset af at mit netværk er facebook… og ikke så skide meget mere. Hver gang jeg laver en invitationsrunde føler jeg en lille smule dårlig samvittighed over at spamme mine venner med endnu et facebook-event.

Undskyld :( Men jeg har virkelig brug for at irritere jer!

Nød lærer halvafklædt band at spille kreativt.

2011-04-13T05:21:00.000-07:00

Vi har fået et job på Chili Pop i Rantzausgade. Selv været der flere for at høre musik. De lader til at have et trofast publikum… ganske forståeligt… alt det jeg har hørt derinde har været fedt.

De har dog begrænset plads, så vi har øvet os i at spille vores sætlist med et mindre set-up. Det er satme en udfordring at få rytmesektionen til at fungere når så mange af trommerne skal skæres fra. Chili Pop har simpelthen ikke plads til vores set-up hvis vi har alt vores gear med… nød og omstændigheder lærer halvafklædt band at spille kreativt :)

Selv om der stadig er strøm i spaderne, får vores musik en mere unplugged feel. Hvis jeg lukker øjnene undervejs er det fordi jeg forestiller mig selv som George Michael der sidder på en barstol med en halvmåne af forrygende afroamerikanske sangerinder som korpiger :)

Det bliver 8. juni.

Glæder mig!

New song - Dream come true

2010-05-12T02:28:00.000-07:00

An old colleague of mine - from when I worked as a bartender - and I had been talking about collaborating many times, but we never got around to do it. We lost touch when I quit the job and about a year ago we ran into each-other again and started talking about music. I got a edit of a new song he'd been working on but I wasn't able to write anything for it. The music was really good but I just didn't get any great ideas for a song - neither lyrics nor melody. I would open the project from time to time and close it just as fast again. Felt really shitty for not getting it done as promised.

But yesterday the muse of inspiration gave me a swift kick in the behind... and wonder of wonder... I wrote a song :)

Here is a small sample.

Enjoy!

What a wonderful world

2010-03-23T00:34:00.000-07:00

Spent half an hour on the rooftop of Palace Hotel in downtown Copenhagen.

This thursday a handful of event-makers were given a tour of the newly renovated hotel, and as they came up into fresh air they were met by me and Dorthe Zielke who gave them quite a lovely rendition of What a wonderful World. Dorthe is a trumpet-player I met last year.

It was all just perfect.

The acoustics outside, with the hotel's castle-like walls on all four sides.

The balmy spring weather.

And just when we ended the last note we were saluted by the bells of the town hall.

Simply magical :)

How to channel your inner Bon Jovi

2010-03-11T04:40:00.000-08:00

Here is a new track.

The music was made by a fellow Musik+ participant - Terkel Røjle. Lyrics by me.

This weeks assignment was about creating melody by picking random notes. Using instruments and vocals... letting themes repeat and expand into full-fledged melodies.

Through variation of repetition let simple melodies progress and evolve.

Most of you won't understand a word of what I sing - it's in Danish - just trust me when I tell you how unbelievably beautiful it is :) The incredibly organic guitar-feeling is for everyone though :)

We started out by having me sing the verses in bass with a falsetto overdub - two octaves inbetween - but instead we went with bass with tenor overdub. I got three-and-a-half octaves available. Might as well use them.

More "rock" then I'm used to. More belting, less cream :)

New song - If it feels right, it must be right

2010-02-16T06:29:00.000-08:00

Started this track more that a year ago but got stuck and never finished it. I wrote the first verse to some random, funky, clav chords. Added some bass... and got no further. Everytime I re-opened the project the missing chordprogression bugged me.

My teacher told me to strip it down... if I was having trouble with the chords then just remove them, and concentrate on the bass-notes... and it worked. Thirty seconds to come up with some proper bass-notes and thirty minutes to write a second verse and the chorus.

The vocals are pretty rough. Recorded them using Logic Pro 8 and my MacBook's internal microphone. I still like it though... in spite of the occasional heavy breathing, snorting, and clicking pencil sounds :)

Musik+

2010-02-16T00:38:00.000-08:00

I currently attend a music-course here in Copenhagen - Musik+

Each week we get a new assignment... challenging us to be creative when we might not be feeling creative... giving us tools to break the barriers of habit.

This week the assignment was writing music out of our "natural" 4/4 beat.

Usually the compositions are made through combined effort, but I got so inspired by this particular challenge that I created something of my own... in 13/8 cause that's the way I roll :)

13 is a symbol for bad luck, and 8 is a symbol for eternity ∞

The original title is "Neverending series of bad luck" but as I started recording it seemed "bad luck" hadn't a good flow so I changed it to "mistakes" instead - Numeral symbolism out the window.

I might change it back, but for now this is what it sounds like... Go easy on me, its just a rough sketch

New song - Naive

2010-02-04T23:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a little something something.

To say the distribution and promotion of my "arrival" album was distastrous is an understatement. The people at VME and Alarm are clearly an impotent bunch of fucks.

If you fuck, you're safe!

2010-02-02T12:02:00.000-08:00

I spent the afternoon with a musicbuddy - James Hope. He played new tracks for me, and introduced me to a South African shaman who were abducted by aliens. Apparently they walk among us, watch us and abduct anyone who isn't "passionate"... or something along that way. I never really pay attention to idiots!

New song - Not another lovesong

2010-01-17T01:42:00.001-08:00

Started working on a new song which I wrote to the chords of the young and talented Kamho Yung.

Still just a rough edit, but I think its kinda lovely :)

Tell me what you think

New song - Believe

2010-01-11T05:05:00.000-08:00

Started working on a new song by Mikkel Toft.

Not sure about the title, cause I didn't get very far in writing lyrics before I started recording sweet, lucious vocals for the chorus :)

Here's a taste. Let me know what you think

She moves in her own way

2010-01-06T06:03:00.000-08:00

But she have impeccable taste

I'm in good company

Check out the first track :)

Interview

2010-01-03T10:16:00.000-08:00

www.118artist.com and the lovely Elvan Okyay just published their interview with me

The page holds both the Turkish and the English version... scroll down for english :)

Enjoy

Tiger Woods Tributesong

2009-12-30T03:01:00.001-08:00

The lyrics for My favorite lie are bloody amazing :)

Can't wait to release it!

In hotelrooms

I will meet you

A little planning

And we'll be banging

Turkey down - 193 countries to go

2009-12-29T02:36:00.000-08:00

What do you know? A follower of my facebook-fanpage turned out to be a writer for at turkish web-based music magazine... and now she wants to do an interview :)

Yesterday she sent me a twenty-point questionaire. Very thorough indeed!

Studiotime

2009-12-29T02:26:00.000-08:00

Writing the final verse for "My favorite lie"

Mikkel Toft wanted me to swing by his studio tomorrow to record vocals for this song and another one of his compositions "Stone in my water"

Both are funky, bluesy, guitardriven poptunes. Very inspirational. The lyrics comes easily. I just met Mikkel, but I've already written three songs with him.

Could be the beginning of something worthwhile :)

Sweden down... 194 countries to go

2009-12-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

My swedish pimp - Magnus Ragnvid - used his considerable influence and got me an interview in QX. You can read all about it here

Red Antenna

2009-12-22T01:52:00.000-08:00

Been sent a link to preview the webshop... To say I'm completely satisfied would be a lie.

They have split the Arrival album in singles with no covershot.

The background picture i sent them has been used as a cover for Arrival

The actual background picture is a random shot from the album booklet.

I asked them to set the price for each song at 8 dkr and for the album 80 dkr - nice round numbers, but the price for each song is currently 7.50 dkr - 8.06 dkr with added tax.

8.06 dkr? what is this? A bargain-mart?

They're not answering my calls so I guess it wont be done until after christmas.

I hate not being able to talk to the tecnician who does the actual programming. Three-way communication through a key-account manager really gets my shorts in a twist.

The middle-man needs to go!

Online

2009-12-15T14:31:00.000-08:00

I uploaded the video for Black Microphone... So far no explosions

I've watched it a couple of times now. It scares the shit out of me :)

New song - Stone in my water

2009-12-14T05:00:00.000-08:00

That was fast!

Recieved a song from a new collaborator a few weeks ago.

I go an idea for a melody just as I was getting ready for bed last night.

I've made the mistake several times thinking I am able to remember it by the time I wake up the next day... of course I forget as soon as I fall asleep... so I recorded a short soundbite on my iPhone so I wouldn't lose it overnight :)

I woke up. Ate breakfast. Started recording an hour ago... and I'm done.

Everything in one take!

Lyrics. Chorus. The works.

Sometimes I scare myself :)

Enjoy

Thats a wrap people!

2009-12-10T13:05:00.000-08:00

I just saw the finished version of the video for Black Microphone.

They nailed it! They fucking nailed it!

I envision myself being part of a new musical revolution, hell, a new visual revolution where the music is primary, and the artist is un-made-up. No make up. Just real people.

I was shocked when I saw the finished video. I look nothing like they do on MTV. But thats a good thing. They've failed. They are no longer of interest. They were good at first, but they've removed themselves so far from reality they no longer represent their audience... or maybe they do. I'm unsure of the times we live in.

I love beauty. Raw, natural, unspoiled beauty. The kind of beauty you can't help stare at.

I rarely do well on photos, but I do extremely well in real life.

I owe Magnus Ragnvid and Peter Watycha a huge favour.

New song - Hanan

2009-12-09T05:17:00.000-08:00

I collaborated with a guy from Makemusic.net - Soren Otto.

He composed a beautiful 3/4 tempo song that I fell in love with. He calls it "Hanan". Havent figured out what that means yet.

I asked him if I could give it a shot at writing lyrics and melody for it... and he liked what I recorded :)

Im hoping we can make something more out of it.

He seems like a talented guy

Black Microphone

2009-12-08T04:42:00.001-08:00

A close friend of mine shot a video for one of my songs from the Arrival album. He's editing it as we speak. I'm exited as hell about my first music video.

You can see some of his work at his homepage

Red Antenna

2009-12-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

Waiting for a contract from Red Antenna so I can get the shop up and running. They've recieved the files, so all we need now is to finish the paperwork.

New song - You're my funk

2009-12-06T12:46:00.000-08:00

Got a track back from a good friend of mine who added just the perfect amount of wakkawakkaguitar to make "You're my funk" truly funky :)

Red Antenna

2009-12-04T10:57:00.000-08:00

I just bought myself a webshop.

Finished uploading music and albumcover.

It should be up and running from the start of next week

Welcome

2009-12-01T05:13:00.000-08:00

I need somewhere to keep track of what I'm doing.

What better place than this!