music

Rain Clouds

Today I am happy to release my new song “Rain Clouds”.

This track was recently recorded along with several others, planned to be included on a longer release later this year.

“Rain Clouds” and all the other songs were played and sung live, twice. Then either the best take was used or they were both blended together.

“Rain Clouds” is currently available on BandCamp in a “pay what you want” model. If you want to pay for it you can, if not that’s okay too. I’d just love for you to hear it.

Hear “Rain Clouds” now at malandarras.bandcamp.com/album/rain-clouds

The Music Experiment: Part 2 (Love Sick Demo)

Today we are listening to the finished demo version of a song. That almost died a silent death in my iPhone music cemetery.

If you read Part 1 you’ll know that over the last few years I’ve recorded hundreds of ideas like this and never finished them. Now, I’m experimenting to see what happens when I put in a little extra effort to finish them.

This is the second one I’ve done like this. The first can be viewed here.

This is called ‘Love Sick’.

Click here to watch it on YouTube.

This is by no means a finished song. I only did one take of the guitar and vocals and I didn’t fix anything. I added a second guitar track to the chorus because I tracked the vocals and guitar at the same time. And the guitar was too far away from the microphone to be heard well enough.

I could have re-recorded it and possibly gotten a better take on attempt #37. But these are still demos. (you can hear the unfinished version here)

And I don’t want to get ahead of myself, yet.

Thanks for tuning in, let me know what you think.

The Music Experiment: Part 1

Today is the beginning of an experiment.

As many of you know – I moved to Hollywood in 2008 with a plan to make a name for myself in the music industry. I was also doing a little advertising on the side to pay the bills.

About sixty days into my Hollywood experience the advertising thing exploded with such force that I decided to switch my focus to it.

So I put my music ambitions on hold while I

killed it.

The Phone Recordings

During these years I have been recording song ideas into my iPhone. And now, there are hundreds of them there that will probably never seen the light of day.

It’s been mostly due to my own laziness, but there’s something else that’s a little bit

strange.

I have this thing

where I can hear the fully finished version, all the added instruments, a gospel choir and a symphony all playing together. I can imagine myself performing the song in front of thousands of people and I can see myself take a bow towards their roaring applause.

I can go through the entire process without ever actually finishing the song.

But it’s all just happening in my head.

So it doesn’t really mean anything.

So now, instead of letting my songs die a lonely death, I have decided to take some of the ideas (as they come) and release them as fully fleshed-out demos with simple videos on YouTube.

*I’ve already launched one in this format.

I’ve been wanting to do this for years and now, it’s finally time.

This will solve a few problems – for both of us.

For me, it will get my music out into the Universe. This is very important to me. I don’t want to be the guy that gets hit by a bus and then they find 100s of paintings hidden in his closet that no one ever saw. I want people to hear this. I want it to be out there in the wild.
For you, I hope this provides inspiration to focus and “put out” whatever it is you’re holding back on. You can do exactly what I’m doing with whatever you choose. Whether you’re trying to get to the next level in advertising, fitness or dealing with depression, you can get there faster. All it takes is a little extra effort.

Let’s Hear It

So, today I am posting a song that was recorded into my iPhone a few weeks ago. This is how all of my ideas start out. I start clunking around on some chords that I play on accident and mumbling melodies, words and phrases as they come to mind.

I call this ‘The Transmission’ because it’s as if the guitar is pulling something out of the ether and transmitting it through me. All I do is listen. It is then my job to figure it out and translate it into a song.

But at some point I stopped doing my job. And it only takes a few hours to get the job done. So I’m going to finish this one and see what happens.

Here it is. In it’s unfinished state.

Click here to watch it on YouTube.

The full demo and video will be posted tomorrow. *Update: Here it is >>

See you there.

New Music: Nothing Left Behind

Share it on Twitter: [tweetable] Check out this new song from Malan Darras[/tweetable]

By: Malan Darras
Song: Nothing Left Behind
Date: April 6 2015

// Lyrics

When your feet are standing
On shaky ground
Take one step forward now

When the game is over
Get out of town
Burn all your bridges down

Til there’s nothing left behind

When you see old memories
From the bad old days
Change all your evil ways

If your desparate demons
Are still hanging on
Cut right down through the bone

Til there’s nothing left behind.
Just keep losing your mind.
Till there’s nothing left behind.

The Story Behind ‘Nothing Left Behind’

On April 3rd, 2015 I got a new Focusrite Scarlett Audio Interface in the mail. It’s a small, red box that lets me plug instruments and microphones into my computer.

I grabbed my acoustic guitar and decided to do a quick check to see what it was going to sound like.

I’ve been using a cheap usb mic lately and wanted to use my Brauner Phantom Classic again, which is why I needed the red box (phantom power).

I did a quick level check with a song I wrote a few days before. When I got done I listened to the playback and thought it was quite terrible.

The microphone sounded great, but I sounded awful. And the guitar was out of tune and had a dead battery. So the only guitar that was recorded was coming through the vocal mic. Total crap.

Second Chances

The next day I exported the song to my iPhone and listened to it while I went for a little walk around my neighborhood.

That’s when it hit me.

The song, while imperfect, is probably the closest I’ll ever get to being truthful on a recording.

Because no one was supposed to hear it. There was no thought about what it was going to sound like. No producer staring at me through the glass. No anxiety. No audience in mind. No commercial considerations.

This is exactly what it sounds like here in my apartment, when no one else is around. It’s just me, singing quietly and holding back a little so I don’t disturb the neighbors.

It’s a scratch track, but it’s perfect.

The more I listened to it the more I thought it was something I wanted to share. Because I know that the next time I hook that microphone up and start to play I’ll be thinking about things other than just the music.

I’ll never get another first shot like this.
So this is it. As raw as it gets.

Let me know what you think.

– Malan

Brain Music: How To Use Music To Boost Productivity, Work Faster and Focus

Most of us aren’t getting work done online because of a lack of focus. We’re distracted by the sounds and conversations around us. To solve this problem, you should create a playlist of music that helps your brain focus and listen to it every time you sit down to work.

We all know that music can impact the way we feel and change energy levels greatly.

We use music every day to create desired moods — to wake up, to get pumped up at the gym, to energize, to bring back certain memories and to help us relax. In effect, music “sets the scene” for many of our most important experiences.

So shouldn’t it be possible to use music to tell your brain it’s time to focus?

Absolutely, yes.

Research has shown that music can help you create a desired work atmosphere, increase attention, focus concentration and even improve your memory.

Jonathan Berger, PhD, Stanford associate professor of music and a musician said that music’s ability cause the brain to anticipate events and sustain attention could be music’s “evolutionary purpose“.

I was recently contacted by a subscriber, @samrexford on Twitter about listening to music while you work to focus. He sent me a link to a website called FocusatWill that curates and streams Focus music for you for a monthly subscription fee.

While it’s an interesting concept I don’t think it’s something I’d pay for. It’s just too easy for me to make a Focus playlist in iTunes or Youtube for free.

I sent Sam a screenshot of my current Focus playlist in iTunes to let him see how I do it and realized I’ve been listening to almost the exact same playlist for 10+ years.

So today, I’m going to share it with you.

Why Focus Music?

“Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” –Ludwig van Beethoven

Whether I’m working in an office environment, at home or at a coffee shop one thing holds true. I can’t think if there is a lot of stuff going on around me.

Ringing telephones, other people’s conversations, the radio, car sirens… any sound pulls my attention away from what I’m doing and screws up my flow.

When I really need to get things done I have headphones on and music playing that blocks out that outside noise. I listen to a very specific kind of music and mainly a single artist. I’ve found this type of music blocks out the outside sounds but also puts my brain into a flow state that allows me to output more work than most people.

Here’s how it works.

My Criteria For Focus Music

My focus music is very different than the music I listen to for enjoyment. When I need to focus, I can’t listen to music that has lyrics. Singer’s voices overpower my own thoughts, rappers are even worse.

So for me, Focus music has to have these qualities:

It has to be soft’ish
It has to be instrumental
It has to be steady

What I prefer is a smooth drone – something I can listen to on repeat for 2–3 hours straight without realizing it’s repeating.

Here are two of the artists that fit that criteria, that I have been listening to on repeat for the last 10+ years.

1. Boards of Canada

Many years ago a I asked a good friend and badass photographer Jeremy Charles for some suggestions on music to work to. He recommended a group called Boards of Canada, a Scottish electronic music duo made up of two brothers, and their album Twoism.

For me, Twoism is the quintessential album for focus. A minimalist lo-fi brooding soundscapes without words. It just plays in the background, blocks out all the sound around you and helps your brain focus on what you’re doing.

The legend of Twoism

Twoism was a self-financed cassette and record distributed by the band before they had a record deal. They only made 100 copies.

Because there was such a limited supply, copies of the cassette would often be exchanged from one person to the next for around $1500.

When the band signed a major label deal, the record company wanted to re-release Twoism. The band agreed, but only if there was no promotion behind the re-release. ” “We’d rather people find our music by themselves, so that it’s something that feels like it belongs to them.”

That’s how I found the album and now I pass it on to you. I’ve been listening to Twoism while I work for 10+ years. Actually, it’s playing as I type this, right now.

Other BOC albums to check out: Music Has The Right To Children and Geogaddi – I could listen to any of these albums on repeat for years without it becoming annoying.

2. Tycho

Tycho is very similar to Board of Canada but it’s different enough to break things up from time to time. Specifically I listen to the album Dive.

3. Amina

Amina is an Icelandic string quartet that I discovered while listening to a Boards of Canada station on Pandora.

I threw in two songs from their album Animamina to mix things up a bit. There are no drums or beats in the two tracks I added – so it gives my head a break every 30 minutes or so.

Amina is definitely an add-on for me and not the gold standard like Boards of Canada and Tycho.

Focus Music and Repetition

I’ve found that listening to the same music every time I sit down to work is beneficial. When I sit down at my laptop and my playlist starts – it immediately puts me in the zone to get things done.

I also listen to the same atmospheric music by Andy Hollander every time I walk from my apartment to the gym and then I listen to the exact same gangster rap playlist (almost 100% older 50 cent) every time I workout.

Listening to the same music each time is like giving your brain a cue that it’s time to do something. The music starts and your brain says “Ok, I know what this… let’s go.”

How To Create a Focus Music Playlist

1. Headphones

The first thing you’re going to need is a set of headphones or in-ear buds that block out noise. Listening to music without headphones is better than nothing the more you can vacuum seal yourself from the outside world, the better.

I originally bought a pair of the Bose Quiet Comfort headphones, which in my opinion are the best noise canceling headphones in the business. Then an affiliate network sent a pair of the Bose QuietComfort 20i earbuds that work almost as well and are way more portable and don’t need batteries – so I switched to the earbuds completely.

You can use any brand or style that you like – these are just what I’ve used.

2. Playlist

I no longer subscribe to any music services – so I created my Focus music playlist in iTunes.

Acquire the albums
Drag the song files into iTunes
Create a playlist called Focus Music
Drag the songs into the playlist and hit save
Arrange the songs to your liking
Focus

If you’re a Spotify customer you can do the same thing. But I don’t recommend doing it with a free Spotify account, because every few minutes you’ll get an ad for Toyota trucks or something that will totally destroy your work flow.

Conclusion

[tweetable]We all have work to do and we all need Focus to do it.[/tweetable] Using a Focus Music playlist is one of the best ways that I’ve found to get my mind in the place it needs to be to get things done.

The next time you sit down to work, try listening to these albums and see what happens. I’d be curious to hear how if it helps you as much as it helps me.