Something different.

alhoffman — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:36:23 +0000

This demo is quite a step away from what I normally write. Maybe some hints of more Americana rock, typical rock? Still somewhat poppy, but basic guitar chords and drum beats. Kind of reminds me of Tom Petty or the Black Crowes. Probably a stretch, but it is more down that alley than most of the music I usually write.

Something Different

Shaking hands with the viciously crazy monkey.

Them Ecuadorian houses.

Fruit stop.

Jumping over the imaginary line (Equator).

Either Way.

alhoffman — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:11:04 +0000

This is a simple acoustic one written with a batch of probably 5 other songs in a similar vein during the end of my freshman year at school. Nothing much to say. Simple, sweet, and right to the point. Enjoy.

Either Way

Cemetary in the hillside.

Square hosue in the countryside.

Church at the foot of Chimborazo. This was the ending point of our hour long, 8,000 foot descent, 30 km long bike ride down the wondrous mountain.

Andes.

Awesome river valley.

Hummingbird too fast for my camera.

These are of my host grandson, Roberto. I probably spent more time with him than the rest of the family. He loved to talk at my in Spanish and proceed to get frustrated when I didn’t understand a word he said. We did bond over a Madagascar puzzle and Spongebob though. Crazy kid.

Let it Fade

alhoffman — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 03:34:53 +0000

This one is actually old. About 4 years old. This is one of the last songs my band in high school wrote, although I consider one of, if not our best song. I stumbled up an old demo of it, and decided to add vocals and spruce it up a bit. Take a gander and enjoy it.

Let it Fade

Roberto threatening me with his broom.

Holy week parade.

1. Parade member look like the Klu Klux Klan

2. Check out that dude’s mustache!

Little boy pondering amongst the flower petals.

Bonediggers.

alhoffman — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:28:54 +0000

A finished song!? What!? That’s right, this song is finished. Well, songs are rarely finished. I could always keep adding and rearranging my songs, but I declare this Bonediggers 1.0. 1.1 will probably be a slightly different mix with changes most people wouldn’t notice. Please enjoy and leave me some feedback. I spent alot of time on this song.

Bonediggers

Hanging out.

The group and I.

Leaving our handprints.

Our masterpiece.

Some sweet scenery on a bus ride around Banos.

Fast

alhoffman — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:39:11 +0000

This is the last in the small collection I have of recent demos. However, that doesn’t mean they are done coming. I’ll continue laying down ideas here and there.

I was super excited when I came up with this one. I love playing those lead riffs with delay. It really lets the song breathe and gives it room. It’d definately a fun on to play. I would play the rythym section on loop, and rock out while playing the lead over and over. Fun times for sure.

Fast

All 3 of these were taken from the bus on the way to Riobamba from Quito.

Jam 1

alhoffman — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:16:15 +0000

Yet another amazingly titled song. This is Jam 1. Mike and I wrote it earlier this semester, and this is the quick demo we did in an hour or two. A final version is slowly being pieced together.

Jam 1

Roberto and I.

Roberto’s wall of toys. One spoiled grandson.

Roberto decided that he would interrupt my reading, swing a bat around, and watch Spongebob in my room.

Giant slug at school.

Best Party Ever.

alhoffman — Mon, 26 May 2008 06:34:59 +0000

The first day we were doing service work in Ecuador was a pretty cool day. We started work at 9 in the morning, ate lunch and continued on afterwards. We heard some noise in the town square right outside of the school, so we walked out. The band was practicing and a man in came up to us and gave us all a shot of some liquor. We all accepted (it’s rude to turn down anything without trying it once), and went back to work. 20 minutes later we hear the band roaring closer. In the middle of classes, the band and the town (maybe 30-40 people) paraded into the courtyard to celebrate, Holy Week Style. The videos below show how it all went down. You can see one of the local women come up and grab me for a dance.

They passed on a mask from person to person, as well as a cape. One kid in our group got to keep the cape at the end of the day, which I guess was a big honor. They also carried in a giant wooden barrel of some fermented fruit booze with chunk of fruit in it. They wanted the visitors (us) to carry it back out to the town square. 3 other friend and I lifted the barrel onto our shoulders (suspended on 2 logs over our shoulders) and danced our way out to the town square. They place the mask on me while carrying this barrel, which pretty much blinded me. Blindly dancing with 50 pounds on your left shoulder is a challenge, but I managed (I’m a stud). After finally moving the barrel to the town square, I was offered some of the Holy Booze. If I had to guess what my piss tastes like, I would compare it to this. After the town drunk traded me my fruit booze for some coke (which I just dropped on the ground), another kind local gave me a shot of warm pink liquor. After 20 minutes or so of more dancing, we left the celebration and went back to work. Definitely one of the most spontaneous and random things to ever happen to me.

Schoolchildren terrorizing the principal’s office.

View of the Indian Markets in Otavalo from a balcony.

The ring leader handing out shots as we had an impromptu party in the school courtyard in the middle of classes.

Anywhere but here.

alhoffman — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:38:31 +0000

Still adjusting to being in Dayton for the summer. Some aspects of it are cool, but it’s still not always great being here. I’ve been aching to be in Ecuador again. That or just abroad seeing new places. This sumemr is sure to be an experience either way.

Here is another demo. Definitely takes me far from here when I listen to it. I just called it somber, cause that’s the vibe I get. Pretty much just a piano riff over and over with some drums and a simple little guitar lick over it. Really simple, but I think it’ll end up being a really good song at one point.

Somber

Kids hanging out in Otavalo.

Waiting for the holy week parade.

Cathedral in Otavalo.

Schoolchildren.

The Beach

alhoffman — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:54:27 +0000

This is probably one of two songs I actually finished tracking last summer (spare a vocal take or two that I would’ve liked to redo), but in the spirit of the new direction I’ve taken on this blog, here is an imperfect version of The Beach. Also because Leslie wanted to hear it aaaaall the way over in Spain. I haven’t touched this session in awhile, so the mix is subpar (as well as the recording quality), but here is a completed recording. For those who have actually heard some of my music, many know this song.

A quick in on this song, its obviously about an experience at a beach. A friend and I were pretty rocky a few years back when we were visiting a friend in northern Michigan. We went to Sleeping bear dunes, and the two of us wandered far into the dunes and ended up mending some things. Of course no explanation ever does a situation justice, but after an hour of hiking over dunes, we found an isolated expanse of beach. Everything was right at that moment. Just a magical moment out in the elements.

The Beach

Right now I would love to be back in Ecuador with the group.

Mt. Tungurahua smoking in the weeks after an eruption.

A schoolboy and I.

A glorious Andean Mountain. It reminded me of the landscapes in Demonhead (Old school NES game).

Billy and two others painting the school.

Our progress after the first day.

Street Sounds

alhoffman — Sun, 18 May 2008 21:42:27 +0000

I talk about the studio alot, so I figured you might wanna see it. Also because Mike requested. It’s been rearranged, and I’m really starting to like this setup. Although it is a mess right now (soon to be completely cleaned and inventoried) We just hooked up a 24 channel console. We were originally gonna sell it because we never used it. However, it’s good to learn on, lets you physically mix and push the faders, and it looks really sweet. It’s good to still do some things the old fashioned way. Not to mention it makes me more familiar with the mixer in general which makes me quicker during live sound.

I actually know how to operate it all for the most part.

My bedroom with my host family in Riobamba.

Little school girl eating some sort of plastic wrapper.

Schoolchildren fighting for the camera’s attention.