Category: Demos

Categories
Demos Rock and/or Roll

Hammer on Wood

This song started as a seed of an idea about 4:30 this afternoon. Just the first two lines. Seven hours later the writing, recording, and mixing are done. There’s something about working quickly that releases you from the fear of perfection and the danger of over-thinking. Right now I’m digging the loose “Inside Me Wants Out” vibe. (Andy Pratt) We’ll see if I still feel that way tomorrow morning.

Stop checking your phone.
No one’s gonna call anymore.
You know you’re alone
when no one answers when you’re talking to yourself.

But what would you say?
You got what you deserve anyway.
You got what you gave:
an empty heart and an early bed (or early grave).

You took what you could;
packed your memories–some of them good.
Like hammer on wood it’s ringing
true and loud and hollow.

Stop checking your mail;
that endless binary sea but nobody’s there.
You pull in your sails.
You drift away, just drift away,

just close your eyes,
just close your eyes. This is your life.
Is this your life?
Or has it all been dreaming?

Have I been awake?
Or have I been sleeping?
Awake, asleep:
Always dreaming.

Stop checking your phone.
No one’s gonna call anymore.
You know you’re alone.
You know you’re alone.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Demos Retuned hymn

Why Should the Children of a King

Update 12/11/21: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

This is how it works for me: It’s afternoon and the pastor stops by my office to let me know he’s going to skip out on the evening worship committee meeting. “No problem,” I tell him, “I’ll let you know if anything comes up you need to know about.” About an hour before the meeting I realize said pastor is scheduled to lead devotions. Dag! I guess I have to do it. I think, “Well, it’s Pentecost. I’ll just lead a Pentecost song.” I look through my Pentecost ideas folder to see if there’s anything I want to introduce. My eyes fall on a text by Isaac Watts about the work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness to salvation. “Hmmm…” I think. “I’ve always wanted to write a tune for that.” I run (literally) to the piano and get to work. By 7:02pm I have an admittedly half-baked version of the song which I sing with the worship committee. The next day I roll it around in my head until I figure out what the song wants to be when it grows up. The next day I sit down at the piano and finalize the song. But can I let it rest? No, I cannot. So instead of going home, I surround myself with bass drums, guitars, and tambourines and fire up Logic Pro to capture the moment. The moment is above. If you want to make your own moment, head over to gregscheer.com to download the leadsheet.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs Demos Retuned hymn

All Hail, funky retune

Imagine Earth, Wind & Fire (rest in peace, Maurice White) retired from touring and set up residence in a local church. Now imagine that in a dusty hymnal on the shelves of that church they came across the hymn All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name, but decided it needed new music to fit their sound.

earth_wind_fireThat’s pretty much what this version of “All Hail” aspires to be.

Now, this two-bit demo doesn’t do much to help you imagine what I’m hearing in my head, but suffice it to say this is a fat funk sandwich filled with a deep meaty groove slathered in buttery vocals, and topped with spicy horn licks.

Email me for the score if you’ve got an Earth, Wind & Fire cover band that would like to cover this. (Or if you’re Earth, Wind & Fire.)

Categories
Demos Jazz

The 50 Year Shuffle

ron_deb
Ron and Deb Rienstra, age 50

These two fine folks just celebrated their 50th birthday. Oh, to look so good at such an advanced age!

This bubbly little jazz tune actually started its life as “The Heineken Maneuver,” after a joke that emerged at a jazz cafe the Rienstra and Scheer families have been attending. Shortly after I finished it, Ron and Deb had their 50th birthday bash and I decided to rename it in honor of the event. It was premiered with their son Philip on alto sax.

So get out on the dance floor–you’re never too old for “The 50 Year Shuffle“!

 

Categories
Choir Church Congregational Songs Demos Hymn tunes

How Wide the Love of Christ!

Update 1/11/22: Sheet music for this tune is now available at gregscheer.com.

Now that my book is finished, I have a little more time for creative ventures. The first fruit of that time is a setting of Herman Stuempfle’s text “How Wide the Love of Christ!” I came across the text when searching Hymnary.org for hymns based on Ephesians 3:14-21. I was drawn to this one because it takes “the breadth and length and height and depth” and gives a verse to each word, followed by a doxology. I began with the intention of writing a big festive choral piece with brass, but it started morphing into a more intimate, jazzy setting–a very different feel, but I kind of like it.

Categories
Art Music Demos Live Rock and/or Roll

All Hallow’s Eve, Sine Nomine Quartet

Last year I wrote a song cycle called One Long Year. This year, I’ve been trying to figure out what I’m going to do with it, if anything. This month, I’m recording my setting of Psalm 149 for a new Cardiphonia compilation. Today I had a string quartet scheduled to add some tracks to that project.

But you know me: if I have a string quartet showing up to record, how can I resist writing something new and non-obligatory for the occasion? So instead of the many things I should have been doing today, I felt compelled to write a string quartet arrangement of “All Hallow’s Eve” from One Long Year . This recording is the second take and third time they’d ever played the piece. Pretty good, I say.

By the way, the quartet has never really settled on a name for themselves. I hereby dub them the Sine Nomine Quartet–the No Name Four.

Categories
Art Music Demos Rock and/or Roll

Deep Calls to Deep

greg_precisionAfter Easter, I often feel the need to shun my to do list, taking a little time for renewal and creation. (Hence the term, “recreation.”) This Eastertide it took the form of an idea for bass that came to me last week.

I had just gotten some work done on my trusty Fender Precision bass down at North Coast Guitar Co, and it was feeling great. That always leads to new musical ideas. The ideas kept swirling around in my head and finally came to full fruition this afternoon in the form of “Deep Calls to Deep.”

Because the whole recording is just bass, my boys and I were trying to think of good names for the song. “All About the Bass” is already taken. “Big Bottom”–also taken. I decided to take the high road with a phrase pulled from Psalm 42.

Categories
Demos Jazz

Blue Step (with guest soloist Stephen Brown)

Stephen Brown and I have been collaborating for decades, so I was really pleased that he added a sax solo to my recent song, “Blue Step.” Now that we’ve got the DropBox sharing kinks mostly worked out, I hope you’ll hear more collaborations in the future.

(Stephen also showed me how the HTML code for the snazzy audio player above. It turns out that only neanderthals use plain old links anymore.)

Categories
Art Music Demos

Minimoodles

Minimoodles–for minimalist doodles–is a quickly conceived name for a quickly created recording of layered guitar riffs. Nothing earth shattering. On the other hand, it led to a good discussion of minimalism with my sons and a sampling of the first Knee Play of Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach. That’s got to be worth something.

Listen to Minimoodles.

Categories
Demos Rock and/or Roll

Rock Riff

Before the rest of the staff arrived this morning, I was trying out my ESP Strat copy, making sure it was ready to sell.

It is. In fact, it’s sounding fine and has all the characteristic bite you’d expect from a Strat. Then I got carried away and began riffing with different settings on the amp and pick up. Voila! A 39 second rock and roll bon bon: MP3

(Did I mention that I’m selling the guitar on this recording?)