Writing Closing Track Verse

Josh, my vocalist, and I are writing the lyrics for the closing song on the EP. The song is "Our Hope is Here."  I am dropboxing him a webcam video of me singing my idea over the track. This doesn't mean we are almost done with the EP. I just happened to compose the closing track after the single.

Since very few people visit this blog, I am going to share this "secret" video. This is one of the video ideas I sent him tonight. Lucky you! :)

Casting Crowns Metal

I uploaded this a few days ago and have received positive results. I haven't done this in a while.

People are asking me to do a full cover. I had thought about that, but there are parts in the song I wouldn't know what to play, such as the quiet verse. Glad people are enjoying this cover though. It's just my personal "metal" take on the chorus of the song. It's in the style of Analyzed Within. (that's me)

Brandon

Guitar Center

No, I did not buy a 8-String. :/ Just read on. haha. I've been waiting on my guitar for a few days. I took the Jackson SLSMG to Guitar Center on Sunday.  The guitar tech wasn't back until Tuesday. I need it setup for a different string gauge. Normally, I have been using 14-68 gauge strings, but those are hard to find by themselves. Ernie Ball 10-74 eight-string packs are pretty numerous. So I am going to start using those I think. I'll be using the middle six: 13-64. It's a little lighter in string gauge. The neck and action and stuff needs to be set on the guitar, and I don't know how  to do that properly. I feel good knowing that an experienced person is working on my guitar. :) Plus, it's getting cleaned up. The fretboard is nasty. I haven't cleaned it in forever. I'm just that lazy, I guess. Or actually, it may be because when I pick up the guitar it just lulls me into this trance of playing right away. ;)

I bought two sets of these strings to start out. I want to have a spare set. I am sick of not having strings at my disposal. I will stock up soon and have more than just one spare. I need to get more picks, too, and just throw away the ones that I don't really want to use anymore. They are worn down, and it's senseless to keep them. Picks are so cheap.

While I was there Sunday, I shot a video of me playing a 7-string guitar. My brother was so kind to come along and video me. I even created a photo album of my visit.


Hopefully today they will get to my guitar. It would be a great day for it, because I only work a few hours today.

New Album Art!

This is my composition I did tonight in GIMP 2, basically a stripped down version of Photo Shop. These are three photos composited. I downloaded the photos from NASA. This picture is all about layering.

I was actually trying to find a good volcanic picture, erupting with darkness all around. I see a vague image in my mind, but I'm sure it doesn't really exist. However, this final product is fine. That dry landscape is like a desolate mood that might be nice to set. This may not look professional, but it sure beats the extra expense of an artist.

So it's obvious what my album is about by the cover title, "Living in the Last Days." Analyzed Within is my musician name.

Quoting from my fan page:

I wanted to create an artist name that described me, and be original as possible. I over-analyze most everything. A choice of a menu item is a case study. So all information that enters inside of me is analyzed within. Additionally, there is a parallel. As a believer in Christ Jesus, His Holy Spirit lives inside of me. I am analyzed within, for He is always watching me.

-Brandon Burch

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EP writing has begun

For those of you who didn't find out from my fan page, I have started writing and recording my EP (mini-album). I would like to quote here what I posted on my page, which also made me lose a like. haha.

I sort of laugh because it just shows you how powerful the Holy Spirit of God is....just read below.

Dear Fans:


The concept of my new EP: The End Times. It would be awesome if I could find a vocalist for my stuff. It's a Christian message by the way. ;) Not to start a religious war, but the coming of Christ IS going to happen. I think about the end times often. I think we are living in the last days, people. I want to tell the world about it in my music, with or without vocals.


I am not going to hide my light under a bushel. I want to be reasonably straightforward with my music and its message. This is who I am and what I believe. If it means blazing a trail, then blaze a trail I must. If people don't like it, I'm sorry they feel that way.

I'm not yet sure what to call this EP. I have only just starting recording, much less writing, this mini-album.

-Brandon Burch

I am bringing back to life an old song called "Living in the Last Days." I played it (in my car stereo) for my friends at church camp the year before last. I have changed up the song a lot. I only kept one riff the same, besides the chorus being exactly the same as before. But more epic! If you are curious to hear the original version of this song, it is here. I actually haven't heard it in a while. I actually love the opening riff now. I bet I could play it better now if I use it in another song. By the way, this album is going to use tunings Drop Ab and Standard Bb. I don't think I'll use any others because I want the same sound throughout the album. By that I mean, the sound of my Jackson SLSMG tuned down low, using heavy gauge strings.

Take My Pain excerpt 2

Yes, now this song has a name. I figured I should give it a name before the next excerpt. I figure most of the song is there to know its personality.



I seemed to end the song around the 5 minute mark. Perhaps I will take the song in another direction from where it almost stops. I can switch the mood somewhat within the song, much like a concept album. However, this will be more of a concept song. I don't want to end the song yet. I want it to be epic and long. :)  I can reflect back to some of the themes later in the song. After all, there are songs I have heard before that do that sort of thing. This will take some brainstorming. I only have two solo spots open in the song, and I want more. So the song MUST be longer.

There has already been a small buzz about this song. I encourage anyone enjoying to share it. Perhaps post it on your facebook wall. I need all the exposure I can get. Hardly anybody seems to know about the composer side of me. Perhaps I will be surprised, though, when I start selling my music on BandCamp. Yep. You heard right. I think this goal of mine is going to happen this year: selling my music online. :)

WideK will be mixing and mastering my stuff.
Email me any time guys, or follow me on Facebook!

20120518 excerpt 1

20120518: May 18, 2012 represents the date of the beginning. Weird name for a topic, I know, but that is the name of the song I am working on for now. I am not sure what to call it yet. It's instrumental that can have lyrics inserted, as all my songs could. This song is already four minutes long and not even finished yet. It evolves much more than I have ever evolved a song before. Check out this excerpt of the first chorus and post chorus.



The post chorus sounds much like the verse but is more aggressive. I'm going to be leaving many spots for guest guitar solos. :) I hope I will get takers for those I have in mind. This is going to be so awesome collaborating with others and then getting my stuff mixed and mastered by WideK!

Follow me on Facebook!!


Brandon

GMC Collab (my melodic take)

This is straight from my heart. Kudos to Ben Higgins on GuitarMasterClass.net for composing the awesome backing you hear for this collab.



Follow the Collab

New Home Studio Setup

Check it out! I received my new desk in the mail today. I set it up and re-arranged my room in several hours. Still need to tidy up the place a bit, though. I'm really happy with this new arrangement, and can't wait to start recording and shooting video!!

Brandon

More progress on my new track

I have nearly completed the writing process of my track called, "Surge".

I really am enjoying this song. I have implemented a few time signature changes. Most of the song is in headbanging 4/4 time. The first change is 6/4 time, the second time the riff is played in the song, followed by a 7/4 time signature. I think I want to try out 5/4. Or maybe 9/8. Actually...that's the same thing. 9/8 is just a 4/4 and then a 5/4 right afterwards. But I guess the riff could be 9 bars long before a change.

This song is constantly evolving so the listener is not bored so easily. The riffs are hardly ever the same the next time you hear them in the track. I am blasting through my software POD Farm. I am emulating a 5150 amp head. Those things are monsters for heavy metal. If you have POD Farm 2 and the Metal Shop expansion download the tone here. I am playing my cheap Ibanez IJX 121 guitar for the rhythms, and my Ibanez RG350DX for the guitar solo. I am tuned to Drop B for my rhythms. I used Ernie Ball Not Even Slinkys, 12-56 string gauge.

My influences for this song are Demon Hunter, RED, Aria, WideK, Skillet, Hope for the dying, Kreepmaster, and the Guitar Master Class online site. I'm sure there are many more, but I would say this is a good list.

Dollar Warfare | Zombie Infestation

Our second short film by my brother and me. We shot this video at Christmas while on vacation with the family. No blood or gore.

Becoming a music artist

ANALYZED WITHIN


This is what I am going to call myself. I will start releasing music soon I hope.
Subscribe to my new artist channel! :)

Discussing new song "Surge"

Featured on USA Patriotism!

Hey, I got a YouTube message from USA Patriotism today stating I had been selected for listing in its video section!! This was in regard to my God Bless America arrangement I did for July 2011.

USA Patriotism! is the top ranked site about love and pride of America with thousands of pages showcasing poems, articles, stories, quotes, photos, songs / music, videos, thoughts, images, and references . . . all in tribute to country, troops and veterans, heroes, Presidents, other great Americans, memorable events, and more. Its mission is to foster better awareness, reinforcement, and display of love and pride of America by her citizens with the hope of developing a better understanding and friendlier attitude about the USA from citizens of other countries.

Check out my very own link HERE!! This is so cool!
-Brandon


USA Patriotism!
http://www.usa-patriotism.com 
patriots@usa-patriotism.com
"Love and pride of America!"

Looking back at 2011

Hello everyone. I did start out making this a video on YouTube, but it resulted in being 17 minutes long. One of my students commented, "Master, I think this is too long." xD He calls me master - heehee. I'm glad he told me this. I was going to make another video and just cut out all the unnecessary highlights of 2011 (not really highlights at all), but I thought I would just write it here. It's here for the reading for those who care. So yes, I did shorten the highlights very much.

First I want to start off by recognizing an important event that was NOT in 2011. It was at the very end of 2010 at GMC. December 24, I won 2nd prize in the GMC Spread the Word Photo Contest. I submitted a silly picture, and I won my POD GX with POD Farm. So this is where my guitar tone comes from now - software on the computer simulating real amps and effects.

Now on to 2011. February 9, I released my YouTube interactive game. It was a multiple choice game powered by clickable annotations that lead you to its own special video. You can find it on my YouTube channel. Skipping ahead, on April 18, I won 1st prize in the GMC Attitude Competition. I played a silly version of Canon Rock and won an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer. It was my first stomp box pedal, and still the only one I have. May 13 was a great day for me. I published my last lesson in the New Canon Rock Lesson Series on YouTube. This was a huge remake project and was great to finally finish and upload it.

May 22 was a very special day for me. I graduated from Three Rivers Community College with an Associate's in Information Systems Technology Microcomputers - Highest Honors. May 25, I announced this official blogspot on YouTube. May 27, I finished a metal composition called "Determination." June 18, I sold my VOX VT 30 amplifier because I didn't like the thin sound of it anymore. I got $80 credit in the store, which I have depleted mostly on guitar strings. It was very worthwhile since guitar strings are a must for a frequent guitar player. June 21, I uploaded a cover of RED's "Best is yet to come" to YouTube. I was playing in cap and gown I wore for graduation. I also included a lesson in that video. I wish I had done it separately, because the thumbnails available are of my lesson and not my main video. =(

July 18-22 was a very awesome week for me, as I attended a church camp close by. I went with a few friends, as our youth from our church has diminished immensely. I looked at that week as my last year at that church camp because I knew I would probably be in a new job that next year and find it hard to get off. It's okay though. I went every year in a row since we have lived in this area (2004-2011).

September 2 was a cool day for me. I had heard a song at a basketball game and wanted to know what it was. It was something that was played right as the teams came running out onto the court. It had remained a mystery for years, and on this day I remembered it again and figured I would Google it. I didn't use the internet back then, so I couldn't have thought of that then.

On September 9, I interned for a day at Millennium 3 Computers. This is a computer repair shop you go to in the case of your computer fouling up. It was interesting that a lot of people's computers were at their breaking point and needed a new hard drive (HD). I know some people frown on that because some people say computer repair shops just automatically say "You need a new HD" to get a $50 service instead of troubleshooting. The thing is, they do troubleshoot. They run a disk check to see if there are any noticeable issues. They will also scan the computer for any viruses, spyware, or malware. A lot of times, your HD is just simply messed up and it would take more money to try fixing it than it would to just say, "We will back up your stuff, and dump it all on this new HD." It's really cool. They really enjoyed my company and enjoyed being there learning. I got paid for it at the end of the day. The owner and director interviewed me near the end of the day and took interest in my experiences and knowledge. I wonder if they check out my stuff on the internet? Probably not, as I am just one in a million. Those are busy businessmen. The owner did tell me that a 4-year college education isn't really going teach me anything I need to know for the job. Most of this will come in on-the-job training. Regardless of what people say, I am doing what I believe the LORD wants for my life. I am thriving at Wal-Mart. They love me and I love them.

September 16 I started to grasp odd time signatures. I am still learning and trying to get past the 4/4 time. I am wanting to explore things like 6/8, 6/4, 7/8, 9/8, and 5/8. I want to be comfortable with these odd times. September 22 was the day I announced my official fan email - which is hardly used. =( Oh well, it's there. I guess people just want to private message me on YouTube. But I guess it does provide an outlet for those who do not have a YouTube or Google account.

September 29 I was hired in as a cashier at my local Wal-Mart. We are not a Supercenter, but I still enjoy it there, as mentioned above. I primarily work as a cashier, but I also bring carts into the store, stock some shelves, zone (straighten things up and pull everything forward), and basically serve our customers any way I can. The people there are awesome. I do believe I love retail!! ^_^

October 15 I attended Pumpkin Hollow with some friends. It's a place you go with many attractions to get scared. My favorites are the Frightful Forest and the Mad Skull Mine. I think I've been there every year. In the Mine you have to venture through tight, dark spaces, lit by dim lamps. And of course, you will always get scared. You can read more about this experience here. And you can always check out past experiences by using the archive.

October 29 marked the 3rd Anniversary of my playing guitar. I really recommend that you check out the progress I made in this video. I have videoed myself playing from beginning. You will see me evolve musically before your very eyes!

November 10 was when I replaced that VOX amp with a Fender Mustang 1 amplifier. You can check out my unboxing here. November 22 my brother and I uploaded our short film we made together called "Dollar Warfare - Mission One." December 23, I officially received my new Alesis M1 Active Mk2 monitors. I use these for my music production. They are awesome!! I show them in a Christmas Rock video I did. December 24 our family took a vacation. This a wonderful way to end the year.

Overall, this year was a blast! I hope this year is filled with much more. I have a few goals and I hope I achieve them. One being getting a high definition camera for YouTube videos. =)

Cheers!!
Brandon

Christmas Rock 2011

Just in case you missed it....




Have a happy new year!!

Voice of your guitar

This is a lesson I am practicing on from GMC. I just learned it a few hours ago. I've been practicing almost straight. I am improvising on top of the lesson and using my soul - just playing what comes to mind. It's not spot-free, as I said I am still practicing it. Compare it to the teacher himself, Cosmin Lupu.

Dollar Warfare

Hey guys!! Check out this video me and my brother released on my YouTube channel today.



This is like no other video my brother and I have ever made. This is our first attempt at making a short war film. In this video we agreed on both of us having 3 lives each, and respawn somewhere else - much like a video game. We hope you enjoy it! It was a really low budget film.

This video was shot on Thursday, November 17, 2011 in about three hours.

We left out the blood and gore because we believe it is not necessary and it's gross. We only did the muzzle flashes as far as visuals go. We are not guys who play the war games, we just have imaginations.

I would like to point out that Jordan made our collaboration logo at the beginning.

Influences include: Freddie Wong, Corridor Digital, and Pwnisher.

All credited sources are in the credit roll at the end of the video.

-Brandon

New Fan Email

Are you a fan? Email me anytime at the new and official fan email: thefireball100@yahoo.com



Thanks.
Brandon Burch