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Voice Memo ~ Songs From Hawaii (Remastered)

by David Elias (solo acoustic)

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Making recordings with iPhone as songs and tunes are getting written. Remastered for high fidelity as a concept project to share the artist's process of writing with listeners.

    FREE VIDEO DOWNLOAD:
    With this album download you get the 1080p video of the Lava Lake on Kilauea Volcano at the Halema'uma'u Crater! Fantastic fire lake shots to the "Water Hymn Null - 2" soundtrack (Track #30).

    Or watch it online at: https://youtu.be/nRiN2JP2ngw
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Highest quality of this recording is here on Bandcamp which includes MQA encoding that requires no special hardware or software to play.
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1.
2.
You And Me 02:33
You And Me – written by David Elias You and me the trails that we travel Us to see where they may lead to You and me the roads they unravel It's hardly a rest stop The signs can be messed up Those bumps might confess some But we still caress 'em You and me our party's a twosome We and we, how could we be lonesome Free to be down paths of our own some The river is wide Bending trees side by side Through the oceans of tide There for us to decide Well well well You and me clear as a daydream Image to be Our vision is upstream You and me Our vision is upstream Nothing can change What our minds haven't made up The beat's in the heart Without time we can stay up The river it's wide Bending trees side by side Through the oceans of tide There for us to decide Well...
3.
4.
Sleep Song 02:21
Sleep Song – written by David Elias Shiver timber Keep me sleeping Stairway starway Lead me rising Good days Bad days Always rising Shiver timber Keep me sleeping
5.
September's Season – written by David Elias On a restless lonesome day Feeling the weather far away Looking at some mountains left to climb I see the wind taking the leaves I feel the birds taking their leave The memory of your love not far behind Watching the window from the door The both left open as before The leaving and returning still the same With only stars over the hill Pointing to dreams left to fulfill The whisper in the words and in your name I've studied nothing far too long I've written nothing in a song I've shared a dream aloud, the middle of the day Now in the darkness of the night I let my heart recall what's right And let September's season carry me away
6.
New Seasons 00:50
7.
Within 04:17
Within - written by David Elias Everywhere I've been Reminds me of you Everyone I've seen Reminds me too And everyone I've known Remains within And every shirt I've worn Is torn within Every morning clear Reminds me of you Within our blue green sphere I'm finding you Every song I've sung I sing to you And every evening sun I pray for you And everywhere I go I go with you As every season grows It grows with you Within this withered field I stand with you Within these arms and hands I stand with you
8.
New Rain 00:33
9.
Before We Go 03:30
Before We Go – written by David Elias He said he didn't see it comin' She said she didn't see him go They said it felt a lot like nothing Sometimes you have to let things go Before we go Before we go Before we go we let things go He traveled back to green Ohio She stayed right there New Mexico Somewhere in between the streams ran so low Neither could remember what they know Before we go Before we go Before we go we let things go Somewhere in the back of this old story A blue memory behind stone hills The pattern of a desert morning glory Circles 'round under the sun, open still Before we go Before we go Before we go we let things go
10.
11.
Go Back 02:12
Go Back – written by David Elias Go back, take me there Find your way down the winding stair Go back, take good care Find your way and you'll find me there Remember when we lost our way Just keeping up with the day to day Take me back I won't forget How you looked or how you felt
12.
13.
That Pretty Girl - Those 3 Words - written by David Elias Thinkin' 'bout another day Thinkin' bout how it was far away A sunny breeze an' a summer cloud Lookin' out over the school yard hill Thinkin' just how long until He might be sayin' those 3 words out aloud Gave his heart away when he was young Never thinkin' he just let it go He let it go and it just blew away And now the summer suns have passed and gone Dozen other hearts been lost and won He still got those 3 words yet to say The sunny afternoon it feels just right Surrounded by the gold green light There's a girl in a green dress by his side Startin' over isn't all that hard When you put it all behind you That pretty girl is all you ever need inside
14.
Palm Prayer 01:15
15.
In The Background – written by David Elias Simple sentences Dick and Jane Circle through the clumsy rain All around the plot is plain While in the background This remains I will buy a drink or two And watch them pass between me and you This silver lining shines anew While in the background Bon Adieu There is music, music, music In the world There is music, music, alright There is music in the world Match your carpet Paint your walls Stain your table Record your calls Close your window Hide the blue Watch the background Come in view Call a friend up in the middle of the night Tell him that your life's alright But don't forget those final words That background music that you never heard There is music, music, music In the world There is music, music, alright There is music in the world
16.
Lychee Ackee 03:30
Lychee Ackee - written by David Elias Lychee Ackee falling Can you hear me calling Lychee Ackee falling Can you hear me calling I know you the slayer Can you hear my prayer I know you the slayer Can you hear my prayer Woman of the airfare Can you meet me up there Woman of the airfare Can you meet me up there Lychee Ackee falling Can you hear me calling Lychee Ackee falling Can you hear me calling Break the stone in layers Bury the naysayers Break the stone in layers Bury the naysayers Woman of the airfare Can you meet me up there
17.
18.
Salsa Side 00:47
19.
Tree Top 01:12
20.
21.
Which Door 02:59
Which Door - written by David Elias Which door am I falling out Which door am I falling out Caught a look at something higher Couldn't see the way back down Resurrect the golden choir I respect the way you hold me now Which floor am I crawling out Which floor am I crawling out Wrote a book about the lonesome flyer Couldn’t seem to get it to the clouds Crashed it right into a field of flowers Petal showers covered hours Won't you hold me now Which floor Which door
22.
23.
24.
Something He Already Knows – written by David Elias Staring down all the feelings that confront me Setting my heart on a little bit of country Taking a tour of the kind I could confide in Where winds can blur what the mind has set aside Standing strong with the arms that should have held you What took so long just to say what I should tell you Casting about like a fisherman of sorry Without a doubt I will leave it til tomorrow Making my time up on the road I just imagine Don’t look behind your feet can feel the wings of magic Passerby of the simplest of pleasure Sit down to try to regain what you can’t measure Did I say I was sorry you were leaving Those yesterdays they were nothing I believed in Now on this road I can see a little better And sure enough we’re sure going it together Staring down all the feelings that confront me Setting my heart on a little bit of country
25.
Sun Too 2 01:05
26.
Lava Tune 5 00:51
27.
28.
Always Yours 03:36
Always Yours - written by David Elias Start it over the end is near darlin' Write a letter signed sincerely For the better, always yours, darlin' Fix a loose strap, nay quite nicer Raise the old map Take me higher For the record, always yours, darlin' Lose the pattern Dance for no one Does it matter in the end Sign a letter, always yours, darlin' Hear me asking What's inside darlin' Trees can free me Signed sincerely For the record, always yours, darlin'
29.
Rainforest 3 00:41
30.

about

Plays on any gear or smartphone as 24/44.1. MQA decodes to 24/88.2k.

These songs were all recorded as memos to myself on my iPhone while I was writing them. They are me writing music for myself. Voice memos to myself for myself.

Maybe my songs connect to others, usually complete strangers because they are written by me, for me, but not about me. They have no objective or mission or point to make. They come out as music, words or both the way they come out. This album "Voice Memos" tries to show anyone that process for me.

Recorded directly to the iPhone using the iPhone mic (mono). The lossy AAC (48kHz) was upsampled by me to 32/44.1 and mastered as 16/44.1 CD Quality. Those masters were then encoded with MQA by MQA Ltd., UK. The result is a lossless CD quality master with MQA that can be played on anything at all as well as streamed.

The quality is further improved if played using a MQA DAC to decode and convert the PCM to analog. But it's not required and I feel it sounds better with MQA encoding than the original master did, even without the MQA DAC on playback.

~~~~About My Songwriting~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A way to listen to the way my songs get created. I get asked this often enough. Dave, do you write the words first, or the music, or do you look up random things on Google and get ideas... ... ... ??

I can tell you there is no research in my songwriting. No Google, no references. Not even an idea of what I am going to write about 99.99% of the time. I am a tune player and creator on guitar. That's usually what I do when I pick up the guitar, play something new whatever comes out. It comes through me sitting there and I don't think about it much except trying to hear what it's saying. 99% of the time I play and play and play for awhile then forget it all.

But sometimes the tune is catchy to me and I work on it and keep trying to get it right and eventually it sounds like it has the right shape and notes and well, tune.

So I might start singing along with it at some point during that sitting and see if there's a singing part to go with the guitar part. No real words but then usually there are real words coming out of me, I didn't plan them.

So there's the idea for the song and I just write down the words as I come upon them and turn them into the melody and the song. That's how I remember the song - that and then I often turn on Voice Memo on the iPhone to record it at that point. Like I just discovered something I don't want to forget. Which is what I did.

Voice memo....

Sometimes the tunes on guitar don't have any words. They are enough they way they are. Or words could come later. Or words I'd written down (poetry ok) another time can be randomly matched to a tune. That happens too.

So tune first, words next, song maybe. Or tune first, no words, song maybe. Or tune not quite there, no song, maybe later. Or words sitting on a page to tune just written or written and remembered, song maybe. See what I mean? No plan :)

Just trying to get it right...

Voice memos can help. Decided to try to share some of those in the honest fashion they were created sitting at home just playing for me.

~~~~~ The iPhone part and tech mumbo jumbo ~~~~~

Every song in this collection was recorded on my iPhone using a 3GS, 4, and 5S. All used the phone's mic (no external plugged in). I recorded the using the Voice Memo app that comes with the phone from iTunes.

These songs are then recorded in very low bit quality AAC by our friends at Apple who have a penchant for incredibly poor sound quality. They invented its use for retail in 2004 when iTunes came out. Before that MP3 downloads were free worldwide among millions of musicians and music lovers on forums and music sharing sites.

I'm all for putting music out there and Apple/iTunes has certainly done that in a digital way. But in the 21st century when technology spins over every 6 months and Apple themselves often at the head of that turnstile, don't you think they might owe the public a little better sound?

Having said all that, I have found over and over again that the little AM-radio sounding like speakers that Steve Jobs put in the iPhone have a remarkably natural kind of old transistor radio sound I've liked since I bought my first iPhone in 2007 when they came out and people lined up on the sidewalk in Silicon Valley to buy one (I waited 2 weeks and walked right in the store).

That iPhone AM-radio sound is how I started recording my Voice Memos. Just ideas often. A handy memo tool so I wouldn't forget some things I played for myself in a cabin here in Hawaii or maybe by the water or wherever. I learned how to sing and play "carefully" into the phone at good levels and good proximity for my ears. In the higher eschelons of audophiledom they call this approach to recording carefully for the highest sound quality "provenance" now. Ok Provenance. Just an iPhone though, nothing else.

I converted the AAC (m4a) files that are about 48kHz lossy (like MP3's lowest ranking) to a CD quality level (16/44.1 lossless FLAC) and "master them" as such. I don't mess with them otherwise. Just want them to be above board so to speak.

But then these voice memos were encoded with MQA by MQA Ltd., UK along with lots of other CD, HD and DXD quality masters I have as PCM. They sound better this way, even if you don't have an MQA decoder DAC such as the US$299 Meridian Explorer 2. Lots of MQA DAC models are for sale from other manufacturers at all price ranges up from there.

My memos are just that. Songs for myself to myself when I am writing them. I don't always know how they go when I am recording the memo. I can't always read the words I just wrote down perfectly or get the timing just right. They are rough and raw and new songs I just wrote. Before I even come to know them myself. I often want to record them and capture the original song for myself.

Now I want to share some of those with you. They are not the "best" ones per se. In fact they are just more of snapshots in time, where I was and what I was doing in Hawaii where I've lived since the beginning of 2008. But they are honest and they are all new songs for anyone who has listened to me recording since 1995. And I like how they sound.

Independent Acoustic has meaning to this end as it has for me since I started playing guitar at the ripe young age of 11.

Here's to all the independent artists all over. Fer Fock's Sake...

credits

released September 1, 2016

All Songs Written by David Elias
© 2016 David Elias, All Rights Reserved Worldwide
Remastered (24/44.1 ~ MQA 24/88.2)
David Elias Music, ASCAP
www.davidelias.com

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David Elias Hawaii

Acoustically rooted and distracted.

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