I consider this the official rebirth of "Melodic Prophet." While I'm sure most of you probably never heard of MP, even if you know me pretty well, it's been something I've been playing around with for quite awhile.
But now, things are starting to set into motion.
A little over four years ago, my mother died. That event and the emotional trauma it caused me brought me to music. I had never had any music training at all. I couldn't read music. I didn't know what a chord was. I didn't know how the piano worked. But I wanted to do all those things. Because a difficult time in my life is what led to this inspiration, I had a desire to tackle it alone. So I did. Rather than get lessons, I decided I would teach myself until I could no longer do so.
Within about 6 months, I made terrific progress. But what was very unusual was that I had this desire to write music...even though I didn't have a clue how it worked. I started to nourish this other part of me...the one that didn't just like to play and listen to music...but had to feel it.
So I began writing music. And I quickly discovered that I was able to write things that were beyond my skill level at the time. Once I began writing, I somewhat cooled off on learning new songs. I longed to create, so I continued working in that direction.
Very quickly I developed the dream of being a composer or lead singer/songwriter in a band. But it was so far away. And it seemed whimsical and childish. So I kept in inside. A secret that only I knew.
I played around with a band before, only to find my creative control negated because I couldn’t play guitar. I was so angry about it that I decided to learn guitar as well. It’s not that I’m a control freak, I just don’t like seeing people do things the wrong way. More importantly, I want to be respected as a musician and artist. Not just be a singer who can’t empathize with the rest of the band’s work.
So I started working on that by myself. And I improved a lot. And just this summer I have been taking lessons which has accelerated me beyond what I ever could have hoped in such a short amount of time.
I am knocking on the door…of making those crazy dreams a possibility. My dreams were never about stardom. They were about making music that I could be proud of. And I am right there…almost there. I can play guitar, rhythm or lead. I can play the piano at a solid level, and I have a very versatile voice that can adapt from song to song, keeping things unpredictable all the time. And finally, I have an acceptable recording set-up, thanks to my father, who bought it for me and helped me set it up. Without his support after losing my mom, I’d be completely lost.
So now it’s time. The goal is to make the best music I can. I am a solo act for now but totally willing to work and grow with other musicians. When I graduate from YSU in December, I plan to form a band, under the name I am currently using: “Melodic Prophet.”
Thanks for reading and supporting my music. I promise you I will work my hardest to make you feel. That is, after all, what music is all about.
Pat
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Melodic Prophet / Blog
Melodic Prophet is Expanding
I felt this blog was long overdue for an update, especially with the release of the music video for “Sunrise” on the newly launched Melodic Prophet channel on youtube generating a lot of new traffic. The whole operation is expanding. Melodic Prophet is now on Twitter, Reverbnation, Myspace, Facebook, and most importantly now, Youtube. Through my own experience and the advice of some friends, Youtube is perhaps the best way to promote the music and make sure it gets heard. This model has proven highly successful with “Sunrise” which has easily been the most positively received release in Melodic Prophet’s short lifespan. I am hard at work with the production of the new songs and have started putting what little disposable income I have into backing the project for marketing purposes. Today, I put my first song on sale. Remember, all of my songs, videos, and lyrics are available for free streaming at any time. Sunrise is available for download for a very modestly priced $0.50. This is really not indicative of any kind of change in MP, my songs have never been offered for download, so it’s strictly there as an option if you’d like to download it to your ipod or computer. It’s completely optional, if you are interested in doing that, it obviously helps me immensely. If not, no sweat. I recently paid a friend to help me with some marketing and finding my audience. I am expecting this to make immediate, huge dividends. My hope is that the financial backing will allow the whole Melodic Prophet experience to absolutely explode. Thank you for your support everyone. I work very hard to keep this ship running, and your backing is getting me a major head of steam. I finally feel like MP is on the cusp of being what I always wanted it to be. You’re letting me live my dream.
Patrick
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The present and the future.
I am driven to make Melodic Prophet take off into something huge. It is the most honest representation of who I am.
My greatest character flaw is that I have a desire to do things that are…unnecessary difficult. I was born with god-given talent. And I’ve improved and broadened my horizons greatly through nothing less than hard work. But I am still learning how to harness these gifts and use them in the best way possible. Right now, this entire project is a one man show. That’s not how I envision it in the future, but today, as I lay the foundation for something bigger, that’s how I want it to be. I want to do it my way.
The scope of what I wish to do is huge though. After being an actor and musical theatre performer for years, I have discovered through my life experiences that I am an artist more than a performer. There’s a bit of an architect in my soul, and I must nourish that. My artist side has exploded into every part of my life. I see art in everything. The scope of this project is to channel my soul through art. To express myself in the best way I can. Again, to do that I will need help. But for now, I want to get it started myself.
So to put this in perspective and give you a better inkling of what I am speaking of, I will be doing all of the following:
1) I will be playing all of the instruments. Guitar, piano, bass, and voice. 2) Beyond the sheer difficulty of learning, playing, and writing different parts for different instruments, I will self-produce them. This is an extremely tedious process as I am still an infant with sound production. You learn so much about yourself when you record, mainly about how many mistakes you actually make. Getting one good track is hard enough. Playing and recording multiple tracks is a huge, huge, headache. I have promised myself to continue enjoying life. That’s what this is about to me, is waking up and realizing my dreams. Not driving myself absolutely crazy with daily 8 hour sessions sitting at the computer. With the current recordings, that is the approach I took, and I am not happy with the results. They have that feeling of being rushed, to me anyway. And I now realize that 4 days – 2 hours a day is better than 8 hours straight. 3) I have no plans to sell ANYTHING. I may create a “pay what you want” kind of store when I am more satisfied with the production of my recordings. But there always be free music coming out. Music should be shared by everyone. I really believe that. 4) I also got a digital camera and plan to create slideshows and videos to put my music on youtube. I want to edit the images to fit in with the current artistic format I have chosen for Melodic Prophet. 5) A website is coming. It’s kind of on the backburner for now though. 6) Again, as a wide eyed beginning solo artist, there are many ideas but a lot of difficulty uniting them. For example, at the current moment, music is developing a lot faster than lyrics. There are more ideas coming musically than through the metaphoric language I like to use. That’s okay. That’s how I planned it. I want about 25 pieces of music to work on before I worry about lyrics. 7) The ultimate goal is then, when I have those 25 or so pieces of music, to produce 3 or 4 demos of my top songs and to audition members to fill out the band so we can work together to tap the musical possibilities I am unable to reach on my own. 8) Then we produce our first album for digital download.
Your support means the world to me, and is the only thing that will make any of my dreams possible. Be patient with me, as I learn the ropes of self-producing my work. Progress will be slow, but with your support, I absolutely know I can make this happen!
Thank you so much, Patrick aka Melodic Prophet
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7/7/2010 - So it begins.
I consider this the official rebirth of "Melodic Prophet." While I'm sure most of you probably never heard of MP, even if you know me pretty well, it's been something I've been playing around with for quite awhile.
But now, things are starting to set into motion.
A little over four years ago, my mother died. That event and the emotional trauma it caused me brought me to music. I had never had any music training at all. I couldn't read music. I didn't know what a chord was. I didn't know how the piano worked. But I wanted to do all those things. Because a difficult time in my life is what led to this inspiration, I had a desire to tackle it alone. So I did. Rather than get lessons, I decided I would teach myself until I could no longer do so.
Within about 6 months, I made terrific progress. But what was very unusual was that I had this desire to write music...even though I didn't have a clue how it worked. I started to nourish this other part of me...the one that didn't just like to play and listen to music...but had to feel it.
So I began writing music. And I quickly discovered that I was able to write things that were beyond my skill level at the time. Once I began writing, I somewhat cooled off on learning new songs. I longed to create, so I continued working in that direction.
Very quickly I developed the dream of being a composer or lead singer/songwriter in a band. But it was so far away. And it seemed whimsical and childish. So I kept in inside. A secret that only I knew.
I played around with a band before, only to find my creative control negated because I couldn’t play guitar. I was so angry about it that I decided to learn guitar as well. It’s not that I’m a control freak, I just don’t like seeing people do things the wrong way. More importantly, I want to be respected as a musician and artist. Not just be a singer who can’t empathize with the rest of the band’s work.
So I started working on that by myself. And I improved a lot. And just this summer I have been taking lessons which has accelerated me beyond what I ever could have hoped in such a short amount of time.
I am knocking on the door…of making those crazy dreams a possibility. My dreams were never about stardom. They were about making music that I could be proud of. And I am right there…almost there. I can play guitar, rhythm or lead. I can play the piano at a solid level, and I have a very versatile voice that can adapt from song to song, keeping things unpredictable all the time. And finally, I have an acceptable recording set-up, thanks to my father, who bought it for me and helped me set it up. Without his support after losing my mom, I’d be completely lost.
So now it’s time. The goal is to make the best music I can. I am a solo act for now but totally willing to work and grow with other musicians. When I graduate from YSU in December, I plan to form a band, under the name I am currently using: “Melodic Prophet.”
Thanks for reading and supporting my music. I promise you I will work my hardest to make you feel. That is, after all, what music is all about.
Pat
Reply