Tis The Season - Semester over, Hello Winter Break

Hey-Lo,

Yep, The Fall semester is officially done and dusted, grades given, and that's all she wrote...

No official ties till January... Which is a welcomed thing. I'll using this time to tie up allot of knots!

Expect from me early next year the following:
- The 2035 project.. Including Graphic Novel! (fingers crossed!)
- A Release of Kora Music performed by Dr. Ryan Skinner
- Another release, rearrangement of said Kora Music fused with other things

As far as 2035 goes, I haven't done much work on it, since I haven't had the energy, drive, or musical "light" to do anything coherent or worth listening to... BUT! I'm going to be sitting down after Xmas is over and working on all the tracks that aren't yet loaded into my DAW... like the old fruity loops based "Rebellion" and "Defiance (Just East Of Nowhere)"... Looking forward to reworking these songs actually.. One of the reasons why I didn't just throw myself into them, since I want it to be an enjoyable and productive experience.. Not just going through the motions...

As for the Graphic Novel part, well.. many moons ago I wrote a god awful movie script (yes, it's bad, cliched, and not worthy of any merit), and had the idea for it being a 3 parter. And in true George Lucas style.. I wanted to make a graphic novel of the second part. The 2nd and 3rd parts aren't really written, but would make for a much more interesting graphic novel then the first.. So alongside the albums music, there should be a graphic novel, and maybe one or two music videos too!! I'm pretty excited about the whole thing.. But We'll have to see.. Generally I think I can pull it off... But we'll have to wait and see... I'll keep you updated on how that progresses...

The Kora music I mentioned before, myself and Dr.Skinner walked into the A.U.C PVA Music Studio, and he layed down a whole bunch of music.. which I roughly mixed during the summer, and have been remixing this month and mastering it properly. Alongside the solo pieces, I'll be taking the recordings and twisting and mangling them with electronic elements and other instrumentation.

Hopefully 2011 will be a very good year. So, Keep an eye out for some cool stuff coming your way.

If I don't post before it, Have a very Merry Christmas (and a happy new year!)

DFZ

2010 - $58.37

Hey All.

If you're wondering what $58.37 is.. That's the amount of money made this year from my music sales.....

3 albums, 27 songs, 883 streams.... in 12 months... Pretty weak to say the least.

Is this the sign o' the times? Are people no longer buying music? Or is there simply no room for little fish in this over saturated market....

As I sit here sipping a cup of Peach tea in this cold & dirty apartment... I can't help but wonder... Why invest into this further? I haven't worked on 2035 for a few weeks due to health problems, and am wondering why I would even bother.....

Simple really... It's not about the money, never was...

Actually, I've mostly being taking 2035 slowly, since I really don't want to rush the process of making good music. My guitar chops are in good form, My guitars & tones are happenin', and it's all where it should be. Sadly though, musically, I'm not feeling that creative, and some of the tunes require allot more then fretboard prowess... Especially the more Middle Eastern pieces.

Also I've been working on getting my Duduk playing up to code, since I'd like to have 2035 be as flawless as possible. When I listen to Silent Echoes... I cringe... All the things I could have done better. With Failure To Adjust, the outcome was far closer to what I wanted, and there were very few things I felt unhappy with... so 2035 (which is not really a Dreamfullofzen album but more of a project), has to be a cut above all that.

I'm gunning to have it all wrapped up within the early part of 2011, as for the release though, well, I'm going to hold off, since I really want to make sure the albums probably promoted, something which I've neglected in the past.

Till then, Happy Holidays, Be good...

DFZ

October Update

Hey all,
It's October, and for some reason, it's insanely hot here..... So much for winter...

Work is proceeding on 2035, and I'm happy with the changes in some of the tracks. Equilibrium was given a major overhaul, in that it was way too busy, too many parts fighting for the spotlight, and too many textures creating total chaos. Allot of that stuff was removed, and I added real drums, since with the addition of heavier guitars, the electronic ones lacked the impact that a drum groove with big fills adds to a track.

I'm taking it very slowly though, since I generally have a tendency to rush things, and that's when mistakes and bad judgement calls happen, and after having this project floating around for some 6 odd years, well, I don't want to ruin it.

Soon when the tracks are closer to what they should sound like, I'll be putting up preview snippets & some youtube videos hopefully. I'm planning to spend the next few weeks (assuming the freak heatwave weather disappears) spending more time working on it though, since I would like to have it wrapped up by December.

I'll also be going back to that Kora project which I was working on during the summer. I shelfed it because I wasn't happy with the overall output & felt like the mixing process was not going the way it should, and that it be best I leave it for awhile and come back to it with a fresh perspective. Audio Engineering work can be a very unforgiving process, especially when you're working on materials on your own. It's easier when the artist and producers are there, and they give you a solid picture of what needs to be done... Whereas when you're acting as producer, arranger, engineer, and a contributing musician, it becomes very hard to do solid work, since you play the role of all those people, and all those people usually have conflicting ideas, and somewhere, balance and harmony is brought by compromise, which happens by working with others... whereas on your own, that doesn't always necessarily happen....

The pic posted is a snapshot from my Log notes for the FTA sessions, some of you may find it interesting... Others will just see a bunch of scribbles on a piece of paper. For those of you whom have not listened to my second album "Failure To Adjust", I suggest you hop on over to Reverbnation.com and give it a good listen to.

Till the next time,

DFZ

September - Seasons of Change

Hey All,

Sorry for not keeping this blog up, but to be honest I've had very little to post about.

I hope you all had enjoyable summers, I wish I could say mine was good, but it really wasn't...

I've kept busy with Duduk, and other little things here and there. I've also  been practicing like crazy on guitar... It's actually been a year, maybe more since I've played this much. I've fallen into that state allot of musicians find themselves in.... Wondering what's the point of devoting yourself to something & in the end achieving nothing. But I've been trying to stay more positive and motivate myself to keep trudging forward.

I've officially started work on 2035.

I re-strung my white ESP with DR Drop Tune strings, Gauge .12-.60, and have tuned it to a variation of Drop A tunning. Allot of the tracks on 2035 are fairly heavy, and I did the demo tracks with .10-.42 strings and naturally they lacked the depth and punch that this new set of strings and tunning is bringing to the fold.

Thus far I've been tracking everyday, and hope to have the album wrapped up within the next 4 months. I could probably finish it sooner... But after sitting on something for nearly 6 years... well... seems stupid to rush it and spoil it.

It's actually been fun to re-visit my old work from that long ago... see how i've grown and changed as a guitar player and a composer. I definitely did things differently back then. Two of the tracks will actually be from the first EP I ever worked on as DREAMFULLOFZEN, but never released (It was very rough around the edges!).

Also I'll be adding 2-3 new pieces that I've done, which are definitely different from my previous works.

There will be plenty of guitar to keep my guitar based fans happy, but there will also be allot of Duduk, and some other Middle Eastern Touches here and there... We'll see how it goes as the recording process moves along.

I might actually do a Youtube studio blog type thing, keeping you all updated with the albums progress.

On non-DFZ related news, I've got work in afew hours.... The new semester begins, as does the Music Programs New Music Technology Degree! I'm only teaching Guitar this semester though, which is good, because I'll have more free time to work on my album.

Thanks for reading. Be sure to check out my Youtube Channel, My Reverbnation fan page & Facebook.

Also, check out my website www.dreamfullofzen.net for the latest updates & new sections!

regards,

DFZ

Echoes of Rain - Past & Present

Hey All,

For those of you keeping up with my info, you'll know that i'm climbing up the charts over at Reverbnation.

The song in question is one of my own personal favorites and is a fan favorite aswell. The piece in question is "Echoes of Rain", and is from the "Silent Echoes" album.

Generally music is interesting in how it unfolds, and changes over the time, in reflection of the artist and their art so to speak. The piece has changed a fair amount, as my musicianship increased, and I guess from being in the moment with an audience and taking that improvisational leap into the unknown.

The first video from when I was working on the piece for the album (2007)


A performance at The American University Of Cairo, New Cairo Campus, Malak Gabr Theatre


And finally, a Private performance for you all, 2010, With a proper audio recording of how I play the piece now with all the sounds I create using Guitar Rig 3


I'm glad I caught this performance on camera. It was 90 degrees and dry... But as I started to perform this piece, this strong breeze just came out of nowhere.... And seemed to react to my playing intensity... Was a special moment & I'm happy to share it with you all.

ReverbNation

Hey all,

Quick update. I've been focusing more on my web presence & promotion, primarily with ReverbNation, since I'm actually No.6 on the charts for my region!

So for those of you who have blogs, I'd appreciate it if you're a fan if you can place one of these Banners on your page to help promote my music:




To get the code for these, either copy them directly from this post, or to make your life easier, go to this page and pick the ones you want and it'll give you the code:

http://www.reverbnation.com/page_object/page_object_banners/artist_346422

Once again, Thanks guys, you've made a big difference, and your support over the years has been very encouraging & inspiring. There are times where it seems like making a career out of music is a shot in the dark & hopeless, but then every once in awhile, people like yourselves come out & make us realize that anything is possible.

And for those of you who are interested, here's my video for the excellent Shred this 3 competition:


Thanks to Laurie Monk & Brett Garsed for this, The backing track is awesome & i'm going to enjoy practicing on it for many years to come.

Till the next update, keep spreading the word!

DFZ

Summer update

Greetings one and all. It’s been a looooooooooooooong time since I updated, and I apologize for that. I’ve been incredibly busy & have just had very little time to devote to my online endeavors. I’ve shelved 2035 for now, since I’ve been too busy to really work on it properly, but I’ve been busy with other things. In the coming months there will be some interesting music being released, involving interesting collaborations.

I made some important fixes to my website, and will be adding new content in the next few weeks. Including information on my instruments and current setup.

Stay tuned for more info!

DFZ

Divine Ratio: Progressive Music That’s actually worth listening to

For fans of progressive music, you should check these guys out. They have some great songs and some great production, and are doing some really cool music.

Be sure to check out their page on Facebook for previews of their music.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Divine-Ratio/46437948508?ref=ts

They’ll be releasing their much awaited album this summer finally!

for more info check out http://www.divineratio.com/

March Update

Greetings all! it certainly has been awhile since i updated this blog. In all honesty, i needed a break to return to a clear mind & refresh myself from all the work of the semester.. and the recording of Failure To Adjust.

Last few months have been very productive & fruitful, I’ve acquired a new laptop for producing music (a nice Acer timeline), and also gotten my hands on some nice Duduks & flutes.

Musically, I've been on a long break, but have slowly started making work on 2035. I was aiming for a summer release, but in all honesty i will wait and see how it goes.

I’m also looking at putting a group (or groups) together to start performing live, since usually during the summer, i don’t have much work & instead of taking a holiday, I’d rather make use of the time playing my music for an audience.

Pictures & more details to come soon,

Stay tuned,

DFZ