Blog: Nostalgia For My Old Music
Nostalgia For My Old Music posted by RPLauer on December 21, 2020:
I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, especially in regard to music; specifically the fact that I used to play guitar and bass, as well as write and record songs. At one time I had a small collection of songs uploaded to various sites, nothing too special. But now those sites have all shut down, and even my sites have been completely altered, so that music no longer exists out there on the Internet.
So I decided, why not get a few of them back up there? Well, here anyway. I'm not going to bother putting something elaborate together like I would have 15 years ago, there's no real point to that. I've long since moved away from even playing. Thus, this post.
However, as long as I'm doing this, why not include a small, brief recounting of that history?
Back in high school, I picked up guitar, like so many others. I quickly shifted to bass, played in a few bands, wrote a few basic songs. I never really clicked with anyone musically, so my time in bands never lasted, but I still messed around.
In 1999, I got married and life became chaotic. By 2000, I was a father and working at Staples. One day I noticed a disc with music recording and mixing software on our shelves, and it was pretty cheap; Acid DJ 2.0 by Sonic Foundry, later bought by Sony. I picked it up, but unfortunately, my computer at the time could not handle it.
So I stuck it away somewhere, hoping that some day I could use it.
Christmas of 2000, while visiting family, our house was robbed. Anything of any value was stolen, including my guitar and bass. Over the next few years, I was able to slowly replace my instruments and some equipment.
In 2002, I bought a new computer and decided to give it a try. And what do you know? It worked! So I gave it a spin. It took time, but I got the hang of it fairly decently. I did some very rough recording, my wife even lent her vocals. I had also purchased more software, a Drum Machine called PC Drummer Pro.
Every so often I would get a new instrument or piece of equipment, I upgraded the software over time from Acid DJ 2.0 to Music 3.0 and finally Pro 4.0. I used various editors along the way, primarily Audacity. I bought some amps, a J-Station, a Guitar Port, and a few other odds and ends.
This took time of course, so my recording ended up very uneven. But near the end of my time with music, I really did start to get decent and I got a lot closer to some of the sounds I had intended from the beginning.
In 2004, our second child was born. Once that child started to crawl, they really got into everything. At one point my bass ended up covered in my wife's lipstick after having turned my back for maybe a minute at most. I realized that I couldn't just keep my equipment out anymore and instead had to put it away whenever it wasn't being used.
Setting up and breaking down took a lot of time. I'd end up having only a few minutes to actually try recording something, and that just wasn't worth it. So I put everything away; the goal was to get back to it once my kids were old enough to stop messing with everything.
But then a third child arrived, we moved over and over again, I got deep into web coding, and I just never got back to it.
I was never very good in the first place, so I guess it ultimately doesn't matter. But there are times where I wonder what might have been, especially since some of the earlier recordings never got updated. I really wish they had, considering the evolution of a couple of songs. But that's life.
So now that that is out of the way, why not just provide at least a few of these old recordings, for old time sake?
Distant Words was the 'project' I called the songs my wife and I did together. Damaged Goods is what I called some of my own material, or I would just stick with the label 'Robert Lauer' (I know, clever).
All music written and recorded by Robert Lauer unless otherwise noted.
Distant Words:
Time Stands Still - Lyrics Robert Lauer
The Test (Electric) - Lyrics Robert Lauer, Patricia Lauer
The Test (Original Version) - Lyrics Robert Lauer
Lost Lyrics Robert Lauer
Someone Like You [Explicit Lyrics] - Lyrics Robert Lauer, Patricia Lauer
Duncan's Song - Lyrics Robert Lauer, Patricia Lauer
Damaged Goods:
Eternal Bliss - Featuring The Shady Neighbor [Explicit Lyrics] - Lyrics Robert Lauer, Lead Guitars by The Shady Neighbor
Robert Lauer
Time Stands Still - Instrumental Short (this is something I'm actually very proud of) - Guitar Solo by D-Dubb
One final thing I'd like to share is a sample of the last thing my wife and I were working on back in 2004. It's just a chorus, and the sound quality is awful, but it's something that will never exist in full. It's a shame because I think it had some great potential; we had the lyrics, the music was mostly recorded, we just never had the chance to finish. My wife only recorded this little sample.
Alone (Sample) - Lyrics Robert Lauer, Patricia Lauer
I'm feeling a bit nostalgic, especially in regard to music; specifically the fact that I used to play guitar and bass, as well as write and record songs. At one time I had a small collection of songs uploaded to various sites, nothing too special. But now those sites have all shut down, and even my sites have been completely altered, so that music no longer exists out there on the Internet.
So I decided, why not get a few of them back up there? Well, here anyway. I'm not going to bother putting something elaborate together like I would have 15 years ago, there's no real point to that. I've long since moved away from even playing. Thus, this post.
However, as long as I'm doing this, why not include a small, brief recounting of that history?
Back in high school, I picked up guitar, like so many others. I quickly shifted to bass, played in a few bands, wrote a few basic songs. I never really clicked with anyone musically, so my time in bands never lasted, but I still messed around.
In 1999, I got married and life became chaotic. By 2000, I was a father and working at Staples. One day I noticed a disc with music recording and mixing software on our shelves, and it was pretty cheap; Acid DJ 2.0 by Sonic Foundry, later bought by Sony. I picked it up, but unfortunately, my computer at the time could not handle it.
So I stuck it away somewhere, hoping that some day I could use it.
Christmas of 2000, while visiting family, our house was robbed. Anything of any value was stolen, including my guitar and bass. Over the next few years, I was able to slowly replace my instruments and some equipment.
In 2002, I bought a new computer and decided to give it a try. And what do you know? It worked! So I gave it a spin. It took time, but I got the hang of it fairly decently. I did some very rough recording, my wife even lent her vocals. I had also purchased more software, a Drum Machine called PC Drummer Pro.
Every so often I would get a new instrument or piece of equipment, I upgraded the software over time from Acid DJ 2.0 to Music 3.0 and finally Pro 4.0. I used various editors along the way, primarily Audacity. I bought some amps, a J-Station, a Guitar Port, and a few other odds and ends.
This took time of course, so my recording ended up very uneven. But near the end of my time with music, I really did start to get decent and I got a lot closer to some of the sounds I had intended from the beginning.
In 2004, our second child was born. Once that child started to crawl, they really got into everything. At one point my bass ended up covered in my wife's lipstick after having turned my back for maybe a minute at most. I realized that I couldn't just keep my equipment out anymore and instead had to put it away whenever it wasn't being used.
Setting up and breaking down took a lot of time. I'd end up having only a few minutes to actually try recording something, and that just wasn't worth it. So I put everything away; the goal was to get back to it once my kids were old enough to stop messing with everything.
But then a third child arrived, we moved over and over again, I got deep into web coding, and I just never got back to it.
I was never very good in the first place, so I guess it ultimately doesn't matter. But there are times where I wonder what might have been, especially since some of the earlier recordings never got updated. I really wish they had, considering the evolution of a couple of songs. But that's life.
So now that that is out of the way, why not just provide at least a few of these old recordings, for old time sake?
Distant Words was the 'project' I called the songs my wife and I did together. Damaged Goods is what I called some of my own material, or I would just stick with the label 'Robert Lauer' (I know, clever).
All music written and recorded by Robert Lauer unless otherwise noted.
Distant Words:
Time Stands Still - Lyrics Robert Lauer
The Test (Electric) - Lyrics Robert Lauer, Patricia Lauer
The Test (Original Version) - Lyrics Robert Lauer
Lost Lyrics Robert Lauer
Someone Like You [Explicit Lyrics] - Lyrics Robert Lauer, Patricia Lauer
Duncan's Song - Lyrics Robert Lauer, Patricia Lauer
Damaged Goods:
Eternal Bliss - Featuring The Shady Neighbor [Explicit Lyrics] - Lyrics Robert Lauer, Lead Guitars by The Shady Neighbor
Robert Lauer
Time Stands Still - Instrumental Short (this is something I'm actually very proud of) - Guitar Solo by D-Dubb
One final thing I'd like to share is a sample of the last thing my wife and I were working on back in 2004. It's just a chorus, and the sound quality is awful, but it's something that will never exist in full. It's a shame because I think it had some great potential; we had the lyrics, the music was mostly recorded, we just never had the chance to finish. My wife only recorded this little sample.
Alone (Sample) - Lyrics Robert Lauer, Patricia Lauer
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