FAWM OVER, WE WIN!!

- this is my 14th time completing 14!
- this is my 1st time ever offering 200+ song comments!

This is one for the books from where I am. THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING AWESOME.

The songs with hearts are planned as an EP release on Bandcamp soon. Last time I released an album was 2010, decided I'm jonesing to do it again.

--
Thanks to all of you, I have completed thirteen FAWMs! Always grateful when there is more where that came from.

The upstairs apartment isn't always grateful to hear me singing, however. If I post the hurried sketches it's probably because I'm hoping to save some time to sing a few songs properly on the weekend afternoons. No promises for anything, this is FAWM!

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• 

  @miga  Apr 2022

  I threw the secret decoder ring into the liner notes in "increpuit" by the way. But it's April for Pete's sake. You may have better things to do lol

• 

  @skibum1066  Mar 2022

  We do live in the green hills of Western PA where the weather is REAL weather and often quite interesting! Not that Oaklandish

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  @skibum1066  Mar 2022

  Elaine, Thanks for your comments and metric wisdom on my "Don't Be a Stranger" lyrics. If you want to take a whack at writing some music for it, be my guest. I TRIED UNSUCCESSFULLY...(SO FAR!)

• 

  @dukongp100 Mar 2022

  hi and thanks for your comment on zenbruddah, track 4 is vocally my favorite too - like a muddy sound that blends into the track. allthabest and hope things are good !

• 

  @miga  Mar 2022

  Thanks so much for your many and concrete comments on my songs. I'm guessing you know as well as I do how encouraging that is. I appreciate it so much! Now I'll listen to some of your songs too. Thanks again.

• 

  @dzdandcunfsd  Mar 2022

  Hah! Thanks... I still haven't been brave enough to go back and listen to that stolen song yet :D

• 

  @liz561  Mar 2022

  Thank you so much for your comments on my songs Time to Do Some Cleaning, No One Told Me About You, and The New Normal Sucks. I had such a wonderful FAWM, learned new things, tried different genres, tried challenges and skirmishes. The encouraging comments are really appreciated!

• 

  @gm7  Mar 2022

  Elaine
  Thx for the kind words on "Fading Away'...it was a very meaningful song for Jamie and I

• 

  @outinpublicdrummer  Mar 2022

  Thanks for all the feedback! Excited to give your tracks a listen

• 

  @nancycunning  Mar 2022

  Elaine - thanks so much for listening and responding so thoughtfully. I was especially glad Seven Summers resonated for you. BandLab looks really interesting. I’ve been wondering how people manage to pull off such great collaborations and what sorts of files get passed around.

• 

  @shortdan  Mar 2022

  Thank you so much for your lovely comments! I really appreciate it :-)

• 

  @timfatchen  Mar 2022

  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10119889-orchestration You probably can't get this: I picked one up from an op shop 20 years ago. it's simple, straightforward, 200 pp, lacks the detail and nuance of Rimsky but can be useful for quick before-bed reading!

• 

  @phenola Mar 2022

  Ms. DiMasi. Best of luck with the axe. Be careful not to chop any fingers off. Little and often is the correct stance. If you become frustrated because you are not as good as you would like to be, remember that people who have been playing for 30 years are also having that same problem. There is always a bigger fish.

• 

  @dzdandcunfsd  Mar 2022

  Haha! Perfect... I tried not to liter it with too many myself, but 50/90 might be a different story. Will be looking forward to it!

• 

  @dzdandcunfsd  Mar 2022

  I didn't want to bring it up in the first electric guitar thread as its not real positive and may deter someone from playing, but its similar to what your ex husband said about hand sizes not really being much of an excuse.
  
  Don't worry the pain never really goes away... once you get good calouses and are used to bending your hand in weird pretzels and playing barre chords for hours on end arthritis/tennis elbow/strange intermittent cramps/etc aren't too far behind LOL.... BUT I've got an uncle into his 80's now who has played fiddle/guitar/etc for almost as long as years he has alive. His hands are just some gnarled talons that don't cooperate doing much, but he can still pickup a guitar or fiddle/banjo whatever and play the hell out of it. It's infuriating when I want to whine about it and inspiring when I've wanted to quit.
  
  On top of already having some arthritis by the time I was in my 30's mostly from work stuff. I nearly lost middle/ring/pinkie fingers on my fretting hand 5(ish) years ago now and really just now feel like I'm getting back to where I was, though I'll never play fast scale-like things again that was never really important to me anyway... so its as much of a perseverance thing as anything! Good luck! G,D,Am,C,Em and any combination thereof even if only partial or broken chords(I don't get into the fancy numbers and slashes naming LOL) were the easiest transitions for me to start with.

• 

  @karlsburg25  Mar 2022

  Hey lovely. oooo thank you so much for your comment. And you should be able to download from soundcloud. I will check again. Always have problems with this. thank you once again. lovely soul

• 

  @highmountain Mar 2022

  Howdy, Elaine! Thanks for that kind double comment! (Did I Wrong? Magic Land of Love)

• 

  @audrey  Mar 2022

  Wow! What a wonderful surprise to find that you listened to all seven of my songs and left such thoughtful comments. Thank you so much! I just finished listening to a bunch of yours. I couldn't stop. They are so good. How have I managed to miss your music in past FAWMs? I've corrected that for the future. You're now on my watchlist. :)

• 

  @mikeskliar  Mar 2022

  thanks! (and I totally understand taking a break from it all, I did as well, need to listen to more! ... --and yeah, feel free to comment, tho the 'best' stuff can all be found at one place to download, ie my new album https://mikeskliar.bandcamp.com/album/interesting-times

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  @andygetch  Mar 2022

  Wooohooo congratulations on 14x14! That gives me a reason to carry on, at least three more times, as this year was 11 in a row.

• 

  @arthurrossi Mar 2022

  Thank you very, very much for your wonderful words on "Yugoslavia"! I am very happy how it turned out and what Karl did with it. Thanks so much for your lovely and that generous comment!

• 

  @jmadison  Mar 2022

  Thanks so much for the listens. I appreciate the idea of changing up starting lines in the 3rd verse. That's something I'll watch for now, to avoid the sameness trap I often fall into. And, yes, church organ and more guitars!

• 

  @toms  Mar 2022

  Elaine for the Game Theory win! :)

• 

  @chrismyth02 Mar 2022

  thanks for checking out "Getaway Pigeons" and though I sang it, I don't know what it's about either! But it's a fun lyric and Josh's music sure does rock!

• 

  @timfatchen  Mar 2022

  Ah, PM....mind you, looking at your change of domicile I did have vague California thoughts after this morning's wake-me-up earthquake!

• 

  @timfatchen  Mar 2022

  thanks for all those comments on my collabs--I wish @otagoseaburials could dig himself out from under the lawyers more because he's a wonderful lyricist (with some stern editing) and he's LOCAL (well, more or less. In reach of me, anyway). I all lsitened out right now but that should ease in a day or two and I can surreptitiously get back to lsitening. There's amazing stuf srpings out of FAWM. BTW why are you no longer worried about your pubs? Are you now scientifically secure, as it were? (Me, I'm soooo long out of it and anyway, all my best stuff went into the grey lit.)

• 

  @zeekle1998  Mar 2022

  Thanks for your lovely comments on my songs.

• 

  @katestantonsings  Mar 2022

  Congrats on winning! Thanks so much for the kind comment on 'Prairie Prayer' with G! I love that collab. Have a wonderful spring. Keep rocking!

• 

  @nadine Mar 2022

  Hey Elaine, thanks a lot for your comment on "Disco Blues" and I am happy you enjoyed! The slow build just happened. I am not sure yet, if we should start with the bass earlier. It could sound a bit fuller, but it loses momentum. I'm also psyched about the vocals.

• 

  @yewnorker Mar 2022

  Thank you for your comments on Last Call, Backwards, and Endless Sorrow. You're like an Energizer FAWM Bunny.

• 

  @keithcuts  Mar 2022

  By far the most detailed listener comments on any song this year was yours on “make the voices stop”. Kudos to you!

• 

  @ahumburg  Feb 2022

  Thanks for taking the time to give my song a listen as well as giving me your feedback! Happy writing!

• 

  @chariotbaldwin Feb 2022

  Thank you for taking the time to write your thoughts about my song Old Friend. As I mentioned to John, it wasn't planned and came out of its own accord unprovoked.
  
  I'm looking forward to building on it and either making it richer or poetic.
  
  Congrats on hitting 15 songs for the 13th time. I bow before you :)

• 

  @beat  Feb 2022

  One thing left to say before I’ll rap it up for this year,
  I very much enjoy your comments Elaine.

• 

  @beat  Feb 2022

  Despite the shit going on right now,
  enjoy being.
  I’ll hear you next year.
  Greets from Vienna.

• 

  @yarimurray  Feb 2022

  Thanks for listening and for your thoughtful comments. I look forward to hearing your songs; and congrats on the win!

• 

  @datsch  Feb 2022

  You are correct! I hadn't seen that, what a joyous bundle!

• 

  @datsch  Feb 2022

  Let me know if I should start a thread to crowdsource a bandname for you and Tom ... :-)

• 

  @steer Feb 2022

  Thank you so much for your kind words on my song "I Love You".

• 

  @burrsettles  Feb 2022

  thanks for your comments on the megasynthfeast! glad you picked up on the counterpoint... i've been trying to use FAWM this year as exercises in that, and modal interchange in a way i've never really had an imagination (or a toolset) for doing before... :)

• 

  @lmr  Feb 2022

  I agree that all the best people are Luddites, amazing how you can make a single chord so damn interesting and entertaining!

• 

  @datsch  Feb 2022

  Wow! Thanx for all the kewl commentz! Seriously when I wrote 'source code' I didn't expect anyone to notice it was DNA not fortran I was talking about; it's really really nice to have an astute reader like you. All your observations are spot on, as always.
  
  And well, the dont-accept-the-premise tag, I am flustered and flattered and hope you enjoyed the experience somewhat despite the challenges we now both know it brings ...

• 

  @mikeb  Feb 2022

  Thanks for the listen and comment on 'Molly Bloom'!

• 

  @lmr  Feb 2022

  Thanks so much for stopping by my site and listening. Your comments were so thoughtful and kind!

• 

  @karlsburg25  Feb 2022

  Thank you so much Elaine for your comments on forever. You just caught me in a ten minute listening binge so Yay i can go dig into your songs. woohoo . I could do this for hours if life didn't get in the way

• 

  @mandolinda  Feb 2022

  Thank you for the comments on Casuarina Tree. After 6 weeks asking people about the cross, some did not even know it was there, but no one knew who put it there. Maybe when I go back next year, I can ask more people.

• 

  @annaharp1 Feb 2022

  Thanks for your comment on my haiku song :)

• 

  @scubed  Feb 2022

  Thanks very much for your kind comment and thoughtful suggestion RE "Decluttering My Heart." I believe you're right about revisiting the fiddle part of the arrangement.

• 

  @doglatin  Feb 2022

  Thanks for listening to my stuff, and the very thoughtful comments. Yeah I had to tread lightly with a line "all the girls in the world who -- "... I certainly took an easy way out, there's nothing wrong with extolling the virtues of not flipping your lid. I'm not sure if you were asking me the story behind the "fall off your bike" line or not. Basically, I was a reporter/photographer at a small neighborhood newspaper, looking for a story, so I (jokingly) asked her to stage a bike accident so I could post a "local girl falls off bike" story. To this day, I am plagued with her retelling of the story, whenever people ask us "how did you meet"?

• 

  @scottlake Feb 2022

  Elaine, your comment on my lyrics being High Art….first time anyone has said that to me and it made my day. I’m possibly entering my sunset of FAWM participation. This is my 16th time! I have some lyrics out to some collaborators that may or may not get things done in February. I really don’t mind. I’m proud of several lines from the 6 sets of lyrics that I’ve cranked out and I’m content if that’s all that I end up doing. I’m getting old. Sitting down to watch Olympics, doing a crossword and getting to bed at a decent hour has more appeal this year than late night recording and editing sessions.

• 

  @mikeb  Feb 2022

  Thanks for the listens and song comments!

• 

  @pumpkinhead Feb 2022

  Thanks Elaine. You made me blush. <3
  Peace

• 

  @beat  Feb 2022

  ;].
  Ja, a red carpet for the Queen.
  
  Thx for listening and writing.

• 

  @farmyardorchestra Feb 2022

  Thank you for addressing my Husk Thieves! Hopefully they will learn and reform.

• 

  @papaooo  Feb 2022

  Thank you for being a Zong-buster!
  
  Sadly, that phrase is not available as a vanity plate. Might have to make it a bumper sticker.

• 

  @fortelmfield  Feb 2022

  So nice of you to leave a comment on "Hunger", thank you for taking the time to listen!
  If you do decide to try some Porcupine Tree or Opeth, be aware that Opeth's older stuff is very heavy and growly metal, nothing at all like the piece you heard :)
  Their more recent stuff is much more proggy, and the vibe I ended up associating most with that specific FAWM piece is more like something off their "Damnation" album, which is a lot calmer and darker, but not heavy.

• 

  @scubed  Feb 2022

  Thanks so much for your lovely comment on “I’ll Return for Thee” - much appreciated!

• 

  @doglatin  Feb 2022

  Thanks for the comments on my Funnybone song, and especially nice was your remark "glad you're back this year." I am too, and I'm glad you are, and yes, glad to be among everyone!

• 

  @standup  Feb 2022

  I have done no collabs, you said you may have things that you may need some kind of help with—let me know if I may be able to help.

• 

  @dreamscuba  Feb 2022

  Thank you for your comments on several of my songs. Much appreciated.

• 

  @povosos  Feb 2022

  Thanks for the comment on "This is as Happy as it Gets". It certainly has a gaming soundtrack vibe, or maybe a adventurous movie or something :D

• 

  @theicylakes  Feb 2022

  Weird! I wanted to Watch you but somehow clicking your watch button on your page doesn't work for me... Try another day I guess :-D Just wanted to say thanks for the comment on my song and, wow.. 13 FAWMs! I'm in awe!

• 

  @circle  Feb 2022

  hi, thanks for your comments!
  
  on "i eat an apple" i think i was trying to say that aging and bad habits were catching up with me. I guess that "what goes around comes around" was meant to be like, you have your time and then time comes back for you. but perhaps it wasn't that clear in the lyrics! appreciate the input though, I probably will rework the lyrics later if I continue with that song

• 

  @lenigmusx1  Feb 2022

  Thank you for the comments on “Inconclusive”. I am behind in my listening but I am about check out you tunes.

• 

  @beat  Feb 2022

  ;]. Thx for listening and writing Elaine.

• 

  @leah0k Feb 2022

  Thank you for the listen! I love your idea of footsteps- that would fall in “step” with the song really nicely I think! Heh heh ;-)
  
  Going to see what you’ve been creating thus far now!

• 

  @autoclamp  Feb 2022

  Hallo! You got a recorder avatar! Not gonna lie. Kinda jealous.

• 

  @feb21sundari Feb 2022

  Dear Elaine, I m so inexperienced in Bandlab that I can t participate this year in colabs. It take me hours to master simple actions. But I m very pleased to colaborate next fawm and I m really currios to hear the results of the pro user :-). Have fun

• 

  @dzdandcunfsd  Feb 2022

  Thansk! and wow I'm slow. I saw that a/b side challenge today and thought I should do that, but wasn't even thinking about that tune :O)

• 

  @trebled  Feb 2022

  Thanks for the welcome! One song in and already I’m hooked! :-)

• 

  @datsch  Feb 2022

  You always sound great. The upstairs apartment should sell tickets! Nice recorder BTW. I bet there's a great recorder VST suite or something with bass, tenor, alto recorders etc... I played bass guitar once in a recorder ensemble who had no bass recorder ...

• 

  @henton123 Feb 2022

  Hey! Thanks for the welcome! :)

• 

  @boycetown  Jan 2022

  Hey Elaine, thanks for the welcome. I’m feeling at home here already. I will be tormenting my ungrateful neighbours and family with my own particular take on vocals for the rest of the month. Should they survive, they will be stronger for it

• 

  @guatecoop  Jan 2022

  Thanks! It is so satisfying. I’ve always wanted a dedicated space like that. How are you new toys?? They look very inviting!

• 

  @swampjaw  Jan 2022

  https://youtu.be/nL_VvbgC6sA

• 

  @swampjaw  Jan 2022

  Lots of ideas percolating, but not sure how to phrase them. Pathological liars get a power-trip kick, and I'm sure their flocks get a kick too.
  
  If only I could channel a little bit of Neil Young....

• 

  @gardeningangel1  Jan 2022

  Thanks for the link to the understanding amps site. Goldmine of information!

• 

  @fuzzy  Jan 2022

  Thanx for the tip about the amp buzz.
  I've cleaned the electrical contacts on the knobs, and bizarrely somehow that has cut the buzz to a minimum. I'm not sure why. It all seems like magic to me.

• 

  @dzdandcunfsd  Jan 2022

  That's amazing! I wouldn't kick a $500 Rick out of bed :) Though I already have a very jangly Gretsch I'm very fond of that might get jealous.

• 

  @dzdandcunfsd  Jan 2022

  Yeah, I've been mostly playing a Jaguar recently, 6 switches and a couple knobs. I don't want to worry about amp knobs too lol
  
  I've played a 12 string version of your same Ric, its been a long time but I still remember it well one of my favorite guitars I've ever touched.

• 

  @gomjabbar Jan 2022

  Thank you for your kind words.

• 

  @wacha  Jan 2022

  I got your BandLab invite, thanks!

• 

  @johnstaples  Jan 2022

  Hey, it's not cheating if we *both* start early! Right? :D

• 

  @roddy  Jan 2022

  Thanks for your kind comments on my sonnet.

• 

  @johnstaples  Jan 2022

  I think we both *must* write We Had Checkers next month!

• 

  @phenola Jan 2022

  re: speakers -- probably a wise choice on the budget V110NT. I replaced the old HH one in my amplifier with a brand new Celestion a few years ago and ... I haven't used it since. If that's not "more money than sense" then I don't know what is.

• 

  @steer Jan 2022

  Thank you very much!

• 

  @zecoop  Jan 2022

  Hey there! Yeah, I have always had them ever since I was a kid and never quite grew out of them. They really relax me kind of like a stress ball. But no big snakes like pythons (says Mrs Coop) ;) That's fine with me. Corn snakes are ideal.

• 

  @mikegtz  Jan 2022

  Hi Elaine and welcome back!

• 

  @davi3blu3 Jan 2022

  Thanks for dropping a line! That video game book will definitely need to go on my amazon list! Happy FAWMing

• 

  @thedutchwidows  Jan 2022

  I know what you mean - Emily goes above and beyond, and then further beyond again!

• 

  @thedutchwidows  Jan 2022

  Glad that the Drumstem club might be useful! Emily's put up so many of them, that you can lose hours in there...

• 

  @toms  Jan 2022

  Bondsman poster! Who knew! :)

• 

  @rebeleardeafcult Jan 2022

  I hope you have a good FAWM, and your neighbours buy your FAWM album!

• 

  @tomslatter Jan 2022

  Thanks for the message! Good to see you here again too, hope you have a good FAWM.

• 

  @tamsnumber4  Jan 2022

  Hope you have a great FAWM!

• 

  @willyviste Jan 2022

  Hehe, that is true

• 

  @wacha  Jan 2022

  Hey @elainedimasi my handle is cwacha oops, meant to post this in the bandlab thread but here is it.

• 

  @johnstaples  Jan 2022

  Hey there Elaine! I'm glad to hear you are playing Subnautica; it is a lovely and wonderful game!
  
  So, I do have a recommendation for playing it and that is to start a new game in the Freedom mode. This allows you to play the game without the additional challenge of finding/creating/using food and water. You will still need to manage health and oxygen but those seem reasonable and balanced to me. Having to manage food and water is just too much.
  
  Of course it depends on your own personal preferences. Playing in the harder modes will lengthen the game and make it more challenging. I personally found that Freedom mode was just right for me, allowing me to make progress while still being challenged to find and craft things, solve mysteries, etc.
  
  You are in for a wonderful treat with this game! If you ever need any hints I would be happy to provide them in a way that does not spoil any of the surprises. And this game def has surprises!

• 

  @phylo  Jan 2022

  Happy FAWM, Elaine!