We all make plans. We love to say that our perfectly planned schedules will be executed and concluded without a bump or hiccup. We can see ourselves receiving that trophy we so desired, parades coming out in your honor, the crowds chanting your name.
In the month of December, I learned the hard way that things do not usually go as planned. My career began to really big up, both in live sound and in the studio. School was right behind my career, with Entertainment Business Law taking up the bulk of my time. January hit me especially hard. I had an accident, and totaled my car, which I have earned through my hard work in the Marines Corps. The loss of my car, the events that unfolded afterwards, the realization that I would have to purchase a new car and add another burden to my finances greatly impacted my sense of self esteem, and my PTSD. I fell in a dark hole, and felt like I was a failure. I have tried to keep pushing forward, and even though I have been silent on social media and this blog site, I have been working hard on my music and my career. I love live sound. It is dealing with sound waves in its most chaotic form, and shaping them into something not only tangible, but extraordinary in a set amount of time. I do not view it as a race, but as a challenge similar to the likes of Corporal's Course in the Marines Corps. Every single time I work, I learn so much about sound and her many moods and characteristics. It is like a free school, and all you have to do is listen. December defiantly felt like the challenge was moved up a notch. I was contracted to be lead engineer at the W for the month of December, while my boss was away on vacation. The nerves I felt were immense, but I held my bearing throughout the whole month, no matter how difficult it got. I am glad to report that things went really well, with the exception of a few small insignificant incidents. The experience definitely changes my resume for the better, and has given me another volume of sound knowledge. I feel that the standard quality of my work has reached another level, since my work draws whispers among the crowd, musicians, and producers in a great way. It gives me an extra bounce to my step. My motivation and self-esteem rise in a positive, exponential way. During this time, I had a lot of hours cut out for me at the studio where I work as a runner. I really love working there, especially because of what I learn from school. The knowledge I gain are tools I can later use to understand my surroundings at work more in depth, and from a business point of view. Everything I have ever learned at LA Film School comes into practice at the studio. At times, I can feel myself inching closer and closer to my career goals. My efforts echo through time and thought, as carefully executed plans from the past bare fruit to me now. I taste their sweet nectar and start to repeat the process, applying yet more intricacies into the minor details of any plan being prepared for future execution. School has played a HUGE roll in my silence for the last few months. Business school is teaching me so much about the industry I want to break in so bad, but self discipline and self commitment are a requirement in such ventures. The question I have been struggling with is "How can a troubled person like me overcome his fears of commitment and self discipline in order to achieve the goals I so desired since I was a child?" The answer to that question has been hard to find, and it is up until now that I have been able to truly dig deep on the past and find my answers to truly move on with my life and aspirations. In order to do the things I do professionally, I rely heavily on the one piece of equipment that has nothing to do with sound. My car. I used my car A LOT at the studio, to get to Hollywood, Burbank, and back home in the dead of night. She allows me to have more freedom with my time; time that I did not value until recently. I feel that it is human nature that we learn best from the mistakes we make. I am sad to report that my car has been totaled during a car accident. My family and I are unharmed, and I am grateful every day for that. I am also grateful that I, as a responsible adult, took care of those car payments enough to earn my tittle last year. Since I have my finances in order, I was able to replace my vehicle a month later, in February. Music My energies felt stirred. The song I was working on at the time felt out of place. I felt angrier, more anxious. I decided to translate that into a second song that I am currently developing along with the first. If it is one thing that the accident has taught me it is that every minute counts. I have been organizing my time in more creative ways in order to better suit my short term and long term goals and their accomplishments. At the moment, I am fully done with the basics of the song structure for the new song, which I will be titling for now as "Vultures and Crows". I am working on developing any additional sfx and last minute arrangements in order to overdub and record at the studio. I will then work on a basic mix, and bring the song back to the studio and plan out a mix through the board professionally. I have previewed "Vultures and Crows" on my Instagram and Facebook pages, located in my contacts section on the top right corner, so check it out and let me know what you think. I will be posting pictures and videos as I go on in my social media accounts. (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darkenvirtue) (Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darkenvirtue/). I shall be using the blog as my train of thought on the current song and career developments, and will be complimenting with as many pictures and videos that I can manage. This process will allow me to communicate here with you guys more creatively, and efficiently. my goal is to make each blog post its own short story of current activities. I want to make things interesting, not dry. With that being said, please like and share this blog for support. Also, do not forget to follow my instagram site and Facebook site, links located above in the previous paragraph. I also have a twitter, which is: https://twitter.com/darkenvirtue).
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A little Break In the past, I had only written single songs with the help of others. I never really took a leap of faith in myself and my own abilities. It is until now, that I dare to believe so strongly in myself and my ability to learn from my mistakes, that I can fully enjoy the journey through this wonderful world of music. I thought I would share a video of Darkenvirtue in the old days, with the band Nocturnal Massacre. August 2010, Lead Singer Darkenvirtue performing with Nocturnal Massacre Writing the E.P. was a fantastic, challenging learning experience. I made a lot of mistakes along the way in many areas, but I took notes, and have come up with new strategies and ideas for future use. Overall, the creation of the E.P., although an accomplishment and rewarding, really drained me, mainly because of how new I am to the whole process. I took a small break, mainly to analyze my end product and take further notes, but more than anything, my wife and daughters missed me. They loved the E.P. and are proud of me, but they also desired time with me. I did what any sensible man would and obliged, but not without exceptions. During my "break", my free time was taken up quickly by school, family, and my career. I truly welcomed it, since I always learn a new lesson in music, life, and career whenever my obligations take over. Due to how packed my schedule got, and with Thanksgiving weekend looming closer, I truly learned the art of scheduling and the careful balance of organization that goes along with it. For my Statistical Applications class, I was involved with a project that deals with the careful analysis of the data that describes the habits of Netflix users, and the construction of the graphs and charts using statistics that go along with it. It was complicated and challenging, but I found that using formulas and applying them to excel to build something that reveals how the world work enchanting. I fell in love with the concept, for it opened my eyes to the value of statistics in my every day professional and personal life. My career took the other chunk of my time, obligating me to use my scheduling and organization skills to make room and time for my family and Thanksgiving weekend. I was working at the studio as a paid intern, but it is serving as a window into the world of Entertainment Business from the Music Industry point of view. In Live sound, I am currently being trained as a Lead Engineer, for I will be filling in for my Lead Engineer for the last two weeks of December at the W Hollywood Hotel during his holiday vacation. The Remainder of my time went to family, as you guys might have guessed. I truly enjoyed the holidays and I feel refreshed and ready for the road ahead, both in Darkenvirtue and in my career. Below are a couple of pictures of the Thanksgiving holiday. To top it off, I won a 5g joint! Darkenvirtue and the Road Ahead
I am excited to announce that "Desolation" is now available on all major streaming sites, including Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Rhapsody, and Pandora, among many others. Here is the Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4g349ZPhyZwzX1uNqYcMWj iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/darkenvirtue/1312008845 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/music/album/Darkenvirtue_Desolation?id=Buurhpt643e3zarmrxbwgnp6imi Check out the Links and share!! As a reminder, from January and on, I will be releasing a song a month on Soundcloud.com/darkenvirtue. Every 5 songs will be collected into an E.P. and released officially on the same streaming sites as "Desolation". The journey into the creation of the song for January starts this month, and will be played out as follows starting this Monday: Production- 2 weeks Recording- 1.5 weeks Mixing- 1.5 weeks Mastering- 1 week The layout of the timeline in this manner permits me to have more control over the smaller details of the song, including lyric-writing and storyboarding. I really hope to deliver a better quality song this next month, with the journey being that much richer. The song should be released on SoundCloud by the end of The week of January 8th. I will be posting plenty of blog entries with each phase, along with pictures and some videos. In the next blog, I will be releasing the lyrics to the "Desolation" E.P. Stay tuned with what is going on with Darkenvirtue on Instagram at "https://www.instagram.com/darkenvirtue/" and Facebook at "https://www.facebook.com/darkenvirtue/" to keep up with what is going on. Feel free to leave a comment and please, LIKE and SHARE this blog on your Social Media accounts! Release of "Desolation" Check out my EP on Soundcloud.com/darkenvirtue, or http://darkenvirtue.weebly.com/music.html . The big day is here! Within the next 24 hours, I will be releasing “Desolation” on Sound cloud. “Tormented” is up first in the story of Darkenvirtue and his journey through hell. The second song, “Laments from an Anguished Soul”, is the second chapter in the story. I will be releasing both the instrumental and the full version of the song in the EP for your enjoyment. I will also be revealing the EP artwork, along with a couple of photos from the photoshoot down below. I am still mixing “Burning Wood”, which is the third chapter in the story. I should be done within the next 24 hours and will be adding it on the EP. I will notify you guys on Facebook and Twitter when it is available. In the meantime, I will be releasing photos and videos throughout the night as I mix Burning wood for you guys to follow along. I will be releasing the lyrics in the next blog. I really want you guys to get the feel of the song first. I will also be releasing Desolation on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, and Google Play in a few weeks. I will let you guys know when they post up on those sites. Photoshoot with Ace the 13th It was a great journey releasing Desolation, even though I am not done, I will be within the next 24 hours and I can truly say that I am at the end of the journey of the first EP. I have learned so much and I cannot wait to get started on next month’s song. I have so much planned of Darkenvirtue and can’t wait to give you guys more. In the meantime, please enjoy the pictures below as part of the release of “Desolation”. Photos are by talented Artist and photographer Alyssa Acosta, a.k.a Ace the 13th (https://acethe13th.wixsite.com/acethe13thart) and face paint by painter Joselyn Rivera. They did a fantastic job and it was a pleasure working with them. These are my favorite photos so far. I feel they truly bring out the character Darkenvirtue. Other photos of that day. I hope you guys enjoy.
Plans for EP Release and Further on
The last few weeks have been full of story world concepts, music notes, and one other thing: business concepts and plans. As I have mentioned before, I am currently going to school for Entertainment Business and have been doing much research into how I want to approach Darkenvirtue and its future. I have consulted with various professors, industry professionals, and artists that I have worked with in school, live sound, and in the studio while in the process of constructing some sort of business plan I finally feel I am ready to move forward with. I will be implementing some changes to the release of the EP and the following months afterwards to bring you guys a steadier flow of music from my part. I am excited for what is to come, especially since it is a lot more structured. I will be releasing 3 songs instead of 5 on Halloween in SoundCloud.com. They will be available a month later on iTunes, Youtube, and Spotify, and other streaming platforms. Because I will be releasing two songs short of my promise…I will be releasing a song a month on SoundCloud afterwards. Every 5 songs will be collected and released in an EP on iTunes, Spotify, and other streaming platforms. Paired with the song a month will be a story. The stories will be released either on a separate tab on this website, or on a website specifically for Darkenvirtue. I will be having that answer for you in the next blog. I have a lot more plans in regards to the direction Darkenvirtue will go afterwards, but one step at a time. Now for what’s coming up leading up to the release… I am collaborating with artist Alyssa Acosta (Ace the 13th) along with a make up artist and painter Joselyn Rivera to produce a photoshoot to go with the EP release. I will be documenting every step of the way to write about the journey here in upcoming blogs for you guys to enjoy. Please support my facebook page, it needs a little love! Facebook.com/darkenvirtue, and don’t forget to like my Instagram at instagram.com/darkenvirtue. Follow Ace the 13th at https://acethe13th.wixsite.com/acethe13thart. The World of Darkenvirtue Hey guys, I know it has been a bit since I last spoke to you. I have been really busy with Darkenvirtue and the story world behind the EP and I have so much to update you on. the picture is becoming clearer and the outcome more rewarding with each passing day. I am excited to show you guys more and I hope you enjoy. I have been collaborating closely with Multi-talenteded artist Alyssa Acosta. We have been working around the clock to bring to life this world that Darkenvirtue presents you through his music. Darkenvirue reveals visions of an alternate dimension that he is transported to through his music and lyrics. In this world, you are obligated to face your troubles and fears of your past. He talks about the visions he runs into in this world, revealing his deepest fears and regrets, and how he overcame and conquered them eventually. (Images taken from Google Images and are not permanent concepts, just visual aids)
It could be interpreted as hell in some cultures, but this is a place that makes you face your worst defects in order to give you a deep message about yourself. Each song by Darkenvirtue in the EP "Desolation" has a deep meaning to it. Although it expresses negative feelings, it depicts the every day stress and negative thoughts one has when life seems to be hitting you the hardest. The creation process continues. I will be releasing short stories soon that describe the world the songs from the upcoming EP reside in, depicting a better picture for you guys. We will keep you posted and will be constantly updating our social medias. Follow Alyssa Acosta on https://acethe13th.wixsite.com/acethe13thart. If you haven't yet, go to my contacts tab and follow my other social media accounts. I thought You guys might like a video instead this week. Enjoy. Like and share It was early during a weekday when I came up with the lyrics for tormented. My girls were all out doing their business for the day, and I had the house all to myself. I had planned for that chunk of the day to be for writing music. Every morning, I usually start my day by sitting in my porch and drinking coffee while reading an article or two on my phone. I love to enjoy the cool morning breeze, smoothly caressing my face. the warm rays of the sun peek out from over the line of houses on the horizon. The bright green trees and neatly cut grass from the houses all around me would all be bathed in this golden hue, a river full of warm morning sun, gifted so only to those willing to summon the courage to wake early that morning. I used to hate waking up early. I can honestly say that all of that changed as soon as I decided to quit bullshitting around and create my own persona and music. It gave me a purpose deep down in my soul. My very heart filled with hot, steaming hope. I knew that one day, my music would be heard, even if I had to work endlessly for decades. That morning, I woke up excited. I worked on a basic plan for improvising while I had my morning coffee, and then got to work. I recorded these lyrics thinking of my troubles in my past. I howled them out, the music filling me fervently. Here is the song "Tormented" I posted from my youtube channel and the lyrics are bellow, so you can follow along. What do you imagine when you read the lyrics and hear the music? Comment below. I shall be reading them and I will reveal what the story behind lyrics is next week. Make sure to like Darkenvirtue on Facebook and Instagram. Tormented
By Darkenvirtue Verse1 Tormented, Tormented! Splattered All over The desert sand Shattered My soul Lying in ruins All I feel is this guilt All I see is the village All I feel is this pain All I smell is the blood and gore Chorus My Head It spins Round and round My arms, they feel The fear coming on My heart, it palpates Above the norm I still cling Onto this darkness Death, My friend Come onto me I shall stop this spin Verse 2 I can smell The desert air I can see The village ahead We descend into hell Nothing moves, Nothing Breathes No children playing the streets No crows screeching their tunes Oh, what have we done The slaughter ahead is imminent Hey guys! I have been working on both my career as an engineer and as an artist for the past few weeks. I am still currently going to school for entertainment business and doing live sound internships as an assistant engineer. Things have been shifting so fast in the entertainment industry. Since we last spoke, my week went from being occupied three times a week to being occupied five times a week for a good minute, and recently last week, back down to two sometimes three times a week. My Tuesday night gigs are going ok, but they could be going better. The producers of the event are having a lot of issues of their own, and I am starting to think that the best business decision I can make at the moment is to approach cautiously and from a distance. Since then, I have been concentrating on school and music. I especially put a lot of emphasis on school. My logic is if I will succeed, then I must get to know the business side of my craft thoroughly. My goal is to be a sharp businessman, not just an artist/engineer. I took Leadership and Observation this past month. It was an interesting class because of all the knowledge it instilled in me. I learned a lot about leadership and about how I could have improved while I was in the Marine Corps. I even got the chance at work, coincidentally, to train two new interns. I used all my knowledge, both just acquired from the class, and from past experiences, and I think I successfully was able to hand down the knowledge they desired and needed. I still have loads to learn. So there is the scope of my career and school, now for Darkenvirtue. I have been working hard to meet the October 31st deadline. My fourth song is officially called "The Burning Wood". It is about my anger management issues and how that relates to some incidents that happened in my childhood. I was unsure whether to choose this topic simply because it is so dear and personal to me. I haven't really let anyone in that area of my life, except for my wife. As I have been singing and composing the vocal tracks, I have been reliving some very dark times of my life, but I go forth anyway. My goal for this EP is to express the desolation that is in my heart, and the source behind it. I feel that sharing this will help many feel that they are not alone in the struggle, and that there is always a way to move forth. This gave me courage to move on and keep on composing the lyrics. I am still working on them, but I am no longer nervous, but excited. I know this song and its story will be an ass-kicker. So that was vocals. Now about that drum section..... Building a good layer of high hats, kick, and snare was very fun. I recently bought a bundle of different instrument plug-ins called Kontakt Select. I have been playing with a synthesizer plugin specifically. It is very big and is named "Massive" accordingly. There is so much customization you can do to your sound wave, and I am still learning I did manage to make an awesome snare sound. I used sounds from logic to compose layers of sound for the kick and the high hats. I have been approaching the composition stage very similarly to the way I approach the mixing stage: By layers. I find that it is helping me loads because it keeps my ADHD ass on track. I feel I have a direction and a goal, or a light at the end of the tunnel that I can follow. In the layer I am currently in, I finished up the basic drum track, and am currently composing the basic vocal track. the next layer, I will add pads, cymbals. and in the last layer, before I do a basic mix, I will compose hooks and backing vocals, as well as add samples and audio effects. So, after I finish up my layers and the composition stage is at its finale, I will add the finishing touch: a rough filter and mix, prep it for Pro- tools. Once that is finished, the song will be ready for the studio.
I plan to tackle the recording sessions at the studio in a more organized fashion. I plan to write out every track and its corresponding signal flow. I want to have a diagram of some sort so that set up will be a breeze. I want to be able to get to the recording button as soon and as smooth as possible. I am in the works of hiring a photographer for a couple of sessions, including a studio shoot. My goal for the studio session is to provide you guys with quality photos of me on the job in the studio. I feel you guys would enjoy this so much more. So here are the updates. I hope you guys are as excited as I am for October 31st. I will be updating you guys as I move along the album. Please like and share this post! Spread the word! Like my Band Page!! Things will be moving much faster now that October approaches. I have been meaning to write a lot more than I have really been. I know most of you have been coming back periodically to check on the site for updates, and I am sorry you guys have been met with silence. I have been so busy with my career. I have new updates for you guys since last time. My life is moving so fast. On the one hand, this is good. Last time I talked to you guys, I had barely gotten the internship at Serenity West Studios. A lot has happened in the last two and a half weeks and haven't had a day off at all till yesterday. My career has leaned a lot towards live sound. Internships have shifted and changed, and that really made my schedule chaotic. Serenity West studios was keeping me on call, and I would come in on every day I didn't have an internship at either the W or Delilah. I rarely saw my family and that really bothered me. Relief came in the shape of two more internships. One was a wedding in Beverly Hills, and the other was a concert named Super Tuesdays located at the Sofitel. The wedding concert was a one day thing. My lead engineer for the Delilah gig called me and asked if I was interested in helping. I of course said yes and I am glad I did. Because my performance was so good that day and Sunday, I was recommended for the Tuesday gig. It is a concert based on funk and jazz and appeals to a bigger audience. The most challenging thing about it was the fact that it was just the lead engineer an I for a big setup. I feel I really got practice in this gig, and my performance once again has worked wonders for me. I was offered yet another gig on Wednesdays. As you guys can now notice, my schedule filled up quick, kicking out important things like school, my artist career, and especially my family. I had an important decision to make: I needed to drop an internship. I immediately targeted Serenity west studios for several reasons: I was the fourth intern, and there were 3 assistants before us. I was only good for food runs. I worked at the studio when big names like Young Thug and Miguel were at the studio. I am not going to lie, Young Thug's crew and their attitude played a big factor in my decision. I consulted with several professors, and after a few days had my mind clear. I knew what I needed to do. I quit my studio internship and made loads of room in my schedule. I am now playing catch up with my homework and my artist career. Thank you so much for your patience, and here goes some pictures and a quick video. Thank you so much for your support and please do not hesitate to leave a question, comment, or suggestion. As always, make sure to share if you like. Show Support!! I need you guys!!!
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Mauricio GuzmanI am a Sound Engineer and Music Producer/Composer attending at Los Angeles Film School and interning as a Live Sound Engineer Archives
October 2017
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