All songs and videos on this site © Jonathan Ochshorn
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This is another of my songs in the "getting old" series, inspired by… well, by other people all around me who are getting old. I'm playing harmonica with my new "lawsuit" Ibanez guitar. Drums, bass, and piano are added, as usual, using my MIDI keyboard (actually, the "added" instruments are recorded first). And, come to think of it, the intro and "outro" piano parts for the video (not included in the actual song) are played live on my Yamaha digital piano and are recorded directly on the iPod touch, bypassing the MIDI interface entirely.
Just Need a Little Concentration
Words and music © 2015 J. Ochshorn
1. I was walking down the street
Humming something catchy
With the perfect melody and beat
Or so it seemed
When I got back home that night
My memory was patchy
Before my eyes yet out of sight
Like something that I dreamed
{Chorus] And i feel almost blinded
Like my brain is on vacation
Yet I know I can find it
Just need a little concentration
2. I was walking out the door
Of the supermarket
But after I had left the store
I couldn't find my car
Of course I checked the very spot
Where i often park it
Now I'm walking up and down the lot
Searching near and far [Chorus]
[Instrumental verse] [Chorus]
3. I was talking to my wife
When a colleague stopped to greet me
He looks at her and says, "how's life
I don't believe we've met"
My introduction's a disgrace
In fact i screw it up completely
Cause even though I know the face
His name Ii did forget [chorus]
Production notes:
Song was arranged, produced, and recorded on Logic Pro 9 software by J. Ochshorn. All instruments (guitar and harmonica) and vocals by J. Ochshorn — except that the intro "countdown" is taken from Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, recorded in 1965. Instruments include some so-called software instruments (drums, bass, and piano) played live on a midi keyboard by J. Ochshorn. Thanks to brother Kurt for help with the final mix.
Recorded at home in Ithaca, NY (with the final mix in Brooklyn, NY), September 2015.
Video notes:
I videotaped the song using my new refurbished iPod touch, using the lower-resolution FaceTime camera so I could — sort of — see what I was recording as it was recording. However, I ended up cropping the frame to fit into an old-fashioned 4:3 aspect ratio, after scaling down the iPod image to 77% of its actual size. I've been having trouble synching the audio and video on my old Final Cut Express lately (this shows up, especially on the last verse), so I'm thinking about finally upgrading to the newer Final Cut Pro X. We'll see. I distorted some of the Final Cut titles to match the perspectival frame of the scene (left, below) and made my own movie intro countdown with some simple Photoshop images (right, below).
[Update 9/14/15: I re-did the video to resolve most of the syncing issues.]
First posted 12 September 2015. Last updated: 2 September 2019