Hey Everybody! How's it going? Hope you all are awesomely well! Today I've got another cool story for you all! The story of how I got started writing and recording. I began writing and composing music when I was in elementary school, in 7th grade, about 12 years old, and started writing lyrics about 2 and a half years later, at 14. Getting started with composing music and melody at the age of 12 wasn't really something I all that interested in, although times and attitudes change, and today I love it. At the time, I didn't understand and grasp the structure of a song or composition, so it went right up, around, over, and under my head! I played brass instruments like the trumpet and flugelhorn in the school bands in both elementary and high school, and that lead into learning to read and compose music and melodies. Once I started high school, only a few months into the 9th grade, I began writing lyrics, latched onto that, and to this day, I have not let go! The lyric writing started right at the end of my first semester in high school, I was sitting at the back of my music class, since it was the end of the semester, we weren't really doing anything other then getting our marks. We were all just off in our own little world's, having our own conversations, and I realized that I had a whole bunch of foolscap paper in my bag that was extra from writing various essays in my other classes, so I pulled it out, started writing lyrics, and it's stuck ever since.

Getting started happened around the same time because naturally once I wrote something that I liked, I wanted to record it, to at the time, put on a CD. My first real production setup was SUPER PRIMITIVE! It was SUPER PRIMITIVE by the standards back then, considering what was available technology wise, and it's considered SUPER ANCIENT when looking at what is available nowadays! My first setup consisted of a PC that ran Windows Millennium Edition, which wasn't the greatest, dare I say ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE! I had one of first external computer microphones that was available, it wasn't USB, it was one that would be jacked into the microphone port of my Dell PC, which was on the back of the computer tower. The "monitors" I had were just the speakers that came with my computer. When it came to checking and making sure my levels were good, I really couldn't because the delay was too much, I had to readjust the setup of my desk, constantly moving the speakers, and I finally just said forget it, I'm going to wing it and hope for the best. For the most part, doing it that way worked. At the time I had no clue about the whole mixing and mastering process, I didn't have any software to assist in that process. In fact, I recorded all my vocals and added fades through Windows Movie Maker. Like I said, SUPER PRIMITIVE! Lots of bumps in the road in my early days of recording and production. In the years since I began this whole production career journey, obviously I've updated my equipment, but I still try to keep the recording and production process as simple as I possibly can. Along with the writing, composing, and production of music, I also got into the process of radio, television, and media production, simply because I had always loved it. So, I would find various pop culture and entertainment stories on the internet and report on them, back when YouTube wasn't really the go to website that it is now. Here we are all these years later, and I love it as much now as I did back when I started. That's the story of how I got started writing and recording, my first production setup, and hiccups I've had along the way and how I dealt with them. I hope you all have enjoy this story, and if you like what you see and hear, then PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL for more pieces like this and to keep up with all my latest releases and goings on. Thanks everybody! Talk to you all again soon.

Cheers,

Leigh

Hey Everybody! How's it going? Hope you all are awesomely well! More cool news for you all today! I've got a BRAND NEW SINGLE AVAILABLE NOW! My new single, "They Call Her Red" is now available on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and everywhere else digital music is sold! This track came together out of my love for the 1980's, along with all the music, movies, and television of that decade. I'm especially a fan of 80's synth pop and that's what I wanted to create and deliver in the form of this new instrumental and single. A feel good, party track with an 80's influence, that's what this new composition is all about! If you would like to preview the tack, the audio is placed right above this paragraph, or you can CLICK HERE! I hope you all enjoy listening to this track because I had a blast creating it! Also, if you like to know more about how this instrumental was created and constructed, then CLICK HERE! Thanks everybody! Talk to you all again soon!

Cheers,

Leigh

Buy "They Call Her Red" on iTunes
Buy "They Call Her Red" on Google Play
Stream "They Call Her Red" on Spotify

Hey Everybody! How's it going? Hope you all are awesomely well! I've got some BRAND NEW MUSIC for you all today! An 80s music Katy Perry synth pop inspired beat entitled, "They Call Her Red". Much like my debut single, "Ms. Victoria (There She Goes", it's about a woman, and wait for it - she has red hair! The main body and genesis of this instrumental comes from the 2 layered very 80's sounding synthesizers I used to start it off. It's the same chord progression placed on top of one another, which is arguably my most favourite production technique. I followed the synthesizers up with a incredibly simple bass line, which is a rule I live by! K.I.S.S., KEEP IT SUPER SIMPLE! When it came to choosing which bass patch to use in this instrumental, I REALLY played around with what I had available, I wanted something that didn't feel intrusive but that you also knew was present and there in the beat, it helps that the bass that I chose sounds SUPER BEEFY, REALLY FAT, and in my opinion, that's exactly what this new original composition needed! Once the bass was taken care of, it felt like something was missing, like I could a little more, just to make a sound more full and more complete. I then laid down a two chord progression with an acoustic guitar, and I love how it sounds, it adds that extra kick that is nothing short of beneficial to the instrumental. From there I moved onto the foundation, the backbone of any and every song that exists, the drum kit! With this composition's drum kit and pattern, I wanted to do something that was straight forward but different from what I've produced previously all at the same time, if that makes any sense! I doubled up the kick drum, which came from a hip hop kit in a couple spots, then added a snare drum from a house kit on the 3rd beat of every bar. I think it adds a different dimension to the instrumental so it just isn't super straightforward and predictable with a kick, snare, kick, snare pattern. Lastly, I laid down a shaker pattern that, like everything else in all of my compositions is SUPER SIMPLE and I think adds some good swing and shuffle, it brings the whole instrumental together and completes it. Thanks everybody! Hope you all enjoy this new instrumental composition, and have as much fun listening to and rocking out to this composition because I certainly had a ton of fun creating it. Thanks again everybody! Talk to you all again soon, and if you like what you see and hear, then please SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL to keep up with all my latest releases and goings on!

Cheers,

Leigh

UPDATE! "THEY CALL HER RED" IS NOW AVAILABLE WHEREVER DIGITAL MUSIC IS SOLD!


BUY "THEY CALL HER RED" ON ITUNES
BUY "THEY CALL HER RED" ON GOOGLE PLAY
STREAM "THEY CALL HER RED" ON SPOTIFY
BUY MY DEBUT SINGLE, "MS. VICTORIA (THERE SHE GOES) ON ITUNES
BUY MY DEBUT SINGLE, "MS. VICTORIA (THERE SHE GOES) ON GOOGLE PLAY
STREAM MY DEBUT SINGLE, "MS. VICTORIA (THERE SHE GOES) ON SPOTIFY

Hey Everybody! How's it going? Hope you all are awesomely well! I've got more behind the scenes goodness for you all today! Here's the story of recording the voiceover to the promo for my debut single, "Ms. Victoria (There She Goes)". As I was preparing to release the single, one of the most vital part, in my opinion at least is a promo, so using my broadcasting background I set out to record the voiceover and promo to my debut single, "Ms. Victoria (There She Goes)". It turned out to be a little more difficult than I had originally anticipated, more difficult than writing, performing, and producing the actual instrumental of the single. The length of time it took to record the promo wasn't the issue, the issue lied in the fact that I am a total perfectionist and kept flubbing and mispronouncing the words to the promo that I HAD WRITTEN! In addition to that I was recording for pretty much the whole time at one speed, high energy, uptempo, excited, and happy for the entire length of my first recording session, which lasted about 3 and a half hours, and because of that, I started to lose my voice! Towards the end of the first session I could feel and hear my voice start to go, and it wasn't as strong as it was at the beginning when I started recording. My voice was becoming VERY HOARSE, which when you do any vocal and voiceover work for a living is NEVER a good sign! So taking precaution, I decided to call it for the night, end my recording session, sleep on it, rest my vocal chords, and get right back at it the next morning, which I did! So, after waking up the next morning, the first thing I did was grab a bottle of water and get right back to recording this promo! To my surprise, recording the promo after sleeping on it for a night was SUPER EASY! It came together with no issues, no problems, and I was ecstatic! On a side, the recording session this time only lasted about 20 to 30 minutes, and sounded so much better than any of the takes from the previous recording session the night before! In all, I'm happy that the single, "Ms. Victoria (There She Goes)" has been released and is AVAILABLE WHEREVER DIGITAL MUSIC IS SOLD! I'm happy that sleeping on the recording session for a night happened and was a good idea, and most importantly, I'm happy that the recording session the following morning went SUPER, SUPER WELL AND EVERYTHING CAME TOGETHER SO EASILY! Thanks everybody! Hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes story! Talk to you all again soon.

Cheers,

Leigh

SUBSCRIBE TO LEIGH DICKEY ON YOUTUBE
BUY "MS. VICTORIA (THERE SHE GOES)" ON ITUNES
BUY "MS. VICTORIA (THERE SHE GOES)" ON GOOGLE PLAY
STREAM "MS. VICTORIA (THERE SHE GOES)" ON SPOTIFY
READ ABOUT HOW "MS. VICTORIA (THERE SHE GOES)" WAS CREATED

Hey Everybody! How's it going? Hope you all are AWESOMELY well! SOME BIG, BIG, HUGE GINORMOUS NEWS FOR YOU ALL TODAY! My debut single, "Ms. Victoria (There She Goes" is available now on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, and everywhere digital music is sold! It's the first single to be released off my debut album, an all instrumental record entitled, "Just Relax", which will be available in the VERY NEAR FUTURE! If you'd like to preview the track, the audio is posted right above this paragraph, or you can CLICK HERE! The idea behind this single and album is to have music that anyone, anywhere in the world can kick their feet up, have playing in the background, and relax to. This no stress, no worries, nothing but good times project and release. If you'd like to find out how this specific track came together and the story behind it, CLICK HERE. Thanks everybody! Talk to you all again soon.

Cheers,

Leigh

BUY "MS. VICTORIA (THERE SHE GOES)" ON ITUNES
BUY "MS. VICTORIA (THERE SHE GOES)" ON GOOGLE PLAY
STREAM "MS. VICTORIA (THERE SHE GOES)" ON SPOTIFY

Hey Everybody! How's it going? Hope you all are awesomely well! A BRAND NEW VLOG for you all today! This time, the story of my first time having anything from Tim Hortons in about 10 years! It happened about a month ago, and before that I hadn't consumed ANYTHING from any Tim Hortons franchise in nearly a solid decade! The reason I stayed away from Tim Hortons for so long was because I would get sick and feel like I was going to throw up every time I had a coffee, tea, or iced cappuccino, which ABSOLUTELY, WITHOUT QUESTION SUCKED! There were a number of times in there where I did throw up, thankfully I made the shot or the bowl or trash can! I used to love Tim Hortons iced cappuccino's, that is until THEY DIDN'T LIKE ME ANYMORE! I have no idea why I would feel sick and have the feeling of wanting to throw up after consuming any of the Tim Hortons products, at the time and even now, but maybe there was something in the coffee, tea, or iced cappuccinos that just WHOLEHEARTEDLY DID NOT AGREE WITH MY INSIDES! After experiencing all that I decided to find a better alternative, and switched over to either Starbucks, which is what I prefer or McDonalds coffee, which is SO MUCH BETTER than it used to be! Nonetheless, back to my first Tim Hortons experience in nearly 10 years. Like I said, it happened about a month ago while I was out shopping at a mall for a Mother's Day gift. I picked up the gift I wanted to get for my mom and the gift my mom wanted, and afterwards I had some time to kill, about an hour or so, so I went to the food court to get a little pick me up, a little jolt. It was first thing in the morning and I'm not much of a breakfast guy, so I was looking for a cold drink to just start my engine for the day! Had I seen the Real Fruit Bubble Tea over my shoulder, I would have gone there and purchased a strawberry smoothie, but alas, I didn't. That then left me with 2 options, buy nothing, sit in the food court for an hour, and probably fall asleep because I didn't sleep much the night before, or take a chance with a Tim Hortons purchase. Clearly, I went with a Tim Hortons purchase. I decided to buy A LARGE ICED CAPPUCCINO, which looking back on it was WAY TOO AMBITIOUS of me because it was HUGE! I think in the 10 years it had been since I last had anything from Tim Hortons, the drink sizes had doubled or tripled, the cup sizes were massive! So I pay for the drink, find a table, sit down, start drinking it, and within no more than 5 minutes, I REGRET MY DECISION! My stomach, I started to feel sick, and thought I was going to pass out. I made it through about half of the drink and just decided to throw it away. Perhaps I'll purchase something from Tim Hortons again someday, but as of right now, I HIGHLY DOUBT IT! What has your experience been with Tim Hortons? Let me know! If you like what you see and hear, then please SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL to keep up to date with all my latest releases and goings on! Thanks everybody! Talk to you all again soon.

Cheers,

Leigh