My Father’s Hands

Daddy why you have to go

And break my heart again

Daddy I was just a baby

I didn’t know how to make you stay

Back then

Way back when

 

If you took everyone you knew

And formed an army

That fought for peace and love

You could search the world Five,

maybe ten times over

And you could come and find us

Don’t you want to find us?

Out there

Somewhere

Somewhere out there

 

Ill be looking in the eyes of a stranger man

And all I got from him were my two hands

Daddy why’d you leave us all alone

I never had a father to call my own

And I’m losing ground I’m falling down

Do you know how that feels?

 

Daddy I was just a baby girl

And Ive missed you a lot

But you just miss your scotch

Daddy you could find us if you tried

And we could start to write

Before a million years fly by

I’ll be all grown up

I’ll be all grown up next time

 

When I’m  looking in the eyes of a stranger man

And all I got from him were my two hands

Daddy why’d you leave us all alone

I never had a father to call my own

And I’m losing ground I’m falling down

Do you know how that feels?

-Tomi Hoxton

Melodramatic Me

It could have been divine intervention

That made the sun blaze in the sky

It might be beyond all comprehension

That love, like a bird, away, can fly

I can’t believe that it’s only me

I feel so alone and terrified

Without you, love, I cannot breathe

I think I’m going to die…

-Tomi

9/11 – Entry from my diary…

I found this entry in my diary… can’t believe its been 8 years – it’s still just as shocking.

9/9/02

A year ago

A year ago today the world was untouched, immune and innocent to terrorism

A year ago tomorrow… if only we had known

A year ago the next day, the world as we knew it changed forever…

I remember wondering if the wind that chilled my face where the tears had been was the same wind that had blown through New York and I wondered if when it returned there, my tears of sorrow would find solace with the millions of other grievers. I cried not just for the lives taken that day, but for everything that was lost in those few short hours.

Take our innocence and turn it to fear.

A life lived in fear is a life half lived.

Lest we forget September 11, 2001

These times – The Time of My Life

Looking back through keyholes

And it was all over in a second

The blink of an eye and time stood still

And it’s taken this long

To comprehend that you have gone

Its time to move on

But these times

Are ones Ill look back upon and smile

These times

These times

Thank you…

I had the time of my life

-Tomi

Right now you’re wrong

Would you believe me now if I told you
All that I’m about to say
Like ghosts above a river mist
Blending into darkness
And drifting on the chilly morning breeze away
I cant be your shoulder right now
I cant catch your tears
I’ve got troubles in my own life now
I’m sorry to let you down my dear
I know you think I’m eternally strong
But right now, you’re wrong

Would you believe me if the weather turned a little colder
If the snow fell on your face
Would you listen if I spoke more lightly
Or Laugh as I fall from grace
I cant be your shoulder right now
I cant catch your tears
I’ve got troubles in my own life now
Things aren’t as simple as they appear
I know you think I’m eternally strong
But right now,
Right now, my darling, you’re wrong

-Tomi

“Something Inexcusable” – Tomi

-  the one that’s like a drug… that you can’t seem to let go

I wish you would do something inexcusable to me

I wish you would treat me just like dirt,

Treat me just like dirt

So I could let you go,

so I could let you go,

So I could let you go.

Not it’s not a misunderstanding

And no amount of word twisting could make me see it as true

But that’s just point of view.

And if you look from where I am standing

I know that you’re charming,

But you’re replaceable too

I just don’t want to

I need to hate you,

But I will see the good in you

Long after you’ve shown it not to be true.

I wish you would do something inexcusable to me

I wish you would treat me just like dirt,

Treat me just like dirt

So I could let you go,

so I could let you go,

So I could let you go.

Another Day Another Dollar…(spent!)

It’s been a long, long day in the studio… currently working on (what I envisage) will be the first single… It’s called Jealous and it’s been an epic getting it to a point where I’m happy with the overall angle.  Done an intro and the verse arrangements, still have bridges and of course the ever difficult chorus to nail…. watch this space…

Still loving the Baby Bottle mic

Out for a few glasses of bubbly tonight methinks,

Soon,

Tomi xx

Prologue

It’s difficult to know where to start….

The beginning would seem like the logical place, but so much wouldn’t make sense until the middle and the end had happened.  Well not the end, per se…. but where I’m up to now – the present.

It all seems a little bit crazy sometimes… you know… what’s happened and all.  It’s funnly looking back and recognizine the moments that I now see were pivotal.  The instants where you make those choices – to flick the switch, stand your ground or simply to just walk away. 

I’ve been fighting for so long now that sometimes I just get tired.  I’m tired right now… sitting with my face pressed against the glass on this train bound to I-don’t-know-where, starting to tell a story that I’m still not so sure is gonna end up ok.

But here it is and here am I…

I am Tomi.

My New Blue Baby Bottle Mic…

Oooooooooh… I love it….. my new baby – literally.  Just picked up a little baby blue bottle mic by “Blue”.  It’s amazing for female vocals, really bright and silky smooth.  The acoustic steel string guitar records beautifully on it too!!  Have a look, see what you think – http://www.bluemic.com/babybottle/

Blue Baby Bottle Mic

What a day… long session in the studio    I really feel like we’re getting somewhere now, loving the sound, can’t wait to get some stuff ready to go.

Right off for some zzzz’s now

Hearts from Tomi xx oo

The Home Recording Studio: A Beginner’s Guide

Well after all the ups and downs of the stuff I had done in studios so far, I finally decided to make a clean break and go it alone…. I should have done it years ago! No, to be fair, to get a good grasp of how to get the most out of a home studio, you really need to spend some time around people who know what they are doing.

I remember years ago when first getting into some recording, my first issue was how to connect my keyboard to my computer. I bet there are heaps of girls out there who sing and play keys or guitar that would love to get into some basic recording but just don’t know where to start… here’s how I started – a very basic, yet portable setup…

The four main things you need to set up a home recording studio are:

1. A computer – laptop or PC is fine. The computer should have at least 2GB of RAM – a type of memory that communicates between the hard drive and the CPU (central processing unit) of the computer. If you plan on using lots of high quality virtual instruments and mixing gear (also known as VST plugins) then the higher the RAM the better! The computer should preferably have a firewire port as well, as these are much faster than the old USB ports.
2. Recording software – I’m sure most people would have heard of programs like “pro-tools”, “cubase”, “nuendo” and “ableton” (these are just a few of the more well known products on the market). All of these programs are pretty expensive to buy initially, but if you are serious they are well worth the cost. There is also a free program you can download from the net to get started, it is called “audacity” and this is the link: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
3. A recording system – this is an interface between your microphones/instruments to the computer. These range from pretty cheap to very expensive. If you are planning on doing lots of recording via microphones (vocals, guitars etc) it is important to splash out as much as you can afford on getting good quality pre-amps in this interface. To illustrate this, here is the link to the presonus range of recording systems: http://www.presonus.com/products/productListing.aspx?ListingType=1
4. Microphones/instruments – which can be plugged into your recording system using basic leads that you buy from a music store. If you want to use your keyboard to program other instruments using MIDI, you will need to get a midi interface that goes from your keyboard to the recording system (again, you can get this from most music shops or on the net). You will also need to make sure you have a keyboard that has MIDI capability. You can buy special keyboards that are called “MIDI controllers” – these don’t have any sounds of their own, but are used exclusively to program other virtual instruments that you can load onto your computer. If you want to get into programming, I would recommend getting a keyboard with touch sensitive keys (ie if you hit it hard, the note is louder than if you hit it softly) – this is really a MUST!

And that’s really it folks, 4 steps to a basic home studio…. next stop – mastering your new recording software. I’ll try and put a pic up of how the basic setup should look if I get a chance.

Good luck,

-Tomi