Nick Takenobu Ogawa

The NEW EP is now available on CDbaby and itunes! Currently there are a limited number of physical CD’s, but MP3 downloads are also available, listen to the songs below and click one of the links below to buy.

Track 1. Light The Flame
Track 2. Awakening
Track 3. The Lone Ranger
Track 4. Show Down
Track 5. Neon Green Alligator

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This is an instrumental song. I’ve only performed it live a couple of times so far, and originally it was written as a pizzicato piece. I think it works much better arco and lends itself better to expressive interpretation that way. I’m posting a link to a Finale Notepad version of the sheet music, but I’ll be able to print out and write in the bowings at work tomorrow and scan it as a pdf.

I’m calling the piece Black Stallion because it’s one of my favorite movies, and because it just reminds me of the music in that film.

Black Stallion

Sheet Music(Finale Notepad)

2/29 UPDATE: Here’s the PDF. I was going to put in bowings and fingerings but I’m not sure if it’s necessary. If you want me to do it please let me know, but otherwise I’ll just let you figure it out and assume that’s ok.
Sheet Music PDF

I wrote this song a while back but just recently changed the key so I could sing it lower. I like it better this way.

Lyrics

Sheet Music

This week I wrote a song about my friend Splinter. Some of this song is imaginary, but there’s plenty of real stuff in it too. Especially the part about him driving. That guy was one crazy driver. He had this old subaru that he would just go flying around in. If you are a skier you’ll know what I’m talking about. At 16, Splinter was the highest ranked skier in the world for his age. I once saw him jump off an 80 foot cliff into lake George like it was nothing. I think there’s some correlation between driving, skiing, and jumping off insane cliffs.  Splinter also loved speaking German and reading Hegel, but that’s not in the song. He disappeared to Eastern Europe a few years ago.

The Day that Splinter Died

Lyrics 

Last week Mike Chris and I drove up to Albany to record a radio interview/set for WAMC Northeast Public Radio’s Performance Place with Michael Eck. The show went extremely well and will air Monday 1/21 at 11:23 am EST. Please tune to your local NPR station if you are in New England, or go to wamc.org  and click on “Listen Live” in the upper right hand corner. Hope you can tune in!

(Update 1/22/08)

In case you missed it you can listen to the whole show right here

I’m a big fan of HBO’s the Wire. The show’s title theme is Way Down in the Hole, written by Tom Waits, however the recording artist changes from season to season. Steve Earle’s interpretation is used this season, and past performers include the Blind Boys of Alabama, The Neville Brothers, and DoMaJe. This week I thought I’d post my newly arranged and recorded take on it. It’s too bad that this is the show’s fifth and final season, but I can appreciate David Simon’s decision if he feels his work is complete after creating such a rich and encompassing portrayal of the city of Baltimore. 

Listen

Okay, after many hours of poring over my newly acquired logic software, here it is - the same song I posted before. I know what you’re thinking, jeez, couldn’t he write a new flipping song for a change?! but pleeease listen to it and tell me what you think. The production makes a big difference and the drums on the first one are pretty dopey by comparison. Seriously, I would like any and all feedback, anything - do you like it? Is it better/worse than the earlier version? What does it make you think of? Is one part too loud? Is this something that I should continue to spend this much freaking time doing??? I mean, I’m going to keep doing it anyway, but some honest objective criticism would be appreciated

Listen to the Song

Learn How to Play it

Lyrics 

(1/20 update) Mike Weiser just sent me his remixed version of the song, which he has posted on his website. You can listen to it here 

For this week’s song, instead of recording a new one I notated an “old” one. Not that old really, it’s on my last cd which you should pretty much definitely get, right here at cdbaby. I started a new song, and I’m about halfway through the beginning, but with Christmas coming up I won’t be able to finish it. But I will be able to do a lot of skiing while I’m home all this week, woohoo! 

To read this song you need Finale Notepad, which you can download for free here from finale music. When I get back from vacation I will print this out and scan it with fingerings so that it’ll be easier to understand. If you watch the youtube video it probably makes it a bit easier to figure out how to make the chord shapes and do the plucking patterns.  Enjoy!

 Pretty Fix Sheet Music

Ok - so here we go. This is the first installment of the project. While this isn’t a “brand” brand new song, as in I didn’t literally write it this week, I did record it on Wednesday, so that counts. Plus, as soon as I was done I sent it off to Mike, and he is currently recording his keyboard parts. As soon as that’s all done I will post the final version.

 For now, here it is. The first installment of the Nick Ogawa proliferation project. The song is called “Only Fooling Yourself.” This is the first draft, but you’ll get the idea. Hope you like it!