mos  - aka: ray ramos; don ray ramos; dr ramos

The story

 

Oct – Dec 2011 (working on my dissertation at my parents) – I found an old 78rpm record of my teenage mom and her sister singing gospel songs.* So Cool! I decided I would like to leave some original songs and recordings for my daughter, and perhaps grandchildren, to reminisce and laugh at after I am gone. Following my Dec 2011 dissertation defense, I went to a Vancouver Launch of Pro Tools 10 (hosted by Annex Pro) and won Pro Tools 10. Sweet!! I hadn’t been active in recording or producing for about 15 years and I was blown away to find that I could do more on a laptop at home than previously possible in my studio (except for some issues like only having headphones and $30 computer mics to work with). I started converting analogue tape recordings from the 60s 70s and 80s to DAT. Some were recorded in studios in the 80s and some were from my Tascam 4 track from the 60s and 70s. For the tape reels, I would have to stop playback every few minutes, clean the tape deck heads, then continue transferring each song because the tape’s emulsion would literally shred off and cake up on the heads. And the quality SUCKED! Not just the tape quality. I SUCKED. My early performances were so bad it was torturous. I remember wondering back then if I wrote really bad songs or just couldn’t perform and produce them adequately. I decided the older more experienced me would take on a producing gig for the younger really bad Don using my new laptop Pro Tools studio. Most of the songs from the 60s and 70s hadn’t ever been recorded so the old man Don producer had to find documentation or try to remember the lyrics. Most of the original lyrics were used except some I couldn't remember like “I Can’t Believe what you Say” so it has about 50% new lyrics. Prior to the 80s I was very religious (in fact I was a licensed minister), so most songs from that era were written from a Christian spiritual perspective. The older self has tried to produce them in ways to make them more applicable or accessible to a general audience.

 

33 songs were completed and published online January 4, 2014 at 11pm

 

Justine, I hope this will someday bring some joy to you. Don’t worry about liking anything. I didn’t care at all for my mom’s song and was annoyed by the crappy recording, but I listened with fondness, reminisced, laughed, and made up stories about what she was like as a teenager. Ahhhh ... good times!!!