Color Theory

what’s my life’s work worth?

October 6, 2011     

The Complete Color Theory

I’ve spent the past four months remastering my entire catalog, making every song sound the best it possibly can. The difference is dramatic, especially with my early material.

In a few weeks I’ll be releasing The Complete Color Theory on a custom laser-engraved 8 GB USB key. It will feature 217 tracks on 15 albums (3 are double albums), in both mp3 and lossless FLAC formats.

There will only be 50 available at first. If there is enough demand, I’ll make another 50, but they may not be ready in time for the holidays.

My question to you is, what should I charge for my life’s work?

As far as I know, this hasn’t been done before, so we have little to go on. The iTunes going rate is $9.99 per album, so 15 albums (setting aside the fact that three of them have over 20 tracks) is $149. But I don’t want to charge “full price,” especially since most of you have already bought one or more of them. Another factor is that an 8 GB USB key is about $20 on its own, and you could always copy the songs over to your computer and use it however you please.

With that in mind, please take my 4-question survey and let me know what you think!

take the survey

What is remastering?

Applying EQ, compression, limiting, and other tools of the trade to correct mix problems in the original source material, giving each song the desired punch, density, and volume. In short, making it sound better! Every song from every album now matches in tone and volume, so you can shuffle to your heart’s content.

What is a USB key?

A USB flash drive. Basically it’s a tiny external solid state hard drive that plugs in to your computer, and works on both Mac and Windows. The songs are separated in folders by album and format (FLAC or mp3).

What is FLAC?

It’s a lossless compression format for storing the songs at full 16-bit, 44.1 KHz CD quality in about half the space. You can convert FLAC files to .wav or AIFF and back again with no loss in quality (hence, lossless).

What exactly is included?

Everything at music.colortheory.com, plus the following:

Latest Singles

  1. Drive You Home
  2. Where Did We Go?
  3. A Slip of the Finger

Color Theory presents Depeche Mode: The Remixes

  1. Here is the House (Atomzero Remix)
  2. But Not Tonight (Tristraum Remix)
  3. I Am You (Chiptune Mix)
  4. Leave in Silence (Royal Visionaries Mix)
  5. Sweetest Perfection (Hajas Mix)
  6. Sister of Night (Tagiroff Mix)
  7. Ponytail Girl (Raph Version)
  8. It Doesn’t Matter (Fr/action Mix)
  9. Here is the House (Vz Chinese Theatre E.C Version)
  10.  World Full of Nothing (Midnight Mix)
  11. But Not Tonight (Late Night Devotional Mix)
  12. One Caress (Synthetik FM Mix)
  13. Here is the House (Some Stranger’s Funky Pleasure Mix)
  14. Ponytail Girl (Casm Mix)

Outside the Lines

  1. In an Hour From Now
  2. Exclusively Unhappy
  3. Be My Lover Now
  4. One Thing Leads to Another
  5. Johanna
  6. Can’t Wait for the Night
  7. Hooked on Love
  8. Obsession
  9. Nothing Else Matters
  10. My Love
  11. Survivor’s Guilt
  12. Gabriel’s Message
  13. Amethyst
  14. Emotion Generator
  15. For Sale
  16. Vinyl Bliss ft. The Dignity of Labour (Color Theory Unmix)
  17. Let Me In ft. Cosmicity (Color Theory Unmix)
  18. Forbidden fruit ft. Opium (Color Theory Unmix)
  19. Echo of a Star
  20. Misguided
  21. My Gift to You (acoustic)
  22. Faces (acoustic)
  23. The Rule of Tickles (early version)
  24. Zero Crossing (early version)
  25. I Stand By My Mistakes (early version)
  26. Guilt Reflected (early version)
  27. Stare Out the Window (early version)
  28. Softer Than Sleep (early version)
  29. Once Upon a Time (demo)
  30. Shadow in the Shade (demo)
  31. Severed Nerves (demo)

The Lost Remixes

  1. The Rule of Tickles (Leadboy Remix)
  2. Song Named After a Girl (Odd Year Mix)
  3. Drive You Home (The Invisible Kid Mix)
  4. In an Hour from Now (S.cr Potential Energy Mix)
  5. Two (Vocoded Threesome Mix)
  6. It Must Be Halloween (Carved Souls Whisper Mix)
  7. Extroverts at Play (Lost Robot Monotonous Mix)
  8. And You Thought I Was Joking (Beyond Mix)
  9. Song Named After a Girl (Leadboy Remix)
  10. April’s Bonfire (Mystechs Mix)
  11. Something Beautiful (Tristraum Remix)
  12. For Good (Digital Rain Mix by Elvie)
  13. In an Hour from Now (Inbox Potential Energy Mix)
  14. Living a Boy’s Adventure Tale (Lost Robot Fairytale Mix)
  15. If Not Now When (Elevated Mix)
  16. Our Shadow (Casm’s Trip Through the Darkness Mix)
  17. Too Close (Formative Remix)
  18. Song Named After a Girl (Roaming Royalty Mix)
  19. End of the Night (Spankmix)
  20. Behind the Rhine (Intuition Mix)
  21. Eiffel Tower (Fidgital Remix Sketch)
  22. Cheerleader (KickOff Mix)
  23. New Year’s Eve (Ambitious Mix)

Color Theory featured on Real World Las Vegas

September 19, 2011     

Real World Las Vegas

On March 9, 2011 a magical thing happened. My song, Release the Hounds, was featured on the debut episode of MTV’s Real World Las Vegas. See for yourself! You can watch the episode on MTV’s site, and jump right to where the song starts at 39:07 (after the ad).

I would’ve told you about this earlier, but I just found out today when the royalty appeared in my bank account. I figured it had to be a mistake, so I downloaded my statement from ASCAP (click to enlarge):

ASCAP statement

I had a few songs featured on MTV shows before, but this was my first featured, as opposed to background, performance. And it gets better! As you may or may not know, half of the royalty goes to the publisher, and half to the writer. I started a publishing company, Tuesday Songs, so that I can collect both. What you see here is my publishing royalty. The writer’s half is still to come!

As you may have seen on the statement, Extroverts at Play was featured on episode 2503. I haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, but if you happen to, can you let me know where the song comes in? UPDATE: Mike Madrid reports it’s at 4:59.

Big thanks to Bunim/Murray Productions for supporting independent music!

interview at Sphere Music

September 15, 2011     

Sphere Music

Sphere Music just published an interview with me, where we discuss my big upcoming release, my songwriting process, profanity, and toddler wipes. I should really put more effort into staying on message. Read it here.

Snowing 94-99-11

August 23, 2011     

Color Theory - Sketches in Grey

Once upon a time in 1994, I released the first Color Theory album, Sketches in Grey. Despite its hideous production quality, two hits (relatively speaking) emerged: “Never Realized” and “Snowing.” To be fair, I recorded the album in my one-bedroom apartment on a 486 DX computer running Windows 3.1. My audio interface was a Roland RAP-10 sound card, with internal reverb and chorus effects, capable of playing back 4 tracks simultaneously. My “monitors” were Boston Acoustics bookshelf speakers, and mixing took place over a single weekend through a Mackie 1202 into a rented DAT machine.

Todd Sanders recording bass for Sketches in Grey

Back then, I didn’t know what mastering was, but I knew I needed it. I somehow got hooked up with a jazz drummer/engineer who rented out four hours in a pro facility to master my album, from midnight to 4 a.m. when rates were lowest. I remember him attempting to turn down a vibraphone solo by cutting the midrange out of an entire song (“Something Here”), and boosting every track at 12 KHz to give my vocal the same “air” as Sting.

By 1999, I was mastering other peoples’ music full-time. The original pressing of the album sold out, so I added bonus tracks and remastered it myself. While the result is truer to the source material, I was scared to get my hands dirty, and I had a blind spot when it came to hearing problems in my own mixes.

Fast forward to 2011: I spent the entire summer remastering my back catalog, and I dare say the song sounds better than ever! If I haven’t “mastered” it by now, I never will.

Here is the original master of “Snowing,” followed by the 1999 remaster, ending with the new 2011 remaster. Better?



If you like what you hear, the full song is available for free download for one week only.

Stutter Edit

August 15, 2011     

Here’s a little snippet I created a few months ago and then promptly forgot about. It’s not really a song idea as much as an experiment with Stutter Edit, a “live performance effect” created by BT. I have no intention of using the plug-in as intended, but it manages some nifty tricks.


Hypothetically (Unreal_dm Mix)

July 25, 2011     

The Thought Chapter

What is this, Dire Straits? No, it’s Color Theory! This clever reworking of Hypothetically by Unreal_dm provides a rare opportunity to hear my voice up against guitars.


A Slip of the Finger

July 12, 2011     

Color Theory - A Slip of the Finger

Recent politics aside, we’ve all posted something online that we regretted about a millisecond later. Whether it’s an email blasted out in anger, a status update ranting about your boss, or publicly revealing something best left private, lives are ruined with a slip of the finger.

Stephen Pearlman made some interesting comparisons:

This song is amazing. You’ve paired the electronic restraint of Radiohead with the evocative chord progressions of Peter Gabriel era Genesis, all the while keeping the Color Theory motif. And your vocal is beautiful! The lyric is bittersweet and haunting. I love it!

What have you posted online that you regret? C’mon, it’ll be our little secret…


A Slip of the Finger
©2011 Brian Hazard (ASCAP)

I am an outcast
And it suits me fine
God knows my actions
Really crossed the line
Each time you touch a part of me
I fear that you’ll break it
Cause I’ve done something I regret
And I’ll never shake it

A slip of the finger
A mark that will linger forever
Hero or villain
A legacy hinges on
A slip of the finger

The fleeting impulse
Of a maniac
A flash of panic
I can’t take it back
Kings abdicate and nations fall
For smaller offences
Thought I could justify it all
Until I came to my senses

Nothing to live for
Careless in defeat
Why bother looking
When I cross the street?
I’d promise anything to go back
To when my past wasn’t checkered
But every key we press is part
Of our permanent record

One lapse of judgement
Ablaze in the snarling heat of the moment
That’s when I lost you darling.

the winning design

July 2, 2011     

A Slip of the Finger

My deepest thanks for all your help in choosing the cover design for my upcoming single release, “A Slip of the Finger.” As luck would have it, the poll results matched my gut feeling, and I declared your clear favorite the winner of the contest. I was delighted to see that so many of you had a deep sense of what best suited my music, even when another design was more in line with your personal tastes.

Congratulations to Romanian designer Dalila Maat on creating a wonderful image that perfectly matches the tone of the lyric! You can check out more of her amazing work here.

The song will be formally released and available for download soon. In the meantime, you can preview it on the Color Theory app.

choose my album art

June 27, 2011     

design contest at 99designs

One thing I love about Color Theory is that I have complete sovereignty over my work, from songwriting and recording to mixing and mastering. Unfortunately, I don’t know the first thing about graphic design!

For the past few album covers, I’ve sought out suitable images from across the internet, usually with the help of colortheory.de webmaster Thomas Hanewinkel. From there, I contact the artist/photographer directly and negotiate a license. It’s an expensive and time-consuming process.

Now that I’m planning to release a song every month or two, I need to find someone who can create a consistent look on a routine basis. By launching a design contest at 99designs, I hope to acquaint myself with several designers, and just maybe find someone who “clicks.” The deadline for entries is this coming Friday.

What do you think of the current designs? (please refer to them by number)

UPDATE: After receiving 96 entries(!), the contest is closed. I’ve narrowed it down to four choices, and want to make a decision soon. Which do you prefer?

UPDATE 7/2/11: I’ve declared the winner. Coincidentally, it’s the same one you chose!

the Color Theory app

June 24, 2011     

the Color Theory app

It had to happen, right? The new Color Theory app for Android and iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) makes it easy for us to stay connected. It’s a great way to keep up with my music and goings-on, and it’s free.

To make it worth your while, I’ll be sneak previewing my new song “A Slip of the Finger” on the app next week! I still need artwork before I can set a formal release date, so you’ll be the first to hear it.

Don’t go looking for it in the app store, because it’s not there. Just visit the following page on your phone. It walks you through the process of installing it to your home screen.

http://songpier.com/colortheory

Alternately, if you know what to do with this, then by all means…

Color Theory App QR Code

If you don’t have a compatible device, that’s okay! You can mess around with it in your browser.

What do you think? Is it fun? Redundant? Buggy? If it’s not worth keeping on your phone, I want to know!

UPDATE: Just got word from the developer that the Android “installation” (it’s just a web app) isn’t so clear. Here’s how it’s done:

  1. Bookmark the page
  2. Tap and hold the just created bookmark until options appear
  3. Chose the option “Add shortcut to home”

UPDATE 7/1/11: As promised, “A Slip of the Finger” is now playable through the app. The song will be formally released and available for download soon. Hope you enjoy it!

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