I was like I am nowhere on this album, all these songs are a mess, no way am I going to hit my goal of a 3rd album this year. And then I got a bunch done this week and suddenly it could happen. Not sure but we’ll see. My feelings on these songs change day to day. I’m still deeply embedded in I don’t know what any of this is/means/adds up to territory. Which is good, I have to keep reminding myself this is where I want to be. Not knowing. The stuff I tried on Null Breath Shaper led to much stronger stuff on Random Forest. I sense that might be what’s happening here. Some disparate ideas that clean out the cobwebs and teach me a bunch of stuff that leads to something else. But who knows.
Things I’ve been learning a lot about this time around:
- Writing in 7/4. I’ve been listening to these patterns for so long now I keep forgetting they’re in 7/4, which was the goal. They just feel waltz-y to me.
- EQ! God damn. I really didn’t appreciate how much sliding the little sliders around can change everything. Received EQ settings are like a first offer. Never accept that! Always counter! I learned this.
- Plug-ins. I’m still only dipping my toe into this area so I’m only learning how much I have to learn, but still. Potentially excited to dig deeper into this area in the future.
- Creative problem solving with crap tools. Garageband, guitars, cords, they have all failed me repeatedly this time around but I keep finding ways to working with the constraints of crappiness and create things I don’t hate. Good lesson/reminder/etc.
A quick glance at the big board shows 5 songs at or near the finish line. Polish those up, add `1-2 more, and we’re done.*
*Start the process of figuring out a title/theme/naming scheme/cover for this album, which for some reason I’m dreading this time. This has always been obvious to me in the past.