:: anne in the attic ::

Create Your Own Countdown

:: Tuesday, March 13, 2007 ::

This evening, I finally laid down what might become the final rhythm track for "Lighter." And it was work. After slogging through the basic structure of the song once, I stuck it on "loop" and recorded a couple more ornamental guitar tracks in succession to fill it out. The result was a nice layering effect kind of like what I did with the banjo on "Take My Life." I liked it more than I thought I would. So I'll have to touch up some mistakes, but I think that part will stand (I'm really tired of having this song hanging over my head; it's been so long). And though it's tempting to put in some piano, I think it's wrong to do it just because I can. I don't want it to sound too generic. But I do want to add a few dynamics to it, because it is a long song (a little over 5 minutes), and because the lyrics sort of require a build to the story. I don't know-- we'll see, I guess.

It would be great to try the live cello-- the synth cello sounds so canned, even when I record it audio, not midi, and tweak it with some physical effects that bring it into 3-D. I'm torn. I like the way it sounds with all of the guitar texture, and I don't want to overdo it and bury that. The next thing is to try some vocals and see what's best in this case. But I need to wait for a day when my voice feels "on." Sometimes after being immersed in this process for a while, it's necessary to stick my head up and get a second opinion on what I think I hear going on with a song. It's like having someone check your book for inconsistencies, errors, non sequiturs, etc., before it's published. That can be hard, because sometimes people think I just want them to tell me it's good when that's not the case. Not a lot of people want to tell someone their music is crap when it really is crap. On the flip side, there are also those who would deliberately throw a wrench into things to trip me up. There are people whose opinions would be based on cutting me down out of competitiveness (the same people who've always done it never seem to disappoint me...), probably more so if they thought the music was good. Sometimes, it's best to ask complete strangers, who aren't vested in your friendship enough to sway their honesty about it. That's what I use MySpace for, mostly.

I'm still feeling the effects of the early daylight savings time change this year-- I think everyone is. People have their heads down in their work and have gone a bit into survival mode (which I feel I've been in all winter...), just for a little while longer, until the weather warms up more and it really feels like Spring. Sleep is key. And though I feel all I do lately is sleep, I still feel I haven't had enough rest.

:: Anne 11:00 PM [smartass remarks] ::
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