Recording commences
Another day where I had to work, and then go directly to a meeting after work. I guess I should be used to this as it always happens the last Monday and Tuesday of a month, but they always sneak up on me. Today was the C-PAB (Community Police Advisory Board) meeting but it went really fast this time. A lot of people apparently were not able to come tonight.
When I got home, Dylan was still at work, as he had to stay late and help out at some NAACP event the Academy was hosting.
I thought I would get a whole bunch of recording done but as usual the time went by all too quickly. After hearing the final version of "Alien Nation" the other night so loud in my car with Brandon, Angie, Marc and Dylan, I really wanted to get back to finishing my debut solo album. I started by re-recording vocals on "Underwater Breathing" which I had played for Brandon the other night without vocals. It started out being my 'designer imposter' version of "Clocks" by Coldplay, not because I like them or that song, but because my mom likes them and also that song is everywhere and has probably earned them trillions of dollars with all the licensing they've been paid. Of course, my song now sounds absolutely nothing like that, which is fine with me. The lyrics are about two different people but will probably sound like they're about one person. It was no one I was dating either. Anyway, I redid the vocals for that but I had a lot of trouble on one line in the chorus where I sing "arrested progression" after a long string of lyrics preceding it and for some reason by the time I got to the word 'progression' I was always out of breath. So, I'm going to have to redo it.
After that, I tried to record new vocals for "Not in a Million Years" but once I got started it became apparent that I really had no idea what notes were supposed to be sang in each vocal line; that's one of the problems of writing a song with three part vocal harmonies. So, I had to solo out the original scratch vocals one by one and duplicate their lines with a piano line, so that I could record new vocals following the piano lines. In actuality, there are 4 different vocal lines on the chorus, so it took some time to map everything out, and by the time I finished, Dylan was home and it was past time for me to eat some dinner.
Dylan had already eaten at work so I was just cooking for myself, but I made some delicious candied broccoli and brussels sprouts with cranberries and almonds, and a wrap filled with chicken breast, zucchini, red bell pepper, cheese and garlic.
Afterward, we watched Dimitri Martin's "Important Things" and then I went back to work on the computer, recording new scratch vocals on "Not in a Million Years" following the piano lines, and then making a mix of it to listen to in the car.
Then, I went through all my files and organized them, opening them up and making current mixes burned down to a CD. I've narrowed the album down to 12 contenders right now but I never count out the other 3 or 4 songs that I've started in case I get some inspiration to pick one of them back up. I realized I am really not that far from finishing this album, but it will take some commitment and determination, and most of all organization. I realized that if I just work on one song per week and try to give myself 1 week to finish each one, I could be done in a couple months. I finished "Hunters of the Night" from start to finish in like 2 weeks so this should be totally do-able.
Hello 2010, goodbye junk!
NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 53
Shiny red shirt, I think I bought it at Aardvarks. I wore it for Shitting Glitter's show at Rhonda's Holiday Party in 2008. She has a "cheap" wine-tasting party every year and we played in the backyard. I think that was the only time I ever wore this shirt as it was a little too tacky for my tastes.
When I got home, Dylan was still at work, as he had to stay late and help out at some NAACP event the Academy was hosting.
I thought I would get a whole bunch of recording done but as usual the time went by all too quickly. After hearing the final version of "Alien Nation" the other night so loud in my car with Brandon, Angie, Marc and Dylan, I really wanted to get back to finishing my debut solo album. I started by re-recording vocals on "Underwater Breathing" which I had played for Brandon the other night without vocals. It started out being my 'designer imposter' version of "Clocks" by Coldplay, not because I like them or that song, but because my mom likes them and also that song is everywhere and has probably earned them trillions of dollars with all the licensing they've been paid. Of course, my song now sounds absolutely nothing like that, which is fine with me. The lyrics are about two different people but will probably sound like they're about one person. It was no one I was dating either. Anyway, I redid the vocals for that but I had a lot of trouble on one line in the chorus where I sing "arrested progression" after a long string of lyrics preceding it and for some reason by the time I got to the word 'progression' I was always out of breath. So, I'm going to have to redo it.
After that, I tried to record new vocals for "Not in a Million Years" but once I got started it became apparent that I really had no idea what notes were supposed to be sang in each vocal line; that's one of the problems of writing a song with three part vocal harmonies. So, I had to solo out the original scratch vocals one by one and duplicate their lines with a piano line, so that I could record new vocals following the piano lines. In actuality, there are 4 different vocal lines on the chorus, so it took some time to map everything out, and by the time I finished, Dylan was home and it was past time for me to eat some dinner.
Dylan had already eaten at work so I was just cooking for myself, but I made some delicious candied broccoli and brussels sprouts with cranberries and almonds, and a wrap filled with chicken breast, zucchini, red bell pepper, cheese and garlic.
Afterward, we watched Dimitri Martin's "Important Things" and then I went back to work on the computer, recording new scratch vocals on "Not in a Million Years" following the piano lines, and then making a mix of it to listen to in the car.
Then, I went through all my files and organized them, opening them up and making current mixes burned down to a CD. I've narrowed the album down to 12 contenders right now but I never count out the other 3 or 4 songs that I've started in case I get some inspiration to pick one of them back up. I realized I am really not that far from finishing this album, but it will take some commitment and determination, and most of all organization. I realized that if I just work on one song per week and try to give myself 1 week to finish each one, I could be done in a couple months. I finished "Hunters of the Night" from start to finish in like 2 weeks so this should be totally do-able.
Hello 2010, goodbye junk!
NEW YEARS RESOLUTION LOG ENTRY 53
Shiny red shirt, I think I bought it at Aardvarks. I wore it for Shitting Glitter's show at Rhonda's Holiday Party in 2008. She has a "cheap" wine-tasting party every year and we played in the backyard. I think that was the only time I ever wore this shirt as it was a little too tacky for my tastes.
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