"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

I got into the studio this afternoon, and made some progress in getting things better organized.  I didn't get as much done as I had hoped to... nothing got transcribed this afternoon, but things are definitely looking up in the studio.  If I can get a few things done each day, then I'm hopeful that, by the end of the weekend, things can be transcribed and clearly organized and I can be on my way to trying to cross off some of these recording projects by the end of the year. Mostly today, I tried to get my fingers back underneath me.  I had some success, although I'm fairly certain that I could have used another half an hour when everything was said and done. It was a good day, one that was a solid step for me heading into the rush that is the last two months of the year.  Hopefully, come New Year's Eve, I'll be able to look back and see it for the springboard I hope it will be.

I keep going through my day, wanting to write, but not actually taking the time to sit down and do it.  I know I've talked in this space before about feeling like all of my song snippets are always spread out all over the place.  I like to think that I have things pretty well organized, but when push comes to shove, the audio recordings are in one place (and not transcribed), and the lyrical and musical ideas are in different spots.  I didn't get there today, but my goal for tomorrow is a straightforward one: I need to sit down and transcribe the audio side of things, and then find a way to condense the lyrical and musical side of things into something more manageable... perhaps using something like Evernote. Those are really my only thoughts tonight... I'm simply tired of not having quite the right tools at my disposal when I do find the time to sit down and try to work on songs.

Well, today fairly well tanked, musically.  About the only good thing that happened was getting the new issue of Guitar World in the mail.  Aside from that, nothing today happened the way I was hoping it would. I had really hoped to spend a good chunk of time in the studio today, in theory doing some songwriting.  That never really materialized for me, and I know that I need to get down there tomorrow for a look at what I have song-wise, if only because I'm starting to get twitchy about the whole process. Today just felt like a letdown on all counts.  Tomorrow will be a better day.

So, we got home a whole lot later than I was expecting we would when we left the house this morning.  As a direct result of that, I didn't end up having a whole lot of , time in the studio tonight. That being said, I managed to get in there and cross off a few small things.  For one thing, I took a closer look at the book on chords that I had picked up earlier in the week.  From what I can see, it's going to be an even cooler purchase than I was expecting. Aside from that, I read a few pages from the Springsteen book that has been resolutely ignored for the last few weeks, and I have huge plans to spend a lot of the day in the studio tomorrow.

Today was a good day. Last weekend, I had picked up a rhyming dictionary and a book on chords.  Today, I started putting them both to use. Ultimately, I didn't do much in the way of songwriting, but I fit in some playing this afternoon, not to mention some listening on the way to and from work. We're headed out of town for some of tomorrow, but will be home early enough that I can get in some better work tomorrow than I did today.

Today was a better day. I got myself moved back into the studio, and even found a little bit of time to sit down with the acoustic before I had to go dashing off to work.  I'd say that was a good thing, except that, after sitting down, all I wanted to do with the rest of my day was sit and play. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option, but I was able to inch a little bit closer to getting all of my listening done in the car on the way to work. Tomorrow could be a really good day to get some work done, as we are off early because of a rally on campus, so I'll be home for most of the afternoon.  Should be a good one tomorrow, and a good way to head into my weekend as well.

After yesterday's long day, I spent most of today feeling like I was behind the eight ball.  It was slow going for me, but I got some listening done in the car. I didn't get everything moved back into the studio today, but I go in late tomorrow, so if I can get up on time, I'll definitely be able to get myself moved back in and sorted out. Really, today, it was just good to be home.  Tomorrow the real fun begins.

Today was a good day for getting some listening done. I spent the bulk of the day in the car, on my way back from Wisconsin. I finally got to the new Bon Iver record, and it's definitely one of those albums that is going to take a few listens for me. I didn't have a lot of time to spend unpacking things tonight and getting the studio set up again, but that is definitely going to happen tomorrow after work. Today was a long day, but a good day, and I am excited to get back to work on things tomorrow.

Today was a day that I finally got a bit more of a chance to sit down and play for a while. It was a good day indeed, for that reason alone. On some level, I can't believe that I have to head home tomorrow, but it will offer me a good chance to do some more listening, and that will be a good thing. I'm looking forward to getting back to the studio and being able to find a little bit of focus. Today felt like a good step in that direction.

Today was a long, and busy day that was filled with family stuff from start to finish. It didn't leave a whole lot of time to spend on music things, but I was able to find a few minutes at the end of the day to sit down with a guitar and do a bit of playing. I also found an EP by The Civil Wars and a Tom Waits record that I didn't have. Today could have been a more productive day, but I was happy with what I got done.

Second of two travel days today. I had good time in the car to devote to listening, and that was wonderful. The second half of the day was full of people and running around, which didn't leave a lot of time to spend on music. And yet, as I approach the end of my day, I have found a few minutes to carve out for the electric and the lyric notebook. For a busy day, it sure was a good one.

Today was the first of my two travel days on my trip to Wisconsin. I drove half of the way there tonight, stopping in Dubuque. I got in some good listening time in the car on the way here, but have more planned for tomorrow. I ended up bringing the Strat, and while I didn't haul the guitar in with me tonight, I did bring in a notebook and the latest book I picked up on the writing process. It was good to spend a bit of time with that.

So, after saying that I was taking all of my song ideas with me when I go up to Wisconsin for the weekend, here is what I discovered today... 1. Everything for the Power Pop record is fairly well contained in its current form.  Which is awesome.  It also means that I'm likely going to leave it at home, because as I said earlier in the week, what I'm apparently drawn to high† now is the idea of the double album. 2.  Speaking of the double album, I spent some of my time in the studio today listening to the ideas that I had previously earmarked for inclusion in that project, and I discovered a couple of things.  First, I still like all of the ideas that I had set aside.  And second, it has been so long since I have worked on that particular project, that, while I like what I hear, I no longer remember exactly how to reproduce what I have already recorded.  In short, what I'm saying is that maybe the double album is something I will have to work my way back into slowly; rel

Today was a good day. I got down into the studio on the late side, but I still managed to be fairly productive, considering that I didn't spend all that much time down there tonight. I did some follow-up work from yesterday where the songwriting is concerned.  I got a bit of lyric-focused writing done, but tonight was more about the music side of things.  And on that front, I'm headed up north this weekend, and so I'm already starting to plan ahead for what I'm taking in regards to music.  It'll either be the Strat or a uke, instrument-wise, but most everything else is going to be songwriting-based.  I'll be taking all of the song ideas that I have, and the most recent book I picked up on the process. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, too.  It's my late day, so if I can be smart about getting up early, I should be able to fit in some time in the morning, and then perhaps a second session in the evening after work, as the Mrs. has a meeting that will

Okay, so the only thing I really felt like I had to get done today, music-wise, was to find fifteen minutes of quiet to sit down and just get back to writing.  I wasn't even all that worried about it being in a lyrical format, I just knew that I had to get something down on the page.  Now, in my head, this involved me sitting down with a notebook and pen and just blocking out the world for a quarter of an hour (if not longer). In the end, it was exactly fifteen minutes, it happened at the very end of the night (after the rest of the house had gone quiet for the day), and it ended up typed instead of hand written.  So much for things going the way I had pictured them. Oh yeah, and then there's the fact that, while it started out as something that I could go back and pull lyrical inspiration from, it very quickly turned into something more approaching a blog post, and it was very much centered on what I'd still like to try and get done by the end of the year.  There were

Today was a pretty quiet day for me.  Most of the weekend was low-key, actually, which I may have needed, but wasn't terribly productive where things in the studio were concerned. In and around everything else that happened today, I was able to find a few minutes to get down into the studio.  All I focused on when I got down there was a bit of playing, though.  I guess what I'm really saying is that I didn't start my fifteen minutes/day to focus on lyrics.  That , it seems, will begin tomorrow, when I've got the day to myself and can dive in (at least for the first day) while the house is quiet. As always with me, there were a lot of thoughts going on in the background today, even if I didn't have time to put them into action.

It was a good time in the studio today.  I picked up the acoustic the second I got down there, and spent the first few minutes warming up and doing some listening.  As usual when this happens, I wound up detouring away from the writing side of things, and starting playing along with whatever it is I'm listening to at that moment.  Today, and most days lately, it has been a lot of Jason Isbell. After I finished playing through a few of his songs, I started to try and work on some new music my own.  I didn't find a whole lot of new stuff tonight, but like always, there were a few small ideas that I filed away for further consideration.  I know I haven't been great about getting a lot of writing done in the last few months, and I'm also well aware that, if I'm going to have anything substantial to show by  the end of the year, that I really need to step it up. One thing I feel I have been good at lately is making sure that I always have a notebook within reach, sho

Today was a decent day.  I got downstairs fairly early, and wound up bouncing around between a number of things throughout the course of the day.  I did some reading, I did a small bit of listening, and I fit in a little bit of playing. As for the writing side of things, I didn't really touch on that as much as I had hoped to today.  I'm not entirely sure what the plan is for tomorrow, but I'm optimistic that there will be time for me to sneak down to the studio and try to work on some songs. The day just had a laid back pace to it, and while it wasn't a bad day by any stretch, it was one of those that I find myself looking back on and wishing I had been just a bit more productive.

Today was a busy day at work, so I didn't have time to do much in the way of making notes for the EP, but I got a lot of behind the scenes work done, thinking through things in the back of my mind as the day went along. I've hit my weekend again, and seeing as the Mrs. has a bit of work stuff to do tomorrow, I'm definitely going to be able to steal some time down in the studio.  I can't wait to get down there and get to work tomorrow. Aside from the playing and writing this weekend, I've got a bit more of the new release listening to get around to, and I'd like to see if I can't take a good chunk out of that Springsteen book that I'm only a couple of chapters into right now. I'm sure there will be a few more things that get tacked onto my list as the weekend goes along, but those seem like a good place to start.

Today was a better day.  A much better day, or so it felt to me. I made it down into the studio for a bit before I had to go off to work, and I had some good fun sitting down with the acoustic and a capo.  I played around with a few progressions, in search of something that made my ear tingle.  Found a few possibilities, but I didn't have a ton of time, so I had to cut my session short. I kept thinking things through as I drove to work, and I came to the (somewhat obvious) conclusion that I really, really need to put in the effort and try to get at least the EP finished by the end of the year.  There's more I can do with the rough mixes I had burned last month, and I still think that those ideas done right have a chance to be really special.  I've probably got to throw in another song on top of it, but if I can get the ones already demoed to a point where they are done, then finding the missing piece shouldn't be all that difficult. I listened to the new record b

Today was at least a little bit like yesterday. I got all the way through the new Green Day record once on the way to and from work today.  I'm enjoying it so far, and I can definitely tell that the record has the feel of 21st Century Breakdown , at least to a certain extent. Tonight, I've done a bit of theory studying, and then as the night has gotten later, I've been watching some lessons and interviews, trying to soak up information from the masters. Like yesterday, it has been a somewhat quiet day, but having tomorrow morning off, I'm really hoping to get up early enough to get down into the studio and get a bit of work done.  I'm not necessarily struggling to get back into the groove of being home after vacation, but I'm struggling to really get things cranked up to a decent level the last couple of days.

Well, I made it down into the studio today.  While I was down there, I kept working on the rather extensive pile of listening.  Slowly but surely I'm making my way through that side of things.  After that, I'll probably do a thorough run through iTunes before updating the iPod. I did a bit of acoustic playing today, too, in an attempt to get back to something that resembled working on songs.  I got a few bits of lyric out of that, and I've got a few thoughts about music that I formulated after coming back upstairs, so those will maybe have to wait until tomorrow to be further investigated. Even if I didn't get as much done as I had wanted to, it still felt good to get back down there and get at least a little bit of work done.  It gives me something to build on for the week, anyway.

I kept up with the listening today, finally getting to the very first part of the new Green Day record on the way to and from church today.  It's still way too early to form any sort of reliable opinion on it yet though. We had some people over this afternoon, and that kept me out of the studio for the bulk of the afternoon, so once again I found myself doing a lot of work in my head.  I'm so thankful to have tomorrow free, and I really need to make excellent use of it.  In a perfect world, I'll spend a good portion of it downstairs in the studio.  I think I need it.

So, I got started on some of the stuff I wanted to get done today, but all things considered, I didn't get to as much as I had hoped to. I started the listening and importing process from all of the things I've picked up in the last week and a half.  It's not done by any stretch, but I got it closer to done than it was at the beginning of the day, and I'll take the progress. I spent a bit of time in the studio, and played for a while, which felt good.  I still didn't feel like I got enough done today, though.  I'm hopeful that between tomorrow and Monday, I can get to a point where I feel good going back to work. Today was quiet, I know, but the next 48 hours will be better.

Well, I'm all settled back in down in the studio. It didn't take me all that long to get everything sorted out from our vacation bags and hauled back downstairs.  Getting everything put away once I got down to the studio took a little bit longer, but it was jut good to spend some time down there getting re-acclimated to being home.  I got all of the books put away, and all of the new music unwrapped (only to go out today and pick up the new Green Day and the new OneRepublic).  Tomorrow seems as though it will be a day crammed full of listening, among other things.  A lot of what I'd like to get done tomorrow is just playing , but in a perfect world, I'll try and get some writing done as well. Today, the morning was good, but the afternoon had me losing the thread a bit, between running errands and other things around home.  Tomorrow will be a bit more full.

We made it home this afternoon. After unloading the car, the Mrs. headed off to work to see what happened while we were gone, and I started sorting through all of the music and other things I picked up during the week we were away.  I haven't gotten everything hauled down to the studio yet, but that will happen first thing in the morning.  The cool thing about getting home today is that I've still got my regular weekend ahead of me.  The Mrs. is going to be busy getting caught up, so I'll have the bulk of the weekend to get a lot of work done in the studio. Good to be home, if not completely moved back into the studio quite yet.  Bring on the weekend.

We should be getting back home tomorrow afternoon sometime. It will be good to get back to the studio, but for today it was just nice to be on the road and able to do a bit of listening. We hit up a Barnes and Noble this afternoon on our way to this evening's stopping point, and so I got to pick up the latest round of magazines, as well as the Led Zeppelin BBC reissue that just came out. Today was a good day, but tomorrow, when we are back home and I am able to really dive into the new stuff I have picked up, will be a great day.

Today was a day filled with driving and listening. We are on our way back home from vacation, and stopped at the halfway point tonight. The hour grows late, but what I really want to do is start the new Springsteen book that just came out. I picked it up on our travels this week. We've got an early morning ahead of us, though, with more driving, and then one final overnight before we get home on Thursday. All of this to say that today has been a great day, but I probably ought to be sleeping. Maybe a few pages of The Boss wouldn't hurt, though...

Today was a new music day for me. I hadn't had oneof those in a while, and I made up for it in a big way. I picked up four records today, all new releases. I don't have the titles in front of me at the moment, but records by Regina Spektor, Passenger, Bon Iver, and The Drive By Truckers all came home with me from various places. Found a quirky little music store in Estes Park, too. A fun and odd combination of CDS, vinyl, and instruments.

Today was a pretty relaxing day. I didn't have a lot of time to spend on music things, but I was able to find a little bit of time, and I spent it in a fun fashion. I wound up using my time this morning looking for ukulele tabs and ideas. It was nice to dip my toe back in after having the last few days before mostly brain work. I found some fun things that I am definitely interested in learning. As I was going through things, the part of my brain that has been doing more thinking about the songwriting process was also doing some background work. All told, for a day that didn't have a lot of time in it, I still felt like it was a pretty good day.

Today was a great day that didn't have a lot of time to spend on music in it. As usual on days like these, I did a lot of thinking and planning in my head. I am very much enjoying the time away, while being simultaneously excited to get back to the studio. Hopefully tomorrow will have more time for playing and writing.