Skip to main content

Day One Hundred Fifty One (Year Two)

Played a bit of electric tonight after work as a way to wind down from an otherwise hectic day.  I'm trying to sort out in my head what the process is for getting everything done that needs to get done with the band.  I'm really feeling right now like the obvious first step is to sit down with everything we have (demos, progressions, bits of lyric, etc) and just see what jumps out at me.  Find the spots where, were it entirely up to me, certain songs would be included and certain songs would be pushed to the side.  I'd even go so far as to break it down verse by verse from a lyrical standpoint.  It just makes sense to me to take stock of what's there, especially considering how little work has gotten done since August.

As for the rest of my playing, I need to just dive headlong into some of the main resources for the binder.  I've got 9 days before the end of the month, and I'm really needing to start taking that project seriously again.  It's fallen slightly by the wayside in the last week or so, which is a shame considering how good I was feeling about it in the first half of the month.  Shouldn't be too difficult to pick back up, though, I just need to put in a bit of time.

That's what all of this really comes down to, isn't it?  Putting in the time.  Being willing to make certain sacrifices for the benefit of something that means the world to who I am as a person.  In 2012, I need to find a way to make the time I put in equal (or even more equal) to the meaning that the music has in my life.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

DayOne Hundred Sixty Nine (Year Eight)

Today was another good day.  I spent all of it with my brother, which I needed a lot, even though I just saw him over Christmas. Tonight we finally got around to some music discussion.  He took a look at my list of goals for the year, and sees it as a really good set of steps to get me where I'd like to be from where I am.  I picked his brain about a few of the nagging questions I still had as I get started, and he was able to put my mind at ease. Having a chance to sit and chat with him is always good for my musical soul, because he constantly drives me to be a better, more well rounded player, and I'm pretty sure that I can never thank him enough for all of the advice, support, and encouragement he offers every time we chat.

Day Two Hundred Six (Year Four)

Today was the first official day of the second half of my "album-in-a-month" challenge. As for today's goals, I wanted to see what I could get done in regards to track order, and get at least a little bit of a start on the lyric writing process. I spent more time working on the track order question than I did on the lyrics today, but as a result of that, I ended up with something that I think will work in terms of order. I did sit with the notebook for a few minutes at the very end of the day, and got a solid starting line of lyric and some other ideas that I hope will be jumping off points for lyrics. What I'm thinking I might do, however, is switch my focus from the lyric writing part of the process directly to the recording part of the process.  That way, if I can get the music recorded and burned onto a CD, I can take the music with me in the car, and listen and try to see what images and thoughts the music brings up.  It's a tactic that has worked for...

Day One Hundred Thirty (Year Five)

I got more time in the studio today than I have in a long time.  It wasn't quite enough for me (as always), but it was a productive re-introduction, I thought, to my life in the studio.  I: 1) Got a bit of reading done in Songs & Solos 2) Dragged out the tab book for Recovering The Satellites in preparation for the Counting Crows shows that are coming this month.  Worked on a bit of "A Long December," and a bit of "Have You Seen Me Lately."  What struck me, in taking a closer look at the tab, were the fills and arpeggios that make up a lot of the non-vocal melody.  It's fun to play, and it comes as a teaching opportunity when it comes to songwriting. 3)  I decided on the Tom Waits Biography, Low Side Of The Road for my music reading this month. 4) I didn't get to as much of the lead guitar & fretboard work as I would have liked to, but that will give me something to focus on as the week goes along. All told, it was a really good day....