Skip to main content

Day Two Hundred Twenty Eight (Year Four)

Today was a lot closer to what I've come to expect out of myself this year.

I got into the studio a couple different times today.  The first time I got in there, I focused my attention on finishing up my list of songs I'd like to incorporate into a set list at some point this year.  I'm sure there will be things added to it as the year goes along, but for right now, I like what I have.

The second time I got into the studio tonight was more focused on the electric side of things than the acoustic side of things (initially, anyway).  I worked my way through the riff from 100 Riffs that had me stuck earlier in the week (I really have it down now), and then got through the next two in fairly short order.

In between those times I got a chance to do a bunch of listening, and get a bit farther in the Big Star biography I've been reading.

Really, the only thing I didn't get to this weekend is the record.  That's weird to me, if only because it was the one thing that, heading into the weekend, I knew I should make time for.  I want to see if I can't get at least a few final guitar parts cranked out before this weekend.  I'm headed up to WI for a Cory Chisel concert that he's playing with the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra.  My brother and I wound up with tickets through my step-mom (who was concert master of the FVSO for almost 20 years).  Knowing that I've got a 3+ hour drive ahead of me on Friday night, I'd love to have at least a few songs closer to finished, if only to hear how they sound in the car.  Plus, it would be cool to have something tangible my brother could listen to.  Guess the record will be at the top of the list for tomorrow.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Day Three

Short one today. I've got a bunch of the DVDs that Guitar World has put out. Waded through those to see what I had, worked off of the lead guitar one. Just basic scales , but still a light place to begin. It was nice to just start loosening up my fingers again. Off from work tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get a lot of playing done. Said I'd mention the other project I'm hoping to finish this year. Back when I was living in WI, I started a hard rock band with a friend of mine. She was heavily influenced by Evanescence, and so, with her as vocalist, we started writing songs. We had written and demoed almost a full album's worth of music by the time I moved to IA, and had even purchased a P.A. in preparation for eventual gigs. We never did find a permanent drummer or bassist, so our demos sound very rough (and not nearly loud enough). I'd like to finish those songs, and make an EP of the 4 or 5 strongest, just as a way to put a cap on that project. More tom...

Day Three Hundred Fifty Seven (Year Seven)

Today was okay.  It ended up being quieter than I wanted it to be, but I got in a few things. 1.  I got the music from the car hauled in and sorted out in advance of my road trip to Dubuque for a little longer than a day.  I'm taking the Radiohead reissue with me for that, since I haven't gotten a chance to sit down with it yet. 2.  I'm also taking an empty notebook along with me, in the hopes that I might start to get some lyric ideas down on paper while I'm gone.  I watched some cool videos early this morning about the idea of writing all of the music before writing lyrics, and the way things are going that is looking like what's going on with me. 3.  I wish there had been more playing today, but I'm still feeling good about where things are sitting.  This next week needs to include a lot of writing.

Day Three Hundred Sixty Three (Year Three)

Well, the second run of 8 days (i.e., the second song out of three) begins tomorrow morning.  I'm pretty sure that I've got the chord progression written for that one already, so it'll just be the tempo I'll need to hash out.  Feeling as good about the second song as I am, I spent the night tonight trying to figure out what the problem was in the verses of the song I've been working on for the last 8 days.  And if I'm not mistaken, I solved the problem.  A change in the order of chords here, another switcheroo there, and bang!  I like what I have now a whole lot better than what I had at the end of the day yesterday.  It means I'm going to have to change the bass line a bit as well, but I've already got thoughts on how that's going to go as well. Anne Lamott talks about "shitty first drafts" in her brilliant book on writing, Bird By Bird , and I think that what I ended up with this week was just that, a shitty first draft of a song.  So...