Before Song-a-Day began I knew I was going to write a song with this title, which I borrowed from a book about the American Girl doll. The three words have a melodic quality to them already, imbued with a natural rhythm. It seemed like a good place to start.
The story of an Elizabeth who is a self-justified gold digger, well, I have my reasons but it's nothing to do with anyone in my life.
I'm not sure what genre the song ended up inhabiting. It started out as a soul/r&b tinged tune, but by the time I layered some instruments it had strayed a little.
I suppose this song is really a duet. The verses are sung by "Elizabeth" and the choruses by her hapless victim. The vocals were difficult, especially late at night when it's necessary to sing quietly.
The lyrics jump around a lot, but there is a narrative to the song.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Objectification
"Yes, I'm objectifying you right now. You're welcome."
I can't help but turn things upside down. The objectification of women; sure that's a not at all good thing when done indiscriminately, but I want to offer it up as a compliment.
What might seem at first listen to be a parody is in fact a fair example of writing what I'm feeling. Lacking in subtlety, explicit. I'll put that out there unapologetically. Don't we all want to feel that way?
I struggled putting this one up, as it's nothing like what I want it to be. My inspiration was the densely-layered work of P-Funk, and I despaired that I was completely incapable of laying down funky keyboard tracks - and also that I was still stuck with a guitar loop! Recording funky guitar parts, at night, to a click track, is well-nigh impossible. This is probably an indication that I won't be getting into session work anytime soon.
By the time I had laid down the vocal tracks I had rewritten the lyrics and improved the melodies and rhythms.
I wanted the song to be much, much, longer. It needed extended solo breaks and spoken passages.
It was late. But the premise of song-a-day is to put up fragments, works-in-progress, songs in any condition. So I bit the bullet and did it.
I can't help but turn things upside down. The objectification of women; sure that's a not at all good thing when done indiscriminately, but I want to offer it up as a compliment.
What might seem at first listen to be a parody is in fact a fair example of writing what I'm feeling. Lacking in subtlety, explicit. I'll put that out there unapologetically. Don't we all want to feel that way?
I struggled putting this one up, as it's nothing like what I want it to be. My inspiration was the densely-layered work of P-Funk, and I despaired that I was completely incapable of laying down funky keyboard tracks - and also that I was still stuck with a guitar loop! Recording funky guitar parts, at night, to a click track, is well-nigh impossible. This is probably an indication that I won't be getting into session work anytime soon.
By the time I had laid down the vocal tracks I had rewritten the lyrics and improved the melodies and rhythms.
I wanted the song to be much, much, longer. It needed extended solo breaks and spoken passages.
It was late. But the premise of song-a-day is to put up fragments, works-in-progress, songs in any condition. So I bit the bullet and did it.
What they say
Broke my own rule and posted a joke. My excuse: I was too tired and strapped for time to assemble a proper song but wanted to contribute. Oh well.
Arson
Astoundingly the presets in Logic worked pretty well - I went direct with electric guitar for this one. This was a recording that did precisely what I wanted to, and that is always a happy time.
In spite of the chaotic sound of this song it's pretty sparse: drum track, bass, and three guitar tracks of which only two are playing at any time. One fx track for good measure.
I had all the instrumental tracks done and needed lyrics. It turned out the Arson lyrics fit the structure perfectly, so I went with them, making only a few slight changes from their original form in 2008.
Vocals were recorded late at night - of course - with Penelope sleeping a few doors down. Amazingly I never woke her. I recorded two falsetto tracks on the chorus - no easy feat - but as it got later I realized I could probably do a take with full voice, so I did. Not bad for having a cold. I don't think I have ever recorded my voice singing so high.
What's this song about? My original intent was to rant about huge retail chains and malls. I'll only admit this once, but I do not support arson as a means to any end. Maybe I'm using arson as a metaphor for 'any action whatsoever'.
In spite of the chaotic sound of this song it's pretty sparse: drum track, bass, and three guitar tracks of which only two are playing at any time. One fx track for good measure.
I had all the instrumental tracks done and needed lyrics. It turned out the Arson lyrics fit the structure perfectly, so I went with them, making only a few slight changes from their original form in 2008.
Vocals were recorded late at night - of course - with Penelope sleeping a few doors down. Amazingly I never woke her. I recorded two falsetto tracks on the chorus - no easy feat - but as it got later I realized I could probably do a take with full voice, so I did. Not bad for having a cold. I don't think I have ever recorded my voice singing so high.
What's this song about? My original intent was to rant about huge retail chains and malls. I'll only admit this once, but I do not support arson as a means to any end. Maybe I'm using arson as a metaphor for 'any action whatsoever'.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Nothing's Going to Change
Borrowed a technique from a favorite songwriter and took several different views of one phrase.
Melody-writing usually becomes a math problem when I do it. In this song I 'heard' most of it in my head, not the way SOME people do, but overall shapes and progressions. It's actually kind of weird that I don't conceive of melody in a specific way, but in an abstract geometric or even architectural way.
What that means is the process for actually completing the melody, fitting it to the chordal structure, becomes overly complicated.
I have many handicaps when it comes to melodic writing. I don't actually hear 'dissonance'. I could happily sing E-flats and Fs over a D major chord without batting an eye. I'm sure I have done that at some point.
In order to make sense in a traditional fashion I have to painstakingly go over every line and identify the notes I've chosen and quite deliberately move them around.
That of course takes patience, discipline, and attention to detail. And I totally had all of those ready but I must have left them on the bus or something, because I can't find them anywhere now.
I like this song. I threw a few string and organ part on it while I was putting it together and would have loved to include them but I didn't want the exact same lines coming up every single verse and chorus. Maybe someday I'll turn it into a finished recording. In the spirit of the project I throw it out there in its raw form.
Melody-writing usually becomes a math problem when I do it. In this song I 'heard' most of it in my head, not the way SOME people do, but overall shapes and progressions. It's actually kind of weird that I don't conceive of melody in a specific way, but in an abstract geometric or even architectural way.
What that means is the process for actually completing the melody, fitting it to the chordal structure, becomes overly complicated.
I have many handicaps when it comes to melodic writing. I don't actually hear 'dissonance'. I could happily sing E-flats and Fs over a D major chord without batting an eye. I'm sure I have done that at some point.
In order to make sense in a traditional fashion I have to painstakingly go over every line and identify the notes I've chosen and quite deliberately move them around.
That of course takes patience, discipline, and attention to detail. And I totally had all of those ready but I must have left them on the bus or something, because I can't find them anywhere now.
I like this song. I threw a few string and organ part on it while I was putting it together and would have loved to include them but I didn't want the exact same lines coming up every single verse and chorus. Maybe someday I'll turn it into a finished recording. In the spirit of the project I throw it out there in its raw form.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Slug
In the spirit of song-a-day, I let a lot of things stand as they were, notably some lyric lines that are little more than filler. Bleah. It wasn't fun singing the end of the chorus.
This song was a clear attempt at achieving a certain sound. I do wonder what impression it leaves on the listener.
Lyrically it came across a lot more mean-spirited than I had intended. I wasn't trying to write an angry song, more one of wry amusement at this creature that couldn't harm me now matter how creepy and panic-inspiring it might be. You know how people overreact to little creatures like slugs and bugs and such? I was trying to play off that. I liked it as a metaphor.
For the soap-opera-oriented, this song isn't about anything personal.
This song was a clear attempt at achieving a certain sound. I do wonder what impression it leaves on the listener.
Lyrically it came across a lot more mean-spirited than I had intended. I wasn't trying to write an angry song, more one of wry amusement at this creature that couldn't harm me now matter how creepy and panic-inspiring it might be. You know how people overreact to little creatures like slugs and bugs and such? I was trying to play off that. I liked it as a metaphor.
For the soap-opera-oriented, this song isn't about anything personal.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Blissful Denial
A song on the first day of the month.
I am acting on a challenge from Derek to record songs with the sole instrumentation being one electric guitar track. I am also working with some new influences, which I won't reveal yet. It is a strange process for me to imagine myself writing in the style of something or other - because I feel compelled to NOT listen to whatever I'm emulating, so I don't copy. The end product goes through some bizarre filtration indeed.
I can't imagine anyone having worse songwriting disciplines than I do. Many times I will start out writing/recording one thing and it will end up as something else entirely. Now and then I'll pull up some old files and listen to discarded vocal, or even instrumental, tracks, and remember the completely different direction I had set out.
The technical details of this track: Driskill #61 through Roland micro-amp, or whatever it's called. It's tiny and awful but the only amp within reach at the moment. Guitar and vocals miced with Sennheiser e609.
I am acting on a challenge from Derek to record songs with the sole instrumentation being one electric guitar track. I am also working with some new influences, which I won't reveal yet. It is a strange process for me to imagine myself writing in the style of something or other - because I feel compelled to NOT listen to whatever I'm emulating, so I don't copy. The end product goes through some bizarre filtration indeed.
I can't imagine anyone having worse songwriting disciplines than I do. Many times I will start out writing/recording one thing and it will end up as something else entirely. Now and then I'll pull up some old files and listen to discarded vocal, or even instrumental, tracks, and remember the completely different direction I had set out.
The technical details of this track: Driskill #61 through Roland micro-amp, or whatever it's called. It's tiny and awful but the only amp within reach at the moment. Guitar and vocals miced with Sennheiser e609.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
