It is February 8

I put something up, finally.

I may have strayed from the purpose of song-a-day, but I do have about five bits that are in 

It is February 8

I put something up, finally.

I may have strayed from the purpose of song-a-day, but I do have about five bits that are in process that I like. There's Doppler, Lost Soul, She Deceived Me, Woman of my Dreams, and some other things, probably. That's what I can think of. The point is, I like them enough to allow them to germinate instead of forcing them out ahead of time. 

This is a frightening thought to me. Am I actually planning and developing ideas? That would be odd.

Day 2: All of them

The wife is shivering in bed in between breaks for vomiting. Sort of killed any time I might have had to put together something lengthy and complete. So this is what happened.

It's supposed to be funny, inasmuch as the listener hears the first lines and then is waiting for more, but that's it. 

"I really can't elaborate further on the topic, that pretty much says it."

Everything sounds better when you use a preamp. Mine is an ultra-cheap ART unit with a 12AX7 tube in it. 

My ultra-cheap A/D converter, on the other hand, buzzes something awful. I promise not to use it again.

Recording techniques for these first two tunes:

1. Place mic near guitar. Press record. Mic: Sennheiser e609. Guitar: Epiphone Masterbilt something-or-other. 

2. Aim mic at face. Sing.

Day one

Okay then, I got a song up. This song resulted from an experiment, which was to write a verse with few, and slow, chord changes - or at least not one-chord-per-bar. 

This tune probably holds the record for the one that felt and sounded the least 'like me' when I was doing it. Fingerpicking sweet little major chords halfway up the fretboard? I never do that.

It's kind of a downer song, isn't it? It has nothing to do with my state of mind at the time.

Prelude

It is February 1, and it is the morning, and like last year at this time I have a cold. Also: no ideas, or plan on how to get through this.

I do know that I will be developing, or discovering, or falling into, a new process for songwriting. Last year I began with a single text document in which I poured every lyric idea I had, and let them all sit there, occasionally adding to or redoing some. Eventually this was the source for most of the songs I ended up recording.

On the music side almost everything was literally written on the day it was posted, using what seems to be my only method: come up with a chord progression or note sequence first, then speak the lyrics over it, and rerecord the lyrics over and over till they gained a melody.

It was time-consuming and inefficient. Something needs to change.