Productive day yesterday. Got a lot of calls made. Emails sent. Even got to finally sit with a bit of a tune and spruce it up. That would be why I can say song sixteen finalized is Stand My Ground.
This particular song underwent a slight transformation. I had to tweak a few of the lyrics. I felt it needed a little more cohesion in the presentation of the words. It’s now got that. Such that it remains universal and personal at the same time. Without being overly vague. Though it still has a strong sense of metaphor. Which is to say, I hope it’s not too clever in it’s telling of a story now.
The arrangement got shortened a little. I decided it didn’t need the Pre Chorus going into the second Chorus. It appears only before the first Chorus.
Sonically, I’ve made my notes of things that I wish to have happen once I hit the studio to be recording the final version. In the meantime, I’ll be sitting down to song 17 today, it’s got very minor tweaks. Who knows I might be announcing it tomorrow. Then I’ve saved the toughest song for last…
For now, you’re in the know that the sixteenth song finalized is Stand My Ground. Have an awesome day!
Yesterday. Monday. Odd day. Good day. Full day. Was the day where I got some more time in on this impending release… The short announcement is that the twelfth song finalized is “Vaporize Your Heart”.
One would love to envision that musicians/rockstars sit around all day long lollygaggin until they get to making some sort of brilliant music. Not this one. After a hearty workout, it was on the phone making calls for meetings with networks. The alternate ‘N’ word. Then I spent several hours taking my dog to the vet to get his shots updated. Glamorous shit right there!
Once I was back from the vet I beelined for the studio to get to work on tweaking the arrangement of this song. Make some serious structural changes that give the song a bit more drive. Not only more drive but also more ebb and flow too. It had a nice swing to it before. Nice don’t cut it. Now it pumps my blood and gets me moving. Which is what it was supposed to do before and it did. Only it’s got ‘Tude now!
It will be exciting to see what the players bring to it in the studio based off my fleshed out sketches of the music. I can’t wait. The anticipation on it has me feeling some tension with how close all the songs are to being totally ready and with how much they’re really nailing emotions, vibes and ‘tudes.
Six more songs are lined up to get some more tweaks. But for those in the know right now (today) you know that the twelfth song that’s finalized is “Vaporize Your Heart”. Be aware that you’re ears are gonna love it!
Getting these songs done is taking a little longer than anticipated. Grrrrr. Outside interests wanting music created in a hurry is the main reason. Another is the onslaught of the holidays. Of course there was recent mic issue. Despite that, I’m happy to announce that the eighth song finalized is “Waiting On One Thing”.
I spent time rethinking the arrangement. Mostly I’m adding additional bars of things between sections to give it some extra ear candy to the flow of the song. It was short before. Now it’s at it’s full length and it’s still less than 3 minutes long. Kind of surprising to me. I don’t usually write songs for myself that come in so short. Especially full fledged pop/rock style stuff.
At this point the flesh is there. I’m waiting on the mic (one thing) to come back so I can lay down the tweaked lyrics. That’s the last part. An important part, but it won’t change the arrangement at this point. No, the song is not about waiting on a piece of gear that is out of order. Geez. I have little more depth than that.
I’ve got 10 songs to go. I have my guesses as to what it will be. You’ll have to wait to find out when I announce it. However, I won’t stop you from emailing me a guess (The Song List Link). Maybe it will change my mind…
For now, be aware that song eight to be finalized is “Waiting On One Thing”. Have a great day and spread some cheer whatever your holiday greeting is!
With some steps forward, there are some steps backwards. Such was the case this past week. Despite the setback, I’m happy to relay that the seventh song finalized is “Love Takes A Holiday”.
Yes, I had managed to spend a little time away from my release to work on a film trailer track in a dubstep style. I mentioned in the last post that initial reaction was awesome. Even the client finally got back to me stating I nailed it. That’s enough to put a smile on the face. Still awaiting word from the studio…
LTAH – for short, required a fairly good amount of thought. The original demo was a little on the dragging it’s feet side. That doesn’t stop it from being a really good song, but it did stop it from being a great song, or even a possible hit. Thus I reworked it with a faster tempo. This gives it a livelier vibe that bounces a little more – without taking out the nature of stomp it has. I also reworked the lyrics, shifted the verses around and gave it a more focused perspective.
In the re-recording of the track, I reconfigured some of the guitar parts and added more elements to it. One of my favorite new bits is a “talking bass” sound that I picked up from doing the dubstep track. I think it’s going to add some cool character to compliment the Clavinet I have in it.
You’re probably wondering, what the hell was the setback? Well… I have a really nice microphone that I’ve been using to record the demo vocals with. It decided that right now, or rather last Tuesday, was the perfect time to crap out and stop working. That’s rather unfortunate for such a pricey mic to do. Good thing I’m on good terms with the company. They’re going to give it a checkup and get it back to good health. In the meantime, I’m picking on songs that I need to tweak with more than just vocals – gives me time to really think through the arrangements. That’s always a good thing.
Even LTAH got a slight change in the arrangement of things too. Added some cool stops to two parts and also gave the intro riff and reprise. Keeps the song from motoring too fast through the parts now that the tempo has made a pretty good jump. These changes signal that the seventh song finalized is “Love Takes A Holiday”. Stay tuned. I’ve got another 11 more to tweak before studio performances and perfection are up to bat.
If you were keeping tabs on the song order, you might have noticed that I started alphabetically. However, today I’ve already broken ranks. The second song finalized is Femke. No rhyme or reason why on that, it is what it is.
In this song I made lyrical tweaks to the second verse. I also made a lyrical change to the first line of the chorus. It now makes a bit more sense to an outsider view about someone you might know and the changes all recorded on the demo. Musically I didn’t find a need to tweak any of the melody. I will be adding a few elements in the studio that are beyond what is in the demo. I keep the arrangement fairly sparse. But instead of drum and orchestral samples, I’ll be bringing in the real thing. More human that way.
What song will come next and when will it get finalized? Only the shadow knows. For now, you are in the know knowing that the second song finalized is Femke.
Stay tuned.
— Jody
Here’s my thanks to everyone that took the time to vote on the songs. It started with 70. Then came to 32. Now it’s down to 18. From here on out, I’ll be tweaking and massaging the songs that are left. Of the 18 left, at least 6 will fall by the wayside. They might become b-sides to singles. What will be left are 12 super potent songs that will be sheer awesomeness.
I’m excited to have brought fans in on the process of picking out the songs. The beauty is allowing all to see the process we songwriters go through to create words and sounds you get upon final release. A process that can take a ridiculous amount of time and effort.
I appreciate the time and effort that was put into the listening and voting as well. I know it takes a good chunk of time to listen to 70 songs and give an opinion on them. Then to do it again on 32 songs.
My next step as it goes is to take time going back over songs with a fine tooth comb and make some adjustments. Figure out if the key of each song is the best it can be. If there is a need for anything else in the arrangements and how they need to transpire. Once this is figured out it will be time to head into the studio and begin the recording process.
Stay tuned.
— Jody