A Good Week

All in all, a very good week, creatively speaking.

After writing, and thus realizing, that I’ve not done a thing on “Ring. Nobody’s Home,” I went home an did some real work on it. The tone of the song shifted substantially.

I have a really good piano sound module, and on my first pass of this song, weeks ago, the one with the messed up drum track, I used it to record via MIDI. It’s always perfectly in tune, it is easy to record, and, when I have to, it's easy to fix, tweak, extend, change the volume of, shorten, cut, add, or completely change any note I play. Music! It all feels like cheating, but I’m self-conscious about my playing, and it’s a nice safety net. It's addicting and dangerous.

I pretty much have to use it. The upright piano we have – well, I love it, but the sound is very particular, and pianos are hard to mic, especially if, like me, you don't really know what you're doing. Plus, my mics are good for casual use, but for piano, not so much.

I was pretty inspired when I read Here, There, and Everywhere about the way the Beatles recorded. It was such a great mix of spontaneity and meticulousness. They did what they could with what they had. So I decided what the heck. And "Ring" was lacking something. I hoped the feel of a real, mediocre piano might be just the thing.

So I threw up the mics and recorded real piano.

And I had to do it quick. Didn’t have much time to bang loudly after hours. (The other advantage to the MIDI piano is that it can all happen in earphones.)

I’m pleased with the result. There are few bad notes here and there, timing is off in a few places, and the piano sound is flawed, but it’s flawed with personality. (I do wish I hadn’t said “Maybe in a few months” when the piano tuner checked in last week.)

Still have to record the vocals, which is always intimidating – and hard to find time. Can’t have the kids running around thumping and screaming, so I don’t know when I’ll be able to do that. I’ve got some grandiose vocal ideas for the middle section, but we’ll see.

Also this week, a good gig with what I affectionately call the "Yea Jesus!" band. We played a showcase for a kind of rally that we’ve not done often, and it looks like it could become a regular thing. We usually play at church, so it was nice to play music for a good solid half hour before breaking for the talks and the prayer and all. Then we did lots of softer stuff, which is when we shine. It really is a good band; our history together paid off the other night.

But the highlight this week was preparing my daughter for an audition for the talent show at school. My wife helped her think of songs she’d like to sing, but Daughter eventually picked an Alison Krauss song we’ve enjoyed together for years: “Stay.” It was my job to record all of the tracks for her to sing to. In one night. Um, honey? That’s a lot of work.

So I got to work.

But then I just asked her: What if I just play it? You, know. Live. On piano. And you know what? She liked the idea God love her. She’s just pre-teen enough.

She has a lovely, soft, pretty voice, and practicing with her was a highlight of my week. Understand, we are not the Von Trapps. We don’t sing together as a family. This started as awkward for both of us. But I was pleased at how my 11 year-old daughter was able to keep the melody through my inconsistent little improvised key-hammerings, so I thought what the heck, I’ll throw in some harmonies. And it sounded so nice and it was such a sweet moment that I had to hide my eyes for a minute.

And today then the teacher was sick and didn’t show, so the audition is Monday.

Still.

All in all, a good week.

The most creative thing I've done since the last entry:
Working out a less-is-more piano arrangement of the acoustic guitar based “Stay” to accompany my daughter.

The least creative thing I've done since the last entry:
Forgetting when senior grades were due, and grading waaay too many projects in one day.

Stuff that helped:
The article I linked to in the previous post encouraged me to use real piano. That was good.

Stuff that hindered:
Hard to record on live mics with people in the house.

Current project:
“Ring. Nobody’s Home.” “Stay.” Film for school.

Next project:
Never got together about the Godot project. Meeting with director to discuss Tater Tots notes. Got an intriguing letter out of the blue from a nascent film-maker about collaborating on a script. Dunno bout dat one yet.

Guitar?:
Not diddily. In the meantime, my six-year-old now plucks out both “Smoke on the Water” and “Iron Man.”

What I should be reading these days:
I’ve been too pooped to actually dive head first into Karamazov. Inertia has set it.

What I'm actually reading these days:
Nudge, but I think I’ll drop it soon. Interesting, but dry. Too dry for May.

Today I recommend:
I’m very pooped and a bit witless today, and the entry suffers for it. But I saw this video via Dave Hill, at it makes up for lameness: