Heart Like a River - Day 3

Did a vocal run through from the top. I felt relaxed and natural and thought it was a good performance. I didn't know if Steve was recording since I was doing it as a warm-up but I hoped he was. It turns out that he did catch it.

Worked out where to place the notes for the final verse. I didn't get to record it last session.

The first take was good and usable but we did a second take anyways, and got lots of good bits out of it. I liked how I closed the R's on "river" and "scars" in the refrain - I have had challenges with ending on R's on past projects. We also came up with some different variations on the three repetitions of the "fingerprints of life" line.

Click on the play button below to hear the current mix.


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Heart Like a River - Day 2

Second session - laid down ghost vocals. Got lots of coaching from Steve, feels like a partnership, a collaboration rather than a session artist for hire.

Worked on phrasing.

I had a tight schedule and had to leave the session before I had a chance to do the vocals for the final verse.

Getting things done

Allen, David (2001). Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

So I've read a book called Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, by David Allen. I'm experimenting with getting my own GTD system set up.

The book describes various key disciplines, or best practices for being organized and productive; however, there are a few key disciplines that I've started practicing that are making a difference for me. These are:
- Inventory of all my projects
- Identify at least one next action for each project
- Associate each next action with a context in which the action can be performed

Inventory of Projects:
I find it useful to have a list where I've written down all my projects. It gets them out of my head and into a tangible form, and it's good to have a place to list any project ideas that come up. It's like the adage, a place for everything and everything in its place - well, that applies to ideas too.

Next Action:
The discipline of identifying a next action for each project helps keep my projects moving along. Even if I don't feel like working on a given project right now, as long as I can think of what next action I can take and write it down then even that helps keep the project moving. Often the projects that stall are the ones for which I don't have a next action. I haven't got this done for all my projects yet, maybe about 40%-60% of them but that's enough for me to feel the difference. I feel like I can keep all of those 40%-60% projects moving along rather than feeling like I can only handle three or four at a time.

Context Lists:
The GTD notion of a context is that it is a place or set of resources that I have access to in order to accomplish my tasks. Some examples are @Home, @Office, @Computer, @Errands, @Calls, etc. The idea is to have a separate list for each context; bydoing so, I can look at all the tasks that I can do in a given situation without being distracted by tasks I cannot do right here. For example, if I am at work and something occurs to me that I need to do at home, I put it on the @Home list. While I am at the office I can look at the @Office tasks and not get frustrated because I have an @Home task that I can't do.

Having separate context lists also helps me see where my bottlenecks are. When I see that my @Errands list is growing and giving me anxiety then I know I can run a series of errands say on a Saturday morning and knock a bunch of things off my list. Similarly if my @Home list is getting too large and I know I've been going out a lot then I know it's time to spend some time at home getting stuff done.

I have a challenge making calls while at work, and some calls need to be made during business hours. When my @Calls list starts piling up then I know I need to make a special effort to take a break from work and take care of those calls.

Heart Like a River - Day 1

I've written previously about my friend Jan who is recovering from an aneurysm she had in February (see Soul of a Poet). Her cousins are organizing a fundraiser, to be held in November, to raise funds for her treatments. They have asked for donations of items for an auction.

An awesome idea popped into my head - why not make a studio recording of Heart Like a River, the song I wrote that was inspired by an article on Jan's blog. The recording would be my contribution to the auction. Since I already had a session scheduled to do Painted Smiles, I decided to use that session to start Heart Like a River instead.

The session went really well (as they usually do) and I am pleased with the tracks we've put down so far. All I brought in to the studio with me to start was a copy of the "quick and dirty" arrangement I made in June and a file on my LifeDrive with a "lyrical treatment" that I'd written. That's being a lot less prepared than I usually aim to be before starting a new studio project; however, the experience has changed my idea of what being "prepared for the studio" can mean.

I was singing to give Steve something to play to, and I was still getting a feel for where the melody can go on various lines, and Steve was feeding off that and tuning in to where the guitar could go and where the synth strings could go, and there was a moment of this is life; a recognition that creation was happening, and this was exactly where I was supposed to be and this was exactly what I was supposed to be doing in that moment.

It was interesting that the next morning when I was driving to work, I had this feeling that the time in the studio was my real work, and this job thing was an extracurricular activity; it was a good feeling.

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Painted Smiles - next steps

No session this week or next week. I'm taking a break this week to create some space for getting some things done at home.

My thoughts on what to do at the next session - I was thinking that we created a precedent when we worked on The Great Escape in January, by creating an alternate mix (see Great Escape - alternate mix). I'm considering doing the same thing. It's not that there's anything wrong with the current approach; it's more about challenging our imagination. Suppose we were to start with the same bed tracks we've already put down, but used it to create an alternate mix, one that emphasizes different song elements. We'd end up with two versions, two different flavours. I think that could be a good thing.

Painted Smiles 2006 remake - Day 2

Steve added some synth tracks and some synth arps and I put down a guide vocal track. I could feel the effect of the harmonic structure we discussed last week; I could hear it pulling the melody in a few places, encouraging me to choose different notes on certain lines.

I felt like I was off in the You can... verse because the chord progression didn't go where I expected and I compensated by adjusting my delivery. When we played it back, it sounded fine; it worked. What was throwing me off was that in my chart I had the You cans placed as coming on the downbeat, but the music we recorded required that I deliver them as pick up notes. In the end, it's good enough for a guide vocal.

Steve searches for something particular in the synth module. "I'll hunt you down," he says, and finally concedes. "It'll probably come to me tomorrow morning."

Next, out comes the red guitar. Some clean guitar playing, adding the textural layers, followed by some "edgy" guitar playing. Steve looks like he is having a religious experiences when he records his guitar tracks.

Drums. Steve gets an aerobic workout on the electronic kit, adding some human performed hits on top of the drum loops from last week. Playing to a click track allows us to use drums as an instruments rather than as the traditional timekeeping function. I consider that to be one of the distinguishing characteristics of my music; don't use drums just for the sake of using drums, use them because the song calls for them.

Click the play button below to hear the partial mix.


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A new dream vacation

J and I took a few extra days off work and gave ourselves an extra long weekend last week, which we used to take a Thousand Islands cruise. We stayed at an Inn in Gananoque, from where we started a five hour cruise that took us on a tour of Boldt Castle.



I now have a new dream vacation, which is to live in Gananoque for three months in the summer and write a book. I was particularly inspired to learn that the son of a local bookstore owner had written and self-published his first book (Aeldenwood, by M.G. Belanger).

My other dream vacation is to rent a boat for two weeks and sail along the Trent-Severn seaway.

Painted Smiles 2006 remake - Day 1

I had the first studio session this week, to start off the Painted Smiles 2006 remake project. We discussed the harmonic structure of the original recording and ways to approach the remake. The original version was centred around the Am chord; the droning or pulsing of the clavi synth anchored the bass line. Steve suggested an approach in which the bass line moves with the chords, creating a different harmonic structure. We still came back to the droning effect in the outro.

The bed tracks are down now. They consist of two acoustic guitar parts, an electronic drum loop and a bass synth track. This partial mix, as it stands now, makes me think of a soundtrack for some movie or TV show but I can't quite place what it is. Some crime drama I think, like Bourne Identity, or CSI.

Click the play button below to hear the partial mix.


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A decade of service

Here's an excerpt from a letter I received from my employer this week.

Congratulations on your upcoming service anniversary. Your hard work, loyalty and dedication have helped make [company] a world leader in productivity software and professional services.

I made it to the ten year mark! When I was just starting my career in IT, I kept my first job for two years. The first year was good and I enjoyed it. After the first year some changes were made and I became progressively dissatisfied over the second year. Finally I left and went to my second job.

The second job proved to be my job from hell experience. I stayed there for two years as well, but it felt like I'd been there four years. I felt like I had gained four years of experience during those two years. Considering how many 10-12 hour days I put in, I probably did gain four years of experience.

My pattern to that date led me to question whether I was even suited for the work environment. Maybe I should go back to school, stay in the academic environment? Well, I decided to try for job number three before making that decision. I started job three and soon found that it was a much more positive and enjoyable work experience than the ones I had previous. Given that my history to date had been of changing jobs every two years, I resolved to stay with this job for at least three to five years.

The three year mark came and went and I had no inclination to leave. However, one day I was approached by some colleagues who had left the company. They wanted to recruit me to the company they had joined. I didn't really want to change jobs at that time, but they courted me for a while and eventually made me an offer I didn't want to refuse. So I took that job and now it's been a decade!

My own place in music

Here is an inspiring quote I read in an article called How to 'Fix' the Music Industry, by Bob Baker.

"You can't control what happens to the overall music business, but there is something you can control directly: How you conduct yourself and your own place in music. Focus on pursuing a career on you your own terms -- not terms imposed by the industry."

Wow - this is pretty inspiring, especially coming several weeks before I go back to the studio to work on the Painted Smiles remake.

So what exactly is my own place in music? I hope that the songs I write and record will add colour to the tapestry of our musical culture. I am not so much trying to put together a band as I am trying to build a team of musicians to express my musical ideas. It's a sort of cross between Alan Parsons Project and Trans Siberian Orchestra, in the sense that they would use a vocalist that best suits a particular song, rather than having a single identifiable lead singer.

Mosquitoes declared an endangered species

Mosquitoes declared an endangered species.

What are the chances that any of us will ever see this headline in our lifetime?

Saving time for daylight

Thought for the day - let's set all the clocks at work ahead by 5 minutes. Do this every day - in two weeks you'll be able to go home an hour early.

High cost of gas

Gas is so expensive these days. I wonder how much it would cost to convert my car engine to run on coke and menthos?

Let's book some time

Steve S called me back this morning because I left him a message earlier this week about looking for a vocalist for the Painted Smiles project. He told me he's done lots of vocal work and would be willing to do add his voice to my project.

I didn't previously know about Steve's vocal background. I had originally hired him several years ago as a sound engineer for my first CD project, Cleverly Crafted. I had recorded all the instrument tracks for that project by composing MIDI sequences for each song and playing the sequences back through my PSR-620 keyboard. I recorded my vocal tracks at Steve's studio and he did all the mixing and mastering.

During that association I learned that he plays guitar. When I decided that I wanted to raise the bar on my next project, I remade two songs I had previously recorded on the Cleverly Crafted CD, Yesterday Seems So Far Away and Mirrors. Steve played guitar on those remakes and the resulting works sound miles better than the MIDI-recorded versions. I got him to play guitar on almost all the songs I did on my next CD project, Face of Shadows, and I learned the value of letting go of total control of my music.

So I booked some time in the studio; we'll put down the basic tracks, and give Steve's voice a workout.

Order of operations

I've been thinking about the Painted Smiles remake I want to do. A question of logistics comes up - should I start recording the instrumental tracks as soon as I have the funds available to pay the studio fees, or should I wait until I've found a vocalist first?

Normally what I do is record the instruments first, then add the vocal layers on top of that. That's how I normally work - so why should I consider changing my methodology this time? Because I might want to record the song in a different key signature based on the range of the vocalist I find, that's why.

So do I wait until I've chosen a vocalist and record the tracks in a key that works best for him? Or do I make it a requirement that the vocalist be able to perform the song in the key in which I've written it?

I don't know yet. What process will I use to decide? I don't know that yet either.

Making plans for Painted Smiles remake

I wrote in February that I planned for my next recording project to be a remake of Painted Smiles, a song I wrote and originally recorded several years ago (see Goal for 2006).

The time has come to start moving this project forward. My target is to have this project completed by end of August. The first milestone to reach is creating a project budget. I have noticed from past experience (e.g. The Great Escape) that it costs me about $500 in studio fees to complete a recording project. This time around I am aiming for a budget that's twice that amount. I want to give myself lots of extra room because I plan to find and bring in a professional singer to perform the vocal track.

The outcome I want out of this endeavor is:

• I reintroduce vocals to my music in a way that their quality is significantly improved compared to past projects.
• I find creative ways to market my songs, e.g. find a film producer who will use one of my songs for a soundtrack.
• My enthusiasm for pursuing my dream positively influences people around me to live theirs.

Heart Like a River - quick and dirty demo

I've uploaded an MP3 version of the Heart Like a River arrangement. It's a quick and dirty demo I created by importing a MIDI file into a tool called Reason.

There is some kind of interaction happening in the fills layer that sounds a bit like a cymbal swell. It's really subtle. I hear it in a couple of areas, and I like it. Maybe next time I'll do something to bring out the effect.

Click on the play button below to hear this demo.


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Heart Like a River arrangement

The other night I was going through some of the files on my LifeDrive. One of them was a voice memo of a melody I captured last month (see Soul of a Poet). After hearing it again, the melody stuck in my head and has been running through my mind for several days.

I had a chance on the weekend to write an arrangement based on this melody, using a MIDI sequencing tool. I think it's a nice arrangement, but it doesn't synch up with the words that inspired it in the first place. In fact, I don't think the words as written will fit into a 4/4 time signature at all. I'd have to transform the original words into lyrics, or just use my arrangement for a different song entirely.

I'll look into a way to post an MP3 version of the arrangement this week.

Links:

• If my heart was a river - the post that inspired the music.

Projects reviewed

There are a few projects that I want to complete, yet I don't seem to be moving forward too quickly. Getting my will done, getting the pre-nup finalized, getting registered an accessory dwelling unit, making a remake of Painted Smiles, to name the big ones. So how am I doing with them?

Getting my will done - this one has been on my plate for over a year. I did meet with a lawyer last year, and he suggested that we do our pre-nup first, as that will lay the a lot of the groundwork for doing my will. So I've put this one on hold until the pre-nup is done.

The pre-nup - the same lawyer wrote up a draft co-hab agreement. It looked fine to me at the time, but there was this nagging thought, that I should have it reviewed by my own lawyer (the one I used to draft the agreement was J's lawyer). I found another lawyer through an independent referral; they reviewed the agreement and gave recommendations that could make this whole agreement 1000 times more complicated than it was to start with. Then I sat on those recommendations and did nothing about for a couple of months.

Accessory dwelling unit registration - I did actually get the first step done, which was to send in the application form and registration fee. The next two milestones are to get a letter from an architect or engineer indicating Building Code compliance, and a letter from the Electrical Safety Authority indicating compliance with safety regulations.

Painted Smiles remake - I made a commitment in front of the men's team I'm on to do this in the next three months.

Now, I've been reading in some discussion forums about a book called Getting Things Done, by David Allen. The book is subtitled The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Many of the postings I've read in the forums refer to the process of defining the next action, which is the next action that you can physically take on it. So with that in mind, I would be well served to come up with some well defined next actions for each of my projects.

Catchy ring tone

So I've had a few calls come in on my cell phone while at work in the past few days, since downloading the Friday Nights at The Wedge ring tone. Now one of my workmates whistles the tune everytime my phone "rings" and another has said "Thanks a lot - now that song is stuck in my head".

He-he-he. It's working!