Music Updates
And I said, "Hey, what's going on?"
Hey so, here's the highly-anticipated-and-talked-about longer blog post at the end of the month! Today I figured I'd talk about what's been going on with my music. I haven't made the most progress, but I've done a little bit and made some creative decisions and I'd like to talk about them, so here I go:
For the time being, I've decided to focus on my "dark" project, which I will be calling fivegoldenrays. I've got about seven songs in the works right now; four of them are basically completely written, two are mostly done, and one is just kind of an idea for a chorus and a general direction I want to go for the piece. I'm still thinking about releasing, like, a four song demo tape, but I'm also considering releasing a properly-produced single and then saving the rest of the songs for a future LP. It really depends on how good I can make the first song I'm recording in a short amount of time. Either way, I am committed to releasing something this year, so if I don't hold up on my end feel free to track me down and hunt me for sport.
That being said, RECORDING IS UNDERWAY on one of the songs, so I'm hoping I can finish with it soonish and make a final decision on what my next release is going to look like. I use Reaper for my digital audio workstation, mostly because it's relatively cheap and has good support for Linux. I've found a few decent plugins for sampling, synths, and virtual guitar amps, and I've also been trying to build a library of drum samples that I've been able to find off the internet. It's been a fun process, getting my setup ready, though I do miss having everything already there for me when I was using Logic to record. I've learned a lot, and I guess self-improvement is why I do the music thing anyway, so I'm glad I'm not doing this with "training wheels", so to speak.
One thing that I'm glad I'm improving upon is my drum programming. In most of my previous solo recordings, my drums were kind of lackluster. They filled the part, but to be honest, I barely knew anything about drumming and the best I could do was just something functional. After playing in a genuine band (with a genuine drummer) for a few years, I've gotten a better handle on how drums are supposed to sound and I think that's reflected in how I write the drum parts now. I've also been trying to pay a lot more attention to the drum parts in the music I've been listening to, in order to pick up more of the subtleties rather than just listening to the broad strokes.
Anyway, I should at least have something to show by the end of summer, if not a single or demo tape, then a little sample from one of the tunes I can share around. I'm really excited about the project and I'm going to fight like hell to have enough time to finish it. If you absolutely cannot wait until then, you can check out the Christmas song my partner and I recorded last December on the fivegoldenrays bandcamp, and if that's not enough, I recorded four EPs for my last project, Billie and the Haint, which should tide you over if you like indie rock/punk stuff. Let me know if you like it!
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