It is another winter's morning with some additional snow falling, none the less the music is on my mind. The past two days unfolded with other things taking priority, to the degree that music remained for the most part as mere unfulfilled desire. The exception was in having an hour or so free that I chose to re-record a preliminary sketch of a project left behind since its origin in late 2019, immediately prior to the finger problems stopping my musical abilities.
Back then, I'd an idea to combine two individual songs written independently back in the mid 1970s. Their lyrical subject, although separate, seemed to lend credence to the idea, where unknowingly in the writing, one line in the song "South Carolina," pointed directly to the other, "Town of Blowing Snow." Maybe it is a stretch of my imagination to think of them as related in this way, then still, I could abandon the idea, yet without a marriage joining them, these results would remain unknown. There is a serious issue in attempting this, that is the drastic difference in tempo when comparing the two individual songs, one beside the other. The two individual tempos seem needed for these uniquely differing songs to successfully join. The intention is to either ramp the tempo through a transition of two to three measures or make it sudden like the snap of a finger. This is yet to be decided. Actually the entirety of the idea has yet to be decided, although I wish to experiment with it enough to make an informed decision.
Back in 2019, I recorded this idea very roughly and differently. Then I thought to have the two songs in differing keys. By ramping the transition through two or three measures, because the first song's tempo is 132 BPM and the second is 96 BPM. This transition also shifts key from C incorporating the half step between C and D into the transition with the second song being in D. In those passing months while not playing music for the most part, for a period of eight months, this attempted recording project, sandwiching these songs together, faded from holding any emphasis There are several other beginnings in recording that also lost all traction, during this time period. Getting back to playing music really took another eleven months or so, because I began the journey back, by learning to play without using my index finger for all except using it as the bar of a bar chord. I could barely use the tip of that finger and even then it was problematic, used only for a B7 but sparingly, due to the issues at the time. A few nights ago after working at some other recordings, with the fatigue of night having become obvious, I thought to use the time to review some of the many recordings that remain incomplete. I reviewed this rough recording, recalling the intention. In review, I concluded the change of key as a bad move, because doing so takes the pitch too close to the extreme upper extent of my vocal range. I think it is aging that makes this more pronounced. There were days when my vocal range was not as obviously an issue, yet now is now. Singing that particular song in D causes a notable loss of quality, at least that is what my opinion tells.
The methodology I use in recording is a combination of analog recordings beside MIDI recordings. I lack the talent to play all instruments, and have only sat on a drum kit's throne two times. back in the late 1960s, then discovering drumming as quite foreign to coordinate. I have and do sometimes play a bass, yet there too, it is so seldom that I have not mastered the technique, specifically the scale length difference to become a proficient player of the instrument. Keyboards are the same, I have one although my playing it is too seldom to express ideas accurately with a required cohesion to incorporate into recording. I would much prefer having real people contributing to these recording sessions as to being reliant on the computer and its MIDI capabilities, yet I have but one time been in the presence of this preference and that was other than a recording session. So the limitations of an artificial musician supplemented in its stead is very stiff and sometimes difficult to work with. There is neither flex nor understanding in a computer's program. Anyhow, MIDI makes my entire rhythm section. This rhythm section has to be programmed prior to use, so my method is to make the rough recording of a song through my guitar and singing as a starting point. I figure out what the tempo is before beginning a rough recording. I'll sometimes make a simple drum track of a snare and bass drum combination to hold down a beat simply for use to acquire the rough recording of the song. After that is complete, I will go back and make a MIDI bass track as well as designing a more inclusive drum track. For this pre-existing recording I now had two separate issues with need for address, the key and the tempo transitions simultaneously combined in one section. The transition that binds the two songs together had a somewhat stepped transition to allow a shift of keys atop a ramped tempo change, I now will remove the shift of keys. Since the recording is fully a rough draft I could simplify the process through the use of punch-out, to deal with both the transition and the entirety of the second song, fully eliminating need to redo the first song. I got through it on my second attempt, having forgotten to shut off the telephone, it happens that it disrupted my first attempt to record the transition and the second song. Soon there after, I had to halt the process because of my schedule to do other things.
I hope to get back to this project later today. Now that the preliminary rough out is done, I can program a bass track, then move on to a drum track. It will likely take up a majority of my energy, provided that complications don't interfere. If they do, I may fail to complete both of these today. Again as I've already stated, I don't know how this idea will manifest itself, upon completion. I may not like it at all only to disregard it in its entirety. I don't know as I am not the magical wizard possessing a crystal ball to observe the future through.
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