…was finished on Sunday, but since I’d like to make it a solid recording (and making it extra cool by adding in a second instrumentalist), it’s taking a bit longer than expected.  The good news is that I now possess the ultimate power: connecting my keyboard directly to my computer, which should help significantly with future recordings, and the upcoming February Album Writing Month.  I promise this one will be worth the wait (Friday night).

Comments (0) Jan 28 2008

First off, I wanted to thank everyone for the great feedback in the last couple of weeks. It’s so encouraging to know that you’re listening, and I’ve also gotten some good stylistic feedback which I know will help me improve in the long run. I really appreciate it!

Second, I have a confession to make: I didn’t write a song this week.  Sunday was designated to be song day (in preparation for February Album Writing Month I really was going to write and record the whole thing in a day) but I woke up quite sick and after canceling work I spent most of the day sleeping. However, I do have a backup!

This week’s song is the second song I ever wrote, and my favourite from my first year of doing FAWM. It was recorded in one shot using the mic on my MP3 player. I’ve never written a song that came together as easily as this one did, both lyrically and musically, and I was very delighted! Here’s Sunny-Side Up.

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Comments (10) Jan 20 2008

The seed for this song arrived during a scavenger hunt I did around Toronto with a friend last Saturday afternoon.  One of the items on our list was to find a toy that was not made in China.  We both thought it would be really simple, but to our surprise it was only in the fifth store that we actually found something (Lego). One of the links in my email that evening was an article where a factory worker in China was marveling at all the crap that is produced to go overseas, and then goes onto say that the only thing more depressing than assembling said crap is dismantling it when it comes back to China in garbage form.  That thought really caught my attention and I wanted to put it into song form.

I was surprised because the song wanted to be much more positive than I thought it would be, and that concept was cut out completely.  (As an aside, there’s a quote on a songwriting site somewhere that says that songwriting is about discovering –  if you already know what you’re doing to write about then write an essay.  That’s definitely applicable this week).   There were many complex ideas involved at various times, but in the end I’m glad that it was significantly parred down.  It was a big fight lyrically so due to lack of time the recording (which I just finished) is quite rough.  But time (and sleep) wait for no man.  Happy Salad Day to all, and to all a good night!

Thanks go to my mom for helping me tweak the lyrics. 

Song #2 is called Blue, Rose and Gray. 

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Comments (9) Jan 14 2008

Happy 2008! Just to recap for anyone visiting this site for the first time, this website is home to my project of writing, recording, and posting an original song every Monday this year. Any comments (positive or negative), encouragement, serenades, suggestions, flowers, sexy accents, randomness, or the tossing of soft, squishy objects is very much appreciated!

The debut song which aptly enough is about beginnings is called In the Wings. It’s also the first original song that I’ve recorded using GarageBand and therefore the first time I could add drums! About two weeks ago, I was fiddling around on guitar and simultaneously came up with the opening riff and the lyric that fit to it. Since I had a little more time to prepare for the first week, I spent a lot of time on the guitar part, moving it from its original minor into major and back to change what was coming across. 

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Comments (16) Jan 07 2008

The good news is that Week 1’s song is ready to go!  The bad news is that due technical difficulties with the plug-in, it won’t be posted until minds who actually understand this stuff can help me untangle it.  This may not happen until sometime in the evening, so stay tuned!

Comments (0) Jan 07 2008