Lots of news.

Winter Colors is still not wrapped up. I am starting to think that it is just one of these things that will be done when it is done. No real deadline. I will probably be happier with the final product with that approach. And that will also mean that I will be able to gather winter footage for the accompanying film. I am still going to keep working on it, but this makes me feel better already.

One of the things that helped me decide to stop pushing so hard—other than my current hatred for so some of my latest pieces—is my desire to write a goth album during October or November. Originally I was definitely going to do it during November as part of National Solo Album Month (NaSoAlMo). Writing another novel during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)—also November—is probably enough to have on my plate, so I am currently considering doing it during October. If I do, I will also allow myself to break other NaSoAlMo rules by doing things like pulling in guest vocalists.

Before I do that, though, I have an EP to finish up. A week ago, someone challenged me to write a few songs on a particular subject. I almost immediately had ideas for a dozen tracks. I pruned that down to four and have been working on them over the past week. My goal is to start releasing them as Timely Releases sometime during the next couple of weeks. Keep an eye out.

And if you already know the subject, please keep it to yourself until the release. I want it to be a surprise.

Also, next weekend Spandex Jellybeans is going to reconvene. I am not sure whether we will just be wrapping up existing tracks, writing new ones, recording vocals for other projects, or what. Whatever it is, I am sure that it will be a blast. Hopefully this session will result in a new release.

That is about all of the news that I can share right now.

Tschuess.

The long weekend of writing is over. How did it go?

Well, on the positive side I spent a pretty good amount of time in the studio getting to know a couple of the pieces that I am working on. The second track is moving along fairly well. I still am not completely happy with the structure, but I have answers to some of the questions of transitions between sections. I also have some good ideas of how to introduce movement into track five.

I did not, however, get even one of the tracks wrapped up, let alone all three of them. That is a bit disappointing. With the amount of time available to me, I felt confident that I could do it.

What I learned is that after two or three hours in the studio I often need to take a break. And when I care as much about a project as I do about this one, I think that it might actually make it worse. I work and rework and play and replay the same section until it becomes a mess to my ear. Not good.

When I think back to Blue, though, which is probably the most fully realized of these tracks right now, I think about the month that I played the guitar part. I practiced it over and over, trying different things until I was happy with it. And because I was not really working on the album, there was not pressure. These other pieces are all relatively new to me and probably need more time and attention to sink in and to gel. I find myself wondering how soundtrack composers produce such amazing work on such tight schedules. I suspect that it has at least something to do with training.

Work calls.

Tschuess.

Another quick update.

I took some extra time off to make this long weekend a super-long weekend. The plan was to get some serious writing done on Maniac Art Pond’s Winter Colors. The goal was to get the remaining three tracks written. Then, after maybe taking a week or two away from them I can come back, relisten to them, and see what additional work needs to be done.

So far I have managed some pretty good studio time. I recently bought a relatively inexpensive adjustable piano bench, which has been a great addition to the studio. The stand I use for the digital piano is a little bit tall for the old typing chair that I had been using. This new bench lets me sit comfortably for an hour or two at a stretch. It might be comfortable for longer, but that is about the point where I get up for a drink of water, to eat, or to play with the dog.

Anyway, by this point I had originally intended to have tracks 2 and 5 pretty much wrapped up, since I already had a start on each of them. After all, I went from a similar place to finished in a day when I wrote Thaw. Instead, I am still working on track 2. I have been playing around quite a bit with different approaches. Mostly I have been trying to figure out how to segue from one section to another, but without success. Listening to it this morning, I am not even certain that what I have is any good. It might be time to move on to a different piece.

In other album-related news, I contacted the MPEG LA earlier in the week, since I am seriously considering including a film to accompany Winter Colors. The idea is to release an Enhanced CD with an AVC/H.264 encoded version of the film. Since this would exceed 12 minutes, I would need to play licensing fees. Long story short, they FedEx-ed me the license agreement and it arrived yesterday. It feels a bit odd, since I will be amazed if I sell more than a couple hundred CDs. That works out to something on the order of $4 in licensing fees and hardly worth the headache for either party. Still, best to be legal and avoid a financial and legal headache later, especially when I am surprised and sell 10,000 copies of the album or something.

I have also been digging around, trying to find out how to produce an Enhanced CD that will be spot on as far as the spec goes. I know how to create a multisession disc. I do not know if it will be able to be turned into a pressed Enhanced CD and whether it will work correctly in all modern equipment. If you have any insight on this, please leave a comment.

Well, I should warm up on the piano and see what I can come up with yet this morning. Hopefully I will make better progress today.

Tschuess.