I’ve never written an overtly gay-themed lyric before. I don’t think I’ve actually done that now. Unless you count the title, which translates to "don’t ask, don’t tell".
I’ve never written an overtly gay-themed lyric before. I don’t think I’ve actually done that now. Unless you count the title, which translates to "don’t ask, don’t tell".
As I mentioned before, I’m writing the lyrics for the next Eponymous 4 album first.
I bought a laptop back in March, just so I could have a computer with me when I went back to Honolulu for vacation. Of course, I can also use that laptop to get away from the apartment and do some work. So I took it to a coffeehouse and jotted down some lyrics. Not sure if they’ll eventually turn into songs.
Am I making music or software?
It’s a question I’ve asked twice.
First I create a documentation site for my studio. (I’m surprised I didn’t use a Wiki. Huh. Wiki …) Now I’ve launched a Bugzilla site to track the tasks for my demos.
Hell, I was actually looking at revision control systems — Trac, in particular — to manage the different versions of my demos. Take a peek into my hard drive, and you’ll see I’ve named my output audio with version numbers.
Am I making music or software?
As productive as I’ve been in my studio, it’s not exactly state-of-the-art. At times, I have to be really creative with how I route signals, and sometimes I forget why I set things up the way I do.
I had published an entry in this very space to document some of that stuff, but when I discovered how much I still had to write, I figured a separate web site was in order.
I’m putting it online so I can access it anytime (assuming my web host doesn’t have any disastrous maintenance flubs.)
A funny thing is happening now that I’m writing some of this stuff down. Instinctively, I knew the way mixed down tracks — and the naming convention for my tracks — were a bit unwieldy. Now that I’ve actually documented it, those conventions look ridiculous. So now I get to figure out how I’m going to restructure 70 some odd projects.
And I’m sure there are many more things I do in the studio that I ought to be noting. I just can’t think of them yet.
When I uttered to myself, "I ought to be doing …", I knew I had the makings of a New Year’s Resolution.
I’ve already put myself on another shinkyoku moratorium, with an action item list to last me through the year.
One of those items is "Continue to finish the songs written up till now, Oct. 29, 2006." I spelled out that vague statement in painstaking detail, and two task seems to bear repeating: "Rehearse lyrics" and "Record vocals".
You see where I’m going with this.
My level of ambivalence toward human contact can be disconcerting.
跡なし ("ato nashi") translates to "without a trace", which is what I would have called this song in English. It’s better to keep it in Japanese since I wouldn’t want people thinking I wrote about the TV show (which I like, by the way.)
I started this lyric some months ago when I decided to go out for a late-night dessert at Kerby Lane Café. I brought my lyric book with me just to see whether I could jot down a few verses while I waited for my food. It was a busy night, so I didn’t get far.
I found the lyric last night when I started Romanizing Supercar’s "Fairway", and I figured I may as well finish it. It’s a wordy piece, so whatever melody I fashion for it is going to be busy.
I’ve been saying over and over again how I wouldn’t sign up for NaSoAlMo but I’d participate anyway.
Well, I signed up. See? And now I’ve hit a wall.
What killed the momentum was "NaSoPiAlMo No. 6". I have to say, I like this song so much, I’m probably going to arrange it for a full band and add some lyrics.
I’m sufficiently knocked out by that piece, I really don’t know what I could do to follow it up.
Unlike the last time, this version of shinkyoku moratorium is more of a game plan.
To be truthful, I haven’t really written any new material from scratch since last year. Yes, there are new songs on A Ghost in My Shadow, but they were created from pre-existing material.
I sketched out one new song, but I haven’t put it on paper nor attempted to record it.
I hesitate to say I have writer’s block because the truth is, I haven’t set out to write anything new this year. I haven’t made a conscious effort to sit at the piano or with a guitar for the purpose of creating new work.
I should have read the description more carefully.
I wanted to listen to a performance version of Michael Nyman’s score to the film The Piano, so I ordered a recording he made on his own label from Amazon UK. It’s already getting prepared to ship, so I can’t cancel the order.
There are two pieces in my sheet music — "The Attraction of the Pedalling Ankle" and "Deep Sleep Playing" — I want to hear performed, but no one seems to have recorded them, not even Nyman himself.
I’m reaquainting myself with The Piano as further inspiration for NaSoPiAlMo. I’m even toying with the idea of learning all the pieces in my sheet music to record for a future Eponymous 4 project.
While I wait for that concert suite to arrive, I downloaded a Naxos recording of Nyman’s Piano Concerto, which is based on the film score. It’s a nice piece.