Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.
Victor Hugo
One of the best things about being a songwriter is you can write any genre of music you want, much like writing in general.
Lately, I've been working more on the composition, production and arranging of music than on writing lyrics. And then there's playing, always playing guitar. I could be wrong, but I think my guitar is getting jealous of Steemit.
I love collaborating musically, but this time I took everything I have learned about producing music and did the whole dance with myself. Locked myself in a studio and had people slide food under the door until it was done. As long as my friends heard music playing they knew I was still alive in there.
On this instrumental track, I did everything except play the drums. It's a drum machine, but I did program it.
For me the hardest thing about drum machines is getting them to sound real. It's difficult to get the subtle, dynamic nuances that a human being can bring to the table. After struggling with it for 2 weeks, I finally dialed it in as close to sounding real as I could get it.
The keyboard was a little thing not much bigger than my laptop, but it worked for my one finger style of playing.
I used Cubase 5 to record and mix it on and a program called Guitar Rig to plug a Fender Strat into. Guitar Rig can make your guitar sound like anything you want. It's really cool. Even the bass on this track is my guitar made to sound like a bass guitar.
All these new toys they got these days makes me glad I've lived this long.
And then there's my old friend the guitar. (He says in a Tony Montana accent) Say hello to my little friend. We've been through a lot together.
Once I had the track sounding close enough to the sound I had in my head, which took me about 3 weeks, I had a couple shots of Tequila, strapped on the guitar and with naked ambition, I let her rip. OK, I admit, I got a little carried away at the last 20 seconds of the track.
Did I mention I speak fluent Tequilish?
Once the tracks were all down, I compressed the music so it could be played really loud or softly and still have some presence.
If anybody wants to write some lyrics go for it.
Let me know what you think. You can be honest. I can take it. I'm not one of those sensitive songwriters. Should we call for the stage hook or would you like to hear more? Wow, another vote from @ned! Thanks.
