Weekly Update #23 - Trying to finish projects.

Hey everyone!

I have 3 updates to show you today, but first I want to talk a bit about some struggles with creativity. Summary at the bottom, let's go!

Honestly, I've had huge creative blocks the past week or 2 but I've been pushing to make some progress on the wips you've heard before (especially the ones you voted for me to finish!). And while I have 3 updates to show you, there were LOTS of sessions this week where I just didn't get anything done for whatever reason. I get asked from time to time about how to keep productivity up and it's a constant struggle. Some days it just works, and other days you bang your head against the wall and go to bed with nothing to show for it. After 10 years of doing this, the best advice I can give anyone looking to do creative work is to just keep creating. Through all of the tough days, the days when you get nothing done, and the days when you don't want to create - put your butt in the seat and go through the motions. If you make it habit, you'll find more opportunities for creativity to strike and enter that flow state where ideas pour out of you.

For me, this week was definitely NOT that, haha. It was a huge struggle to get anything done and I'm hoping to reset next week and have a lot to show you by the end of the week. Having said all of that, let's get on to the projects!

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0:00 - Harbor Town

This is a project you voted for me to finish from July and I spent, I think, an entire day on this. You'll notice right off the bat that the only thing left is some of the percussion. 

I liked some of the chords and my original plan was to scrap everything aside from the arp in the original version. Well after trying that, nothing really felt like it was working. Everything felt "flat" and cheesy. And more importantly, nothing about the song really excited me. The original chords were very basic so I added a few extensions here and there to give it a bit of personality and slowed down the rhythm to make the whole song a bit more chill. This sounded pretty cool and I think helped to evoke some of those fond and happy emotions (the original song idea I was writing about) without being cheesy.

I then moved on to the chorus/drop part. This is the main idea and most important section of the song and it just didn't feel right. I scrapped basically everything and started over with the new chords. I tried a LOT of different instruments and rhythms and ended up with something that reminded me of melodic dubstep (at least in my head - it's definitely not there yet). I liked the feel of the 2 synth patches here (big pads and an LFO pad to give it some rhythm) so I added a bass.

Also, I really liked how those instruments echo'd out after the chorus so I recording that and reversed the delay and reverb and used it in the intro (this is honestly my favorite part of the entire song). I did some arrangement and that's how I got to the version you hear here.

I don't particularly like what it sounds like right now, but there are a few cool ideas. I also really like the idea of trying to make this song sound like a melodic dubstep track at 95 bpm. That could sound really cool and I think I could play off the piano that's currently there and probably scrap almost everything else. So, that's probably what I'll do on my next session in this project.

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1:21 - September

I really like the emotions in this song but man it was a struggle to push this one forward. The original idea really played heavily off of the arp part but it gets VERY boring by the time you hit the drop. You've been hearing 1/8th notes almost the entire time and I think it really takes away from the feel of the chords and notes in the arp itself. All in all, there's a LOT of work to do on this song.

So after spending some time reacquainting myself with the project and overall theme of the song I decided to prioritize fixing the drop - the most important part of the song has to be something that really catches your attention and sticks in your head after listening through once or twice.

First up was the rhythm. As I mentioned, the previous version played heavily off of 1/8ths and while that can work, it was just too repetitive in this song. I do like the arp part on 1/8ths but I want a contrast between verse/chorus in this song and playing off a different rhythm in the drop/chorus is a cool way to do that. It also opened up the opportunity for me to write something a bit more dancey/bouncey that makes you move for that part.

I started with the chords and played off a dotted 1/8th note rhythm that shows up throughout. I also left gaps on some of the snares to really accentuate that clap feel in the mix. Once I had the chords in a good place, I moved on to the lead. The original drop lead was basically just the arp and it played off the Eb note. Not only was this super repetitive by the time you get to the drop but it didn't really tell a story. Chords are the backdrop that sets the mood and melody really drives home a specific story that the song is about. 

I'm not sure if this will be a vocal song or instrumental, but it was important to tell a story with the melody. I wrote a few versions but the one you hear in the final drop is what I settled on. It plays off the 1/8th dotted note rhythm I wrote in the chords and also touches a bit on that Eb note I mentioned earlier. Further, it has a call and response feel between the first and second 2 bars. On top of that, it loops 2 times (with small variations) over the 8 bar chord progression. I'm pretty happy with this because there's a great balance of repetitiveness and variation to keep you interested and tell a story around the theme of the song.

So from here, I added a few extra details (bass fills, vocal layers, clap layers, etc) and revisited the verse in context. I think honestly, I'm going to scrap much of the verse that's there and build out from the drop/chorus. I think this song's got a really cool and upbeat feel and I feel like the verse has to match that. The one thing I'd like to keep in some form is that arp. I'll probably use it in the intro (at the least) and maybe throughout the verse in the background. I'm going to revisit this next week.

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2:59 - Circle Back

This is a song I've had on the backburner for a long time. I've revisited this several times but just haven't been making any meaningful progress until last week. It's a shame too, because this song is really close to being done but something was just missing and it really didn't feel right.

I think I finally found out what that is. The verse 2 lyrics - I really forced the phrase "circle back" into the lyrics and I just don't like how that sounds and at the time I think I was trying to get the original concept/theme into the lyrics literally. Yeah probably shouldn't have done that. This version doesn't have it recorded but I changed the last 2 lines in the verse to "Breathe it in, it's time to fill it up" and I'm really happy with how that sounds. I still have to rerecord all the vocals and add FX but here are the final lyrics:

The Carolina wind blows, salty smell in my nose.
Close my eyes and let it lift me up.
The heavy clouds are moving, walking towards the coastline.
Looking like it’s time to pack it up.

The Colorado sunrise, Illuminates the tree line.
Close my eyes and let it warm me up.
The blue goes on forever, an empty page to write on.
Breathe it in, it’s time to fill it up.

Once I figured that out, I really set out to finish everything else I could in the song without rerecording the vocals (I'm still a bit nervous about actually singing this one, but I think I can make it work).

The drop mixing felt kind of off and I think it was the snares and the bass. I started with the bass and made a new reese bass patch but I added in some small random variation on the cutoff. It's very subtle but it gives a tiny bit of variation and interest to the bass and just a bit of texture to the sound. I added a bit of pumping automation to the bass as well so it wasn't just constant throughout. I layered that in with the sub and made a lot of room in the mix for the overall bass. I wanted the drop to feel really warm and basically "surround" you when everything comes in and a smooth, deep bass is a huge part of that.  The whole thing now feels like it's flowing around you while the drums are going and I love that.

Next is the snares. There are actually 2 in the song - one for the main drop part and one for the drop B part (bridge/refrain) that feels a bit smaller. I couldn't put my finger on why they both felt off so I tried swapping samples and it didn't feel better. I then tried layering up some extra bits like claps, snaps, foley, and a few other things. It sounded a bit better but it didn't solve the problem. I then checked the pitch of both snares - the tonal layers were both pitched to Bb (the root note of the major key). I checked the chords and melodies and while the notes are in the key of Bb Major, it feels more like G Minor (the relative minor) - though I don't think that's the exact key given all the extensions and suspended notes in the chords. But it was enough, so I pitched both snares down 3 semitones to match the key of G Minor and BAM everything clicked.

That meant the 2 major problems with the track were solved, but there was something missing. The builds needed something extra to fill the background. Well sometimes I use ambience for that and the song is about my past and my present (future?) and the first half I was more used to beaches (as a kid and also recently when I lived in Florida). The 2nd half is about Colorado and the future. So why not use some ambient FX that reference both?

The 1st break/build section have waves and an ocean in the background. The 2nd break/build has snowy wind/mountain air ambience in the background (I actually recorded this myself in February when I spent some time in Grand Lake). I really like this small easter egg in the song because it really reinforces the importance of each section to me personally. Also, you can hear 2 snow crunches in the 2nd part - that's me accidentally walking around. I may or may not take those out, but I thought they sounded cool!

With all that done, I revisited the mix and master and pushed to really bring out the bass and drums throughout. I still have to rerecord the vocals and I hope to do that this week. I must also say - this project was VERY frustrating to work on: it has almost 200 tracks and was crashing after about 4 bars of playback pretty consistenly. It is a big reason why this week wasn't as productive as it could be, but in the end I really like where this is at. I'm going to try and finish it next week!

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SUMMARY

All in all, this week didn't feel very productive. Having typed all this out, it does seem like I got more done than I initially thought. But I'm hoping to have more focus and productivity next week.

Basically: I tried some new ideas and found a new direction for Harbor Town, rewrote the drop for September, and almost finished Circle Back.

As always, thanks for your support! I know this was a long one but it felt good to give you some insight into my week, even if it was pretty frustrating.

Have a great week!
- Andrew