Lots of progress over the past couple of days. This joyous time of sunshine, little frost or mud, and no summer allergies. The album is generally complete, with finalising the vocals yesterday. For the song Remembrance Service I've used two tracks of vocals. The melody is based on D, B, then up to G, which is the main musical motif for the whole album. I can sing this in low or high octaves and gave this a try. The low voice had something of Lou Reed about it - a difficult singer to imitate because he semi-speaks and is generally out of tune. I layered this main vocal with two layers of the same melody an octave higher, almost like an angel choir in the background, and used my Choraleight effect to give it a sense of size and distance.
The last song, Photograph Of Heaven has vocals in a tinny voice, somewhat like those in Video Killed The Radio Star. The song is lots of fun. The album generally has a slow and thoughtful mood. I've assembled it all but there are a few problems to sort out. I'd like to blend tracks into each other and make sure it all links and holds together. It must fit artistically and musically, and in the narrative. There must be an overall beauty; periods of light and shade must be here and there throughout it all.
I'm on creative fire and have written 10 or 20 songs, or sketched out ideas, in the past week. Given infinite possibility, what is best to do?
Interestingly, the album so far is 29 minutes. 30 minutes or more would make it an album; less than 30, an EP. There's no artistic difference, but albums cost more to buy, are promoted more and reach different channels (there is an album chart). Both are the same amount of work, so I'd prefer an album, so must add something. Today I had the idea for a song that follows on from Photograph of Heaven called We Like Him He Had Something To Say. This can use the same (or similar) rock intro, which represent the real world vs. the world of heaven represented by the electronic sound (I even paid homage to Sparks in my lyrics, a reference to their, also-electronic, No. 1 in Heaven).
This last song is very short, and has links to the Misery's Hard To Take song from the last album in that respect. Here are the (exceedingly simple) words:
We liked him, he had something to say
We liked him, he had something to say
We didn't think we'd miss him when he died today
but we liked him, he had something to say
The production will be rock-operatic.
There are a few reasons why I'm making so much music at the moment. Firstly, I have the ability, perhaps for the first time, due to improvements in production tools, abilities, and performance skill. Secondly, painting has slowed and seems to be in a cultural nadir at the moment. I have no gallery or exhibition space, little room for new paintings, and sales of art, always low, have generally stopped. Thirdly, my music, generally, for most of the past 20 years has been melodic electronica, which doesn't represent my style, art, or music now. My ideas and direction are in the opposite domains; rock concept albums, strange linked 'sonatas', or surrealistic art-pop, and other things, perhaps all best called surrealist rock. The only option for me to be heard in those areas is to make enough new music to overwhelm the older music. Everything I do now feels better than everything I've done before, so needs priority over older work.
Life is short. On we march.
