A full day of work - joy! Production can be measured by minutes at the sequencer. I started by focusing on Cotan, a problem track because of certain complexities. It has a rather lovely melody and chord arrangement, but an odd structure so that the melody shifts a lot and doesn't particularly repeat, close to an ABCBA structure, although the second B ends in an explosive alternative chord and (typically) epic guitar solo. I recorded the guitars today and remain so happy with the wonderful Brian May Guitar and the Yamaha Amp.
The song feels too short for its epic and monastic quality, and chord complexity, at a mere 3 minutes. I've tried to expand it with a vast, yet-more-epic pipe organ. The awe works, but it stands out too much in the song. It's problem now is a beat which is too plodding, perhaps too simple, yet this very plodding nature creates the monastic, reverent mood, so I don't want to change it too much...
Perhaps three minutes is enough. Or I could work on the organ solo, and score it and re-write parts of it rather than use it as recorded (it's essentially a 'fantasy' in several chords and keys, not all of which fit the song exactly or work exactly, but overall it has quite an effect).
I've yet to record the vocals and, from the very idea of the song, these were in a very breathy, almost monstrous whisper, but I'm unsure whether to sing them or simply use the noise vocoder I imagined. I don't want to grate my voice dark-metal style; the mood is sacred or one of cowering awe, not ugly or intended to scare.
I paused on this and started to work on the music for Art For Me. This is simpler, an AAA structure... I need something between those A's! So have added a couple of chord stabs which remind me of Sorry Mister Wilson.
Peter came for his piano lesson, and in the evening I worked more on Art For Me. I decided to add a section in verse chords, inspired by the strings in Sorry Mister Wilson; but rather than build up to a finale, segued into a final verse which is quieter. There may be more to do.
In other news, I've ordered a new PC, my first in 13 years. I can barely afford it, but I do need an upgrade. The new machine is, apparently 14 times faster than my current computer. I don't need the speed or power, but my current machine is so old now that it can barely run contemporary software due to Operating System compatibility issues rather than speed, and many applications are now incompatible. 13 years ago, computers used lots of energy and generated lots of heat, then they became cooler and more energy efficient, but ironically, this one is power hungry and hot... I'd prefer something simple and calm, but chunky desktop PCs are now rarities designed with 'power users' in mind. I, as a game programmer, artist, digital musician, video editor etc. fit this profile, but I tend to work so efficiently that my 13 year-old machine can still do everything a new one can; apart from run Windows 10 (or 11) without complaining about 'unknown' errors. My music can generate/synthesize and play in real time even now. Well, I hope that the new machine will be reliable and usable. For me, stability, efficiency, simplicity are the key factors in a computer. Everything about upgrades and computer hardware causes me great anxiety.
