I listened to the full album in detail yesterday and I really like it, it's certainly by best work to date on many technical levels. Whether the best on an artistic level is anyone's choice. I had to make a few small changes to volume levels, but that's all, so made those today. This step takes an age, these final tweaks to an album and endless listens.
I'm still working on the cover, and on the music notation. I've notated a few more tracks today. I feel full of power regarding making music. I feel I've reached a technical plateau where I am finally capable of making really good quality work. The past few years have been a deliberate learning experience, making lots of work of different sorts to train from. One could argue that I've been doing this for decades but it's only since 2020 or so that I decided to take the production and performance side of music seriously.
Of the jobs for this final stage; I must notate one older album (Cycles, done), but perhaps another as I have to many to do. I must notate this, and create Spotify Canvas animations. These many be simpler this time because the source material for the cover art is only my 'Art of Painting' painting, and Vermeer and Cotán images, which I'm hesitant to use in a video without explicit permission. All of this plus the normal registration process for new works.
If I were a signed professional artist, I'd now be on a treadmill of planning a tour, and other publicity extravagances, but I hate the idea of publicity for my work. I've performed one or two of my works live in my life (of course, many times in Fall in Green) and generally they sound at least as good, if not better live than recorded, but I'd need a reasonably large backing band for these works and, perhaps worse, I don't particularly like performing live. For me, it's hard lugging work, the 'roadie' work of carrying and connecting equipment, which I hate and find exhausting and nerve racking. This is my most disliked aspect of live performance. The performing act is one of self monitoring and self criticism to give one's best; not a pleasure, it's a matter of doing things correctly, pushing yourself to the limits in a live arena like a gladiator. I'm not so averse to performing as Glenn Gould, and the feelings during a show can be thrilling, but generally speaking, it's not something I like.
This is a pity, as this album would lend itself to a theatrical performance, and I can already imagine my costume and the extravagant staging plans (now these aspects I love!).
Alas, today, the only money to be made from music is in performing, however. My music will probably be unheard and unnoticed, yet, my recent albums (since and including The Modern Game) have been partly because I didn't want to promote them. I knew that they were training works and not as good as they could, or one day will, be. This album though, I'm pleased enough with, as I am with our Fall in Green albums, so I may do more with it.
As well as this filing of my music, I am full of ideas for new albums and works, I feel that anything is possible. When anything is possible, what is the best course of action? That's the rub for any artist. I hope to paint something for the Ruth Borchard competition (my Self Portrait as Tripod should be ideal, but they might consider that too weird), and perhaps something for the New Light competition. There doesn't seem to be money in any of this, but my zeal for creating new works is strong, and I feel empowered and confident in my abilities, if not my financial situation.
Three people can't attend next week's ArtSwarm event, six are 'maybe', with only one confirmed. If less than 14 people (the break-even point for the hall hire) come then it will be the last event. It's nice to meet my friends and fellow artists, but the other aspects, the organising and promoting, the lugging and plugging of equipment is so difficult and exhausting, and of course, with no reward except for the sake of art. This is the sort of public experimental arts event that should be government funded. I would happily do it for nothing, but at the moment I'm paying to do it and risking and wasting my expensive equipment on it. I'm sure Beethoven had the same problems in his day, with his self-organised concerts which barely broke even, vs his charity benefits which were well attended but for no money.
