A bad night of constant stomach pain and poor sleep. Today has flown. First, finalising and filing 'From Eye To Hand To Paper', adding more bass. This was almost absent from the first version, it was so very subtle and gentle as a track. Only my EQ report alerted me to the frequency gap, so I boosted the bass. I also adjusted the sheet music to match the recording better (only the odd grace note differs between it and the live version we performed). I'm now using MuseScore 4, which is more buggy than MuseScore 3, and generally worse to use in most ways, but some formatting aspects are better, simpler, and it's generally a better idea to use the latest version of software.
Then compiled a test cover for Deb's new book.
Then, work on 'The Paper King' and 'How Lonely'. Only when I checked the global track for possible tempo changes did I notice that both tracks had a '-4' semitone pitch engine applied! This must have been done to adjust for my singing range of the day but I'd never do this now. I want to know what that actual notes are. Even when playing live I transpose live.
This led to new adjustments for key. 'The Paper King' is now in F-minor (the key it actually sounded in), and 'How Lonely' is now in C-minor. This is a lovely song, hugely reminiscent of Alphaville because it has a vocal range from mid-low to high; not quite as bold as in 'Victory of Love', but I rarely use low-ranged vocals.
Once the actual notes were established I could record a bit, and have recorded a couple of vocoder parts for both songs.
How the day is flying, I'd like to have recorded some vocals today, but cannot.
Looking at 'The Paper King' lyrics, they seem to be more depth than I'd thought. There are echoes of President Trump's orders, but perhaps more-so a psychological dimension; orders and commands ever being written by an insane but ever-active commander, our desperate mind ever finding things to do, never resting, even if self-destructive. I've made slight changes to the words today, to the last chorus, made the cows into birds, and changed the line 'Tastrophe in fernal guise' (?!) to the much more coherent 'Infernal catastrophe!'
The Paper King
Paper stretches eye to eye
Paper people paper trees
White as dwarves and thin as paper words
Ruler of this paper world
A literate and learned king
He the only pencil holds and wields
Write another paper rule
Write another constitution
Write another history
Write another me
All the peasants, all the lords
Held the words in great esteem
Everybody knew the king was just
Every paper person read
Noble deeds and noble laws
From the castle orders came and went
Write another paper rule
Write another constitution
Write another history
Write another me
Burn the rot the orders said
Burn the cardboard hermit men
Burn the old and build a better world
Burn the tissue paper birds
Burn all houses facing west
People set to burn as they were bid
Infernal catastrophe!
Storms of flame consumed the world
Every beast and every person fled
In the castle still it wrote
On the body of the king
Frantic pencil, terrified alive
Dancing like a hurricane
Frenzied like a revolution
Writing chaos in a torrent
Writing all alone
Mad as any paper king
Sane as any revolution
Never reading, never stopping
Writing every day
