Improvisation #5

is DONE!

ish. Still needs some car listens and probably some subsequent mixing tweaks, but I think it’s mostly done.

Longer story: started mixing it, then realized I had what was essentially a scratch bass part. Burned off a lot of time programming a bass part before having that “why am I doing THIS?” thought. Recorded an actual bass part with an actual bass, and I like it much better.

Mix. Done. Ish.

On to:

The Knarl

Feh. I don’t know what to do with this. I tried programming drums, didn’t like where it was going. I had Matt record drums to it, burned a lot of time trying to comp drum tracks together (finding out in the process WHY people generally don’t comp drum tracks). Listened to it fresh today, hated all of it. Went back to pre-live drums version (sorry, Matt!) and started playing with more drum programming. Started contemplating chopping it up to just have the one bit I especially like, and, and, and.

I just don’t have any inkling of what a final version of this will sound like. This is normally not a problem, as I love chopping things up and throwing things on top of other things, but that’s just not going to work with this - it’s either largely as it is now, or it doesn’t exist. It’s current existence is “here’s a couple riffs I wrote, with very little cohesion, direction, room for melody, and groove.”

So, new rule: if I spend my usual 3 morning hours on something and have no path forward it goes to the bottom of the pile.

Not “The Pile”, pile, but the pile of “The Pile” stuff I’m “currently” working with.

Clear?

The Knarl goes to the bottom of the pile - maybe I’ll get a clue next time I hear it.

Next up:

Doubtless

Try to get lyrics and recording done. (On some other day, when people aren’t lighting shit on fire.)