- Had a small freak out about the amount of music I have to make in 2 months so took the time to write down the tracks I already have/have started recording and their rough timings. I am planning to get at least 5 down by the end of February so I am taking measures to ensure that I get there - I want to treat it like a mini deadline.
- With regards to You're Only The Next Best Thing (which I am considering renaming as Reciprocate). Took the time to re-record ALL the vocals on one of the AKG mic's in studio A. It has a really nice sound and by recording in the sound-treated room automatically means I need to treat the audio less. I found it was really productive to book out the studio - I just got stuck in - so I am planning to book more studio time even if I'm not sure about what I'm going to record.
- Made a start on recording Trouble in Paradise. It's a song I wrote in first year but never really knew what I wanted to do with it but I'm currently feeling the 'less is more' approach. My limited guitar skills actually suit the song, so I am excited to do a lot of this one myself. I booked out studio time, borrowed Bethany's guitar and recorded 2 takes of the strummed acoustic to plan left and right - this will be the backbone of the song. I ended up getting that done in half an hour (unexpectedly) so spent the next hour and a half recording the main vocal and experimenting with arrangement. I'm going for a kind of atherial barber-shop kind of thing - it needs re-recorded but I'm really enjoying the ideas that are down. I'm planning to add some sparkly, noodle-y (and purposefully imperfect) guitar motifs through-out - I have been experimenting with this idea already but again I need to re-record.
- Watched the Miss Americana documentary on Netflix. Not the biggest fan of Taylor's latest album but I was feeling inspired by the footage of her songwriting and the backbones of her songs always sound much better than the final thing - will attempt not to lose the songs in the production phase. Also I have rediscovered the song Miss Americana and I don't know why I had written it off before. I really love the way lyrics fit into the phrasings and the 'dreamy' kind of production.
- Have been playing around with Smooth Talk again. It was suggested in class that strings (particularly in the style of Heard it Through the Grape Vine) might serve the song well - I tried this but given the pseudo sixties style of the song it just felt derivative. I experimented with pizzicato strings instead of Arco and both myself (and Bethany) really enjoy them. I've also played around with quieter and freer BV's in the versus - I tend to make them the focus but I don't want to distract from the pizzicato strings. Bethany also suggested I have a verse (or half a verse) where the keys drop out and it's just a vocals and the strings so I'm going to try that once we record the actual drums on Friday.