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ICS Live Blog (Part 4)

November 28, 2020

Today instead of the usual post I’m going to just write the timeline of what happens in the ICS experiment. It’s noon right now, which means I have until noon tomorrow to finish songs.

I’m going to start with some instrumental Eureka Room ideas to minimize the complications (no lyrics, no stringed instruments).

Here’s the full playlist

Song 1 12:01- 12:58 (57 min) 

Thoughts: Well that took longer than I’d hoped. But it sounds pretty alright and I’m glad I took the time to play with it and get some things straight. 

Next: Going to attempt a 30 minute song next.

Song 2 13:01-13:51. (50 min)

Thoughts: Well that was faster by 10 minutes. The issue seems to be I have things to say and I’m not done until 50. 

Next: Let’s try one where I record really really fast tempo,  Intro-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Outro. 2 instrument tracks of keyboards. 1 instrument track of a pad. 1 drummer track. Tempo at 200, then slow down to 120 when done. Let’s shoot for 30 or better on this one. Perhaps a minimalist approach would be best?

Song 3 14:00-14:38 (38 min)

Thoughts: Well, I dropped another 10 minutes. But this is not going to get me to the finish line. What happened here was I spent a lot of time dinking individual notes to get them to land the way I want. I tried some vocals but axed them. 

Next: I think I’ll go with the same plan as before. I learned a few things about GB operation which I think will help.

Song 4 14:41-15:12 (31 min)

Thoughts: Well I if I hadn’t have messed with the out of the box drummers then I would have hit under 30. 31 isn’t bad. But still, at this rate it’s going to be a looong way to 40. Or even 20. 

Next: I’m going to aim for 20 on the next one after this short break. 

Song 5 15:26-15:52 (26 min)

Thoughts: Man, I keep getting hung up on making the notes hit just right. 

Next: This next time I’m doing very little cleanup so I can hit the 20 min mark. Let it be shit.

Song 6 15:54-16:09 (15 min)

Thoughts: This one I did at 200 BPM, then slowed down. It sounds like a song that was slowed down. 

Next: I’m going to try this method again but it’s hard to think of a melody that will be played at half speed and sound well. Or conversely, to think of a melody that is good and speed it up 2x to record it.  This next one I want to get down to 10 minutes. Same deal as before.

Song 7 1618-1637 (19 min)

Thoughts: Ugh. Going backwards. Had some tech difficulties at the beginning. 

Next: Another shot coming up…

Song 8 1640-1650 (10 min)

Thoughts: Wow 10 minutes goes by quickly.  But I got it in. Let’s try to beat 10 minutes. Yikes. Some things that helped: pick a simple drum beat. I only had 2 tracks of music and the drum track. When I slow these down it sounds really lethargic. 

Next: Try playing everything fast at 200 and seeing where it goes.

Song 9 1655-1705 (10 min)

Thoughts: Well there’s another 10 minute one. And it’s the most shit yet. 

Next: I think I need to try once more on the slow down thing and we can see how that goes. But I think I will have to do it in real-time. Which means that cut and paste is my friend.

Song 10 1717-1727 (10 min)

Thoughts: Oof. They are getting worse. Ok, so I think the whole slow it dow thing is not going to work. Let’s see if I can do one in 5 minute before I give up on the idea, though.  

Next: One last attempt at the tempo trick.

Song 11 1732-1737 (5 min)

Thoughts: Well this is a messy mess but I got it done in 5 minutes. Could I possibly do faster? Sure lets go for 3 minutes.

Next: Ok, one last least attempt at the tempo trick.

Song 12 1742-1746 (4 min)

Thoughts: Ok, I have hit the limit here. This is absolute shit.  (Editor note: I’m not sure what tempo this was originally recorded at. I had to create it from the slow version. Bummer. Haste makes waste.)

Next: I’m going to do some guitar stuff or something next.  Short break… 

Song 13 1753-1854 (61 min)

Thoughts: Switched to guitar and bass and vocals. I’m not a fan of this song. It’s pretty generic. But it’s done. Well except the lyrics. Which is just me mumbling.

Next: Give up on rock. Try country.

Song 14 1910-1959 (50 min)

Thoughts: I do way better writing stuff without a drum track. Just me and the guitar winging it. That’s what I did here. Then I filled it out with a lead guitar, bass, and drums. Which meant I had to play drums using the keyboard. 

Next: Officially giving up on lyrics. I’ll just mumble. So I need 6 more songs if I’m going to hit 20. It is 8pm now. So if I went to bed at 10 that would mean 3 an hour… that’s not going to happen I don’t think. Let’s see.

Song 15 2003-2100 (57 min) 

Thoughts: Well that was a bit more tough. Added the organ track after I thought it was done. 

Next: 5 songs and 3 hours left. I think I should start with the experimental stuff. 

Song 16 2109-2136 (27 min)

Thoughts: This is weird. Done.

Next: See what happens.

Song 17 2140-2211 (31 min)

Thoughts: I like that one. I probably messed with it too much at the end and messed it up a bit. But still good. 

Next: Ok, if I’m going to go to bed before midnight, I have to do each of these in under 30 min. Let’s see what I can do…

Song 18 2214-2255 (41 min)

Thoughts: Well I spent a lot of time on that one. But it sounds good. It’s a slower one done slowly (not slowed down from a faster recording like earlier). I just have to crank out 2 more and I hit 20…

Next: Short break. Then see what happens.

Song 19 2307-2342 (35 min)

Thoughts: Well that was pretty cliche. 

Next: I have 17 minutes to do the last one. Let’s make it a mess!

Song 20 2344-0008 (24 min)

Thoughts: Well it ain’t pretty but it’s done. Didn’t get as crazy as I thought it could have but I guess I just write catchy stuff.

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Posted Under: Productivity Tags: #Music

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