there must have been some kind of parade
we kissed for a while to see how it played
and pulled the pin on another grenade
Creative
I think that i’m under the impression that if i keep writing, something good might come out. Funny, eh? Do you know what amazes me? Arrangements. While i am always amazed at a solo guitarist’s ability to hold the stage with a single instrument, by that same token a well arranged rock band can totally awe me. I have trouble focusing on the fact that each instrumentalist has their own function, their own independent role in the creation of a song. I’m not much for arranging, seeing as it’s usually just me and my guitar, but my sudden fluency in the studio has left all of my songs open for additional parts.
But, it’s not so easy. Sure, i could layer on tracks of bass playing the root of the chord and guitars playing riffs in the same fashion, but arrangements that truly stun me add something with every part they introduce. A terrific example of this is “Goodbye Sky Harbor” at the end of Jimmy Eat World’s Clarity. The song is 16 minutes long, but essentially for the latter dozen minutes the band just repeats a single figure. It start with drums and guitars, and slowly a vocal comes in, and by the time you’re well on the other side of the 10 minute mark the guitars fade away leaving you with just a chorus of voices repeating the same pattern over and over. Eventually a new drum loop is introduced that has nothing to do with the one before it, and you realize that you’re not really listening to the same song – except it is the same song because everything you’re hearing emerged from what came before.
That’s the point of arrangements. Arrangements for my songs should be so that you can take away everything except a backing vocal and a bass and then build a different but familiar song back up from them. Those are the arrangements that feel like more than just a backing band plugging away at roots and downbeats. I’ll have to give it a try…
I am booked for Monday and Tuesday in the studio to help engineer some tracks for one of my friends, and to start work on the demo. Yes. For real. And, if all else fails, i’ll at least bring back my horrible mix of “Punk.” I promise. You’ll hate it. I promise you’ll hate it.
Eek! Would you believe i’ve been in the studio for 8 hours and i have nothing to show for it? Well… i’m sweaty, and i broke a couple of strings, and i have one minute of “With or Without You” recorded with four or five guitars. But now! Now comes my masterpiece … “Punk” in all of it’s illustrious splendor: rhythm guitars, pseudo-basses, and plainly awful vocal harmonies. Awww yeah….
As much as i’d love to stay and chat you all up all day, i need to be in the recording studio in a (futile) attempt to finish up all of my projects and pass the class with something higher than a D. If my attempt gets to be too bleak i think i’ll just quit and record my new demo while i’ve got the keys in my possession. Sound like a plan? I’ll update you from the computer in the studio. Ciao.