Day 29 - Out of my mind!

There are a lot of technical aspects that go into writing and recording a song, whether you're an amateur or a pro, and whether you're recording at home or in a recording studio. It's not just about writing a song that captures a certain moment and emotion, you've got to have certain musical elements that make the song easy to listen to from an audience's point of view. One of these things is tempo, or the speed of the song.

I have a tendancy to get really hung up on the technical aspects of a song, especially when it comes to tempo. The speed your song is played at and sung determines what kind of song it is, and really whether the song is going to work or not. Sometimes when I'm writing, I'll start out writing a fast-paced song, only to change it later so it has a slower, more melancholy pace. Or, I'll start writing what I think will be a slower, emotional song, only to have it morph into a faster upbeat melody.

The song I'm working on now has had me obsessed with it's tempo for the better part of a week now. First it was on the slower side, then faster, then I became obsessed with what the exact BPM (beast per minute) would be when I recorded it. I literally dreamt about it last night! Finally tonight I found the perfect tempo - 86 bpm. 85 was too slow, 87 too fast, 86 hit the spot on the nose. I finally found the song's natural cadence, which is good as I was almost at the "throw my computer out the window" stage earlier on today when I just couldn't find that perfect rhythm.

I've also decided that I'll probably be adding some strings and a wee bit of percussion to this track, which will probably delay it's posting by a week or so. I'm a perfectionist, and although I know that I can only do so much from my little home studio, I do want what I post to be "listenable" (hmm, probably not a word I know) so I don't want to rush it. I'm also going to be starting a MySpace music page, so it needs to be MySpace worthy!

I'll be working behind the scenes in a music-related capacity tomorrow - Chris is producing a concert at the church and I'll be helping out. It'll be a good one: Matt Brouwer is the headliner, with Lanae Hale (love her!) and Quimi as the opening acts. We had Matt Brouwer at the church last year for a concert, and he's had an amazing year touring, so this year's concert should be even better. I probably won't have time to post at all, but I'll try for an update on Saturday before I head out to work in the afternoon. I'll also try to post a picture of my beautiful blue gui-tar!!