Mon 30 Oct 2017: The success of the last three demos has me looking back at the first two differently. The vocals and melodies feel a bit clunkier than the later songs. Is this just the recording or are they just poorer songs. I feel my songwriting and singing has loosened up as writing has progressed. That makes sense. I guess I have to wait and see how the next song turns out to see if that's really a trend.
Tue 31 Oct 2017: Following on from yesterday's thoughts I've been wondering how I can improve the vocals for (NIW). I play with the phrasing and melody to try and add some more emotion to the verse. I re-record verse 1 with the new ideas. The results are OK and an incremental improvement but something still feels wrong. It might be the lyrics themselves. I probably need to try approaching the verse again with a clean slate (no lyrics) to see what I'd come up with.
Fri 3 Nov 2017: It's been another tiring week so not much energy for music. But I have been writing down plenty of fragments and lines for the song I think I'll tackle next (S). I also get some inspiration for what might be the final track on the album (VIS). Not sure yet.
Sat 4 Nov 2017: After a lazy morning I head to the studio to work on the beats and music for (S). Immediately I find a groove. It's 3/4 but it feels right. I turn my attention to the lyrics. Word by word it squeezes out. Like an unexpected monster turd, I find myself creating something ugly and satisfying at the same time. I want to see where I can take this. By the end of the afternoon I have all the lyrics and melody and most of the structure. I think this is going to work.
Sun 5 Nov 2017: I spend the morning recording better vocals for the demo of (S). They go well; the key is right for me. After fixing the pitches, I play around with the arrangement moving away from the plain piano that the song began in. I make a few accidental discoveries which give the song a new personality. The chorus is the part that I struggle with. I'm not sure what I really want to achieve there and go through a couple of different incarnations. Where I finish is heading in the right direction but I'll make it a bit crazier in the actual recording. Soon after lunch I have this sixth demo finished. The title is "Whisper". I'm really pleased with the results and it's another song quite quickly finished. I spend the last part of the day playing with some ideas for (W). Some accidents send me heading in an unexpected direction. Not sure if I'll continue that way, but I'll play with it for a while.