Quick Break

The autobiographical process through which I have been worming this week has been enlightening, surprising, and cathartic. It has also proven to be a massive amount of work. I am taking a one-day hiatus from the lengthy writing commitments to work on some music.

It is not simply a matter of getting back to writing songs and recording sounds; I have two solid reasons why diving into Logic Express is the fitting thing to do this evening.

As I wiggled through the rabbit hole of YouTube last night, I happened on a fantastic tutorial entitled, "A Lesson In Vocal Effects." A great overview of the different possibilities, this introductory video inspired a search for deeper information , and in a matter of a half hour, I gleaned a gold nugget about Logic Express that is about to spark a revolution in the life of the Redline Project.

There is a plug-in called Pitch Correction. It is buried in the extensive list of effects that ship with the program. I have always wondered how pop stars sound perfectly on pitch, almost as if their voice is a hybrid of human and instrument. The effect takes roughly five clicks of a mouse to program, and in an instant transforms my wobbly dribble of a voice into a strong, solid instrument that resonates squarely on pitch.

The discovery had a two-pronged effect: I lost a whole lot of respect for recording artists that I thought were perfect only to realize they are nothing of the sort, and I gained enormous confidence in my ability to sing on the new album without shattering my listeners' watch crystals. There are recording artist whose entire body of recorded works have been produced using this technology. All this makes me wonder if I don't suck quite as much as I originally calculated, or if I simply underestimated the suck factor of everybody else. Either way, I am encouraged.

I also want to return to songwriting tonight because I have come across some overwhelming raw material over the course of the past week. There is a fellow that has been coming out to the Communicycle shop to earn a bike by helping with several projects, and we are slowly becoming friends. I learned that he lives in the woods behind a nearby building. A kind person and a hard worker, I don't know how is going to survive the rare snowstorm that threatens to dump a few inches on us tomorrow.

I am stuffed with Chinese food, cozy at the helm of Studio Redline, clickety-clacking away on the keyboard waxing artistic and twiddling with expensive recording softward. A few miles from here, my friend Jack is wrapping himself in whatever blankets he can find, fending off the freeze as best he can. I have no filter through which to process the disparity between our lives, except to write a song that attempts to deal with the haunting information. Among countless other blessings, I am deeply grateful for music tonight.

More tomorrow on the autobiographical front. Thanks for reading.