Ooh! I'm editing the bass and drums of track no.2, almost finished them and dropped in the audio from a David Graeber interview I wanted to use part of. I dropped it where the 1st verse starts and it synchs up almost perfectly with the bass and drums.
I think I may well put it out like that as an alternative version when the rest of track no.2 is finished.

#BeingOfErrth

I've finally finished recording for track no.2!
I started work on the track in January and the time has flow by in a blur of technical issues and learning how to use Reaper.
The Strandberg and Fender fretless bass both made their recording debut on this track.
The laptop and #Reaper are doing a great job.

I've had the fretless for some time but hadn't needed it till now.

I have a Warwick Thumb 6 fretless that I would have used but it's beyond use thanks to a serious manufacturing fault that Warwick refuses to rectify unless I give them enough cash to buy another, better bass!
The neck is completely warped and split due to a shake in the wood.
Warwick used unseasoned wood and when it did eventually dry out it warped and split. Utter negligence and disrespect for users.
As a past owner of several Warwick basses I thought it was a safe buy but discovering and experiencing how the company treats it's customers I'll never buy another Warwick product and will continue to warn all against buying from them. Buy a Spectre instead. Warwick's are just Spectre knock offs anyway so get a better made instrument from the original designer.

Any luthiers who can make me a new neck please get in touch.

The Fender exceeded my expectations, which were high. A killer bass in all regards.

The #Strandberg 8 string is relatively new. I just had to have those low notes and the fact that it covers all sounds. It's a really great guitar and is a pleasure to play.

I've learned I next need an 8 string with a trem and a Sustaniac pickup but Strandberg don't do them so I think my next guitar will be a custom #Kiesel.

#Sustaniac don't do 8 string sustainers because they say they don't work on the lowest string. Fair enough but they could put a 7 string sustainer in an 8 string pickup cover with a single coil 8 string pickup.
We may not be able to sustain the lowest notes but most users want to be able sustain the other higher strings most of the time.
An Ebow won't cut it as I don't have the time in the parts I write to grab it, turn it on, it place it, put it down and continue playing.

Anyway enough gear tribulations.
The track is coming along wonderfully.
I'll be editing all the takes next then mixing it. No end time at this point as there's a lot of editing to do 1st.

#BeingOfErrth

So this is my new studio configuration till I get carpets, then it'll all be moved around to a better acoustic position. I've heroically decided not to blow money on acoustic solutions to try to fix it's issues beyond what I've already done, all of which will be reused for the final layout.

I'm working on a new computer based workflow, although I've also done some good music this week, I'm also discovering the plusses and minuses of a laptop/software based system and its more involved than I at first thought, though that was inevitable given that I've never managed to get a computer based DAW to do a damn thing since I stopped using Cubase midi sequencing on an Atari STE, until now that is.

I'd got myself all worked up about the fact that I couldn't just pick up track #2 where I left it, but with the added bonus of more and better sound options with a faster workflow than before the laptop became a necessity. So much so that I couldn't do the work I wanted to do or explore the new possibilities I now have, just because my expectation was slightly different to my reality.

I couldn't shake the image from my mind of a looming and loudly ticking clock morphing into pages of a monthly calender taking flight as the months pass, all berating and mocking me because I had thrown myself upon a mountain and chiseled out the commandment of getting track #2 finished exactly twice as fast as track #1 firmly establishing and continuing that trajectory immediately.
Brains are weird.

#BeingOfErrth

Ooh! Song #2 just let me have a guitar solo :) It didn't reveal itself in all the 4 months I've been working on it but it just jumped out this evening. It seems to want me to really focus in on & play the changes.
I think it might be a goodwill gesture as I've been at it doggedly and diligently & it's taken a lot of work, experimentation, nurture & discovery to get it to stand up & say what it means but it's been a total joy & the solo is the icing on my cake 🎂🍰🧁🌞

#BeingOfErrth
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Expected to rehearse guitar this week to record next week but felt parts could work better. I found more interesting parts & adjusted other tracks to suit. 1 verse & tweaks to choruses to go.
Playing guitar daily now. I'm pretty deep in the mines but I like the work & the lamp.
#BeingOfErrth

Finished writing the parts for track #2.
Rehearsing for guitar, bass & vox keepers next week.

Had a very happy accident with a drum mapping error on the chorus, it hinted at a very different direction which I've now reprogrammed the drums to reflect.
Going to be good this.

#BeingOfErrth

I've finally wrestled track #2 onto the downhill.
3 months of work in & it's really taking shape now & I've done, I think, my best work ever.
I've done a lot of experimenting & exploring & each section is saying what I want it to say now with a lot of the detail coloured in.

#BeingOfErrth

Today I are be mostly experimenting with minor 11 chords.

Drilling down deeper into the track, really pleased with how the guitar parts are coming together. Still some arrangement things to join up but it's getting closer.

#BeingOfErrth

How & why did it take me so long to hear an Allan Holdsworth album!?
Listening to Metal Fatigue, It's blowing my mind! I've heard touches of his music in other music & always wondered were it came from & wanted more but didn't know we're to find it or if it was a thing. I do now!

In other news, the track is coming along slowly but surely.
It's in the "leapfrogging" stage where I bounce each section off its predecessor to hone untill everything is as good as it will go/I can get it. once that's done, which I reckon will take about a month.

After that it'll be record keeper guitar tracks, vox then mix.
If I'm lucky it might be ready late April.. which is a long time to write, record, produce and mix a track but it's quicker than the year track #1 took so I'm calling it a win.

#BeingOfErrth

Music and guitar playing actually happened today finally after almost two weeks of void.
Just getting things delivered totally throws me out of whack, any change to my routine grinds everything to a halt for days/weeks.
#MentalHealth

#BeingOfErrth

Done a good solid week of work on the track, still lots to do but I've overcome a lot of its complexities this week. Next week will be a lot of frustrating life admin but no doubt more work will happen in between.

#BeingOfErrth

The new track is providing quite a challenge!
I'm working at the absolute limit of my ability and experience.
I've got the sections, the transitions are the hard bit, but I'm enjoying the challenge and it'll be awesome when I've cracked it!

#BeingOfErrth

A good solid week of work done on the new track.
I've cracked the transitions between verses and chorus's and done a lot of orchestration. It's starting to take shape now.
Day off tomorrow.

#BeingOfErrth

I seam to have worn myself out dancing to the new tracks chorus. It's taken a very unexpected turn and I'm loving it!
Leapfrogging will continue tomorrow as I hone the verses to get them all where I want them and they sit with the chorus, which is well ahead in the process so far.

#BeingOfErrth

Just finished a good solid day of working on solo track #2.
First day of music for 2023 after a long break for the holidays.
A lot of structural work still to be done but I've added a lot of shape today on drums and electric piano.

I'm really pleased with how it's shaping up. I think it's now in the "leapfrogging" process where I work on a section then bring everything else up to that standard, then work on another section etc. etc till it's all sounding good and working as I want it to.

#BeingOfErrth