"so i'm going to undertake a new direction of music and producing. i'm going to get away from the overly drippy synth-based music and move towards a sound that is more organic. i will readily admit.. influenced by DJ Shadow, Wax Tailor.. and especially groups like Bonobo.. I want to have a very organic, pathos-infused sound that I can present in a live format.. a sound that isn't just music.. but akin to the idea of an "Original Life Sound Track""
and another quote, "I did well with the City Shadows sounds and I'd be retarded not to retain some of that." (rough quote, really.. but that was the gist of it)
I spent a total of 4-5 hours over the weekend tinkering with music only to come up with: jack and shiz.
I've been completely sunk in the gutter and unable to produce anything fluid. Much like Ron Jeremy's recycling bin, the thoughts in my head have been trashy, messy, and raw. Amy sat on the stairs and helped pick apart some of the fundamentals that I have been grasping entirely too firmly.
At the core of my sound for the past while (or attempted sound) has been a very gritty synth-washed feel that is growing tired with me.. because it's not where I'm fitting. I diverted a lot of my time and energy away from producing tracks akin to the collection found on City Shadows and found myself in the same rut I was in when I started producing: very repetative open-beat tracks with hard synth-patterned lines.. and while some good songs came out of it ("Lady Gray" and "Lush" to name a few), my adventure in sound has always led me down a path of experimentation and organic (yet electronic-produced) sounds.
While I'm thinking about it (I'm at work, so I'll have to write this down or read my blog when I get home.. yes.. I read my own blog.. don't you sometimes?), I need to take inventory of my music equipment that I do not have hooked up. There are various interfaces, break-out boxes, recording devices, I/O, instruments.. that I'm not using right now. In order to accomplish my goal I am going to need some specific tools.. two of which I know that I do not have on hand: A sound recorder (like a digital recorder to take with me for environment sounds) and a microphone for vocals or guitar.. HMMMmmmm... Time to make a budget.
--
As far as work is concerned.. I have been doing a lot of thinking (and talking with Amy). My job has not earned the right to come home with me when I am not on call (or secondary on call).
If you read a previous post I made I quoted a letter-- er-- email.. (it sure as hell felt like a letter: sidenote.. is there a connotation of saying you wrote a letter vs. email.. is one more professional than the other or has that been washed out by the advance of the internet into big business?).. which stated that we as IT Analysts felt the business and or organization did not have confidence in our ability to do our job.
In light of recent events I have come to the conclusion that work has been getting the best of me and it has to change. My line if work isn't important enough such that it should drastically effect my work-life balance and take a toll on me or others around me outside of work. The hardest thing to do when you are being compressed by the weight of your organization (as it collapses around you) is to keep your spirits and attitude in check and not lose focus of your work life, your personal life, the line between them, and most importantly: not lose focus of yourself!
Don't get me wrong.. I certainly enjoy where I work. I'm excited for the products we sell, the customer service we provide, the applications and systems I support, the tools and technologies I'm learning and using to do my job, the career path I have chosen: all of those things congealed for me quite a long (1.5 years) time ago. There just exists some major issues with the way things are going (the direction) and the lack of organization that is making our job entirely more difficult than it should be. Though, this is where I have to step in and say "Alright.. I have to maintain this mantra and this way of work life myself.. I have to truly look out for my own balance, find my own center point, and work from there."
It may seem convoluted what I am thinking.. but at least this is somewhat therapeutic in getting it out there in writing. ;P I haven't been writing enough as it is. What better way to keep the blogs going, ya?
and another quote, "I did well with the City Shadows sounds and I'd be retarded not to retain some of that." (rough quote, really.. but that was the gist of it)
I spent a total of 4-5 hours over the weekend tinkering with music only to come up with: jack and shiz.
I've been completely sunk in the gutter and unable to produce anything fluid. Much like Ron Jeremy's recycling bin, the thoughts in my head have been trashy, messy, and raw. Amy sat on the stairs and helped pick apart some of the fundamentals that I have been grasping entirely too firmly.
At the core of my sound for the past while (or attempted sound) has been a very gritty synth-washed feel that is growing tired with me.. because it's not where I'm fitting. I diverted a lot of my time and energy away from producing tracks akin to the collection found on City Shadows and found myself in the same rut I was in when I started producing: very repetative open-beat tracks with hard synth-patterned lines.. and while some good songs came out of it ("Lady Gray" and "Lush" to name a few), my adventure in sound has always led me down a path of experimentation and organic (yet electronic-produced) sounds.
While I'm thinking about it (I'm at work, so I'll have to write this down or read my blog when I get home.. yes.. I read my own blog.. don't you sometimes?), I need to take inventory of my music equipment that I do not have hooked up. There are various interfaces, break-out boxes, recording devices, I/O, instruments.. that I'm not using right now. In order to accomplish my goal I am going to need some specific tools.. two of which I know that I do not have on hand: A sound recorder (like a digital recorder to take with me for environment sounds) and a microphone for vocals or guitar.. HMMMmmmm... Time to make a budget.
--
As far as work is concerned.. I have been doing a lot of thinking (and talking with Amy). My job has not earned the right to come home with me when I am not on call (or secondary on call).
If you read a previous post I made I quoted a letter-- er-- email.. (it sure as hell felt like a letter: sidenote.. is there a connotation of saying you wrote a letter vs. email.. is one more professional than the other or has that been washed out by the advance of the internet into big business?).. which stated that we as IT Analysts felt the business and or organization did not have confidence in our ability to do our job.
In light of recent events I have come to the conclusion that work has been getting the best of me and it has to change. My line if work isn't important enough such that it should drastically effect my work-life balance and take a toll on me or others around me outside of work. The hardest thing to do when you are being compressed by the weight of your organization (as it collapses around you) is to keep your spirits and attitude in check and not lose focus of your work life, your personal life, the line between them, and most importantly: not lose focus of yourself!
Don't get me wrong.. I certainly enjoy where I work. I'm excited for the products we sell, the customer service we provide, the applications and systems I support, the tools and technologies I'm learning and using to do my job, the career path I have chosen: all of those things congealed for me quite a long (1.5 years) time ago. There just exists some major issues with the way things are going (the direction) and the lack of organization that is making our job entirely more difficult than it should be. Though, this is where I have to step in and say "Alright.. I have to maintain this mantra and this way of work life myself.. I have to truly look out for my own balance, find my own center point, and work from there."
It may seem convoluted what I am thinking.. but at least this is somewhat therapeutic in getting it out there in writing. ;P I haven't been writing enough as it is. What better way to keep the blogs going, ya?
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