recording blog #1: The ‘idea’ + devices
Q: At what point in your process do you ‘demo’ something and what format do you demo ideas in?
Every work of art has a beginning. For a song, that could be a vocal melody, a few key words, a story idea, a ‘feeling’, a beat, or some sort of riff on an instrument. I would assume that for most of us song writers and/or collaborators the beginning of a ’song’ is when two or more of those elements come together at the same time. When an idea truly becomes a ’song’ is anybody’s guess. For me, something is a legit song idea when it’s been in my head a few times and I can’t seem to shake it. And that’s when I record something like this:
I used the ‘Voice Memo’ app from my iPhone (which currently has yet to be updated for iPhone version 3). The most important thing about an audio ‘demo’ to me is that it capture the ’space’ of the idea. That way, if I pick up a guitar at a later time, I can make sure the rhythmic flavor of the initial demo is preserved so that I don’t simply end up strumming a different version of something I have already recorded in the past. In that way, a voice memo serves as a constant reminder as to what an idea’s rhythmic feel will be like and/or what it’s vocal/sax/guitar/synth melody flavors will do.
I threw down most of my current collection of voice memos while driving from Spokane to Missoula on May 22nd of 2009. I had just finished the first show of a three week tour of the West, so my energy level was peaking—I was ready to do something creative. When I got home, I loaded all of the voice memos from the past several months onto a track in Digital Performer. With the file over eight minutes long and containing twelve distinct song ideas, I figured it was time to start recording a new album.
Most of these ideas had been kicking around my brain for a while. Often they ‘appear’ during my bike ride to and from the day job. My rout takes about twelve minutes and I think that window is a perfect amount of time for an idea to naturally come to the surface, go somewhere new, and be set free to go back to where it came. Only after it reappears several times do I find an idea to be ready to ‘demo’. This process leaves an open canvass—like staring into your imagination in the same way a sculpture look’s over a new slab of marble.
Next time- Diary #2: Beat Selection