Arrangements, Painting Analogies and Stew

Busy, busy weekend. I'm finishing up the details on several photo gigs and that has consumed my arty cycles. Final selections on wedding shots are coming in, discs to ship, proofs to post to my Flickr account.

I do have one little songwriting thing to offer, though. I was out on the porch gabbing with Wendy and I shared a little realization I'd had on my production style on my old recordings versus the new stuff I'm planning.

When I'm writing a tune, I'm primarily concerned with three elements - melody, chords and lyrics. It's got to stand firmly on those three legs. Most of my old tunes fulfill that criteria. I can pick up a guitar at a campfire, play them and they work.

My productions of my past works in the studio have a lot in them though. Layers of instruments on layers of instruments. I've been planning a much more open sound for my upcoming works. I realized why, as I've been fiddling around with my old gear.

The old sounds weren't up to snuff. They couldn't stand on their own.

"Oh," Wendy says, "Your carrots were old, so you made stew."

Exactly.

She went on to remind me of my lectures on the dangers of "over-working" a painting. As you work and re-work with paint, the pigments mix and you get increasingly muddy (more and more grey), losing the vibrancy of the colors.

Yep, yep.

It's interesting how the medium affects you. If paints were dull, I'd be less worried about muddying them up. If my sounds are vibrant and yummy, I'm much less likely to muddy the sound.

She continued on to warn me. "I LIKE how full your pieces are. It's good stew. Don't overcompensate on the minimalism."

Woot! I've got a fan base with expectations of my sound. Who knew?

Good Stew
Ro thinks this should be the title of my retrospective collection. Brilliant!

I Give

No Limits

La Tristesse

Resurrection Now

The Follower

Artist Find - Nina Deli

Nina Deli is a German singer / songwriter with an exceptionally ethereal quality to her, while retaining some earthiness. Enya with edge. I encountered her on the melodyne demos. Her tune, Flow, was the one used in the demo. Worth a link click and a listen.