A couple new things just sort of came out of the blue!

So, Josh has been absent for a few weeks; Scott and I have still been getting together, but we spent some time working on some other projects. But last night, Josh, Scott and I all got together for a session. We worked a bit on "Beyond Gray Walls," which is the one we're furthest along with right now - it's got some scratch vocals for the first verse, and some really nice things going on.

After we hit a slow point, Josh mentioned that he'd just written a new riff that he wanted to show us; it was a cool, complex picked pattern - very trippy! So we opened a new file, put that one down, and started playing some more with it. After adding a few new parts and a drum loop, we ended up in a COMPLETELY different place than I expected. Very cool sound, looking forward to working some more on this one! A nice, fruitful session!

Continued writing...

Scott came over for "music night" last night; we were minus Josh due to a prior commitment, but we were quite productive anyway!

We've got a bunch of songs in progress simultaneously at this point; the one we're working on the most right now is currently untitled because it has no lyrics associated with it. That needs to happen soon, since we're getting to the point where the lyrics will dictate the direction of certain parts of the song. So far, it's got a real "Rush-inspired" beginning that morphs into a nifty verse and pre-chorus, then dives into a really wide, atmospheric chorus, with lush pads and acoustic guitars. I'm looking forward to fleshing this one out, it promises to be a winner!

Scott and I also assessed some of our other musical tidbits, and some of the other ones on "the front burner" for now are "Undertow" (starts with a sonorous vocal over a Rhodes progression), and "Gray Walls," which is based on a two-handed tapping bass progression I've been riffing on for many years.

Other current "back burner" songs include "Tell Me Why" (a piece Scott wrote), "Fifteen Minutes," and a long-format (album side?) concept piece I've been working on for a while but can't quite wrap my mind around. Scott and Josh also have a few things they did at Yoshi Studios that they're keeping in the wings so we don't get overwhelmed!

Things are happening, and I'm hoping that we can increase our output and have something really substantial moving before long...

Recent Work, New Toys...

Over the last two weeks, Scott and I - and then Josh and I - have gotten together to work some more on the tunes we've got going. It's been a little tough getting started, because at the outset we've got a LOT of little bits and pieces, and haven't really been able to hunker down and focus on one or two. We're still sort of finding our rhythm, so to speak. But we're starting to zero in on a couple of tunes that are moving us more than the others, and I think that shortly we'll be in full-on songwriting mode.

In the meantime, Scott has been upgrading his home studio workspace; he recently added dual-displays to his computer setup, and (as both Josh and I proclaimed when we did the same) he's loudly announced that he'll never go back! That sort of flexibility of workspace makes things work so much more smoothly. He also upgraded to Sonar 8 Producer.

I've also added some new things to my studio; new drum mics, the most recent Sonar Version (Producer 8), T-Racks Mastering Suite, and more... Of course, I'm ALWAYS adding new toys... My big project is going to be the ongoing improvements at Digital Din, our main studio. While the room is "finished," the walls need treatment and design, the windows need replacing, there's a little drywall to finish, doors to hang. It's always something. ;-)

More progress...

All three of us got together at Digital Din last night to do some more work on the music. For a bit, we concentrated on "Undertow" - first doing a little bit of musical editing and re-arrangement. We then switched to lyrics, since we only had a few initial lines and haven't fleshed out the concept. We brainstormed for a bit, then came up with a few really unique ideas for where to take the lyrics... more on that later.

We then played with some new/old song ideas; Scott has a couple of really cool acoustic guitar-oriented pieces that he's been kicking around for a while. One, in particular, seemed to really get the wheels turning - a song called "Tell Me Why" which has a great progression and a haunting melody. We'll see if that can become a Din Within tune with some more work in the future.

Also of note, Scott brought over a CD of some other musical things we had worked on quite a while ago as "Digital Loss" (with John Lewis and Dave Hutton). We may resurrect some of that material as well - several of those tunes are really quite cool! Productive pre-production... things are working well so far!

(Crosses fingers)...

Back in the saddle...

So, I see that Josh is back on the posting horse, so I figured I'd jump in as well.

First, I'm also very happy about the - working so far - new arrangement that brings longtime collaborator Scott into the Din Within environment. We'll see how things go long-term with three cooks stirring the broth, but I think that Scott is excited to be involved, and we're stoked to have him joining us. In fact, it even helps us with logistics - Josh was unable to make a session 2 weeks ago due to a prior commitment, so Scott and I got together in his stead, and we still got lots of stuff done! (And likewise, Josh and I got together this past week sans Scott, since he was unavailable.) So - we're making things happen!

Scott and I have plenty of experience working and writing together in a band - all three of my previous projects of note have involved him; we co-founded Outcry (1986-1990), Ransomed Soul (1991-1994) and Second Story (1996-2004) together. So we've got a good - and proven - dynamic. And of course, Josh and I have figured out how to work together too. So now we just need to make it all work together!

We're working on Undertow right now, one of the last things we were working on before the break, and we've also got a lot of bits and pieces that we're playing with. One might become the song "15 Minutes," using lyrics I wrote some time ago that I've been unable to find a home for... I love the words I've got, but none of my songs have really fit the bill - and in listening to some of our "homeless" song parts, we found a piece that might just work. We'll see...