Start with the End

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“Start with the End in Mind” was a phrase that I heard from time to time over the years. I thought it sounded good but I had no idea just how useful it could be when applied. It wasn’t until I started working on the Music Sketches project at the end of 2016/beginning of 2017 that I found out first hand what it could mean.

Up until then, writing songs had been a difficult and arduous experience. I was lucky if I got one whole song together in a given year. Then I tried applying this idea of starting with the end in mind, as if the song was already done and that the process was easy and (dare I say) fun. I just focused on the idea and feeling of what it would be like if I had already finished the song. Before I knew it I would have a new idea which would lead to another new idea to another and so on. Within a few months I had over 50 song ideas recorded. These were full song ideas with chord progressions, melodies, grooves, hooks and sometimes lyrics and vocal parts all recorded and posted on YouTube.

It was a huge realization for me, that all those years I had been the starting with an end of difficulty, confusion and futility. Good to know.

The Bottom

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I love great bass lines and have been fortunate to have played with some truly fantastic bassists over the years (Akil Wemusa, Doug Pohorski and Edo Castro). I bought this book years ago in the hopes of becoming somewhat competent and conversant on the subject, but never got that far with it.

Recently I decided to take another go at it and finished the book this week. Am I at the same level as one of the amazing bass players I mentioned above? Not even… but I’m feeling more comfortable in reading and writing bass lines and that’s more than I had before.

Inspiration

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I love the feeling of being inspired. That feeling of possibility is so fun, free and full of hope, hope for something new. It can happen in an instant, in any number of ways and can become the basis of a whole new direction in one’s life.

In the past I thought inspiration was something that just happened to us if we were lucky and that we needed to really treasure those moments. But now I feel it’s a choice. I can invite inspiration by being ready for it and welcoming it through seeing it as a choice.

I get to choose how I feel in any given situation. That is the one thing in life that I can control. In the past I mostly felt things in a reactionary way, responses learned from previous life experiences and assumptions. Lately, I’ve been trying to ask myself on a regular basis “how do I want to feel right now?”.

Right now, I chose inspiration.

The Fretboard

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For many years I played guitar mainly by ear. I knew most of the notes in first position and those up around the 12th fret. Everything in between was very “gray” in my mind. I would just force my fingers to learn the shapes of the sounds that I wanted to make. At times It was frustrating process. I wanted to know what I was doing but it seemed so difficult to figure out.

Then I learned about Single String Scales while studying with Doug Doppler years ago. Essentially you take any scale and play it up and down the fretboard, slowly, one string at a time. This made a huge difference for me in all aspects of playing guitar. Scales, chords, arpeggios, melodies, all were clearer and easier for me to grasp. It was still a slow process, but I could finally understand and see the notes on the fretboard in my mind.

I still do Single String Scales as part of my practice regimen using exercises from a great book that Matt Warnock put together called Fretboard Mastery. It goes into depth on demystifying the fretboard, with clear and easy examples.

Molekular

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I love creating ambience/textures in a song. Whether it’s to help shape the mood or make a sonic statement, I love creating “ambient environments”.  Lately I’ve been working on a new song idea and wanted to take the main theme and tweak it into something new. I played the melody using a Mellotron patch in Logic, converted it from MIDI to audio and then ran it through Native Instruments “Molekular”. I dig what it turned into.

Here’s a clip showing before processing, after processing and in the mix.

Creativity

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I love making new songs. I love the feeling of getting a new idea and imagining where it can go. Often I’ll get next inspired through studying a scale or chord voicing. It can be one or two notes that triggers something in my mind that that will later blossom into a fully formed song. The biggest factor in this process is in me being open to “hearing” the idea in the first place. It’s almost like having a net out in the water to catch fish, but this net is in my mind, open to catch ideas.

Arrangement Markers and Drummer Tracks

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One of the things that I love to do when working with Logic is to use Arrangement Markers to help generate Drummer Tracks. Arrangement markers are used to identify different sections of the song (Intro, Verse, Chorus, etc.). When building up a new song, I like to record a scratch/guide track (guitar or piano) and then add arrangement markers. Once that’s done I’ll add a Drummer Track. I found that adding the Drummer track _after_ the markers are laid out will cause the Drummer track follow the arrangement in terms of dynamics/parts/fills. Usually I’ll need to dial in which Drummer and/or Kit to use, edit some breaks, fills, etc. but often I’m surprised as to how close the generated track gets to what I want to use. Is it perfect? No, nothing compares to having a real drummer with great gear, in an awesome room, collaborating with you. But in terms of getting new ideas down quickly it’s fantastic!

Logic

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Really stoked about the latest update to Logic Pro X, 10.4. A lot of great new features (Smart Tempo, Studio Horns and Strings, 2 new Drummers, “Undo” for the Mixer and Plug-Ins, Automation updates, UI updates and more).

But it is the new ChromaVerb (a fantastic reverb), EQ (Vintage Graphic/Tube/Console EQs) and Camel Audio (Step FX and Phat FX) plug-ins that I’m digging the most. I found that even only using the “Drive” setting of the “Vintage Console EQ”, bypassing the EQ section altogether, audio tracks sounded fuller and richer. And the ChromaVerb is beautiful and natural sounding/feeling to me.

Eli Krantzberg did a great tutorial for this update on Groove3.com.

Compression

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I enjoyed Brian Lee White’s EQ course on Lynda.com so much that I decided to do his Audio Foundations: Compression and Dynamic Processing class as well. It’s another really great class presented clearly and methodically.

Particularly liked the idea of using gradual compression from multiple compressors to get a more natural sound. E.g. using a limiter to address only the peaks with the threshold and output linked followed by a compressor using a low ratio to create body on the average level of the track while using another compressor to give a touch of color (e.g. gain cranked on a vintage styled plug-in set to a low ratio setting).

Marvin Gaye

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My mom had a great record collection. While I was growing up in the 70’s and 80’s she’d play a lot of the “crooners” (Frank Sinatra, Glenn Yarborough, Dean Martin, Neal Diamond, etc.), some jazz (Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Glenn Miller), a ton of R&B/Soul (Aretha Franklin, Earth Wind and Fire, Issac Hayes, The O’Jays, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Blood Sweat & Tears, etc) as well as a bit of rock and country (The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash).

But it was Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” album that made me realize that music really is something special. Between Marvin’s beautiful voice and powerful lyrics, James Jamerson’s fantastic bass playing, the arrangement of the songs and their production, this album left an indelible mark on me. To this day it still moves me at the deepest level.

Thank you, mom, for bringing such amazing music into my life.