"The Gorgeous Down"

Song: The Gorgeous Down
Album: The Shade- EP
Release Date: January 24, 2012



This is the very first song I ever wrote on my own. And it's really old.

So what's it about?

I usually think my lyrics are either pretty self-explanatory or don't want to ruin it for people if they find their own meaning, but this song will always be pretty special to me because it represents an epiphany for me about discovering the beauty in sadness. And that in turn became an epiphany of sorts about life being what you make of it. I think I started to figure out around the time I wrote this song that things aren't ever as dire as they seem and that keeping your chin up is half the battle, but it might be a stretch to say that idea comes across in this version of it.

Any interesting FYIs?

When I originally wrote this song, the only musical instrument I owned was a Casio keyboard that I'd bought from the toy department at Target. (You know, the kind that plays "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain" and "Happy Birthday" and 97 other songs at the push of a button.) I've since moved on to bigger and better, but I'm keeping that keyboard for nostalgic purposes.

How did recording go?

First of all, while I am amazed at how much I've learned (and retained) about recording music over the last several years, I don't really know what I'm doing. So just keep that in mind...

Since this song has been in my life for a looooong time, it's been retracked pretty much every time I upgraded my gear or needed something to practice my recording "skills" on, so this is about the 50th version of it.

The original song had five verses. Way too many. Thankfully those got chopped down over the years and it's a little more to the point. I got a wild hair several years back to try and turn it into a full on rock song, but that never quite worked out. For some reason, this song never really lent itself well to having a chorus either and I finally gave up trying to force one. I like the piano hook and I think the key change in the bridge, which was a total accident, works out really nicely.

The harmonies were another wild hair. Wanted to practice vocal arrangements and mixing and ended up with some pretty cool ideas. I thinned them out for the final version though because they were a little overboard the first few times around. The bluesy high line was the last element added to this song. I'm glad it happened.

The sequencing in the background is nothing too fancy. Just some textural stuff to make it more interesting (and to force me to learn how to use MIDI plugins in Pro Tools). Again, I had to make myself chop some stuff out, including some really silly drum loops, and fight my ever-present urge to add a full orchestra to everything.

When I tracked the "final" vocals for this, I used two different mics to test and see which one I liked better. Of course, I then ended up needing to retrack the main vocal line because that mic turned out to be the wrong one. In the process of doing that, I blew up the headphone outs on my recording interface. I'm not sure how you blow up headphone jacks with an acoustic piano song, but I did. Like I said, I don't really know what I'm doing.

Most of this was tracked in the attic of the house where I lived in Lafayette, Indiana. It was not a climate controlled environment so there's some sweat and frostbite in this recording. I finished it up in Indianapolis in late 2011. All in all, for my first real attempt at mixing and mastering, I think it's a good, healthy start.

Thanks for listening.

Cheers,

Emily

2012- Start Your Engines.

Man, the holidays went by fast. But 2012, the year of the (next) apocalypse off to a stellar start.

It's official. I finally released a song.

All by my little self.

And finally updated the website.
And finally started telling people I am working on this.

*crosses fingers*

In other music news, I jammed around with a couple of cool dudes the other night. I've been (finally) missing band stuff the last month or so and it was a lot of fun to cut loose and rock out with someone other than my laptop. They kept me on my toes, fo sho. I felt a -little- exposed without my click track woobie, but it turns out momma can still keep time. Even when she doesn't know the song and is totally winging it. Enough on that for now though. I'm sure you'll hear all about it if I end up melting some faces in a venue near you sometime soon. :-)  

Life Update:
I'm finally settled in to my new place. It's funny how long it takes to adjust to a new house and new routine, but I think it's starting to feel like home.

It's been very cool having my own studio and practice space. It's something I've really wanted for ten years or so and finally have it. So you can imagine the cussing that ensues when my basement springs a leak. (Drums are not water proof.) No matter. It's a battle I don't intend on losing and bought a really nice mop instead of some other fun stuff to prove it. And the neighbors haven't called the cops on me for making too much racket just yet.

I've also totally lost my mind. This weekend is my first "race" of the year. (I say "race" because I really doubt I'm going to beat anyone and timing this misery will probably be all too humbling.) For some reason, I signed up for a ton of these things this year. I'm either going to need new clothes or new knees by July. Or maybe both. Wish me luck that trudging through 6.55 miles of muddy trails in the dark on Saturday turns out to be a blast.

Hector Update:
Hector, the smartest and most patient dog on the planet, is doing fantastic. He's ready for me to quit being such a wuss about the weather (and it being dark when I get home) so he can work off the few extra pounds the vet gave him a hard time for having. He's also not thrilled about the drumset in the basement or the fact that I'm using it with regularity, but he'll live. A quick trip to visit his cousin Gunny for a round of pony chasing and all is forgiven. He has also taken to (again) waking me up in the morning so I'm not late for work. Now if I could just get him to make my coffee without getting hair in it...

Peas and carrots, luvs. Till next time...