Finding the Rhythm

I’m assuming it’s not just me when I make this statement, but it’s funny how one can live with one’s brain, and in one’s body, for quite some period of time and still have these sorts of “d’oh!” moments when something strikes you about yourself you never really saw before. I had one of those moments on Saturday.

Before I get into that, the observant will notice that this blog posting is in the Production category, my second post here. The intent was to blog about a project I’d started and follow it along. In addition to having trouble with the vocal I’d sung and recorded, I just couldn’t seem to get the project moving in the right direction, and I think for now it’s best to table it for later.

The more interesting thing is that I’ve started working on a project, a collaboration, that definitely is going someplace. It’s too early to talk much about it, but it’s been both fun and interesting to work on it so far.

Which brings me to the observation:  Music, I’m suddenly finding after all these years, is more a process of discovery, than of creation. Or, it certainly feels that way.

When I was working on Butterflies late last year, I had this same sort of feeling but didn’t quite realize it in the same way. I started out that project thinking that I was going to make a thumpy, clubby track, and that’s not at all where it went. While Butterflies can work alongside other club tracks, and I’ve played it in a mixshow a couple of times, it’s more ambient chill with an unusually fast beat. But that’s really where the song and the vocal took me when I was working on it.

With the current project, when I listened to the original rough recording, Latin immediately came to mind. I envisioned putting some brass with it, some nice piano in a place or two, and a beat that emphasized that Latin feel. That’s what I tried to do at first, but it was almost like the song was fighting me, and it wasn’t really working out very well. When I let go of that, and starting playing with some other ideas, things started to come together, which is where it sits right now. I’m anxious to get back to working on it this week.

In both cases, it felt more like I was on a mission of uncovering something than creating it. Of course, that’s not really true, but it does seem like it. And it makes me start to wonder if the project I just tabled for now wasn’t a case of the same thing working against me… Maybe the song wanted to go someplace I wasn’t letting it, or wasn’t seeing.

In any case, now that I’ve had this “a-ha moment,” I’ll see if I can use what I’ve learned to my benefit as I continue work on this current project. I’ll keep you posted.