songwriting

(Click on image to see full version)



Forgot to mention yesterday...I've already gotten started on one of my New Year's Resolutions! Yesterday I gave tapes to Allison and Jodi; both tapes contained a rough version of my new Eowyn song, "Unrequited". Allison's tape also included a version of her Tuck Everlasting song ("Everlasting") that we're collaborating on - I've added music to her lyrics. Allison's also working on another song collab we're doing called "Bill The Pony".

When writing a song from scratch, I now find it impossible to write music with also writing the lyrics, or lyrics without also working on the music, even in my humour songs. I wrote "Eowyn" over the Christmas holidays, and it sort of poured out of me in a few days.

I was going through my old sheet music archives and doing some purging/reorganizing, found this worksheet for Another Story.



(Click on image to see full version)


I hated my chorus, though. Desperate, I gave the song to Allison, asking her if she could come up something for the chorus...I -love- what she came up with. Here's the final version of the song, which is going to be on our new CD this year.

For "Unrequited", I relied heavily on paper, and started with music rather than lyrics, though I knew what I was going to write about. I find that when working out arrangements for Urban Tapestry, writing the basic chord structure and vocal lines out on paper makes things a lot easier in terms of figuring out where harmonies and counterpoint lines should go.

I love working with counterpoint parts (two or more melody lines that are sung at the same time but that are completely different melodies). For me, it's almost like working out a difficult math problem and then (aha!) you find the right answer. When I write counterpoint, I usually write the lines out on paper, and then use a four-track recorder to first record the guitar rhythm and one vocal line, then lay the other vocal lines on top of that.

In this way, I can check whether the counterpoint actually works, and what bits need to be tweaked. What works on paper may not always work when sung. If there are more than two tracks, I have to mix the tracks down to two, transferring the recording to a cassette tape, then give the tape to Allison and Jodi so they can hear the song and learn their parts. Can't wait until I know how to use Logic Audio -- hopefully it will make this recording process much easier!

Here's a rough worksheet I found for the music to "Another Story", where I worked out the counterpoint lines for Allison and Jodi. I ended up not using the last bit of music on this sheet:



(Click on image to see full version)


Today's Blatherpics:

Songwriting worksheets. I've already explained the last two worksheets for Another Story, a song which I had originally intended to be a children's song, but which mutated into something darker as I wrote it. It will be included on our upcoming CD. The one at the top of the page is for The Friendship Song, a three-part a capella piece I wrote for Urban Tapestry, which is also going to be on our CD this year.

country connection

Jeff's home sick. No gaming for him tonight. :(

Went to see Chicago last night with Allison and Jodi in Richmond Hill, enjoyed it just as much the second time. We browsed Chapters while we were waiting for the show, and I found a copy of the Winter issue of The Country Connection magazine, looked up my article. I had received the cheque for the article in the mail yesterday.

There's something tremendously satisfying about being able to find something in my local bookstore or magazine shop with my byline. I'm sure some other freelance writers are jaded about this, but I doubt I'll ever be.

I'm delighted by the number of people who have posted their New Year's Resolutions. I'll be sending out prizes by the end of the month. Here are the people that qualify (posted at least one serious resolution by Dec. 31, 2002): Christo, Steve Brinich, ElectricLandlady, Luisa, Ee Lynn Wong, Heather Munn, Susanna, Katy, Allison, Lissa Allcock, Gary Ehrlich, Bill O., Scott Snyder, Heather Borean, Dave Weingart, Lyanne, Silmarien, Sherman Dorn, The Magician, Cynthia Armistead, Meritmaat. If you think I've missed you, please let me know!

Snailmail addresses I still need:
ElectricLandlady
Ee Lynn Wong
Katy - apologies, can't find your address, I know I used to have it
Dave Weingart - ditto

I've decided that the prize is going to be laminated colour bookmarks with various characters from my comic strips as well as a special Blatherings bookmark. I've never made bookmarks before, so it should be an educational experience. :-)

Links/Updates:

Pop Tart art? Ugh.

Apparently Hayao Miyazaki is basing his next movie on a Diana Wynne Jones novel. Veryvery cool!

Bizarre: Bonsai Potato Kit.

back to work

Jeff and I had a very lazy day yesterday. Slept in, I had dim sum at King's Garden with my sister Ruth, nap in the afternoon, watched the National Geographic Lord of the Rings documentary in the evening I did do some work, I confess, but only because I have a daily publishing news column. I'm also doing some work for Writer's Digest/WritersMarket.com that's due on Monday. As a freelancer, I find it more difficult to embrace the whole "day off" thing since I already have control over my time. My time is more flexible but if I don't work, I don't earn money. Since my experience with Inkspot, however, I've been trying to be strict with myself about purposely scheduling NON-WORK time. I clearly remember what it was like to be in "super-productive, never slow down" mode with Inkspot, when I found it virtually impossible to just relax and do something completely unrelated to work...I don't want to ever let myself get in that habit again. Allison, Jodi and I are going out to see Chicago tonight! Jodi's first time, Allison's and my second. Links/Updates: Two Towers is still at the top of box office according to Reuters. Check out Katy's Fridge Watch. I've already posted a photo of the interior of our fridge. :-) Today's Blatherpics: Comic at the top is from my My Life In A Nutshell strip. The rest are from my Photo Re-org/Purge project. Click on any to see a larger version. New Year's Eve party at my dad's house, around '90. People in photo: Jeff & Gail Kesner, Jim & Diane, Andrew, Andy, Mark, Tom & Michelle, Bruce Macintosh, Jeff, me (I'm holding our dog Trudi), Justin Bur, John Chew, Kaarel & Ruth, Craig. Rand and Adam at Astromicon in '94 (I think), the first time that Allison, Jodi and I met them. Note Adam's pirate shirt, Rand's ponytail and hospital scrubs. My friend Michelle (the same Michelle whose wedding picture appeared in yesterday's Blathering), when we roomed together at Maplecon years ago. Photo by Andrew.

happy new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone!

Last night, Jeff and I went to a small dinner party hosted by our friend Parki, with Angela, Alison, JeffL, Jen and Doug. Wonderful food and conversation. Annie and Sara stayed up until the midnight for the first time, and they called us just as 2003 started to wish us a happy new year.

Not a bad way to begin 2003. :-)





My earliest memories of celebrating the new year are from childhood, when my family used to go to church for a midnight service, and my brother and I would perform a flute and piano duet. Later on, I remember that one of my New Year's rituals became listening to the Top 100 Songs of the Year on the radio (can't remember what station, sorry), sometimes recording them on tape. Never listened to the tapes more than once afterwards, but still found an odd comfort in having made the tapes, as if I had somehow successfully archived that year of my life and could therefore put it away and move on.

When Jeff and I became a couple, we started hosting New Year's parties at our house out in the country. We'd go tobogganning on nearby hills, have snowball fights, sit around the fireplace drinking hot chocolate and playing games, go skating on a homemade ice rink out on the pond. Most people would sleep over, bringing sleeping bags and pillows, curling up in whatever space they could find. I remember the front hallway always being a chaos of shoes and boots, and also wandering out into the house the next morning and find sleeping bodies everywhere.





I'm still going through my massive pile of print photos, purging and organizing. Click on any photo on this page to see a bigger version.

Some Blatherchat comments about my surprise lingerie shower photo from yesterday's Blathering made me laugh:

Dave Weingart:
"You realize, those aren't the pictures we really want to see from the lingerie shower."

Paul Kwinn:
"Having never been to a lingerie shower before, I'll have to ask: is the amount of booze in the bottom corner of the picture typical of such a gathering? (And if it is, then considering the unbeatable combination of drunkenness and lingerie, how can I get invited to one?)"

Chris Conway:
"Right on Dave ! - we wanna see some serious rain. - that is what you meant right?"

Have a Happy New Year's Day, everyone. :-)




Links/Updates:

Read Web pages while you're driving? See more info.

Remember mood rings from way back? Vanderbilt University is working on mood robots.

My friend Micki Koch (who was in the lingerie shower photo yesterday) has a Web log!

---

Today's Blatherpics:

The last three photos are from my Photo Archiving project.

	With JeffL and Alison, at Parki's last night.
	Urban Tapestry performing a children's concert with Carol Roper, Barb Riedel and Carol Flynt. I believe this was Urban Tapestry's first public performance (hopefully Allison will correct me if I'm wrong). I believe this was at Confusion about ten years ago. Not sure who took this photo.
	Michelle Sagara at her wedding, talking to her sister Kelly.
	Jeff nine years ago.