Balticon, recording and songwriting

The Balticon Web site has been updated. Author Guest of Honor: Connie Willis. Musical Guest of Honor: Urban Tapestry (woohoo!). The Artist Guest of Honour is still to be announced.



Connie Willis, as I've mentioned before, has won six Nebula and nine Hugo Awards (more than any other science fiction writer, I believe). Balticon 42 takes place in Baltimore, Maryland on May 23-26, 2008. You can find more info about the convention on the Balticon Web site and there's also a Balticon LJ community.



Above: Allison recording her part for a song I wrote recently. Jodi's going to be recording her part later this week. I've been using Garageband to do my recording but as I learn more, I'm really starting to yearn for more control over different aspects of the process.


I'm going to be upgrading to Logic Express 8 and am determined to devote some solid time to learning it! Until I get the upgrade, I'm going to keep working my way through Apple Pro Training Series: Logic Pro 7 and Logic Express 7 by Martin Sitter. It's a big step up from Garageband, but I know it's going to be worth the learning curve.

Now that I know we're guests at Balticon next May, I'm hugely motivated to write some more songs. I'd especially like to write one based on a Connie Willis book. I love Brenda Sutton's In A Gown Too Blue, based on Doomsday Book, and I know there are others.

And a survey for you songwriters out there: How do your songs begin? Mine usually begin with an idea for a lyric. I scribble down lots of lyric fragments that I want to include, then figure out what type of music would be appropriate (blues, doo-wop, ballad, etc.) and come up with the musical structure.

If it's a song with three-part harmony and/or counterpoint, however, I write the song differently since I not only have to make sure each vocal part works with the others but also that it's within each of our vocal ranges.

Here are some lyric notes I made while writing The Friendship Song:



After finishing the lyrics, I came up with the 3-part musical lines for Allison, Jodi and me:



You can hear a sample of the song on our Sushi and High Tea CDBaby page.

If you're looking for some great songwriting tips, by the way, be sure to check out Jodi's The Muse's Muse.


Baltimore Trivia of the Day:

Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner while on a ship in Baltimore Harbor, watching the British attack the city.



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