A slightly more successful Lo-Fi attempt compared to yesterday, but clearly I was in “it doesn’t have to be good, it only has to be done mode.” I shouldn’t be so down on myself for these types of tracks – there are entire genre stations on the major streaming services dedicated to exactly what you’re hearing in this track, and I’ve listened to more than a few hours of them over the last couple of years.
Putting on my snarky Gen-X hat, we used to derisively call this stuff “Muzak” or “elevator music” back in the day because it was wallpaper music: completely soulless and ignorable for the most part. You’d hear it in a dentist’s waiting room or in the supermarket or, obviously, an elevator. The kids these days, however, have lots of anxiety and afflictions and ADD and all of the other victimizations that have been foisted upon them by pharmaceutical companies, psychiatrists, and helicopter parents. For those kids, this stuff has become a fidget toy. Focus music, if you will.
- Unseen Bagel Ray Toler 2:03
And there’s nothing wrong with that. I use it that way myself, both when I’m in the middle of Song-A-Day madness and throughout the year when I just want something to listen to but don’t have any real preference for a style. It’s perfectly enjoyable and, frankly, pretty damn efficient. In fact, the music itself sort of represents the ADD condition – tracks are rarely more than two minutes long. They have a single hook. It’s only repeated a couple of times. Say hello, play the hook, say goodbye. And even the goodbye is optional – a lot of the tracks I hear on Apple music just… stop. It’s the kind of thing I used to do on rap beat demo tracks.
In one way, I see this as me being lazy. I don’t need to worry about developing a full song structure, and I certainly don’t need to worry about coming up with an ending. But as I look back on my life, I’ve made this same mistake many times. I didn’t do any house or industrial music when it was popular because “it’s too easy, too formulaic.” Which is true for me, but that shouldn’t result in me ignoring it, because I might have actually become a successful act with that stuff.
If It Sounds Good, It Is Good
This is something I learned working in pro studios in the 90s and 00s.1I’m fairly certain I’ve remarked on this before, and even told the same story. I’m rethinking how I do this blog once I get through 2025’s Song-A-Day entries, because there’s only so much to say here on some things. I once watched the engineer make a massive EQ adjustment – far beyond the prescribed “never boost, always cut, and never more than 1-2 dB.” This was like a 6dB boost, maybe even more, and when I asked about it, the engineer did an A/B comparison for me and the boost sounded better. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters for music. Nobody cares how you got it to sound good, only that it does.
In that spirit, I’ll point out that the jazz guitar in this track isn’t a guitar. It’s a software plugin that models guitars. And it’s pretty good in the right hands, but more importantly, it can be really convincing when using the right effects. By itself, it’s a little thin and doesn’t sound that great, but that’s often true of an actual electric guitar as well. In this case, I’m just running it through a chorus with a touch of delay. I also played octaves and tried my best to capture those little fret slides. But even if it doesn’t sound exactly like a real guitar played by a real guitarist, it fits the track.
I’m not going to be so negative about these tracks in the future. In all seriousness, an EP or album of these would likely be far more successful than my epic 15 minute ambient pieces or fully-crafted pop and rock songs that take far more talent and work, but that aren’t as widely listened to. And we can also dive down the rabbit hole of what makes a track “successful.” Is that money? Recognition? These days, it’s more important that I like my stuff since I’m by far the one who listens to it the most. And while I might not even remember the title of this one when it plays in a random shuffle, I still like it. It’s doing what it’s supposed to do. A two minute respite of chill in a world full of not chill.
It sounds good, so it is good.
Colophon
Instruments & Samples
XO, Lo-Fi Glow, M-Tron Pro IV, Keyscape, Strum GS-2
Effects, Mixing, & Mastering
Fabfilter, Gullfoss, Valhalla VintageVerb and Delay, MOTU Analog Chorus
Notes
- 1I’m fairly certain I’ve remarked on this before, and even told the same story. I’m rethinking how I do this blog once I get through 2025’s Song-A-Day entries, because there’s only so much to say here on some things.