Wintry Mix

The first real winter storm of the season has arrived. In an effort to get one more exercise session in¹An exhausted dog allows me to work prior to the snow and ice showing up, Olive and I went to the dog park right after breakfast, and it started snowing while we were there. I wasn’t expecting anything to stick, much less stay frozen for long, but the buildup was surprisingly fast and by the time we got back home, I was already having a few traction issues driving the truck.²Later in the day, I would experiment with 4×4 mode on an antique truck for the first time. No surprise, it works really well in the snow.

The Portlandia region may as well be central Texas when it comes to being able to deal with snow and ice. In other words, everything shut down. So no excuses. Time to get inside and write some music.

Yep. Time to write some music. Just… just start writing. No big deal. I’ve done it hundreds of times before. Just writing. Music.

Ok. Nothing’s happening after a couple of hours. I decided that I enjoyed my Lo-Fi experiments last year, so I’ll just do one of those. Ok. Now I’ve got my idea. Let’s go.

Just start writing that Lo-Fi tune. Just find the hook. Even just two minutes of music is totally viable. That’s all you get on a streaming channel… just write that thing.

Pick One Thing

Yes, this was like pulling teeth. In the end, I decided to pick an instrument that would be the hook. Piano? No. Guitar? Not enough energy to set that up. Synth? Mmmmm….. nah. Electric piano? Maybe. Yes. Electric Piano.

Once I’d loaded up an electric piano, I messed around with various progressions until I found the one you hear. Looped that. Add the bass. Done. Need an appropriate beat. Done.

Arrange the thing. Add a bit to the hook section. Ok. What about the “verses?” The verses are probably my weakest point in this track… I’m not a fantastic soloist on the fly. The sound isn’t that great either, but you know the motto…³It doesn’t have to be good, it just has to be done.

Ok, it’s now “finished” but it’s… well, it was even more boring that Lo-Fi can normally be. The hook needs some juicing up. I added one of my favorite Omnisphere guitar patches and then also added an acoustic piano.

A little sprinkling of lo-fi effects on the intro and outro piano. Let’s give this one at least lip service of an ending instead of just stopping (which is pretty common in Lo-Fi, I’ve found). The chord progression is nagging me, like I’ve lifted it from something, but I’m not 100% sure what it is.⁴Portishead? Massive Attack? I can hear the chorus, but can’t remember the title or artist. Don’t overthink it.⁵I got it!!! In the Waiting Line by Zero 7! Whew. My brain can now relax for 30 seconds. Bounce. Publish. Needs a name. Today’s weather, duh. Done. On to the next one.

Colophon

Instruments & Samples

Trilian, Omnisphere, Keyscape, Pianoteq, Pigments

Effects, Mixing, & Mastering

Tape Mello-Fi, Valhalla VintageVerb & Delay, Fabfilter, Gullfoss

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Notes

• 1
  An exhausted dog allows me to work
• 2
  Later in the day, I would experiment with 4×4 mode on an antique truck for the first time. No surprise, it works really well in the snow.
• 3
  It doesn’t have to be good, it just has to be done.
• 4
  Portishead? Massive Attack? I can hear the chorus, but can’t remember the title or artist.
• 5
  I got it!!! In the Waiting Line by Zero 7! Whew. My brain can now relax for 30 seconds.