As cheesy a title as it sounds for a song it is nonetheless song number nine. It’s being a right bastard to finish. I’ve gone thru a good few chord variations and can’t seem to settle on a progression for the chorus. Hopefully a few more sessions this week will iron out the weaknesses. I tried a bunch of different strumming rhythms, even with a plectrum ( I’am all about the fingerstyle mostly ) as I’m getting more aware of the fact that most all of the songs I wrote have the same basic alternating base rhythm. Maybe not such a bad thing as it gives the lads more variation when coming up with backing lines but I don’t want it to start getting too habitual.
I also tested out some lines on electric but I’m trying to hold back from that as much as possible. I’d like these ten songs to be strong enough harmonically and lyrically that I don’t overly rely on effects or distortion to carry the song. That said I’d love to let loose on writing some heavier material but will have to wait till the next album is finished so prob mid 2011 till I can start messing about with power chords and leads. I’m nearly at the end of unit 4 (Strings section two) on my course. It had plenty of content regarding the two basic ways of writing for strings using samples – the classic way: pen and paper first and a more improvisational way: experimenting with playing the melodies directly into the MIDI track instruments. The unit also made me more aware of the short comings of string sample libraries particularly with fast legato lines and runs. Although my VSL library has a decent legato function the samples themselves are abit dry and Symphobia, which has a very open airiness to its samples unfortunately has a very poor simulated legato function. I’ve been experimenting a good bit and also checking out some of the newer generation string libraries such as LA strings East West’s Hollywood strings. Both are nice but damn pricey. I reckon (fervently hope) they’ll be a bunch of similar (cheaper) libraries released in the next two years.
