Happy Valentine’s Day!
Lyrics and Music
FAWM23, Song #5: Vlogger Cruise Lady Parody (She’s Not That Good, Chapter 4 Excerpt)
SBS Producer Tip
Why I Used #LogicPro Instead of #Ableton for #50/90 #Songwriting #Challenge
For those of you who do not know, 50/90 is a songwriting challenge where you attempt to write 50 songs in 90 days, starting around July 4th, ending October 1. It’s an offshoot of FAWM (February Album Writing Month) where you attempt to write 14 songs in the month of February.
2018 was my first FAWM and it nearly killed me – lol! I was new to songwriting and music production and putting my music out there for critique was stressful. But I was hooked. The community is especially supportive, and I loved that interaction with other songwriters/musicians.
The first time I heard of 50/90, well, I thought that was insane and never really took it seriously. Last year, I might have written a couple of songs. But this year, I ended up creating 60 songs – busting past the 50 even. I couldn’t believe it. But I got hooked on creating songs every day.
Right before 50/90 started this year, I’d purchased Push2, and I’d hoped that 50/90 would be a great opportunity to get creative with Push. However, with the daily pressure of getting songs out there, I found I was relying on me knowing Logic Pro and being more comfortable with it.
The other personal music challenge I’d given myself was to do more songwriting/performing rather than the usual EDM tracks and I much prefer Logic Pro for that – the “note” section is perfect for writing lyrics and/or having them while recording.
Logic has an awesome assortment of loops, which I also relied on during this time crunch. My intention for Push2 was to move beyond stock loops and create my own, but I just didn’t have time to acquire those skills in time for 50/90.
It’s 4 months until FAWM 2022. Is that time to get comfortable with Ableton and Push2?
A Lifetime: Poem to Song to Video
Experimenting with lyric videos, I decided to try doing something new with my YouTube videos. This one is based on my first song for 50/90 this year: A Lifetime, telling the story of my lifetime (well, just a wee bit) through poetry, lyrics, video and music.
For the Love of Music (Production)
I suppose I could have gone back to school to complete a degree but I had gotten so far without it. Perhaps if I’d wanted to change careers, it might have been worth it. But to go through all that time, effort, and money to continue doing what I was doing already didn’t seem worth it. Just to make other people happy and to avoid those awkward interview questions, certainly not.
For one thing, the only thing I really wanted to do was to make music and through targeting specific classes, training, and certificate programs, I’ve been able to learn what I need to know. That’s how I got as far as I did in Silicon Valley in the first place. Truth be told, I loved my work more when I was in book production – so much more creative than technical writing.
And so music production is where I’ve landed in the music world. And I absolutely love it.
Words to Live By
I’m often torn between focusing on writing novels and producing music. As if I must make a choice. And even though I know I don’t have to choose, not choosing does present a challenge of focus. Sometimes it’s difficult to be good at anything if you’re not focused on one thing.
However, my husband reminded me of this Erma Bombeck quote:
These are definitely words I want to live by.
Screamie Birds Studios 