To busy writing to write

I won’t bore you with the details, but due to an upcoming, important meeting and some really weird security protocols, I am sitting at work, on my laptop, waiting for a nearby computer to finish a 5-hour simulation on a Saturday. At least I have the internet.

It’s been a weird couple of weeks. I’ve been busy with a lot of ‘around-the-house’ things and feeling generally down due, I believe, to a lack of any good, fun, personal goals. I still haven’t picked up a new martial art, I’ve been cutting down on video games, and most frustrating of all, my new, big goal isn’t working out yet. I can’t get any passable music written. I think it’s all down to my method.

I’ve ben coming at this from a classically trained perspective, trying to write some simple music in four-part-harmony form, harmonize it, and then figure out how to parlay that into the structure for some of the electronic-based dance music that I enjoy so much. But I’ve been stymied over and over at the very first step. I can’t even come up with a good melody. Everything I write sounds like garbage once I put it down into the computer. But I don’t think that’s unique to my music. Take some music that is good: ‘Ave Maria’, for reference. Strip out everything but the melody line. Then imagine that plugged into a computer, being played back without any context of chords, performance, or instrumentation. It’s terrible! The notes are too long, uninteresting, and there’s nothing to recommend it at all. But add all the extra parts back in, and you have one of the most amazing pieces of music ever created. I can’t write a melody line that stands up on it’s own, but given what I’m aiming for, perhaps I don’t need to. Chord structure, production, sound effects, all of these things have such a profound impact on a piece of music that to try and create something one piece at a time has been a real challenge. I haven’t figured out how to do it yet.

So that’s why I haven’t been writing here, more. Well, that and general busy-ness. Jess and I have been doing a lot of here-and-there home improvement stuff. The lawn is next up on the list. But the more important project is planning for our vacation. Jess has been spearheading that, mostly. We leave late next month and have most of our itinerary planned out already. Except for Antwerp. We want to visit An, but we don’t know if she’s going to be there yet. And I don’t think she does either. Can anyone with a better line of contact to her let me know the best way to contact An?

So, yes. Foiled music writing and a general lack of self-improvement. I’ll let you know when I get my stuff in order.

-N

Edit!: Jessie has suggested, quite wisely, that I should go do something I'm better at, like talking about things. Maybe podcasting, even. Ideas?