Wednesday, August 09, 2006

summertime blues

cotton gin/ north louisiana - copyright 2006 doug duffey
well, it's too damned hot to be outside- the crops are frying in the fields- grass burned all to hell- the tin roofs so hot you could cook eggs [or make fajitas] on 'em. so... even though the acreage needs mowing... and everything needs watering... i've decided to stay inside, pray for rain, and work on music until the fall!
i've begun writing/recording new music for a solo cd. i've written about 16 new songs in 2 days- during 2 different 'writing sessions'- and plan to continue writing sessions until i have a plethora of songs to choose from; and/or maybe enough for several cds: a piano and vocal cd, and a solo piano cd. so far so good! everything seems to be flowing and i'm "going with the flow..."
my "modus operandi" has changed due to the lack of a grand piano! normally, i play and sing 'live' recording my completed/finished songs in the studio on a grand piano- usually in one or two 'takes'- [i find the energy of 1st takes is usually the best] - but considering there are NO studios left in this area with a grand piano anymore [it seems nobody used the pianos in the studios here, so they were sold because they "took up too much space"... ]- i decided to use my electric piano, minidisc recorder and laptop to record at my own pace and comfort level! all the studios are digital anyway- [and non -smoking- but, i can still smoke in my own home... for the time being]
so... for these recordings i'm only playing piano- recording whatever comes into my head and hands- going from one 'song' or idea to the next, non-stop. it's rather like meditation or therapy- or both. it's quite a departure from my normal m.o. but a pleasurable one...
i seem to be working in [primarily] blues/jazz/roots mode with some louisiana piano and southern gothic gospel thrown in... could it be the heat, the humidity, barometric pressure, tropical depression... osmosis... or all of the above?
i'll work on writing the lyrics, working out the vocals and melodies, later- then record them over the piano tracks - et voila! it isn't the same as working the old way - and i miss the organic feel/touch/response and the subtlety/nuance of a grand piano- but what the hell? it works... ahhhhhhhhhh the digital age... ahhhhhhhhhh progress... yeah yeah yeah
[c]2006 doug duffey