#chroniclecapstone

[chroniclecapstone]

April Wrap-Up

As I mentioned in the previous post, the schedule for finishing up the album was a bit hectic, and it resulted in me having to write two songs in one month. Luckily, I was able to squeeze them both out in a week. March and April differ so much. I actually wrote April first, and when I wrote it I knew that it belonged to the month. I’m not really sure what it was, but I just knew that the song was meant to be for April and it actually turned out in a really good way. 

April is slow and solemn, but still remains full of hope. It’s very self-oriented, and it’s really just about how much I have changed this past year, after writing this album and being a senior in general. I thought the song really worked well at the end of the album because it does a really good job of wrapping up all of my feelings about myself into one song.

The greatest part of this song is how I finally came to the realization that I am who I am because that is just me. My personality and my traits don’t come from other people, and when I’m hurt I can’t put the blame on others. I was hurt a lot this year, emotionally, but at the end of it all I learned that the choices I made and the things I did do not rest solely on the actions and words of someone else. I make every choice that I make because I know that it will make my life better and it will make me happier. All of the changes that I go through are by-products of myself and of my experiences, not on other people’s.

It’s taken me a long time to realize that other people’s actions and intentions towards me should not demolish or change the way I see myself as a person. If someone decides to leave me or hurt me or blame me, my life does not revolve around their decision to affect me in that way. The song really describes how all of the changes I’ve undergone this year are because of myself and only myself. I firmly stand behind the idea that each person belongs to themselves and they don’t have to live for other people. My self love has always come first and continues to come first in my life. Making this album has shown me where my happy places are, and that’s in music, writing, the outdoors, good relationships with people, solitude, and other important aspects of my life. My happiness is never built off of other people’s foundations. They are always my own. 

I think that this song is my favorite one on the album because it solidifies so much of how I feel as a person and how much I have learned. It projects the message of “everything I do, I do for myself” and that’s the most important message I think I could ever send. 

[chroniclecapstone]

March Wrap-Up

After taking a bit of a hiatus from blog posts, I’ve finally had some time to sit down and talk about wrapping up the album. My schedule is a little bit off balance, as the project is coming to an end and deadlines are fast approaching which makes it difficult to create a set-in-stone schedule. Long story short, I’ve had to write both the April and March songs in one month while also finish the album artwork and booklet by the end of this month. My written component draft is due by the end of the month, and once the booklet has been approved, I have to send it in to the CD manufacturers to be created, which takes around 10 days. The whole thing has to be done by the end of March/first week of April so that I can have physical copies available by the final presentations. I am so excited to create and finish the album. I have never been more proud of anything I’ve ever done in my life, and I am thrilled for people to hear it. 

March is very upbeat and fresh, which I think is a good addition to the album. It has serious contrast to April, which is slower and somber, and I think that March is always such a fun, upbeat month, so the song works well. When I began writing it, I knew that I wanted to write something more upbeat and something that people could tap their foot to. In my life, I’ve learned that March is an important and uplifting month for me. It’s my birthday month, and it’s also the month that finally ends the winter months. I wrote the song primarily about how March has always been a very personal month for me in terms of growth and going after the things that I need to make me happy. I start out the song with the line “Give me just a little more time / I’m still crawling back to life” in which I’m talking about the hardships that this past winter has brought me: love found, love lost, fear of the future, and the underlying sadness that always comes during the colder months. However, as the song progresses, I sing about all of the struggles I’ve faced and how I’ve always come out of them successfully. I also sing about how the year is coming to an end, and the spring EP is kind of like a wrap-up to the whole year. 

The instrumentation in the song is cool. My dad played two electric guitar tracks for me, incorporating some rock sounds and some nice riffs that I wouldn’t be able to play. I knew the song needed some electric guitar to pick up the pace, but my measly fingerpicking wouldn’t help, so I knew I had to recruit my dad. Trickling along in the song is some softer piano and some keyboard sounds to create more of a backbone. However, there aren’t any vocal harmonies because I felt like there was so much instrumentation and they weren’t really necessary. All in all, I think the song fades well into April and is a nice pick-me-up after the colder months.

[chroniclecapstone]

February

It's been a while since I've posted anything, and this is the first time I've posted about February. Honestly, this month has flown by and writing songs has been very difficult. I've been facing issues in terms of writing and finding inspiration for things. I don't think this difficulty comes from the winter, but I think it's just because I've been busy with college and school, patiently awaiting more college decisions and wrapping up the second trimester.

I went to California in the first weekend of February and came back expecting to write some amazing song. In the airport, I tried writing some words but it didn't work out the way I wanted to. When I came home, I didn't have any inspiration and I couldn't write anything related to February. In an effort to write a song on time, I started forcing it -- I began recording songs I wasn't happy with, and nothing ever sounded the way I wanted it to. There wasn't any substance to them. I was trying so hard to make them catchy and upbeat, playing around with beats and synths and trying to go out of my comfort zone. The songs never developed organically and it made me frustrated with the whole process. I remember working all weekend on a song and it just didn't work out the way I wanted it to. It stressed me out and made me take a step back from writing. 

However, when it started to snow, I found a surge of inspiration. I wrote about how I couldn't write about anything, and how I've always perceived winter as a horrible time of the year. I talked about my faults and the ways in which winter, February in particular, has made me unhappy in the past. However, the song focused on looking ahead to spring, and accepting the winter, and accepting the moments that have happened in winter thus far: loving someone, losing them, and then blooming into yourself. When I played it for my dad, he started crying, so I think this is the song I'm going to use. 

Wrapping up the Winter EP, I've found that this set of songs is really about acceptance and facing fears. From December, when I sang about the fear of loving someone, to January, which touched on the process of letting someone go, to February, which talks about accepting the moments and the people who have come and gone from your life, I feel a large sense of closure: closure of the winter, of the month, and, in some way, of senior year. Going into the third and final trimester, I only have two more songs to record, and I've also started working on the designs for the covers and the booklet. The project is wrapping up and coming together, and I'm excited to finish the album.

[chroniclecapstone]

Acoustic Demo to Rock Ballad

So I decided to stop working on the current January song that I had originally planned for the album and to start recording one of my most recent SoundCloud demos which I really love. I didn't start recording it with the intention of putting it on the album, but now that it's pretty much done, I think that I should put it on there. The song was originally called "Like You've Floated Away", and I think that will always be the name for it, but I think for now, I have to refer to it as the January song because I really think I need to put it in the album. 

The cool thing about this song is the comparison between the finished product and the original acoustic demo. I spit this song out in like, 15 minutes. The words just came out of me and, even though the guitar is very simple in the acoustic version, I loved the melody and the message. When I put up the acoustic version on SoundCloud, I got tons of compliments from the ones who had heard it. Yesterday, while recording some electric guitar for the first January song, I started messing around with LYFA and seeing what kind of cool effects I could use. Little did I know, the song would be one of the coolest ones I've done. I didn't really know what sound I was going for when I first started recording it, but I soon came to figure out that the original setup of the song, and the lyrics that came with it, weren't going to fit in that order. I moved some stuff around and turned the song into a strong rock, thrashing ballad with movement and power and electric guitar everywhere. The only time I used my keyboard was to record the bass -- this song is all guitar. 

The one thing that really mesmerizes me about this whole process is how I can go from writing one song and feeling confident about it and then writing another one that I know will be better, and having to put that one on the album. I can never really write one song for the month -- I'm always writing songs, it just depends on what you think the next song should be, what it should sound like, what the listener wants to hear next. I think the song that I choose should also reflect me in that month, and I don't think the song I had originally planned to use did that. 

For comparison purposes, this is the acoustic demo that I first started out with:

https://soundcloud.com/virginia-speidel/like-youve-floated-away-demo

And this is the first draft of the recorded song:

https://soundcloud.com/virginia-speidel/like-youve-floated-away-full-recorded-demo

It's so so so cool to see this album unfold into what it is. I'm counting down the days until people get to hear the whole thing.

[chroniclecapstone]

January: Recording Day 1

I think it's safe to say that I've written my first ballad. At least, that's what I'm going to call it. Reviewers deemed "Red" as Taylor Swift's powerful, country ballad album, especially with songs like State of Grace, which really reminds me of the song I'm recording right now. It's powerful, with big drums and big vocals. It's something that you listen to when you want to feel empowered, or strong, or brave. I've only just recorded the vocals (which will probably be re-done in some places), the bass, piano, and drums. I also found a really cool synth/pulsing/EDM tone that works really well in creating the beat of the song. I'm definitely planning on adding some electric guitar to create more power and strength, but I don't know I'll make it as strong as October's was. I'm not really sure what the future holds for this song, but I have the basic melodies/ideas down and they turned out exactly like I had planned. I'm hoping to mess around with more effects and instruments so I can change up the instrumentation a little bit. However, I'm really liking the direction that this song is going and I think it's a really great song for the beginning of the year, when everyone is setting new goals and hoping for new change. That's essentially what the song is about: reaching your goals, and becoming the person you're truly meant to be. 

The only worries I'm facing is that, because the song is so strong and loud and powerful, I'm worried that I won't be able to balance out the sounds and the volume. I'm afraid that it's all going to be mushed together and just one big, loud, fat mess. I'm getting better at taking pieces of the song out to create more space, but I want this song to be loud and extreme and strong all around so I'm not really sure how to get the sound I want without compromising the value of it. I'm sure I will be able to figure it out, but Garageband can only do so much. 

[chroniclecapstone]

January Part 1

I brought in the New Year with a trip to the beach and the notes app on my phone. I was in Florida on vacation and was doing a walk around the waves at night when I got this surge of inspiration and wrote a really good, wholesome song in the span of 15 minutes. I knew exactly what it was going to sound like when I went to my piano after weeks of not playing, and now, on the third day of January, the song is ready to record. 

I'm very, very excited to start recording this one. I know that I have to head in a different direction because the songs are all starting to sound the same, but luckily this one is unlike the others and I have a clear sound for it in my head. It's very simple, but it's probably my most profound song that I've written so far. The chorus is my absolute favorite part, including the lines "I want to see more, not just to know more, to BE more." That's pretty profound if you ask me. 

My family and I were talking about college and my musical aspirations. I realized during these conversations that I wanted to go to California and study music at USC as badly as ever. I have learned throughout this past year that I have such a desire to belong somewhere where I feel home, where I feel like I glow. I want to touch every shore in every country, to be surrounded by beauty and culture and experience. My wanderlust is really prominent, and this song really explores that concept. As a whole, the song speaks to the idea of loving yourself, and allowing your soul to wander in order to become the best person you can be. It sounds corny, and it's a little hard to describe, but I think the lyrics really speak for themselves. 

In terms of production, this is the first song on the record that I've done in compound time -- it's 12/8. I have AP Music Theory to thank for that. I'm excited to see what I can come up with production-wise, and I think this song is going to be really great. It's a great way to start the new year. 

This month, I'm listening to Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay and the January EP by Sleeping at Last. I'm reading a book called Nashville Songwriter which I think is about how famous Nashville singers have written their songs? I'm not really sure, but hopefully it will give me some production ideas. I've also been getting a lot of inspiration lately from Lord Huron, James Vincent McMorrow and Bombay Bicycle Club. These artists, when put on the same playlist, create a perfect acoustic/alternative/electronic/indie vibe that I'm trying to use in a lot of my songs. Lord Huron sings about adventure and wandering, McMorrow uses beautiful background vocals and strings, and BBC creates beautiful indie songs using electronic instruments and catchy beats. I'm definitely looking forward to finding more musical inspiration for my songs -- listening to the music is one of my favorite parts!!

[chroniclecapstone]

December Wrap-Up

It's been quite a while since I've posted, and I'm blaming that on Christmas cheer, vacation in Florida, and an overwhelming writer's block that consequently hindered my songwriting and recording. However, I'm back at it, especially since it's the start of a new month and a new year. Before I left on vacation the day after Christmas, I (finally) finished mixing December after putting it off for a few weeks. To be honest, I wasn't really feeling the song and I wasn't writing a lot during that time -- my piano and guitar had been put on hold among all the Christmas and holiday festivities. My family all reunited, and my music fell to the wayside as I didn't have any free time really. 

However, December is over and so is the song. I'm pretty happy with it, although I feel like my songs are getting a tad predictable. This song, like November, uses a lot of cool synths and drums layered over a drum track. I also utilize a lot of vocal harmony and I really enjoy the lyrics in this one, especially the line "I wasn't afraid of my own reflection before you / The only thing I fear now is how much I adore you." I felt like a pretty good songwriter upon writing that line. 

This is the first song on the album really related to love and relationships, and I felt a little weird writing songs like that for a school capstone project, but I decided to go for it anyways. One thing that I've started doing is writing little verses/choruses/lines and meshing them all together to create one song. Before I actually sat down and began recording the song, I had written three or four songs that weren't very good as a whole but had some great moments within them, so I decided to piece a lot of verses together to come up with a finished product. Essentially, the song talks about how it took me a long time to learn how to love myself without always needing to have a boyfriend/love interest -- typical high school stuff. However, I wrote about how funny the timing was because just when I figured out how to enjoy my own silence, solitude, and fully appreciate myself in my own light, I fell into some sort of trap and began to lose sight of what I has built up. The song served as a reminder that I need to continue loving myself first before I put anyone else's happiness before my own. I always, always think of this small poem I found browsing tumblr, which merely says "I am mine. Before I am anyone else's." It's my absolute favorite quote, and it's the main inspiration for the song. I wrote the song kind of about falling in love and catching feelings as a way to remind myself that I don't need it in this point in my life. I'll be going to college soon, I have only 5 months left of high school, I'm recording an album, playing lacrosse, and I still have to hear back from my top 2 schools, as well as audition for music programs and travel. I have a lot of lasts coming up, and a lot of bittersweet moments -- I don't want to say goodbye to someone else. 

I know that this post is a little personal for a school project, and maybe even the internet, but I think it's important to share the deepest details of each song in order to create a memorable piece of work. I want people to listen to the album and actually understand the point I'm trying to make so that they can easily relate it to their own lives. I don't want people to be able to make assumptions about the songs. This is the first love song that I've written for the album thus far, and I'm gonna be honest, I've written a lot of love songs during the duration of this project. However, I've realized that this piece of work is more than just writing songs about crushes and failed relationships. This album documents my changes throughout a year, my senior year at that. It documents my emotional change and my growth as a person...not about my prom date. 

I've started to think about the symposium and the finished product, and I'm so excited to get the ball rolling on the booklets and the physical copies. I'm also really excited to finally let people hear what I've been working on. A lot of my friends have told me that it's hard reading about the songs without actually getting to listen to them, but I think that will make it so much more special when it's all said and done. 

[chroniclecapstone]

December Part 1

New month, new song!! And, the best part is that this is the start of a new season and a new EP. Loving this project more and more every single month.

The thing that I've grappled with the past couple of days is whether I should write a brand new song for December or record one that I wrote in late November, when I was churning out songs daily, sometimes even two in one day. I had a surge of inspiration the last week of November, posting some new songs on my Soundcloud and filling up at least 10 pages in my notebook. When the opportunity came for me to write a new song these past few days, however, I was completely out of ideas and words. I decided to take an old song from November and try recording it, and then I did it again with another song. Basically, I have two December songs in my Garageband files, but I've been working on only one of them the past couple of days. I'm liking the direction it's going in, but I'm afraid that they're all beginning to sound the same. Not in terms of instrumentation, but just in terms of structure -- I feel like I keep starting out slow, and then the song gradually builds into a climactic moment. I've done that in the past, especially in October, and I'm afraid that I'm entering some sort of predicatable songwriting/producing pattern. I really want to aim for a slower, simpler song (acoustic and piano only) for the January/February song, and try to do something other than heavy, loud drums towards the end. I've been taking a lot of inspiration from the new albums by Bear's Den and Walk the Moon for some inspiration in terms of melodies and instrumentation. 

This month, I'm listening to Atlas: Darkness and the December EP from Sleeping at Last. While I'm sad that I won't get to listen to a full album, the Atlas EP's are beautiful and definitely geared more towards my seasonal creations. I'm also reading Adele's biography, which I'm hoping will be interesting as well. With Christmas coming, I've been in a very creative mood, making cards, gifts, and new songs. Hopefully I'll be able to get out more music to choose from. I'm thinking that I'm going to write/record demos of a few more songs and see what I'm working with, and then continue developing the one I have now, or to develop another. I'm planning on running some of the songs I have by my dad and my mentor, hopefully to get their opinion on them. However, my gut tells me that the song I'm leaning towards will be the one that ultimately gets put in the album. 

I've also made the Winter EP cover. Making the covers/art is one of my favorite parts of the process -- it gives me an excuse to take artsy photos and play around with effects. I can't wait to begin the development of the album's liner notes and booklet; choosing photos and fonts is one of my favorite things to do!