I haven’t mentioned this on my website but on January 1st I began a 52 week long project. The goal? Record one song every seven days. All year.
It occurred to me that I should check in – with myself – at this halfway point. Right here. Unfortunately at week 18 my laptop died (brand new MacBook Pro that ultimately needed to be sent back to apple for a new logic board) and I lost all of the source files. Luckily I had backed up the finished masters up to that point, but it felt like starting over at week 19. Even though I was starting each week with a blank Logic file (I never borrowed from previous songs), I couldn’t even look at what I did or didn’t do. I had to listen to what I did and didn’t do. That said, I haven’t had any other technical challenges, just some creative and logistical ones.
This all began before the pandemic really hit, but in mid March when our state was flaring up with COVID, I also had a college class to teach, and my son was still in a weird “distance learning” phase with school. My daughter (1)? Unfazed.
So what I have so far is a collection of 26 songs that are all instrumental, mostly ambient/experimental, and under 5 minutes long. I’ve embedded the song from week 14 on this page. I can’t see any reason why I wouldn’t be able to complete it. Luckily my family and friends are all healthy, and even as our state loosens pandemic restrictions, I am happy to stay in and make things. Perks of an introvert, I guess. I also have a supportive wife – who expectedly had her whole summer of work wiped out – so I consider myself lucky.
It’s hard to believe we’re halfway through the year, but hopefully the second half goes a little smoother for everyone. I’ll be in my bedroom, making a song a week until 2021.
You can listen to all the songs as they are written and uploaded, on this little one page site.