Template Thoughts and the Synthwave Project
I’m progressing on the synthwave project.
Yesterday afternoon I made a new track on the MPC, basically mimicking the “commit” feature on the big EP series from Teenage Engineering. Usually I’ll build something at the head of a mix and let everything come in after the break, cutting and pasting from this one run/ section. Creating these sythwave songs are relaxing because you can just stick to the formula: some kind of intro, bring something in, take something out, put more stuff in.
Hopefully there’s an A and B part, but it also works with just one part if it keeps moving. A few as 4 measures even works. As I add things, it builds itself. I still need to figure out a couple things with copying and pasting between sequences, but it’s working.
The bigger point with this template idea is that it came out of necessity. A few Januarys ago I did the January thing (can explain later). I had exactly one hour — not one hour to write, but one hour to do the whole routine: write, arrange, quick master, upload to SoundCloud, type a small explanation, then cut and paste the link and post it in a Discord server. That’s a lot to cram into sixty minutes.
Every day in that month! Some days, if I didn’t like what I made, I’d just do another song. In a situation like this, I know that if I would've ever stopped, I would've stopped for the whole month. (I know because I've done it.) This one I wanted to do every day. I did that more.
Yesterday I had a great recording day with an acoustic song, and then I had about thirty minutes before I had to go out. So I made a new synthwave thing. Hopefully I’ll finish it today. It’s always hard to go back to something you started quickly, and I’ve got another show tonight, so we’ll see.
But the process is what matters — not the finished product. The process is what’s going to lead me to making an insane amount of tracks.
Next up: figuring out a battery option so I can power the MPC off my mobile battery and do this stuff anywhere. Realistically, I’ll probably just keep doing it in my little home office — the underground lair.