Hi!
It's been a while and thought I should check in. I keep playing and think about you all here. I haven't gone to that pro studio yet as once the weather here is warmer then I'll go. It's 2 1/2 hrs by three city buses to get there and 2 hrs 35 min to ride my bike one way (saving energy and out of shape ha) to get back. Really I should, like talismanRich says, take an Uber taxi. I might do that, although 99% of the people don't know that Uber, as I've read, is not fair to their drivers etc. so I'll boycott and take the bus system, so 5 hrs round trip! It's very important to get my debut song out. I lost the email address and don't exactly remember the name of the lady at Sony Music in NYC who said to post it and they will monetize it. I think she really meant they will monetize if my cover does well. I had to clear it with Sony as that's where I was told to go for Joni Mitchell's music. Another seasoned musician said that was a big deal Sony is letting me do that and not charging me a lot of money. I'm thinking maybe they forgot about me at Sony by now. It sounded like they notify YouTube about me, so hopefully that stays in the YouTube system when I post.
Why the big time gap here? I also let some diffidence creep in, a bit of a theme in my life. With no open mics I find myself not writing as much music, although I have 107 fragments of songs and also practice runs on my Tascam DR-05. When I was in the hospital 2 weeks ago I reviewed a lot of those, about 50 recordings, and found three songs I like a lot. If I don't record right away I lose the melodies, just like one does when first waking and remembering a dream. If I don't catch it soon I lose it. I figured long ago I have 2 1/2 hrs of music if I lined my original songs up. Just out of the expense of pro recording, I'll just have to rely on my Zoom Q8 and my Studio Projects mics, which someone here said is a setup that should get very nice results. I just need to review what I'm doing wrong. Buying that Takamine No.10 guitar used from ReVerb Nation with most of my stimulus money, I mean buying a $1,000 guitar that I didn't play first, in the end, once I put new strings on it, it sounds amazing! That was divine intervention right there! It was made in 1986 and from careful look-over I swear it was played very little, was in storeage basically for 34 years! The way the contact points with the original strings I could tell were the only strings ever put on it! I can hardly believe I have such a nice guitar, and a big change from the old $10 guitar I played since 1981. I love that guitar too.
I always thought the applause from listeners when I attended concerts and open mics as a listener for years, that it was a more superficial temporary positive for the songwriter/musician, but since I decided to go public with open mics I realize now with covid19 isolating how lasting that expression of appreciation is. When I was doing open mics I started to feel that I was writing for someone besides myself. I picked up the energy and it stays with me, but I must admit with isolation etc I fell into a big motivational songwriting loss. I need to rejuvenate. The studio minimum is 2 hrs at $50 an hour and the owner said my about 3:30min song, a cover, Both Sides Now, by Joni Mitchell, would probably all together take 3 hrs. I never imagined that! I have some Christmas, Birthday, and Stimulus money saved so I can do it! Even though I take the city buses I still end up about 3/4ths of a mile from the studio. I also need to feel I'm "ready" as during my diffident phase, also a reticent phase added in, I held back. The weather got worse too. I have been reading the posts again in several of my threads as the advice is lasting input I am very grateful for. Thanks for your patience with me! I hope my journey with this is helping others too.
Carpe Diem!
Winfred