Wolves and Sheep (update)

Somewhere in the chaos I had the idea that at least part of this blog would be to document the creation of my next album, "Wolves and Sheep," so taking a bit of a break from my music education observations, here's the current scoop:

So right now there are about 15 songs in various states of completion - in other words, the basic framework is complete, though there may be some minor re-writing to do on either the music, lyrics, or both.  Of those, 5 or so are fully composed, though I suppose once I get to tracking them in the studio, a whole 'nother set of options will likely open up.  There are also a literally countless group of riffs and ideas that may or may not turn into fully formed pieces.  Also, in general, nothing is for sure till the song is fully realized in production, so certainly those numbers are gonna change.

In any case, the seemingly endless stops and starts on this for the past year or so seem to be finally aligning themselves into a workable plan and the project is beginning to take a form of sorts.  The basic idea is to create a two part CD.  The first half will be the music presented in "normal" mixes for standard audio systems like home stereos, cars, etc.  The second half will be the same material presented in crossfed mixes specifically intended for headphone listening, which, thanks to the massive popularity of mp3 players, has become an equally typical listening environment.

Of course with the limitation of only 80 minutes available on a CD, this really means only 40 minutes of unique material.  Interestingly, this is having the unintended effect making me be perceived by some as a kind of recording arts purist as that is pretty much the limit that was experienced during the years when vinyl records were the standard format for distribution.  To be fair, I probably am a bit of a purest in general, but it was only recently that I found it evidenced in such a way.

Ok, so enough the trivial, the real essence of this project seems to be that the sound itself has evolved significantly over the past year or so.  As an example, the rhythm tracks are all being dominated by really cool world percussion grooves that I have to say have been a blast to compose, play and record.  There are still drum kits within the textures, but there is a different kind of life to these tunes largely due to the timbre shift.  Another element taking hold is the use of choirs.  Full on, massive choirs, in some cases, not just the expected, if not typical, vocal harmonies and overdubbing.  Certainly this is adding a significant load to the production end of things; but, man, it's also really pushing me musically, which, all the rest of it aside, I find just fantastic.

The last part of all of it may be the more "ambient" material that has been emerging lately.  It seems to be an offshoot of a lot of the looping I seem to be fond of when performing live, but that is not always a true representation of the original recording of the song.   Hard to tell at this point where that is gonna lead, but I guess that's the beauty of all this.  As it evolves, I can continue to update.