alaska (don't try to make sense of this title)

So Lightning J was true to his word, he came over and we (mostly he) made some (terrible?) music and we recorded it with the software I've been learning on my computer.  It was enormously helpful.

As usual, when put on the spot, I was incapable of coming up with any ideas, musically.  Apparently, my brain only functions creatively when in the shower.  Which means I'm going to need a really big shower and lots of waterproof equipment.

But it was for the best, really.  One of my mental blocks has been being too precious with it, I couldn't get myself to start trying to record anything (or write anything, if we're talking about screenplays) unless I already had it all perfect in my brain already, which of course is impossible.  Having J over to handle the music part of it, being capable of writing a "throwaway" one-off piece, took a lot off my shoulders and allowed me to just focus on getting more comfortable with the software.  And I learned a lot!  I finally figured out how to put a percussion track together, which I hadn't played with before, I learned how to do loops for listening/practicing, I learned more about how the inputs and outputs work together, I learned more about how to get effects to work on the tracks correctly, I got more comfortable with MIDI composition and manipulation, and we had a fun time on top of all that.  So despite the jokes about how he was doing all the work, leading to my increasingly insistent exaggerations about the importance of being the "producer" of this fine piece of music we created together, it was probably the most fulfilling and productive time I've had in a long time, while still being fun.

I don't know if I'll ever stop being an alone-in-my-basement type of artist.  Put anybody in a room with me and my brain closes off and I'm too timid to try anything.  If I ever do finally record anything, I wonder if I'll ever be brave enough to share it with anyone.  But yesterday, with J's help taking over music duties for an afternoon and letting me focus on the software, now I feel confident enough so that when I am alone in the basement and want to record something, I think I've surpassed most of the technical hurdles preventing me from comfortably doing that.

So again, I'm left with fewer excuses.  I'm dangerously close to actually being artistically productive.  You have no idea the panic I feel right now.  Maybe I'd better lay off the music for awhile and idly stare at the wall to think about screenplays some more.