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I spent my Tuesday night knee-deep in CNN updates and election forecasts.<\/o:p><\/div>\n
I spent my Tuesday night cramped in a refurbished closet, as we laid down drum tracks. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
I soaked my mind in concern for two futures: the nation\u2019s and my own. And when my mind was wrinkled like a prune, having lounged too long in worry, I found the fate of both futures had perhaps different ends, but similar processes. The process of electing a president is very much like that of recording a song. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
I\u2019m a singer-songwriter, in case you missed my bio<\/a>. I spend any free moment I have thinking of poetic ways to rephrase clich\u00e9s and recording little ditties that swirl around my head on my iTalk app. People probably think I\u2019m allergic to daylight with the amount of time I spend in the basement practice rooms at Vandy. But the result of my basement-dwelling, never-silent brain is a song. And right now, a song the best thing I am capable of creating, so it\u2019s a joyous event. Sometimes I think about naming them and yelling \u201cIt\u2019s a girl!\u201d \u2026Too over the top?<\/i> But a song is nothing if it is never heard. It might as well not exist. You must record the song \u2013 add different instruments, layer the voices, tailor it to a certain style or genre if you wish.
<\/span>So the recording process begins.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/o:p><\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/toddmillett.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/compact-home-recording-studio.jpeg\")
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<\/span>So the recording process begins.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Though I have recorded demos before, this is my first experience recording full band tracking for my songs. I\u2019ve got an EP in the works! More on that here.<\/a> <\/i>With modern technology, the recording process has become both simpler and more in-depth. For my EP, we are recording one instrument at a time (in that little closet I mentioned). First, you get a clean take of the guitar track, playing to a click. Then you lay down some scratch vocals over the top so that all of the other instruments have some sense of a flow of the song. And this is where it gets fun! You bring in different instruments and have them each record unique complementary parts. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
Layer upon layer upon layer. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
Hour upon hour upon hour. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
Then you\u2019ve got to decide what you like and what you don\u2019t. You can decide that along the way, weeding out the parts that clash early on. But in the very end, there comes a point where you add finishing touches, artistic flare to make your song unique, catchy, appealing, and standout. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
At last, you have a masterpiece. You\u2019re about to introduce something new and revolutionary to the ears of the universe. You\u2019re welcome, world. <\/i><\/o:p><\/div>\n
And just before you send the song to iTunes, somebody suggests you mute all of the tracks except for the original acoustic guitar and lead vocals, just like it was when you first wrote it. Sounds like a fun idea. Just for kicks, you do it. You scroll back to the beginning of the tracks and push play.<\/div>\n
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Ah. That sound! It fills the room and resonates in your mind. It sounds so pure. So true. It sounds like the song you created in the basement with all of its promise, all of its sincerity, all of its simplicity. So just like that, you scrap all of the other layers of tracks on tracks and send just the acoustic version to iTunes.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/o:p><\/div>\n <\/o:p><\/div>\n
Was all of that work for nothing? No! It was the process.<\/o:p><\/div>\n
You had to go through it to realize that you wanted what you had all along. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
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So, sometimes, I spend my Tuesday nights recording things that will never be heard, all to realize that I had what I wanted all along. And that\u2019s the 50% of my Tuesday night that probably doesn\u2019t match yours. Once every four years, however, there comes a Tuesday night on which you and I are undoubtedly doing exactly the same thing. <\/o:p><\/div>\n
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The election process comes to an end. Finally.<\/o:p><\/i><\/div>\n
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And whether you are knee-deep with me in politics, or you are wading in political ads, or you are drowning in the vast ocean of information that is available and pertinent during the presidential election season, we are all in the same pool.<\/o:p><\/div>\n
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