Organising my head, never an easy task

Still hard at work on that new website design, and it's proving to be a big task. Each song, even if still in progress, has its very own page with lyrics, a music player, performer information, prizes won, and where applicable other versions of the song such as live renditions. I've come across a few old songs where I just don't want to showcase that dodgy recording that I made in 2008. So, some songs are even getting a new lease of life with a new recording or a new mix. The compositions part of the website is similar, with each piece on show along with keywords about genre, feel, and instruments, plus info on what cut-down versions are available for media use. It turns out I never finished the cut-downs, so I have more work to do on that. Another section is all about the new duo, so there'll be some piano/vocal renditions of a few cover songs on there.

All in all, building this site is helping me to get everything organised and pull everything together in one place, so it's a Very Good Thing.

New website design (again)

I said to myself last time, "This is the last time."

"I'm never doing another new website design. This is it."

But unfortunately, while I still like the aesthetic design of my current website, I can't fit much information into such a simple format. And what with my compositions, my new cocktail duo, and my decision to include lyrics and other stuff for each song, I've got a lot more information these days.

So I'm working on another website design. Again. Here's a preview:

Oh yes, I FIXED the studio

After two days of hard work the studio is fixed and back up and running.

It turned out to be a conflict between the sound card and the midi interface. Luckily we already had another MIDI interface lying around, otherwise I would never have tried swapping them, so would never have discovered the problem.

A side-effect of all this is that the studio is tidier, better organised, dust-free, no longer has unnecessary cables lying around, and the computer has had lots of little niggling problems sorted out during my search for an answer.

Oh dear, I broke the studio

well, the recording studio has wheezed its last breath, just when I need it now more than ever. Not sure what's wrong exactly, but when I open up Cubase I don't hear anything. I've been through the settings and connections with a fine tooth-comb, but can't find the problem. I think it's time to accept that the system is unstable, and needs replacing. I just hope I can salvage all my music sessions.

Songwriters' Talent Exchange

Just set up a new Facebook page which is doing spectacularly well. It's called Songwriters' Talent Exchange and it's for songwriters all around the world to get together and help each other to write and record better songs.

I came up with the idea when chatting with other entrants to the UK Songwriting Contest, many of whom said things like 'I've entered a song but I can't really sing so I don't think it'll do very well' or 'I sing but don't play any instruments so it doesn't sound very good' and it occurred to me that if songwriters help each other, we can all make better recordings of our songs. There's also an opportunity for co-writers to collaborate on writing songs.

It's early days but the page has gathered a lot of interest already and I hope that we can get a great community going.