» Chillin' by the Water «

More Song Fu & a Freak Girl too!

The details of Masters of Song Fu #2 Round 2 were published on Friday, the morning after I hit the substantial completion mark on the recording phase of October’s Song of the Month Club offering, “Coney Island Sideshow Freak Girl.” Long story short, sleep deprivation is starting to get the best of me.

“Coney Island” seems to be going well, but to be honest I haven’t even listened back to the rough mixes since I found out about the next round of Song Fu. The challenge this time around is to write a tune suggesting a new dance craze, like “The Twist” or “The Locomotion,” based on a famous inventor or invention. I chose to go with a lesser known inventor, not exactly a household name like Edison, Tesla, Marconi or Bell. Not to give too much away, I went with the guy who goes down in history to be the first inventor to be killed by his own invention while the cameras were rolling. It’s a sad little tale about hubris and nemesis set to a snappy backbeat, but you’ll have to wait until the weekend for the complete details.

I did all my writing on the first day, and then dedicated the weekend to rewrites. I had too much going on to make the song usable. When I first played it for my wife on Friday, I realized I had four and a half minutes of material going on, which is a clear violation of my three minute rule, so I had a boatload of editing to do.

By Sunday night, I had something much more manageable to work with, so it was into the studio after getting the kids to bed. After two nights, I’ve got all the guitars down (there are no virtual instruments in this mix save for the sampled drums) and I’m completely knackered. But I have less than four days to get my vocals down and do my mixing and mastering, so no sleep for me for a while.

After I get the final track submitted, it’ll be back to “Coney Island” to help distract me from obsessing about the voting process for Song Fu. It’s actually quite nerve-racking, so do what you can to alleviate my stress by voting early and often (just kidding).

Jeff bows out for a great reason

One of the challengers had to drop out this time. Jeff MacDougall has withdrawn from the competition so that he can fly to Taiwan to pick up his adopted daughter Lucy. In his own words:

I have no musical instruments with me, no recording equipment, and no time. And frankly, even if I did happen to have a guitar and a mic, there is no way I would lock myself away to record music during the first days of meeting my new little girl.

Kids first, music second; Jeff’s got the right idea.

In MoSF#1, Jeff was the winning challenger and made a very commendable showing in the last round against master Jonathan Coulton. In fact, it was his performance in that round that peaked my interest in becoming a Song Fu challenger this time around.

So I’m very happy for Jeff and his new adventure, and he’s promised to come back for MoSF#3, so our paths will cross again.