The month of FAWM

One Week In

noreply@blogger.com (Frances) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

This week has been a lesson in compromises. I compromise with my body - it wants sleep, I want to play guitar. I compromise with my pets - kitty wants a clean litterbox, I want to scribble lyrics. I compromise with my fridge - last week's enchilada needs to be disposed of, I want to troll the jukebox.

Then there are the givens - work, eating healthily, exercise. I've been showing up for work but I don't necessarily bring my mind along. My stomach rumbles so I grab an orange. Sometimes a bag of cheezies. My fingers and forearms get the biggest workout these days. Sometime my toes too, tapping.

A month of deprivation, a month of excitement. I'm tapped out of ideas already and I've barely gotten started.

February 1st!

noreply@blogger.com (Frances) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:19:00 +0000

First day of FAWM, and first song posted. All day I was thinking about all the songs that were getting posted on to the jukebox ahead of mine, and it was making me a little cranky. However, I came home and knuckled down. I hadn't even set up the recording gear yet, so I had to tinker with that for ages before I could even get a guitar track into my computer. Lesson for next year: set up the studio before February first, instead of trolling the forums for a month!

I'm quite please about my first song, "Tackle the Torch." A couple of lines of it had been brewing all day as I sat at my desk, and when I finally got down to recording, the lyrics worked themselves out very quickly. I like the chorus on this one too, and I really enjoyed singing the harmonies. My one angst is that I have no percussion. I would really like to learn how to do percussion!

I even listened to a few songs on the jukebox while waiting for files to upload. There is some incredible stuff out there . . . already!!!

Here comes FAWM again!

noreply@blogger.com (Frances) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:52:00 +0000

I know I've fully subscribed to the FAWM mindset because it's only mid-January and I am SO EXCITED for FAWM 2010!! Never mind the Olympics: I can't wait for the Olympics of Songwriting! Another 28 days of trolling the jukebox for wicked new tunes, commenting on the forums, and of course, writing 14 new songs of my own. I am like a little kid in that week before Christmas, or that cute little boy on the Disneyland commerical who can't sleep because he's "too eck-sighted!" I have restrung the guitar, ordered a microphone to try on-the-fly recording with my iTouch, and have fired up the ol' Audacity program for my multitracking. Nothing like new strings on the guitar and new gear to fire up the stoke.

Last night I performed at the Original Songs Night at the Tom Rooney Playhouse, hosted by the North Coast Performers Society. I played four original songs - two from last years FAWM, and two from 50/90 2008. It was a fabulous evening of hearing all-original tunes from songwriters in the community, and there was great resppnse from the packed crowd. There is so much talent around, even in a small town!

Anyway, I'm going to head back to fawm.org and troll the forums. I have to do something till I can start posting songs!

Nearly there . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Frances) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:26:00 +0000

I don't think I could ever have predicted what this year's FAWM songs would be about. So far I have:
1. a song about life slipping past,
2. a song about guilt for being a unemployed EI bum,
3. a song to make myself think positive,
4. a song about my brother,
5. a crazy fun crucio song,
6. a song about a photograph,
7. a song about Valentine's day,
8. a song about depression,
9. a song about some dolphins trapped in the ice off of Newfoundland,
10. a song about Haida Gwaii,
11. a song about comets,
12. a song about my lover,
13. and a song about a misunderstanding between one of my very best friends.

What is number fourteen going to be about? Who can tell? I've got about two and a half days to find out!

How Time Flies!

noreply@blogger.com (Frances) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 03:33:00 +0000

It's that old adage again - time flies when you're having fun. My experience is that time actually flies when you have 14 songs to write in 28 days. :) The last week has been a busy one of work and play and only a little bit of playing my guitar. Currently, I sit at 8 songs. I need to write another one tonight if I want to stay on track.

I've had the pleasure of the collaboration gods this week. Steffan Pitzel ( http://fawm.org/fawmers/steffan/ ) responded to my request that someone add a guitar solo into a blank bit of "Hey Brother Brother," and boy am I glad he did! Not only did he supply a killer lead for that song, but he also came up with a very cool solo for my answer to the chaos that was Valentine's Day 2009 - "(Was It The) Impact or Inebriation?" Solos are not my strong point but Steffan is super talented - I urge you to check him out!

Also this week, I recieved the most welcome gift of a M-Audio Fast Track recording interface, so that I can actually record more than one track and mix them like a big girl! All this time I've been using the looper to record, which was pretty limiting, because I couldn't adjust the volumes of parts of songs once they'd been loaded into the computer. Now, I can record like the pros. Well, maybe that's going a bit too far. But thanks to Phil Bearce, who, when he read a post of mine asking for advice on which interface to buy, sent me one that he was no longer using . . . for absolutely free. He wouldn't even let me pay the shipping! How nice is that? Isn't the FAWMily great?

Anyway, time to quit procratinating with the FAWM forums and blogging. Time to write a song!!!

Production, production!

noreply@blogger.com (Frances) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:12:00 +0000

I have decided that the thing I hate about being a musician is the recording process. At least, I hate it at one-thirty AM when I've been trying and trying to get something perfect, finally. I am just too much of a perfectionist, even when it comes to FAWM - god knows, perfection is not a part of the challenge - but somehow I have such a hard time letting people listen to something that isn't exactly how I want it to be. That being said, when a tune finally does come together, it's such a great feeling.

I think my favourite part of being a musician is that "ah-ha" moment - when the right words and the right melody align with the stars and mesh in just that . . uh-oh, that word again . . . that perfect way. It's such a rush! It's like dropping off the top of a groomed run into the powdery trees. It's like getting picked up by the wave and skimming along in the curl. It's awesome, and it's why I keep writing songs.

FAWM is moving along nicely, that being said - three weeks left and nine songs to go! I came up with my very first crucio tonight, so I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself. And no, it's not perfect - but it's pretty close!!!

Scuppered by events . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Frances) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:55:00 +0000

Well, the best laid plans, etc, etc - I was called into work unexpectedly today when I what I expected was a fairly free day to work on the tunes and get something posted! It's impossible to predict how thigns are going to work out, however, so although I ended up having to stay the whole day at the store and then ended up going out for drinks with a friend and a new acquaintance from Norway, I there found inspiration for the song that I posted tonight, after only three hours of lyric-writing, melody-divining, and musical accountrement-creating. I have the feeling that even if I'd had the whole day to play and pluck the strings in reality instead of only in my mind, the resultant song would not have been quite the same. I am very happy, however, to have anything posted at all, staying on track with my goal of one song every two days. February is a busy month, though, so I'm gonna have to get those songs in where I can!

Day One - FAWMing Begins

noreply@blogger.com (Frances) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:57:00 +0000

All of sudden, it's D-Day. I have the sense of leaving the start line of some huge marathon - all elbows and dust and noise as the pack sets off. I also have the sense of falling behind - I have spent too much time on the forums and not enough time on the guitar! Finally I plugged in the gutar and blasted together a little half-hummed, half-sung ditty witha couple of guitar tracks and a gentle drum in the background. The song doesn't mean much, apart from a few cool sounds, but it's a start!

For me, FAWM is a month of focus and challenge, a month of connecting with people who make music in their basements and bedrooms and dorm rooms, and a month of listening to songs that I might never otherwise hear. Last year I heard tunes that stay with me still. I've sung harmonies and crafted melodies for lyrics written by people thousands of kilometres away. One might wonder why I don't get out there and jam with other musicians face to face rather than collaborating over the internet. I do that too - there is nothing I love better than the adrenaline rush of hammering out a song live around the campfire or the livingroom. For this one month of the year, however, you'll be able to find me at www.fawm.org.