An Indie Musician's Diary VOL. 1

March 7 - 9th The Vine Update, Clip Gain & Reverb

Update

A friend asked me today how things are going with my project... Now, if you mix and produce like I do and you are in the learning stages as I am, then you know the problem of answering that simple question. My friends, family and community as a whole don't really want to know the details of compression, gain staging etc. It's like rocket science to them. What they do want to know is why this project is taking so darn long without me using and technical terminology.

They're not mean or abusive, just impatient, that's all. They are used to flicking on Spotify and listening to millions of songs without the least effort. They are simply not aware of the expanse of the music making process. I'm learning how to answer their questions in a diplomatic way. "Rome wasn't built in a day", works. Or, "I get what you're feeling...When you want to buy a new house someone has to build it right?" Or I can say "Anything worth listening to has to be fine-tuned more than you might realize."

The hardest thing is not letting their impatience get me depressed. I have had bouts of getting down on myself for not being done yet. But I have had to let that go. Before I would promise myself and others that I would be done at a certain date. But not any longer. No, it will get done when every song is not perfect but loveable. The'll have to wait and I'm going as fast as I can. Now I am done with my banter. Here is some new info:

Social Media

Email subscriptions: In a world that is bursting with information, people meet, share ideas and can get totally tired of the whole crazy thing.I am getting so many emails now that I can't keep up with them all. So I am beginning to unsubscribe, structure maps and schedule time to read my emails. I have been throwing out my nets to get information but now I am in need of cutting down the shear amount of emails and in order to keep afloat. 

Avoiding "Indie musician fuzz brain mode": It is very trying to find a good level of constant learning while exploring new information, networking, growing, sharing and encouraging others on social media. It seems new methods and apps are popping up daily. The main thing as an indie artist is to keep your focus. What are your goals? Who do you want to meet and what more do you need to know right this minute? I have found that I have to constantly adjust my information flow like pruning a bush. There are seasons where the informations bud and fruit comes and there are those dormant months where you can cut back those dead branches. It's an ebb and flow. If I don't cut them I experience indie musician learning fuzz brain mode. 

I have made up my mind to continue to add one new thing to my each of my music FB pages daily and to my Twitter feed. Gab, Minds, Maker Support etc are on hold for a while as I wrap up this first album. It just got to be too much. 

If you haven't subscribed to my artist's facebook page here it is: https://www.facebook.com/elisabethkitzing/

And if you want tips and tricks in music making: https://www.facebook.com/Featherheadmedia/

Or just subscribe to Featherhead Media: www.featherheadmedia.com There you can find a blog, tips on beating stress, lyrics and more. 

Change My Mind Album Update

Improved guitar flow: This week I have been doing a lot of updates in the song The Vine, making it much better than the demo version I did a year ago. Between Nashville and now I have learned how to get the GTR plugin (electric guitar station) to sound great with my Ibanez electric guitar. So now I replaced an untuned metal screeching old recording with a flowing and tuned one. What an improvement! I have finally learned my lesson when it comes to guitars. Get them right from the start. You can't retune polyphonic instruments and trying to fix timing issues with a comp guitar is a massive headache. Now I understand why studio musicians get paid so much for what they do. Happily, I could replace this one all by myself for free.