Notes from the Middle Shelf

Notes from the Middle Shelf

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Hello,

I’m finding the hardest part about using a DAW, Reaper in this case, isn’t learning the tools. That is difficult, and I’ll get into that a bit more later. The hardest part is finding what the song should be doing.

What sounds good? What do I want to be the most important part of the song? Where do the vocals actually go? Do I pan them left and right? What EQ? What effects? What volume does this need to be? That is just touching the surface.

It involves a lot of trust in what I’m hearing and what I want from the track. Trust that I seem to lack more often than not. Something that makes me wonder if that lack of trust in my own outcomes for personal things is what holds me back.

It, of course, isn’t the only thing. If one thing was ever our problem, then we’d find it easier to overcome once recognized. Alas, it is a series of things. A series of lacking recognition, lack of experience, and lack of trust, both internally and externally. That need to do something “right,” even though “right” is subjective.

For the complicated things, there is not being able to use the mouse to move items on a track. Not being able to see waveforms or jump directly to a spot I know. Having to hit buttons to find out details. Learning there are three different ways a cursor can be used: the playhead, markers, and the timeline. Maybe more that I’ve not found yet.

I’m enjoying it. Learning. Making music and breaking music. Learning that Ctrl+Z, yes, Undo, is my biggest friend.

To give you an example of something that took me a long time to figure out, I found a button combination that allowed me to fast-forward the track. However, what I thought would slow it back down did not. It took me a long time to figure out what command Reaper had to counter it, and then a bit longer to find the key for it. So for a while I couldn’t listen to the track because it played so quickly it ended the moment I hit Play.

Sound is interesting, and messing with it lets you begin to see the weirdness of it. For example, splitting a track and then accidentally reversing the polarity on one of them and finding they blanked each other out. Or putting too much reverb on a track and having it begin to sound like the song was playing twice instead of giving you that open-room sound.

However, I think I am ready to release my new track since starting to learn Reaper. As I’m told, I’ll create a sound that is uniquely mine, as well as getting faster at things as I use it more. And honestly, I’m using it a lot. Four to six hours a day, and I still haven’t touched much of its potential.

Look for a new song in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks, love, and peace.

My newest release: “Neon Green”

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