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Sunday, July 9th, 2023 03:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudio82F and sunny on this Sunday, and the humidity is tolerable. The rain we got Saturday morning really helped out with the remaining grass seed.
Yesterday was only about two things... working on music, and mowing the lawn.
I had dinged the lawnmower blade pretty badly last week, and new ones arrived Saturday afternoon, but... it turns out they were the wrong brand and would not fit the mount!
But I won't have to return them, because I can order an adapter for the mount.
Still, I did have to mow the back lawn with the old blade.
It did the job, and... even though it was only a week since the last mow, the grass back there was thick enough to kill the 10AH batteries again, before I was done.
Not quite as much of a struggle as last week, and I only had to use one more pair of batteries to get the whole back yard, but... two normal rainstorms really got it growing... in a week where the irrigation system was never used.
The lawn back there is now almost perfectly contiguous! Everything that got seeded... had grass!
I still have to do the front lawn today, but that should be easier.
------------{=0=}------------
As for the studio... I've been going through, Closer to You and beefing it up.
The bass line was very basic, for example, so in different parts of the song, I improved it... holding notes longer in some sections, and actually playing more notes in other parts.
I also rearranged the ending sequence, so that the big build with the horns happens three times, instead of once.
It comes earlier, after only four measures of refrain, instead of six... and then there are four measures again, in between the next two builds.
And after that, I've been trying to add in more instruments and more intensity with each time through.
Like the second time through, the piano comes in, and I may add a few flutes in there.
I'm still working on it... but so far, the new version is much more robust than the original version.
--<>--
I don't know when I'll tackle the vocals again, but I'm sure they'll be better than the first try.
I'm also in no particular hurry.
------------{=0=}------------
10:12PM
Okay!.. so, I did a little weeding around the yard, and then mowed the rest of the lawn, getting done by 7PM.
Then, sitting out back, I ordered the correct blade for the mower.
And then I sat there and watched the bats for a while... while listening to cicadas, and seeing the occasional lightning bug!
Snoop & Prowly stalked around in the darkening shadows.
But yeah!.. the cicadas are back in force now... and I've already mentioned that the bats are new to our airspace.
I wish there were more lightning bugs, but I've been leaving the flood light off since late June, in the hopes more will mate back there, and that we'll see more in the years to come.
Still no crickets yet, of course. But the yard has come a LONG way this year, so I'm very curious to hear what we get, come August.
------------{=0=}------------
Back inside, I worked a bit more on the music and then shaved and took my shower.
The laundry's in the washer, as I write.
--<>--
It's been an odd weekend, with the wasp nest, and the power bumps... but things are going okay tonight.
Tomorrow is another week, and I've got that balloon payment to worry about.
But we're also gonna get some more rain, and... I dunno... hopefully I'll find some time to get rid of the remaining topsoil, and seed the side yard by the porch.
And maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll get a better version of, Closer to You uploaded by the weekend.
------------{=0=}------------
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
Yesterday was only about two things... working on music, and mowing the lawn.
I had dinged the lawnmower blade pretty badly last week, and new ones arrived Saturday afternoon, but... it turns out they were the wrong brand and would not fit the mount!
But I won't have to return them, because I can order an adapter for the mount.
Still, I did have to mow the back lawn with the old blade.
It did the job, and... even though it was only a week since the last mow, the grass back there was thick enough to kill the 10AH batteries again, before I was done.
Not quite as much of a struggle as last week, and I only had to use one more pair of batteries to get the whole back yard, but... two normal rainstorms really got it growing... in a week where the irrigation system was never used.
The lawn back there is now almost perfectly contiguous! Everything that got seeded... had grass!
I still have to do the front lawn today, but that should be easier.
As for the studio... I've been going through, Closer to You and beefing it up.
The bass line was very basic, for example, so in different parts of the song, I improved it... holding notes longer in some sections, and actually playing more notes in other parts.
I also rearranged the ending sequence, so that the big build with the horns happens three times, instead of once.
It comes earlier, after only four measures of refrain, instead of six... and then there are four measures again, in between the next two builds.
And after that, I've been trying to add in more instruments and more intensity with each time through.
Like the second time through, the piano comes in, and I may add a few flutes in there.
I'm still working on it... but so far, the new version is much more robust than the original version.
I don't know when I'll tackle the vocals again, but I'm sure they'll be better than the first try.
I'm also in no particular hurry.
Okay!.. so, I did a little weeding around the yard, and then mowed the rest of the lawn, getting done by 7PM.
Then, sitting out back, I ordered the correct blade for the mower.
And then I sat there and watched the bats for a while... while listening to cicadas, and seeing the occasional lightning bug!
Snoop & Prowly stalked around in the darkening shadows.
But yeah!.. the cicadas are back in force now... and I've already mentioned that the bats are new to our airspace.
I wish there were more lightning bugs, but I've been leaving the flood light off since late June, in the hopes more will mate back there, and that we'll see more in the years to come.
Still no crickets yet, of course. But the yard has come a LONG way this year, so I'm very curious to hear what we get, come August.
Back inside, I worked a bit more on the music and then shaved and took my shower.
The laundry's in the washer, as I write.
It's been an odd weekend, with the wasp nest, and the power bumps... but things are going okay tonight.
Tomorrow is another week, and I've got that balloon payment to worry about.
But we're also gonna get some more rain, and... I dunno... hopefully I'll find some time to get rid of the remaining topsoil, and seed the side yard by the porch.
And maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll get a better version of, Closer to You uploaded by the weekend.
°¦}
