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Music

Having to do with Delicately Off-Balance the duo, or music more generally.

EP Update: Things Are Great, Let’s Move On?

Those of you who know me – and let’s face it, I think that’s everyone reading this at this point – may be wondering, “Where are the EP updates? I thought you were making an EP. Aren’t you working on that right now? How is it going?” and similar. The answer is, I suppose, that it is going amazingly, fantastically well, it’s better than I’d even dreamed, I’m so excited about this project, and… I don’t really want to talk about it. I’m not overly… Read More »EP Update: Things Are Great, Let’s Move On?

Love It or Hate It

I have a complicated relationship with my voice, which I don’t think is uncommon among singers. In fact, I think a complicated relationship with your skills and talents is not uncommon regardless of what they might be. Sometimes I love my voice. I can hear power and strength, softness, tenderness, clarity. I can hear all the work I’ve put into learning how to use it. I can hear the emotion I’m trying to convey. And I really, really love it. Other times I hate my… Read More »Love It or Hate It

Stickers

We bought stickers from one of those custom branding places where you upload your logo and you can put it on all kinds of merchandise. We just thought, “I wonder if we could get stickers printed,” and then we did. Three sheets of twenty. We had a coupon code and took it out of the EP budget and in the grand scheme of things it wasn’t too bad. Why do we need stickers? Well, officially, we’re going to stick them on all our equipment and… Read More »Stickers

Inspiration

I’m pretty sure that somebody said that the first rule of inspiration is to be there when it happens, but my skill with Google is insufficient to track such a quote down. Let’s say, I may have been the originator of the sentiment, and if I was, I’m both impressed and disappointed. It’s true though, isn’t it? Unusual things happen all the time, and usual things happen even more often. But if somebody’s not looking at the right spot in the right light at the exact right… Read More »Inspiration

Holidays, Nostalgia, and Grief

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. There’s something about holidays that calls to nostalgia. And among holidays, for me, Christmas is the one that stirs up memories like more or less nothing else. And then those memories set off other memories and… well, I cry a lot around the end of the year. Nostalgia, my quick Google search tells me, is widely considered to be a good… Read More »Holidays, Nostalgia, and Grief

How I “Songwrite”

I thought it would be “fun” to talk about how I write songs. It might be of some interest if you either write songs yourself, or like my songs. Then again, it might not, in which case I apologise. It’s not always exactly the same, but the variations are as predictable as the basic method (typically amounting to swapping the order of any two given steps, or simply writing all the lyrics first), so I feel pretty comfortable calling it… my Process. Inspiration 90% of… Read More »How I “Songwrite”

A-DAW-rable: Baby Steps in Logic

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. I’m in a place right now where I’m wanting to pour a whole lot of information into my head at once. I want to be able to create beautifully finished home recordings, and I’m just not sure if that’s a thing that’s in my future. I’ve written before about The Buzz. Basically, it’s what I call the combination of anxiety and… Read More »A-DAW-rable: Baby Steps in Logic

Stage Fright

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. Lots of people experience stage fright. Not just beginners but also highly skilled performers. It’s no reflection on how good you are, or even how good you think you are, just a reaction to the idea of performing in front of whatever group of people you’re supposed to be performing in front of. Lots of people experience stage fright. I never experienced stage… Read More »Stage Fright

Learning with an Audience

2026 NOTE: My diagnostic situation has changed since I wrote this. See this post and the series of posts starting here for more information. I don’t know how many people actually enjoy doing things wrong, but I have to imagine there are plenty who don’t hate it as much as I do. I can just about do it when I’m on my own, but the problem with learning by making mistakes on your own is that you probably don’t know you’re making mistakes or, more… Read More »Learning with an Audience

The EP: Demo Day

This is less edited than usual, since I’ve written it mostly yesterday (in relation to the day I post it). Please enjoy the haphazard nature of today’s musings. There’s a project that’s been on my mind for several years now: going into a studio and recording my/our own songs. We’ve been saving up, birthdays and Christmases and what we could spare from bonuses and tax refunds. The process so far has been very slow. But now, we’re finally moving. We’re working on demos of the… Read More »The EP: Demo Day