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larryhammerThe natter I promised threatened a couple months ago. I like hobbies with fussocking about. Outlets for neurotic energies are your friend. Origami is prime here, but also playing recorder and ocarina and the like. Poetry, of course. Words of one beat. And mix-tapes. Well, mix-CDs. Whatever you call 'em.
I start with a theme or mood, usually a couple songs I see as connected. I Feel Like a Grown-Up Now started with "Shasta (Carrie's Song)" and "Her Point of View"; Strength, for When It Don't Come Easy with, well, "Strength" and "When It Don't Come Easy." Then I toss everything relevant I can think of into a playlist and start winnowing out what doesn't belong because of tone, quality, repetition, whatever. Then tweak it around a while -- song should follow song not just harmonically and in timber but in theme. Each succeeds the other, agreeing or elaborating or countering. A mix-tape is an argument in 80 minutes. Which means if the theme is too broad, I don't get anywhere -- as with the unfinished Piano Girls.
It took me a while to realize the process was similar to putting together my poetry collection, at least for arranging things. Yes, I have a poetry collection; no, it hasn't sold; yes, it's sitting on my desk now; no, I haven't figured what I'm doing with it. Poems of mythic, romantic, and spiritual transformation in three overlapping sections -- "overlapping" in the sense that several poems fit in more than one section. Which caveat, come to think of it, suggests why I'm dissatisfied with it -- it's so broadly themed. Though of course, a book is larger than an audio CD. Maybe I just need to find a better title than More Poems About Ants & Architecture. ETA: Anyone willing to look at the dratted thing and offer suggestions?
If anyone's interested, I can post a couple playlists.
I start with a theme or mood, usually a couple songs I see as connected. I Feel Like a Grown-Up Now started with "Shasta (Carrie's Song)" and "Her Point of View"; Strength, for When It Don't Come Easy with, well, "Strength" and "When It Don't Come Easy." Then I toss everything relevant I can think of into a playlist and start winnowing out what doesn't belong because of tone, quality, repetition, whatever. Then tweak it around a while -- song should follow song not just harmonically and in timber but in theme. Each succeeds the other, agreeing or elaborating or countering. A mix-tape is an argument in 80 minutes. Which means if the theme is too broad, I don't get anywhere -- as with the unfinished Piano Girls.
It took me a while to realize the process was similar to putting together my poetry collection, at least for arranging things. Yes, I have a poetry collection; no, it hasn't sold; yes, it's sitting on my desk now; no, I haven't figured what I'm doing with it. Poems of mythic, romantic, and spiritual transformation in three overlapping sections -- "overlapping" in the sense that several poems fit in more than one section. Which caveat, come to think of it, suggests why I'm dissatisfied with it -- it's so broadly themed. Though of course, a book is larger than an audio CD. Maybe I just need to find a better title than More Poems About Ants & Architecture. ETA: Anyone willing to look at the dratted thing and offer suggestions?
If anyone's interested, I can post a couple playlists.