i'm not really feeling this ambient workthrough, either. the piece is a little too structured for it; i've had to cut the tempo in half, which defeats the point (building backing tracks for the final mix). and, to be honest, i'm not sure how i could work even more sound into this, anyways; as it is, i've got something like 250 tracks to work with in the mix down, and most of them are never going to make it there.

i don't want to just do it for the sake of doing it. i was mostly focusing on the intro, and it's created a contradiction: i need to slow it down considerably to kill the energy in the "bass", but that also means i'm killing the energy in the "guitar", which is what was driving me to do the mix in the first place.

that means i'm more or less going to have to restructure it, but then i'm forcing it, which rarely works out well. and wasn't what i intended.

i haven't abandoned it yet, but i do think that this is the likely outcome at this point.

yeah. i think the right approach is to do this last.

the ideas my brain is giving me seem better suited for the techno version. so, if i do that first, it will open more space to think lyrically.

that means i'm moving to the ambient/synth mix, next.

i'm having second thoughts on that guitar concerto....

as i was mixing it, isolated pockets jumped out at me as good places for acrobatic licks. i thought to myself, "i should go to town with this.". but, i'm not hearing a good way to tie it together.

i want to avoid overdubbing a "boxy" solo. there's certainly enough going on in the track already. so, i want this to be free and expressive, rather than based on repetition. the track is already based heavily on repetition...

the way i write for lead guitar nowadays mostly involves listening. i'll put the piece on repeat for hours, allowing thoughts to coalesce in my mind. then, i'll go about the process of converting what i'm thinking into a playable part.

i spent most of yesterday listening, and my brain is just throwing boxy patterns and sort of cliched lines at me. it was those cliched lines that jumped out at me, and that i think could be used to good effect. but, they need some flow to make it worthwhile, and i'm convincing myself that the piece doesn't really have the space for it. it's less that it's a mechanical techno song and more that it's just already full of notes and colours on those notes.

i'm going to listen some more this morning, and will make a decision around when the sun comes up. i need to clean this morning, i'm past due. if it doesn't come to me clearly, i may turn to trying to write it out as somewhat of an aid.

but, i don't see the use in just piling on flashy riffs. if i don't get some more lyrical phrasing (or at least a semblance of it) in the next few hours, i'm going to put it aside. i may revisit it, though, before the single is closed. it's an idea that i want to work. i'm just not entirely confident that it's going to...