Welcome
I would like to "Welcome and Thank You" for taking the time to visit my site and experience the release of my first studio produced song - "For One Moment". It was an incredible journey spending the many hours in the studio perfecting my sound. I look forward to getting back in there to produce some more of my songs as I had a blast!
I would also like to mention something that I believe is rather important which is, I am NOT a professional in any of the areas that you would normally associate with someone being able to record/produce a song. I am not a singer, not a songwriter, not a musician, not a producer. I am a beginner in every sense of the word and every aspect of the song writing & recording process. Thus, the challenges I faced were enormous. However, being able to overcome them to actually finish my project in the manner in which I did, made the entire process even more enjoyable.
As I have mentioned, I am not a musician, I am a beginner pianist and a beginner guitarist which makes trying to create music for a song extremely difficult, lol. Nor am I a vocalist as I cannot sing, however, I did come up with 90% or slightly more of the vocals. I had no choice because my vocalists were studio musicians and they needed to know how the song was supposed to be sung. The vocals were even more critical to me because of how I utilized my vocal arrangements to assist in the overall development of the music as well as helping to adjust to certain lyrical changes. I must add that Rafia & Isy did a phenominal job as I could not have done this without them. During the creative process many ideas would pop into my head and usually vocals would be leading the way in what ever direction I would be headed. When ever and where ever I was at I was working on vocals, in the car, at work, jogging, sleeping, at a store, lol. I would always carry my little recorder ensuring that I didn't miss out on a good idea.
I am not a song writer. I am simply a beginner trying to learn the craft. Finally, I am obviously not a producer since I had never recorded a song prior to this song. Going into this project, the only aspect that I can say that I had a real capability would be writing. I have always been able to put words together, especially if they involved the language of love, lol.
There is one last aspect of my ability that was Vital to being able to accomplish this very difficult task of writing/recording/producing a song.
Problem Solving 101, a skill I have been utilizing for many years while running a beauty business.
Prior to going into the studio I would always know exactly what I was going into the studio to accomplish. Whether it was to correct, add or change something, I always had a specific agenda. After each session I would sit in my car and listen to the new track, reviewing all the changes that I had made. In problem solving the first 2 things that you Must be able to do is to 1a. Recognition - you must have the basic ability to recognize that an actual problem or the possibility of a problem exists in the first place. 1b. Remove any bias or emotional attachment you may have to the situation - Remove Your Emotions OR 99.999% of the time you will Fail at trying to solve what ever problem you may be dealing with.
As soon as I heard the new track I would instantly realize the changes I had made were positive. I knew I was heading in the right direction. However, I would also just as quickly realize the song was still garbage, lol. I would sit there and literally tell myself that, ok, I did a good job with the adjustments, but that I had to get back to work and keep pushing to make it better. I have a saying, “If you are not feeling it, you won't find it”. Meaning if you are not feeling a positive vibe that the song is good (without any bias), then it isn't worth releasing until you Feel it! You have to be able to be honest with yourself. An old saying - If you cannot be honest with yourself, who can you be honest with. However, IF you have done the best that you can do, then you should be happy as making music is extremely difficult to do. Me personally, I will keep pushing and hope, lol, that I can produce music that is worthy by other peoples standards, not just my own. Having said that, after each session I would start to feel the vibe I was searching for. But, I still was not feeling it in its entirety. I would go back again and again and again reviewing the entire track to find any and all areas of weakness. It was as I have previously stated, very difficult, but Very Much Worth my time. I Love the creative process.
Now that you are aware of the difficulties that I faced with trying to write and record my first song, some of you may have one simple question. What would motivate me to spend a ton of money, lol, so much of my time, along with enduring all the headache/stress to take on such a daunting task.
Easy answer - PASSION! I absolutely LOVE MUSIC! I am an extremely passionate guy and Music (along with racing open wheel cars) allows me to thoroughly express who and what I am. As an adult I have ALWAYS believed that if you are going to do anything in life, you either put everything that is within you into it, or why waste your time.
I say, put your foot to the floor, go go go, if you crash and burn so be it, at least you know you gave it everything you had:). ALWAYS take your Best shot, No regrets!
Thank You Again!
Sincerely,
Rikk