So, four days ago the Lord Jesus led me to begin to write a
new song. Now, that is not a simple task, even for a song that is home
recorded, or especially for a song that is amateurishly home recorded, whatever
the case may be. For, this one took four days to write from beginning to end.
I am being led of the Lord here to share that process with
you, because it is related to the message of this song and to life, in reality.
So, here goes:
The Process
First the Lord leads me to write a new song. Then, I sit at
the keyboard (piano) and plunk out a tune as I hear it in my head, which
sometimes needs to be refined once I have it all written down. Then, I
handwrite the notes down on a music score sheet. And, it isn’t just that I have
to know the notes to write, but I also have to know the timing and the key
signature, and if the song begins at the beginning of a measure or in the
middle, and I don’t always know this immediately, so I sometimes have to ask
for help.
Once that is done, I pray and I ask the Lord for lyrics to
go with the tune, and then he pours those lyrics into my mind, or he gives me
scriptures to read, which then he shows me how those fit with the notes to the
song, and so I handwrite or I type those lyrics, which also may need some minor
tweaking, from time to time.
Then, is the task to decide what chords go with those notes,
and I usually have to use a book and the internet to help me with that if the
chords go beyond just the basics. Then, once I have the chords chosen for each
song measure, I have to select how those chords will be played out in the song,
either as solid chords or as arpeggios, which are “the production of the tones
of a chord in succession and not simultaneously” (M-W Dict.).
Generally, I have two base lines and then the melody line,
so I have 3 lines of musical notes to write and to blend together in harmony,
one with another. And, that does not always work the first time around, so this
process may take a lot of tweaking until the notes sound right together and the
harmonies are good. And, I also have to figure out the introduction to the
song, musically speaking, and how the song will end, too.
Then, I put the notes into a computer song writing software
package. And, there I also put in the lyrics and the chord notations, so there
are quite a few intricate steps just in this process alone, which I have to
remember how to do each time, which can be complicated when there are updates
to software packages, and if there is a span of time in between songs.
I also have to choose the instrumentation for each of the 3
parts to the song, and computer generated instruments are not the best sounding
nor is there generally a sustain pedal to blend notes together, and so
sometimes it sounds like “plunk, plunk.” But, it is what I have to work with
and what I can afford, so that is what I use. And, so I play with the different
instruments to try to find the best combination of instruments for that
particular song.
Once this is completed, then the song is exported to a wav
file. That is then imported into a recording package called Audacity, which has
had new upgrades, and so I am still trying to learn the nuances of the changes
to that. Then, I begin the process of recording the song with my old rusty
voice which has definitely seen better days, but it is what I have, and so that
is what I use. And, God planned it that way, too. But, I may make an error and
then have to go back and fix it, and there are just all kinds of things that
can go wrong with this part, too.
Also, I often find that the blend (balance) of the 3 parts
does not always sound the same on the song writing package as it does once it
is in Audacity, and which it is once it is saved as an MP3, so there may have
to be some tweaking along the way in this process, too. So, I often have to go
back and forth between the song writing package and Audacity and the MP3 until
I get the right balance between parts, which doesn’t always come out perfectly.
So, now I have the song written, and I have my voice
recorded with the music, and now I have to put that MP3 into a PowerPoint slide
presentation, which I also had to create at some point in this process, and
that has its complications, too, for that also has had new upgrades I am still
getting used to, and so there is some trial and error involved there, as well. And,
a lot of this is just tedious organizational work, kind of like data entry, and
that can get very tiring, too.
Ok, so once the MP3 is in the PowerPoint slide, I must
record the MP3 into the slide presentation, and things can go wrong with that,
too, which they definitely did this time, as well as I had a big problem in the
writing of the song, too, on that software package, when the instrument panel
disappeared and I could not get it back.
But, all throughout this I just prayed, “Lord, this is your
song. So, if you want this written, I pray you will help me solve these issues.”
And, one of the things the Lord had me do, too, was to ask for my husband’s
help, because he was in IT for over 40 years, so he knows this stuff, or he is
really good at problem solving and figuring it out, too, and I greatly
appreciate his help. And, he did help me solve the two big issues I had this
time. So, thank you so much, Rick!
So, once the PowerPoint presentation is completed, then it
is saved as an MP4 and then it is uploaded to Vimeo which then provides me with
a link to the song so that I can then share it with all of you. Whew!!
It’s About Life!
But, what the Lord was showing me through this whole process
is that this is a lot like life. I mean, don’t we have all kinds of processes
we have to do every day, and some of them go wrong? And, sometimes we don’t
know what to do? And, oftentimes everything we try doesn’t work and we may even
feel like breaking down crying or hitting something, depending on our
personality makeup or whether we are male or female.
But, this is also a lot like our walks of faith, too.
Everything does not go smoothly, at least for me it doesn’t. Sometimes I hit
roadblocks along the way which temporarily may keep me from moving forward in a
particular direction. Sometimes the things that used to work don’t work like
they did before. People get angry with us. We get rejected. We get hurt. We
have to work through and pray through issues. We need help. We need direction.
But, not only do we need to pray and ask God for his help,
instead of getting angry or afraid, but we need to call on one another and ask
them for help, too, and not feel that we need to go this alone. For, we are the
body of Christ because we need one another. Not one of us has it all together,
and we were not intended to go it alone. So, we ask for prayer, or for counsel,
or for help, because we need that, and it humbles us, and that brings us
together as a body, and it helps others to feel they are needed, too.
So, instead of becoming anxious, we pray, and we ask for help,
but then we allow the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts. And, we keep
surrendering it all to the Lord, and we keep rejecting worry and frustration,
and we put on trust, faith, peace and joy, instead.
We don’t let these roadblocks or these obstacles stand in
our way or to take us out, but we pray them through and we trust the Lord with
them, and with whatever it is we are hoping to accomplish. We remain steadfast
in faith, unwavering, and we hold unshakably to the hope which we profess, no
matter what goes wrong, and no matter what opposition we may face, because we
know that our God is absolutely in control, and he has this handled. We just
have to believe him, and cast all our cares on him.
Unshakably
An Original Work /
November 29, 2018
Based off various
scriptures
Cast your cares upon your Lord.
Come to Him
All you who’re weary.
Know that He will
Give you rest.
Take His yoke upon you
And learn from Him
And you’ll find your rest.
For His yoke is easy
And His burden’s light.
It’s His to bear.
Find the peace of Christ in heart.
Let the peace of Christ
Rule in your hearts,
And be then
So thankful.
And, the peace of God
Which is beyond all
We can comprehend
Will guard your hearts
And your minds in Christ,
For He is Lord of all.
Hope in God will not betray.
Let us hold
Unshakably to
The hope that
We now profess.
For the One
Who promised hope
Is faithful to
His ev’ry word.
Therefore, with minds
That are sober,
Set your hope
On Christ’s return.
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