I went to the gym yesterday and worked out my biceps and back. Everything was good yesterday, but today I woke up with with my biceps really sore. They haven’t felt like this in a long time. It’s easy to get in the gym and be able to sustain the pain for a while. It’s hard to know exactly how much I’m working the muscle until I wake up the next day. I’m mostly afraid of stretch marks. I need to consume as much protein as I can.
I went to bed around 5 or 6:00 a.m. this morning and just got up. I haven’t talked about my “One Night Stand” project in a while, but it’s still going. I still work on it every day, it’s just hard to report ’cause I keep doing the same thing: write and erase. I’m just not satisfied with what I’m doing, but about three days ago I started writing in a different way and so far I’m liking it.
I think other project are going to take less time to write. This one is taking so long because it’s the first one. I’m learning from it. It’s been how many months since I started working on it now? Shit…
Starting a workout program can be challenging. Making the time to exercise, creating a balanced routine, and setting goals are hard enough, but add to that the muscle soreness that comes with adapting to that regimen, and it may be difficult to stay on track.
Since the last time I reported on the “One Night Stand” song, I’ve added a bunch of stuff to the track and taken some things out also. It’s starting to sound more and more like a hit. I’m taking my time all the way to the end until I get everything right. It’s a learning process.
I’m tired, but not enough to go to bed yet. I’ve been working on my music pretty much all day so maybe I’ll give it a rest for a couple of hours and watch a movie. See if I can come up with new ideas I can use later … who knows.
Antoniobullen.com is coming together nicely too, I did that research I wanted to do today also. It’s top secret… and I also came up with a billion dollar idea. I’m going to put it in paper for now and that’s it. I want to stay focused on my music for now.
I just woke up. For the next 14 hours I’m going to be studying for my Microeconomics test. I need to make sure I get a good grade on this one. I went to the gym yesterday and ran for 45 minutes. It felt good and now my muscles are sore. It’s been a while since I’ve been this way, but I don’t mind.
The progress on “One Night Stand” continues. I re-wrote the first verse once again and I’ve been feeling good about it for the past day so hopefully this is the last time. I don’t want to be re-writing the whole song and then not like it in a couple of days, so I’m just messing with the first verse now.
A couple of things I want to do: I want to start learning Italian, so I made a new topic section called “My Italian for the Day” and I want to start learning one word or phrase every day that I will post there. Even if I don’t do it every day, writing about it is going to help me see the progress. I would also like to start doing the same for the gym. Especially when I start lifting weights again, but that may take a little longer.
So far I’ve been recording the first verse of the song over and over until I get it to sound right. There is definitely a lot of progress. Tomorrow I’m going to try recording the final version and move on to the second verse.
I played the vocals together with the beat today and it sounds pretty good. I’m riding with the beat, which was my biggest thing before. I’m over that one. Now it’s the way I flow the words, make them shine and I’m going to get it right.
It’s been another easy day. I’m seriously trying not to work for as long as I can. I had my Managerial Accounting class this morning and I’ve got Spanish at 5:30, then I’m done.
I’m only missing half a verse to complete the lyrics on “One Night Stand.” I wish I could just do it right now, but the right ideas are not coming to me and I don’t want to push it.
I’ll definitely be doing some rewriting later when I start working on the vocals mainly to make sure everything flows well, but this is pretty much the bulk of it.
My brother is here, he made it to his new home safely and Monday we’re going to look for a two bedroom apartment.
Mentally I’m a little tired, but I’ve got a lot of energy right now so I’m not sure what else I’m going to do now. Maybe I’ll work on antoniobullen.com. Yeah… I need to get that new homepage done.
I am working on the fourth verse of “One Night Stand.” I thought I was moving kinda slow, but it’s been a week and I would have had the whole song already if it was a standard three verse song.
I recorded the first verse and I’m actually riding with the beat, but it sounds very squarish. No flow or smoothness to it. It’s very old school if you know what I mean. So that’s going to be the next step after I finish writing the song. Figure out how to make the vocals sound good. The last thing I work on is going to be the production: dressing up the lyrics is how I think of it.
My little brother, Alex, is coming today from Panama and he will be living with me for the next two years. Well, until the end of the year really cause’ then I’m going down to Mexico for a year and a half to finish my studies. At least that’s the plan.
Back to the vocals though, I don’t know why the vocals that I hear on everything that is on the radio sound so different from what I have. I don’t think it’s the microphone anymore. I think it has to do with mixing, but what? I guess it’s going to be like when I had to figure out how to make the beats sound better.
Hmmm… in the middle of writing another verse for “One Night Stand” and I’ve got ideas but the words are not coming out right. Still I’m putting it all down on paper cause tomorrow I can look at it again and rearrange. At least I’ll still have the main idea.
I also worked on the beat and I know where I’m going with it. Even though I’m learning a lot I feel this song is taking so long… I feel like I should be moving a little faster with it. Maybe I should start forcing myself to spend more time on it.
I also thought about changing the title, but I don’t know if I really want to do that yet. The title has to be catchy, and even though the phrase is pretty common and the title has been used many times before, it’s easy to remember the name of the song. The other thing is no other lyric I’ve seen with the same title has been made into a story. I’m basically telling a story from beginning to end from a man’s perspective and without the playa bullshit. Everybody knows women sometimes don’t want more than just a one night stand, but the story I’m telling is about the most common road on these type of situations.
Yesterday I went to bed around 4:00 a.m. and woke up around 3:00 p.m. I was working on the second verse for “One Night Stand” and got half of it done. I got this new idea for the other half of the verse plus the third that I’m going to start working on. When I’m done with this song it will be really good.
I’ve been working on antoniobullen.com ever since I got home from my class. I got some work done on the page layouts and then I started posting all of the entries from my trip to Europe in 2004 that I was missing. I have them in a journal and I needed to get that on my website so now it is.
I’m not tired so I’m going to work on my music now.
I just finished writing the first verse for One Night Stand and I’m really liking it. It fits into the beat, but what’s important is that I preserved the story and actually made it even more interesting.
I got to do some homework right now, eat then go to a couple of classes so when I come back I’ll start working on the second verse. I’ll be reading my work every day just to make sure I still like it, so who knows what I’ll think about it tomorrow. I really don’t know how I could end up thinking it’s not good at all though.
I can’t wait to put everything together and make it sound real nice. In my head I already started picturing a video for it too. It’s not a porno, well it could be a little bit.
Damn…. I’m a little bummed. I’ve been working on this “One Night Stand” beat for a couple of hours now trying to put together that last idea I had and honestly right now it’s sounding like garbage. I did some other changes that are OK, but the main idea that I had is not a good sound right now. I still think it’s a good idea, it’s just not going to be as easy to put it together as I first thought.
I think that if I would just stick to the sounds that are currently on the radio, coming up with this beat would be much easier. But because what I’m trying to do is something new, it’s going to be harder. At least that’s my personal opinion. I’ll get it right. It’s just a matter of time.
Alright, alright… I started writing this post at 6:30 a.m. and right in the middle of it I came up with this other idea so I had to try it… about an hour later, I think it actually sounds better now. I may keep it, but it’s probably not as creative as the one before. Maybe I should use both. I don’t know yet…
I now understand that the problems I was having before with “One Night Stand” where as much lyrical as rhythmical. The lyrics and the beat just didn’t go well together. The way I’m looking at it is that I was trying to fit a woman wearing one of those elaborate dresses into a sports car. They’re both nice, but not made for each other.
If I would have given up on my lyrics or the beat months ago, I would have never come to the understanding I now have. Something that I will never forget and can use on any other piece of music or lyric. I needed to understand why it wasn’t working. And that’s what I’m all about: the why. There’s no point in doing something well when you just got to it once, or maybe twice. But you don’t really know how to make it happen over and over. Ironically, that’s how one night stands happen: one person either knows very well or doesn’t know how to help the situation.
I find out the whys for everything. That’s how I’m good at what I am so far. And I feel that much stronger now that I know.
I got tired of working on lyrics so I put it aside for a few hours and started working on the beat for One Night Stand. I want to up the tempo on the beat, but not just the tempo but the actual feel/soul. So I got this idea and I think it’s going to work, but it’s taking a lot of work.
I just finished chopping a couple of clips I’m going to be taking samples from and I still have four more. After a few hours of listening to the same sounds over and over, I think I’m ready to go to bed. When I wake up I’ll try using what I have sampled so far to see how it’s sounding and then finish sampling the rest of the clips.
Hopefully it’s going to sound as crazy as I wanted to sound. If it doesn’t… I’m back on the start line. Of course, I always have the lyrics to work on.
Sure enough… I spent time studying B.I.G. and learned something new. Now I’m actually writing lyrics. I’m writing the second verse for a song I’m calling “I Will Be Back”. The song addresses my family, devoting a verse to my mom, one to my dad and the last one to my brothers. Each one talks about different issues and stays within the message of me coming back to visit them. It’s good practice. I like it, but it’s probably not something most can relate to. That’s OK cause I feel like I have to make this song. After I finish on “I Will Be Back” I’m going to start working on “One Night Stand”.
I got my video camera today. I already made a quick test video, but I’m working on getting the software to be able to open it on my computer add a splash screen at the start and end of the video. Make it look all professional and shit. I got this feeling right now of moving forward, which I love, I pretty much always feel this way but usually I don’t feel like I’m moving this fast. Ever since I stopped working, I have all this time to actually do what I want to do. I wish it could always be like this, but realistically next week I’m going to have to start looking for a job. A part-time job that is. I’m not killing myself anymore. I need to focus more on the things I really want to do.
I’ve spent a few hours studying Jay-Z’s Blue Magic, Tupac’s California Love and Still Ballin’. Mainly looking at the lyrics and trying to come up with some guidance for better riding. I came across something huge I think. I’m not even going to say what it is, but it’s going to help me a lot. This is definitely going to help me sync my lyrics and beats together.
What I learned today actually helps me make better beats too. At some point I will start calling my beat master pieces. The biggest thing right now is going to be working on the vocals. Still got a little nasal congestion so that’s on rest for now. Step by step though. I need to simplify the “One Night Stand” lyrics so it can fit into my beat and start working on a flow.
I feel like I still need to learn some new things about writing lyrics before I go ahead and start writing again. I don’t want to be redoing my shit a million times whenever I learn something new. So I’m going to keep studying this guys a little bit more and then do the lyrics. Maybe I’ll start tomorrow. I’ll be looking into Notorious B.I.G. Every time I study him and end up learning something new. His freestyle is sick. I haven’t heard anyone get close to him. If I ever get into free-styling, I want to sound as good or better than B.I.G. Check this video from YouTube so you can see for yourself what I’m talking about. The dude is coming up with shit on the spot and skipping the cuss words just for the radio… that’s some true shit if you ask me.
