* Originally, it was supposed to be a cover of Queen's "Show Must Go On" (for a friend's mod), but despite trying, it just never felt right. I tried making a really dark version of it, but even that was quite awkward. Covering anything from Freddie Mercury is bound to be a disaster, but what really stopped me from trying were the lyrics. They did not speak to me in any way, and singing "show must go on" was kind of weird because of the "o" vowels (primarily the "go on" in the chorus). I dunno.
* So, I decided to make a new song from scratch, with a similar "feel" of struggle, of looking ahead despite hardships. You can't (or shouldn't?) write such lyrics by just trying to imagine being in a situation like that, so I actually waited.
* The day arrived when I woke up with the melody and the first few phrases of the lyrics in my head. Inspiration had finally kicked in, mostly because that's how I felt at the time (lots of stuff going on...). I stopped everything else that I was doing and sat down to capture the moment and the emotion.
* I fleshed out some ideas and recorded the first draft with just the microphone of my webcam.
* I knew I wanted to practice my piano songs, so I rented a grand piano for two hours (instead of only one) to have enough time to sing the lyrics and play something for the new song as well.
* On the day of the piano reservation, I went over the lyrics again and made the last few changes. At home, I practiced a little to make sure I don't get stuck on some odd rhythm with the lyrics during the piano hours.
* I finally recorded the lyrics and improvised some piano notes. I still record using my trusty Zoom H4, by the way! (I bought that around 2008 or so for Halfquake Sunrise sounds.)
* Back home I made the first rough mix and called it a day (hands were exhausted from the piano playing). A few days later I decided to add some guitar, which I recorded at home.
* I made a few more versions, and another few days later I sat down and focused to build the final version. I slept on it again once more, fixed a few more things the next day and uploaded it to the interwebs.
By the way, in the image at the top, you can see I still use Samplitude Music Studio 15; I also have Samplitude Studio 2013 (and other programs), but I always come back to this one nowadays. I'm just used to it more, I guess.
I hope you enjoyed this little look behind the curtain. (: