reAImagined: Notes on a musical experiment

When I first started writing and recording songs, I had a problem that most songwriters know well. You hear something in your head. Not just the words and melody. Not just the chords. You hear the atmosphere, the texture, the arrangement, the emotional weight of it. You hear the finished thing. Then reality intervenes. You have your instruments, your voice, your skills. Somewhere between that complete musical feast in your head and the finished recording, you have to make compromises and accept the limitations. I suppose this is really how recorded music has always worked. Every generation of musicians has used whatever technology was available to bridge the gap between their musical imaginings and the reality of getting those down on tape. Some are luckier than others and have producers and armies of musicians and orchestras at their disposal, others have greater skills and kit to get those sounds out and into the real world. Each innovation from the Hurdy-gurdy to the Roland TR-808…