Hitting the Pause Button

Hello!

I hope your summer has gotten off to a great start!

Here in Phoenix the temperature has already reached triple-digits and we’ve already had some excessive heat warnings. It’s funny - I was listening to someone’s podcast the other day and they were talking about how they were so glad it’s summer and they can’t wait to go outside again because it’s been such a cold winter. 

I’ve lived in Arizona for so long now that I almost forgot that in most places in the country people actually do spend lots of time outside during the summer and look forward to the summer.

Someday I want to go and live somewhere cooler every summer - ideally a different place each year so I can explore different areas. 

But for now, I’m here. 

Last weekend I spent hours working on recording and producing my newest song. I had hoped that it would be ready to share this week but it still needs more work. I wrote the music on keyboard then input the chords into Hooktheory then imported the chords and bassline into Logic (using MIDI notes). I then did a vocal track and some background vocals. Then I decided to add some drums. Then I noticed that the verse melody didn’t go very well with the drums and remembered that I should have added drums before recording vocals. 

So I recorded a new vocal track that went better with the drums. 

Then I edited the keyboard MIDI notes to fix some parts - joining the MIDI notes in some parts and changing the volume of others. 

And just when I thought I was ready to move forward with it, I thought it might sound better a little faster so I increased the BPM (beats per minute). It did sound better. Although all the MIDI tracks automatically switch to the faster BPM, the audio tracks - aka my vocal tracks - don’t. That meant that I would need to re-record them all again and it was already Sunday evening so that means that recording vocals for that song went back to my to-do list for another time.

That brings me to the subject of this episode. Hitting pause on a project. 

Over the weekend, I decided that I needed more time to focus on the songwriting part of the songwriting journey and step back from documenting the journey, which is the focus of this podcast. 

So here in episode 25 of A Songwriting Journey podcast, I wanted to let you know that I’m going to pause the podcast for now to free up some more time for songwriting and family time. Or, more specifically, handling family matters such as preparing one of my son’s for a month away at summer camp and juggling summer work schedules, camp schedules and medical appointments. 

Although it has been a fun challenge to write, record and produce a podcast episode each week, I need to reprioritize my time and energy.

If you don’t a moment of self-indulgence - let’s recap this podcast. The first episode was the last week in December 2023 and since then, there’s been 24 episodes before this one that each included an original song. Plus my first book, “52 Weeks in 2021: A Songwriting Journey,” was released on Amazon in May, a book that includes the lyrics to 52 original songs, as well as access to the song recordings, in various stages of production. Getting that book published also took several months so between the podcast and the book and my family and my job, it’s been a busy and productive year so far.

I feel like I gave this podcast a good try and I’m so grateful for all of you who joined me for it each week. I really appreciate it and thank you for being listening. If I have anything else to share in the future, I’ll pop back in so if you haven’t subscribed yet and want to be notified when I do that, please subscribe. 

Meanwhile, I wish you the best on your own creative journey. 

I’ll end with one of my songs from 2021, called “Trust Your Intuition.” I wrote it when I was first learning logic and after taking an online course with master songwriter Ryan Tedder, where he suggested starting a song with a “vibe track.” So for this one, the music came first followed by the lyrics, which is usually the opposite of how I do it. 

Thanks again for listening and for joining me on a songwriting journey! 

Trust Your Intuition

Why are you waiting to knock on that door?
This could be the one you’re waiting for
You pretend you don’t care anymore
But you’re crossing your fingers

You try to understand your mind
Second guessing what’s inside
Don’t overanalyze
What you’re feeling

Trust your intuition
When your inner voice speaks, listen
Break through inhibition
Trust your intuition

You keep on trying to conquer the day
Then feel your courage slowly slipping away
Always worried what people may say
Insecurity lingers

You try to understand your mind
Second guessing what’s inside
Don’t overanalyze
What you’re feeling

Trust your intuition
When your inner voice speaks, listen
Break through inhibition
Trust your intuition

Feel your feeling

Trust your intuition
When your inner voice speaks, listen
Break through inhibition
Trust your intuition

Give yourself permission
Trust your intuition

© Leisah Woldoff