Vidya Lutchman – Singer Songwriter Musician – Updates Releases Live Shows

After coming home tired and spent I realized how easily my confidence can be shaken just from one person’s opinion. I’d like to think that after years of working on building myself back up from my broken youth that I would not be so vulnerable to bend at the slightest remark. Granted this stuff of progress is just that – A constant struggle towards your end goal that doesn’t follow in a neat linear direction.

In the case of making music, I would always be the first to question my abilities thinking “Oh, what I’m doing is too simple” or “I’m not a musician”. In reality, sure what I’m doing on the guitar is simple but it’s still music. Most of my favourite songs that I listen to over and over again are based around simplicity. Those are the most memorable. Perhaps, that’s what I have to remember, and not get caught up with the fact that I’m not creating crazy musical arrangements but rather a simple pop song.

Sometimes the most difficult thing in music or any art for that matter is accepting what you do to be that very thing that sets you apart and defines your own style.

I surprised myself last week by getting almost all of my recording done for rhythm guitar. I finished five out of seven tracks. The neighbours were out for most of the morning and from what I could tell their tiny terror spent the rest of the afternoon at someone else’s house – Ahh, peace and quiet! Soon I won’t have to worry about scheduling my recording around the activity of my rowdy neighbours because I’ll have my own house – Yay! Good riddance apartment living I say!

As I sat down to listen to one of the songs once it was lined up with all the other tracks, a smile crept across my face… What a good feeling it is to at last feel comfortable in one’s skin. Even if these recordings don’t come out perfectly, they will at the very least provide an accurate representation of my songwriting ability.

Finally, this is my sound.

This weekend the plan was to record my guitar tracks. Everything was set up in the office, which doubles as the recording studio for now, ready to go. Thursday however was all eaten up by house hunting – yes there is finally light on the horizon and we will be escaping this hell hole we’ve called home for 10 years. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a decent apartment, the rent is good and there’s hot water and heating included but you get to a point in life, like me at the age of 31, where you just want a place all your own.

Something my lovely husband said to me when I was whining about getting out of here struck me as the sweetest thing – He said home is wherever we are together. He’s absolutely right.

Today I’m recovering from the flu. I spent the entire day in bed yesterday sleeping. This morning I woke up feeling a little bored so I checked my email of course – I am so obsessed with mail! By the way all you people on facebook please write! I will respond, promise!

Although I didn’t get to record my guitar tracks this weekend I did buy a house. Ha! Not too shabby.

So far December has been pretty hectic but I guess that goes without saying given that the holidays play a big part in that. However, this year, aside from the usual Christmas preparations I was busy getting the guide tracks down for all the songs on the album and having the musicians come in to record.

Once the scheduling was out of the way and it came time to the actual recording work I realized how no matter how much you prepare there’s no preparing for how musicians will perform in the end. Each individual is different with their own style of working and their set of limits or strengths. The challenging part is to know how to customize each session so that you get the best take out of each musician and do your best to keep them comfortable and happy while they’re at it!

In my case especially, I found this to be an important factor to note since the musicians I was working with were volunteering their time so the same incentive may not be there as there is for paid musicians.

Next up is the violinist and I’m very excited about working with her. This will be my first time including violin on my arrangements and I think it will be a great addition.

It’s now 7 in the morning and I’ve been up since 4. Yup, sounds crazy I know. I would be a little more worried about my well being if I hadn’t gone to bed at 8:30 last night so technically I’m doing okay.

A sound night’s rest has been particularly challenging these days since I’ve been preoccupied with the major life changing endeavour of finding a home and finally moving out of my apartment which I’ve been in for the past decade. Sadly, I’m not exaggerating.

Moreover, I’ve been up nights thinking about my album recording – going over the schedule, deciding what is the best way to record the guide tracks, checking off who I have to call… Suffice to say, there is a whole lot of planning that goes into recording. Just looking at my calendar you’ll quickly see by the amount of notes scribbled down and scratched out how taxing the process can get especially when you’re working with other musician’s schedules who are volunteering their time.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I’m not enjoying this it’s just that I’m eager to move on from the prep stage to the actual working stage of recording. That’s when you get to see the real fruits of your labour come to life and let’s pray that the end result will not be sour fruit.