Progress, decisions, experiments, and lessons from building a life in music.
Inside the process
Here’s how the songs and projects take shape, through recording, collaboration, and feedback.
What I tried. What happened. What I learned. What comes next.
Right Now
Get Three to Five Songs Ready.
I’m narrowing the immediate goal to three to five songs I can sing in front of people. Once they’re ready, I intend to try them at karaoke bars with permission from the DJs.
I’ve now finished two songs with producers overseas. They give me foundations for recording and working with a band while I prepare the rest.
What I'm Working on Next
Prepare the Songs
Record over the finished foundations, practice the vocals, and prepare the remaining songs until I’m ready to take three to five songs into a room.
Try Them at Karaoke
Once the songs are ready, ask the DJs for permission to use my tracks. Sing them, see how they land, and use that experience to guide the next step.
· Progress since October 1
Two songs finished. Lady Lake looks possible.
Songs / Overseas Producers
Finished two songs with overseas producers—usable foundations to show a band and record over.
I want to see what a band brings to these versions, with further recording, mixing and mastering as possibilities.
Lady Lake Festival / Feasibility
Completed much of Lady Lake’s feasibility evaluation, with an approval path to pursue and ice-sculpture pricing within the scope of a pilot festival.
The information I got from approval authorities suggests the idea is feasible, or at least possible. There’s an approval process I can follow when I’m ready.
The price for the sculpture I want isn’t prohibitive in the scope of putting on a pilot festival. That answers a large part of the feasibility question.
· Focus & the first live test
Getting the songs ready. Thinking about the first test.
Refocused the website on my journey as an artist and producer: the music, the process, and opportunities to collaborate.
The First Live Test
I’m narrowing the immediate goal to getting three to five songs ready. Once I’ve got them ready, I intend to audition them at karaoke bars with permission from the DJs.
That’s the idea I’m exploring for the first test. I want to find out how the songs feel to sing in a room and how people respond. I still need to get the tracks and vocals ready and ask the DJs.
A Clearer Website
I listened to feedback about the website. My original concept was a bit unclear: was I looking for collaborators, an audience, or people to follow the experiment?
The homepage now invites people to listen, follow along, or collaborate. Lady Lake remains a separate festival project with its own identity.
Sharing the Work. Keeping the Finances Private.
I thought publishing budgets and costs would attract collaborators. I’m learning that openness needs a purpose. The numbers help me plan and negotiate; they don’t need to be public. I’ve retired the costs page and will share decisions, results, and lessons while keeping the financial records private.
What I’m taking from the feedback
Pick one small goal I can achieve in three or four months. Preparing three to five songs gives me a starting point.
Get feedback early. Trying the songs in a room can teach me something before I commit to a larger production.
Interest is useful; willingness to pay is stronger evidence. A karaoke audience’s response is an early signal. I still need to learn what people would pay to attend or buy.
From the production work
I’ve settled the keys for two of three songs through revisions. The productions are still in progress.
Small trials help me assess collaborators before committing to more songs.
I’m looking at what each fee delivers: usable backing tracks, revisions, and files I can keep working with.
Earlier entries preserve my thinking at the time. I’ve removed the specific funding amount from those entries; the original funding-hook experiment is now retired.
· Song keys, revisions & the bigger picture
Two keys settled. One still to go.
Song Keys / Production Revisions
I’ve selected the keys for two of three songs and gone through a revision with both overseas engineers. I’m still finding the right key for my voice for “You Said I Could Be Anything.”
In the last entry, I was trying to figure out whether a song sounds best comfortably in my range or higher up, where I bring more energy and growl. I’ve now made that decision for two songs. That’s progress on the question I was wrestling with, even though there’s still work to do.
The revisions are part of working through these productions with the engineers. Choosing the keys doesn’t mean the songs are finished; it means I’ve settled that part of the process for two of them.
Artist and Producer
Updated the website to reflect building a music business as both an artist and a producer, with room for festival projects like Lady Lake.
Lady Lake still has its own identity. I want to keep it separate from my artist profile, but producing a festival belongs in the larger story of what I’m doing in music. The website now makes room for both.
· Festival building & vocal development
Festival building + vocal development
Launched the Lady Lake Festival website, a separate festival project I’m developing. Also working with two new scratch tracks to find the right keys and figure out where comfort ends and my best vocal performance begins.
Lady Lake Festival
I got the Lady Lake Festival website up. Lady Lake is a separate project from Project Ravicens and something I want to keep separate from my artist profile, but it still feels worth documenting here. I’m putting together the concept for a music festival around something I’m passionate about, and producing a festival is part of the larger work I’m doing in music. This is the producer in me having a mind that doesn’t rest.
I would also like Project Ravicens to eventually perform at Lady Lake. How that decision gets made will depend on what the festival becomes and how it is organized, so for now I’m treating them as separate projects with a possible intersection later.
Scratch Tracks / Vocal Development
I’ve been practicing with the two scratch tracks I’ve gotten back so far. They aren’t complete productions yet. Right now I’m using them to work through the songs and find the right keys for my voice.
Finding those keys is more difficult than I expected. I’m trying to figure out whether I sound best when a song sits comfortably in my range or when I push the key higher and have to bring more energy and growl into the vocal.
There’s a difference between comfortable and great, and I’m trying to figure out where that line is for my voice.
A Third Engineer
I start working with a third engineer on September 25.
· Engineers & producers
A first hire. A few possibilities. Results pending.
I've finally found a few engineers through Upwork to explore working with.
I've hired an engineer in Indonesia through Upwork and reached out to two more. Results pending.
Working with people overseas could help the budget go further. Differences in living costs and how far the dollar stretches may make it possible to find rates that work for both of us.
This week, I have an in-person appointment with a local engineer to work on “You Said I Could Be Anything.”
I have three sound engineers hired and two more pending—a potential team of five.
Coordinating several engineers will require clear assignments and a manageable workload.
· First entry
Smaller asks. Better demos. Still testing.
Lessons This Week
Working observations. Still figuring them out.
Lesson 001 · Testing
Maybe Don't Front With the Money
I'm testing smaller, job-specific asks instead of pitching the whole project at once.
What I thought: “Do I buy a car or build a music business?” sounded like a good hook. Still might be. It's specific, and there's something at stake.
What happened: I used it in professional outreach. At least one conversation became bigger than the referral I was asking for. It felt like I'd invited a review of the whole enterprise.
My current guess: The number may work better in the public story than at the start of a hiring conversation. I don't know whether the money, the scope, or something else caused that reaction.
Next test: Lead with the job, deliverable, and pay. Keep the funding story on the website and see whether the conversations change.
One data point. I need more.
Lesson 002
The Demo Can Be Its Own Thing
I’m separating the first recording from the larger task of building a band and a show.
A demo can answer smaller questions: Is the key right? Can I stay in the groove? Do I still like the song with my voice instead of the AI singer?
Those answers should be useful even if the arrangement changes. For now, the demo can just be the demo.
Lesson 003
Great Reference. Tricky Backing Track.
Some AI tracks sound fine until I try singing against them. The tempo drifts, a phrase stretches, or the AI singer apparently forgets humans need to breathe.
“This communicates the idea” and “I can record over this” may be two different things. Some tracks might work as they are. Others may need rebuilding. I'm finding out one at a time.
Lesson 004
Find the Person Who Solves the Next Problem
Instead of “find the musical director,” I'm asking: “What's the next actual problem?”
Right now, I need music I can sing against. Maybe a producer, engineer, or keyboard player can help. Building a band and a show may need somebody else.
That keeps the next hire focused on a specific musical need.
Experiments
Experiment 001 · Original approach; retired October 1, 2026
The Funding Hook
The idea
Does “buy a car or build a music business?” make people curious enough to follow along?
Tried so far
The number is in the public story and some professional conversations.
Early impression
It may draw attention, but it may also distract from a specific job. I don't have enough evidence to say.
Next test
Keep it on the website. Lead professional outreach with the specific work and pay, then see what changes.
Open Questions
Does the funding hook spark interest in the music? Does that change with the audience?
How much of an AI track needs rebuilding before I can comfortably sing over it?
Can I make useful demos before finding a musical director? Which songs work with my voice?
Is the first team a band, or a few people solving different problems?
What photography is needed to support the music at this stage?
How do I balance documenting the process with making the music?
Things That Changed
Professional Outreach
Before: Explain the whole project. Now: Lead with the specific job and deliverable.
Budget
Before: Spread money across lots of categories. Now: I'm leaning toward more for the music and the people making it. Feedback prompted this; it still needs to survive the actual budget.
Who Comes First
Before: Musical director. Now: A producer or engineer can help prepare the songs while I develop the live show.
AI Tracks
Before: Demos. Now: Concept references. Some may be usable; some may need rebuilding.
The Journey So Far
Read the dated entries above for production milestones, collaborations, and lessons. For a brief activity summary, visit the homepage.