I found this blog from February 2025. A year ago. I thought about it, after listening to the various track processes, and realised I had worked on the ‘Old Man’ song a bit more. End of last year actually. So I have edited the original post.

Also, I do not use AI at all. I like my songs as they are….naive, rough and ready. I play all the instruments apart from the drums. I have bought a Yamaha DD65 electronic drum set and intend the newly written songs for 2026 to have me playing drums on them.

Interestingly, a few people I have spoken too over the time spent since setting up my simple home recording studio, The Den, have asked how I use ‘modern technology’ to put my songs together. Their inference, reading between the lines, is that they think I use elements of AI. When I first got my recording gear of the Apple Mac M2, the AKAI MIDI keyboards and the collection of guitars and percussion instruments, it has been a process of myself simply learning how to play the musical instruments and capture whilst playing as a musician. When I showed my wife my first result on trying the system out, her answer? How does the GarageBand app add all those other instruments. After enquiring what she meant, she thought that I picked out pre-recorded tracks and never played on the songs.

I now wonder if others realise the process involved in my putting one of my songs together. Just by sitting down and playing each part physically. I can’t wait to be able to say, ‘Yes…I played the drums too’.

The original blog from February 2025 below.

This is the 9 step process of the song called Old Man. The simplest song to find to give an example of how the recording process works.

So here is the audio process of it all in audio presentation. The photograph of the Screen Shot shows from 1 to 7 the choice of instrument progression.

All the instruments of vocals, guitar and keyboards are played by myself.

When the recording is done, listening to the levels of each instrument played or sung allows a balance to be made. This is #8.

When the overall balance is done and happy vibes are there, the final tweak of how it sounds in the Big World is considered. #9.

#9 is the most difficult one of all. People nowadays listen on many different devices. This consideration? Still learning.

In virtually all songs the keyboards aren’t actually known until I get the guitar or guitar and vocals down. I listen through the headphones playing a chosen keyboard sound from the GarageBand library choices. There are thousands of them because the keyboards play all instruments. Not just piano or synthesiser sounds. So it could be a flute or cowbell or violin, etc. Then I just mess about with little tunes. Choose another keyboard sound and the process carries on. I just play another different melody. And then another. Etc…..

The final bit is to send the song by highest quality to my email account. Then transfer it to a ‘File’ and transfer that to iMovie. After I’m happy with that result, it gets uploaded to YouTube.

Tap below to hear the song on YouTube. Cheers.

Old Man as seen on YouTube.

Old Man was pretty straightforward. Simple catchy plinkety plonking type vibe. Tried to get it dancing with the guitar.

Here are the levels of the Old Man recordings. From drum with acoustic. To vocal #1. Vocal #2. Then a process of keyboard considerations. The photograph shows choices.