About Me

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Nashville, TN, United States
My name is McLean Smith and I am an observer of life. I like to create music, capture experiences, and refine expression through my observations. To me, music is a feeling. It is something that captivates one in the moment and releases reactions unknown. It is something I wish to create for the rest of my life. It is something I hope to share with the world.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Revision of Strongest Body Point

To learn more about the songwriting process, I decided to write my own songs and compare my modus operandi with my peers. I supposed that my attempt at songwriting would provide valuable insights and further immersion into the subculture of Belmont songwriters.


The first song I wrote was entitled, “Why Did You Leave.” My inspiration sprouted from life’s uncontrollable circumstances in which people are torn apart. After I selected my topic, I chose to use my song as an informal address that would act as a catharsis. I predicted that my song would resonate with individuals because many people have been brutally hurt by their lovers’ destined departures. As I began to write, I tried to envisage an object that would flee upon individuals' perception of its presence. I thought of the wind and I began to write. My lyrics flowed continuously as if they were solely produced by the mere tactile stimulation of paper and pencil. As I concluded my song, I thought of confused souls who are left with unanswered questions; thus, I decided to end my song with two questions: "Where did you go? Why did you leave?"


Two days after my initial writing session, I recorded the background track and listened to said track as I read my song aloud. After practicing my song a few times, I made alterations to my lyrics to create better flow and refine my expression. I later recorded my spoken word track and distributed said track to Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube, and TuneCore.


The second song I wrote was entitled, “Sympathetic Oscillation.” In this song, I ruminated on the perspective of a individual whose geographical location produced perennial rendezvous with its lover. During my initial writing session, I brainstormed terms in the physical vernacular that I could incorporate into my song. I thought of words that related to sound and space: bodies, gravitate, orbits, curves, ellipses, transients, resonation, harmonics, overtones, stereo, and oscillation. After my brainstorm, my mind fixated on the image of two intersecting sine waves oscillating between their maximum and minimum points. I decided to use oscillation as my theme because it accurately reflected the situation I was attempting to describe.

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