[msore]

Deaman, thanks mucho. I am sure that some of what you said is due to the difference between live and recorded. Recorded/arranged songs are going to be somewhat more well-behaved and repeating than live versions.

My goal currently is two-headed: to learn how to use Reaper and its tools, and also to get as many songs of mine recorded quickly as I can. Since I got Reaper last year I have taken over 200 written songs and put them into Reaper form. Now I am going to start putting the best ones together to make a few CDs. My end intention is not to make it, or sell anything. I am too advanced in years for that. It is mostly for my personal satisfaction and to share my rich world of music with my kids and my brothers.

Another goal is that I know some people who are great musicians - with unique voices and instrumetal approaches - who really oughta be recorded.

The relationship between freedom and structure is a deep topic, and it is the core topic of every art. What seems "free" is usually very constrained by knowledge, tradition, patterns, composition, habits and artistic intentions.

Think, for example, about a great conversation. That does not occur when the parties think they are totally free to spout of whatever comes to mind. Rather it develops as people respond to the leads and constraints provided by others.