Thirds / Fourths

Owning up to a lifetime of weakness on the distorted creative processes and the unwritten law of thirds and of fourths: 

Much of yesterday was spent putting together a couple of song demos. First a drum and rhythm guitar part as an anchor, then a vocal track, then either a bass or a second guitar and so on. Laying down the drum and rhythm track is easily the most problematical. Using a drum machine there are multiple choices for type, pattern, sound and tempo, then breaks and intros and endings have to be added. I do this using a double switch stomp box on the drum machine whilst playing and recording the guitar part accurately and in time. 

My coordination in these tasks is suspect. Too many things going on and not helped by my general rule of getting it right on the fourth pass if not the third. Well that wasn't to be, I spent four hours rattling out the basic tracks for one song, recording and deleting it as the mistakes and confusion flourished. My error was that I had not fully planned out the arrangement or the song construction so I kept making stupid mistakes, falling into holes I'd dug myself. I should of course learn valuable lessons here, and I just might. Still the third/fourth rule grips me and the need to be quick, spontaneous and super creative shouts down the sensible advice from the whispers of common sense i.e. plan, take your time, practice. In the end I got there but it was painful and wasteful. Learn up or die.