I got a bass guitar for Christmas last year.

I’m loving it.

I’ve been practicing and trying to learn the fundamentals, and I’m having a lot of fun, even if I am clearly not a prodigy or in any way “gifted” with a talent of magic fingers.

It’s all good, I’m just having fun.

Irony

I thought a positive side of that is that I don’t have to deal with accusations of my recordings being created by AI. I give you the full human experience of imperfection on display.

Turns out I was wrong on that.

I guess a troll’s gotta troll…

Anyway, moving right along.

So here we are, at just over six months later, and I present an exercise in writing and recording a song.

For the Record

I also recognized that I could create a record of my growth over time, and that doing so would be of benefit in several ways.

I just had to swallow my pride and put it out there.

I chose Soundcloud as the place I would “put it out there”, mostly because I had already created an account there a long time ago, and uploaded a couple of files.

Path of least resistance, for the win.

A Wrong Bassline

So this all started with one of the first basslines I tried to learn.

I didn’t get it quite right.

I admit that freely, and I will verify the song if anyone figures out what it is supposed to be from.

I got the notes mostly right, but I completely ignored the written tempo and played it at MY TEMPO!

But I stuck with it, and I like it.

Vocals

Barely.

Spoken word, more like it.

I guess the kids might call it rap.

I call it a mic-check exercise.

File it under “Funk”.

Trying to sing/speak at the same tempo of the bassline, I realize why it(the bass line) is so much slower in the original song I failed to copy accurately.

So the ultimate focus for vocals was to not mumble, keep a consistent level, and stay reasonably on beat.

If I was going to keep working on this, I would experiment with the lyrical rhythm.

Production

Minimal, some compression and reverb. The lead guitar has distortion and wah-pedal. Pretty basic stuff.

I used Reason 12 to record everything.

Oh yeah, I’ve also had to learn how to do a lot of things in Reason. Still learning that, actually, so this is a history of my progress with producing music as well.

I’ve been uploading artifacts of the experience to Soundcloud (see below).

You can hear a lot of variety between the different songs, even though it is the same basic beat and bass line.

Things have come a long way in the music production realm, and the world is a better place.

Ultimately, it’s been lots of fun so far.

Receipts

So here are the different recordings I posted over time, illustrating the evolution of a bassline, from a daily exercise to an “actual song”.

New Bass (alternate mix): https://on.soundcloud.com/bjGFT3G9NEnLhw38lG

Feb 1, 2026: https://on.soundcloud.com/hQmxi2T6oOpP2ZPv2L

Testing Mix – In Reason 12: https://on.soundcloud.com/ak19H57TSwGx28sbIQ

Howz Muh Toan?: https://on.soundcloud.com/gbgJkHtZQ4hzLdzUCE

Day 2 Day: https://on.soundcloud.com/vxZKafyvmvSbHypra7

As always, thank you for your kind attention and support!

There once was a field of people- I mean, flowers. Definitely talking about flowers here…

Flowers

They all stood with their hearts- that is, I mean, their blooms of flower petals- they stood with their blooms completely closed up, in tight little buds with not a single petal showing.

The sad part of this story is that they all wanted desperately to open up, but they were too afraid to do so.

There was a deep fear in all of them that kept their buds tightly closed. A fear that if they should bloom, they would be mocked, ridiculed, and treated badly.

It was a strong and valid fear based on shared trauma. They had all learned that if they revealed their blooms, vicious weeds would judge their petals harshly, insult their colors, and try to strangle them, telling them that their blooms were all wrong.

Weeds

There were many weeds among the flowers, and by their nature, they were thorny, nasty, and cruel. The weeds stole the resources needed by the flowers, and thrived in the miserable ugliness they created.

The weeds told everyone that weeds were the coolest, but they were wrong, just as they were wrong about most things.

Unfortunately, some of the flowers believed the weeds, because they were just simple flowers, after all- and they were easily scared by the relentless cruelty and fear-mongering of the weeds.

The weeds hated the fact that they could never create anything as valuable as the love the flowers hid inside their tightly closed buds. So they belittled the flowers and did everything they could do to stop the flowers from blooming.

When the flowers quit blooming, the cruel weeds felt more powerful, less ugly, and less useless. This is because weeds only know how to create misery and hardship for others, and they can only appreciate something if it causes pain for someone else.

Paradise Lost

So it was, that with all of their cruelty and stupidity, these ugly weeds managed to create an environment in which the flowers could never dare to bloom.

The weeds filled the spaces where the blooms should have been, and the weeds consumed everything meant to feed and care for the poor flowers.

In the process, the weeds created a toxic orange filth, a filth so terrible that it had no limits. This filth even clogged up the waterways, and filled the sky with a terrible stain of disgusting corruption that poisoned everything with misery.

So the land, water, and air were ruined, and filled with a sad and toxic darkness. The world was strangled by greedy weeds and smothered with orange filth to the point that nobody dared to bloom.

The fear was oppressive, and you could feel it in the air and see its influence on every bit of depleted, cold, weed-infested land.

All the flowers quit blooming, and their buds shut up tightly against the cruelty of the world, which had become overrun with hateful, cruel, orange-crusted weeds.

Connection

But one day a flower that would be Blue, discovered a powerful flower stem growing on the edge of the meadow.

This flower stem on the edge of the meadow had somehow found a path towards the light, and had managed to avoid the cruelty of the weeds.

In a startling act of innocence, this flower had grown Straight and Strong, and formed a bud that was so completely closed up against the orange filth of the land that it proved impenetrable to the corruption.

This towering flower had a powerful strength of purpose which was conspicuously absent in the surrounding weeds. The strength of purpose in this flower had already followed its nature to grow far beyond the ugliness of the weeds.

The weeds could not understand how this stem of a flower, Straight and Strong, could be so tall, so they convinced themselves it wasn’t real, and then they all ignored it, as stupid weeds are known to do.

However, the ignorance of the weeds could not change the fact that this flower had somehow grown so strong that it now defied the strangling weeds. In this surprising act of growing true to your nature, Straight and Strong demonstrated an ability that both startled and awakened the flower that would be Blue.

In a flash of wonder, the flower who would be Blue lost all control and asked Straight and Strong how it had managed to grow so tall and powerful?

In this moment of excitement and wonder, the flower who would be Blue forgot to be afraid to bloom, and completely opened their bud. In doing this simple thing, they also exposed their bloom of True Blue petals.

Transformation

The incredible beauty of Blue was a shocking revelation.

The delicate and beautiful blue petals stood in outrageous contrast to the surrounding orange filth that covered everything.

This sudden spot of color broke the spell of the cruel weeds, and as the spell of cruelty broke, a wave of compassion washed over the land, cracking open the crust of orange filth.

This unexpected display of Blue had even melted the resolve of Straight and Strong for an instant, softening their bud in that briefest of moments.

In that moment, the bud of Straight and Strong began to open in response to Blue, without hesitation, without even thinking. It was a heartfelt response to the beauty of Blue showing their true colors, in an unguarded moment of sincere wonder, connection, and respect.

In this moment of innocent recognition, a simple trust formed between the two flowers. As their true nature was revealed, they found a bond of safety and trust in their compassionate awareness of each other.

Such strength radiated from this connection that the other flowers couldn’t help but notice.

The startling example of Straight and Strong responding to the beautiful sincerity of Blue was impossible to ignore. Everyone watched in wonder as the closed-up bud of Straight and Strong suddenly exploded in an array of golden petals.

As Straight and Strong opened its bud, the magnificent petals unfolded into a dazzling bloom of a giant sunflower, rising high above everyone in the meadow.

Straight and Strong’s petals fully emerged, transforming itself into its ultimate true nature, Sunflower.

Sunflower stood tall, and bloomed like a smile.

Sunflower bloomed a beacon of awareness, and a golden display of inspiration, dazzling with beauty and potential.

So impressive was this act of Sunflower blooming, that the surrounding area was illuminated with a new light and sense of wonder, and a shared yearning to be free of the orange filth that had been strangling the land.

Clarity

In this moment, it was suddenly inconceivable that such glory could have ever been contained and hidden from the world. The display of beauty and courage was as strong and comforting as a giant hug from all the mothers that had ever loved a child.

As this warming of the land progressed, the other flowers were likewise transformed, and they all became aware of their own blooms that they had been keeping hidden from the world.

Suddenly everyone wondered why they had been so afraid- and then they began to wonder about other things they had been afraid of. As the sense of wonder grew, a feeling of safety followed, and then each of the flowers began to open their blooms and reveal their true colors to each other and to the world.

As more and more flowers opened up and expressed themselves, they allowed their blooms to fully open in riotous displays of color and love.

The beauty was transformative, and what had been a dark and scary landscape overwhelmed with orange cruelty, was now a place of compassion, truth, and beauty. A place where individuals are welcomed and encouraged to bloom, and to share their beauty with the world.

This sense of safety was more than a simple feeling, it was transformative in deeper ways.

As the blooms opened, they reflected their beautiful light and wonder into all the darkest shadowy places, illuminating where the weeds had callously carved away at the foundations of their community and well-being.

With the power of their combined light and strength, the flowers were able to transform the landscape, heal the air, water, and land. The cleansing light they brought helped them to remove the blight and the decay of the orange filth, and remove the heartless weeds that thrived on cruelty.

These weeds could not understand or contain the power of love and truth. In fact, they dared not even touch it- and so instead, they shriveled away and withdrew.

As the weeds were starved of attention and removed from the landscape, everyone else found themselves better able to survive, and better able to bloom.

And so they all did exactly that- they grew more wondrous and bloomed.

~