It sounds like something a teenage girl would write in her Notes app at 2AM after crying. Okay… maybe it is. But it’s also an original hyperpop track I’ve wanted to make for a while. It felt like the right kind of project to take on for this course.

I wrote this song, because I’ve been stuck in a pattern: I keep getting drawn to people who are hard to read, always halfway out the door,  who -- for whatever reason -- just happen to be blonde. It started as a joke, but the longer I sat with it, the more it started to feel like something serious.

The song is called blondes do save lives, not because they actually save me, but because I keep writing them into my own rescue. Somewhere along the way, I began conflating detachment with intrigue, mistaking emotional negligence for depth, and romanticizing inconsistency. And now I’m left asking myself why abandonment ever felt like affection.

So I figured, if I can’t stop liking them, I might as well make art about it.

This project won't follow a clean linear timeline, because I don’t. I work in spirals and I expect the production to reflect that. 

Recording & Mixing

There's this French Artist I really like.... a huge part of this project is vocal exploration, and I’m pulling a lot from how Oklou handles that in plague dogs.  A lot of the songwriting and production decisions will come after I experiment with how something feels when I sing or warp it. I’m not singing regularly right now, so part of this process will just be getting my voice back. Any recording I do in the first few weeks will probably double as practice. 

There’s also something about the natural ambience in Oklou’s production that I want to bring in. She utilizes synths, but it's the real-world sounds that blur into the music. Birds, guns, water, static. I want those textures to show up in my track.

Everything will be produced in my home setup. Since I can't play physical instruments, I’ll be using synths and built-in instruments from my DAW. A big part of the sound design will come from layering these with ambient textures, some sourced digitally, but others I’ll record myself. I plan to capture environmental and nature sounds and process them into something melodic or textural. 

The track breakdown will likely include: 

1. Main vocal track

2. Processed vocal FX layers (harmony, reversed, or chopped)

3. Synthesized sounds (virtual)

4. Instruments (virtual)

5. Ambient sounds (virtual and/or real)

I can't tell the quantity of each exactly, well, not right now. Also, I think I saw this from the discussion forums, but I need to make the song 3-4 minutes long... So, I will do that. The mixing phase will stretch across multiple sessions. I know from experience that mixing everything in one sitting could be deceiving. I’ll space things out so I can actually hear what’s going on, without ear fatigue turning everything into soup.

Publishing

Once the song is finished, I plan to upload it to SoundCloud first. That seems to be the most straightforward starting point where a lot of independent artists begin sharing their work. After that, I want to make the track available on Spotify and other streaming platforms by going through a music distributor like DistroKid.

Based on what I’ve learned from my producer friends, that distribution step is also important if I want the song to appear in the Instagram Music Library, which would allow it to be used in Stories and Reels. Once everything is published, I’ll promote the song on Instagram, most likely with a short video clip or visualizer. I haven’t released anything before, but I’ve picked up a lot just by observing how others manage their rollout.

I look up to a lot of artists and many of my mutuals. I hope they acknowledge it. More than anything, I'm hoping it finds the people it's meant to reach.

I’ve had this song sitting in my drafts for a while now, and finally bringing it to life feels exciting and long overdue. 

While writing this plan, I’ve honestly been feeling some dread. Imposter syndrome keeps creeping in. Sometimes it feels like I’m just saying words, trying to sound like I know what I’m doing, when really, I’m still figuring things out. I don’t want to come across as pretentious, and I know there’s so much I still need to learn. But I also know that if I want to take my craft seriously -- if I want to actually make it as an artist -- I need to learn how to stand by my work, even when I’m second-guessing myself.

One thing I know for sure is that I want to ask for help when I need it. If I decide to try using Tracktion Waveform, I’d appreciate some guidance, especially since most of my experience so far has been with GarageBand. Also, if there are any equipment suggestions, particularly for artists working on Apple products, I’d really welcome that too. In my experience, producing on macOS or iOS has its limitations compared to Windows or Android, so finding workarounds or better-suited gear would help a lot.

I want to become an artist so badly. It's something I’ve quietly carried for a long time, and now that I’m here, learning these tools and actually working on something, it feels surreal. I’m really grateful for how things are unfolding. These resources, these techniques, even just having structured time to do this are things I could never get myself to learn on my own. Being guided through it is such a privilege, and I don’t take it lightly.

I just really want to make it.