I like Subliminal Affection for its simplicity: most tracks are just piano and vocals. But I really wanted to do something more with March Forward, Look Back. It has a lot of potential as a more pop-like song. Plus, I felt like I could sing a little bit better.

I also had a new toy: Apple's Logic. And wow is it fun. I can't even begin to explain how overwhelming and incredible Logic was when I first started it up. In general, things were familiar since I was used to GarageBand, but there were so many professional features that I didn't understand (and some I still don't understand).

I wanted to jump into working with it immediately but I took the opportunity to step back, take a break from making music, and learn how to use the software. I decided to spend some time really researching (for real this time) the details of music production, recommended practices, and proper ways to do things. I watched many videos (thank you Music Tech Help Guy, you are truly awesome) and read many articles on reverb, mixing, and, for the first time, mastering.

At this point, I needed a song to test out all of the things I learned. I had already experimented with some features by particpating in an Imagine Dragons cover contest (of Cutthroat) but I wanted to do an original song. I really wanted to write a new song with new music but frankly, I wasn't sure I wanted to devote to another album or a single and took this moment as a chance to revamp a song I already made: March Forward, Look Back. As mentioned, it needed new vocals, a beefed up piano, and mastering and I now had the information needed to do so.

Now, it's still not perfect (none of my songs ever will be) but I really gained a lot of experience from working this track and from my readings and videos. My mastering could definitely use some work (I made the bass to high in the mixing stage and it swamped the rest in mastering). But overall, I am very pleased with the result.

I drew the album art myself, using my iPad and drawing on top of an image from Adrien Olichon on Unsplash. I liked the arrow-loop shape as it emphasizes that our paths rarely follow a straight line; rather, they curve and sometimes lead you backwards and around again. No matter the path, remember to keep marching forward, but don't be afraid to look back at what you've done to help you move on.