✵ 32 Frames

1 week ago by @max

Liner Notes

https://studio273.bandcamp.com/track/32-frames
Over 20 years of participating in February Album Writing Month (FAWM), I’ve developed a workflow that allows me to quickly create a decent recording of a freshly written song. My process always starts with guitar chords and humming a melody. Once a few words come to mind the songcrafting starts.
Despite all the digital possibilities out there, I prefer to keep things pure by using real instruments. I print the lyrics in large text, hang them above a camera, and play the song several times in a row. Usually, the fourth or fifth take is good enough. Thanks to FAWM, I’ve learned not to dwell too long on whether something is "perfect."

Next, I separate the one-take audio track from the video and load it into a mixing program. Most of the effects I use are already preset. Then I record additional vocal tracks and layer in more instruments like guitar, banjo, piano, and keyboard. Once the mix sounds decent, I sync it back with the video footage. Each year, I choose a different color theme for my two-tone videos.

If a song is recorded this way during FAWM, it’s done. After FAWM, I usually end up with three or four keepers, which I test live on stage. Songs often grow and evolve during live performances, but I never rerecord them. Around 90% of the songs I’ve written over the past 20 years were created during FAWM—simple and effective.

These days, I use ChatGPT to check my lyrics for grammar and spelling mistakes and to give suggestions. In the past, I relied on native-speaking FAWMers for this.
The audio mix I upload to Bandcamp is the same as the one in the videos. My style is defined by one-take, single-mic recordings with additional vocals and instruments.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_thinking
#visualthinking #picturethinking #nonverbalthought

Lyrics

32 frames a second
pictures in my mind
I don’t think in words
or sentences aligned
Never-ending thoughts
racing through my head
Hoping to find my voice
to explain what’s left unsaid

Trying so hard to blend in
with a world full of text
But before a line is finished
I am seeing what comes next

I visualize it all
the problems it might cause
My mind’s a flickering movie
without a break or pause.

32 frames a second
too fast for you to see
I’m lost in translation
words don’t set me free

I’m drowning in detail
images fill the air
I get the total picture
my thoughts are everywhere
How can I explain myself
without drawings or maps?
I see the end before the start
pictures fill the gaps

It’s not that I’m not listening
I see things in a rush
My mind likes to paint
with an imaginary brush

I catch a glimpse of future scenes
put the whole thing in a frame
When I try to find the words
they never sound the same

32 frames a second
too fast for you to see
I’m lost in translation
words don’t set me free
32 frames a second
too fast for you to see
I’m lost in translation
words don’t set me free

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© Max Vanremmerden / vanremmerdenmusic 2025.
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