The Tetrafasi Project - helping self-publishing songwriters develop their careersLonging for the day ...

"... enormous benefit for regional and remote singer/songwriters ... an invaluable teaching aide ..."
- Pixie Jenkins, Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association

"an invaluable resource for younger artists and regional artists, who may not have these services available locally."
- James North, James North Productions

"This project uniquely meets a need among the music community for resources and skills that help them develop and present their music to the world."
- Michael Peterson, Woodford Folk Festival

Thank you for your interest in the Tetrafasi project.
Below are my posts on the project in reverse date order - newest at the top. Please help yourself to any or all of these resources - they are there to make the world a better place. Like everything on this site, they are published on a
Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial license.

12 Good Bars and True - NSAI Feedback

Having put all of my "Alive and Alone" songs up for evaluation I had one more free evaluation left. In a rush-of-blood moment I decided to put 12 Good Bars and True into the system to see where it sits... More

Posted by Hughie at Jul 18, 2019, 1:57 AM | Comments (0)

Red Hot - NSAI feedback

I co-wrote Red Hot with Shanon Watkins. He came over one afternoon and we explored a guitar riff that I had in my head. He came up with a melody and some placeholder lyrics. He left it with me to... More

Posted by Hughie at Jul 15, 2019, 3:23 PM | Comments (0)

Home Free - Be Free re-write - NSAI feedback

Home Free is one that I have already re-written plenty of times. It has evolved a long way but I still feel it could be much better. However, I really think it has great potential if I can get it... More

Posted by Hughie at Jul 13, 2019, 2:38 PM | Comments (0)

Somebody Else's Skin - NSAI feedback

Somebody Else's Skin was an attempt at being silly and catchy and not particularly anything. I've just realised that I never posted it when I first wrote it - probably because I was never happy with it until I recorded... More

Posted by Hughie at Jul 11, 2019, 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

Simplicity - NSAI feedback

Simplicity is one of the first songs I wrote. I've been dragging it around for decades (literally) knowing that it's weird and not likely to mean anything to anyone apart from me and a few very close friends who love... More

Posted by Hughie at Jul 10, 2019, 8:14 AM | Comments (0)

When It's Over - NSAI feedback

When It's Over is, to me, a novelty song. It came from mucking about with a guitar and trying to be catchy and groovy. That said, it is, according to some people, one of the catchiest darn things ever so... More

Posted by Hughie at Jul 8, 2019, 8:01 PM | Comments (0)

She Don't Want Your Love - NSAI feedback

Next song I received feedback for was She Don't Want Your Love.This one is a very personal song to me, which I also had critiqued by Jason Blume some time ago. I thought I had improved it a lot ...... More

Posted by Hughie at Jul 5, 2019, 3:35 PM | Comments (0)

Angels - NSAI feedback

Next song to be critiqued was Angels. Remember that this was not originally my song - it's my re-write of Ann Leung's song. Here's the version I submitted, as distribute to YouTube by CDBaby: I enterd this in the "Gospel"... More

Posted by Hughie at Jul 3, 2019, 3:05 PM | Comments (0)

Baby I Need Your Soul - NSAI feedback

OK, so at the start of this year I decided to get value for my NSAI membership and throw as many songs in for feedback as possible. It's been a long time since I got the feedback, and I ended... More

Posted by Hughie at Jun 30, 2019, 2:01 PM | Comments (0)

Forever Mine - vox and strings (Mon, Wed, Thurs)

Got nothing done on the weekend due to family and other commitments. This is a good thing, because I have a bad habit of over-working and disappearing up my own butt about these things. Down time is essential! (Gotta keep... More

Posted by Huge at Aug 30, 2018, 7:48 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Forever Mine and arranging strings - Friday

Just finished the third version of the string arrangement, based around a reasonable guitar take and a placeholder vocal. Thought I'd better document the entire process from a technical and musical point of view: Recording device: 2011 Macbook Pro running... More

Posted by Huge at Aug 29, 2018, 7:58 PM | Comments (0)

Forever Mine - Three's Company version for Tetrafasi

I have decided to direct my creative efforts towards making a demo of the Tetrafasi concept focusing on making four versions of just one song: Forever Mine. I do this in the hope that the concept and its practical reality... More

Posted by Huge at Aug 24, 2018, 8:28 AM | Comments (0)

Having a proper go at this music career thing.

"The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it." Debbi Fields Things haven't been working... More

Posted by Huge at Jul 2, 2018, 1:09 PM | Comments (1)

Heart's With You - NSAI feedback

Following my feedback from the Nashville Songwriters Association about Whiskey and History I thought I'd get more straight away. This time I thought I'd try my most obviously hooky song - went with Heart's With You from I am Leaving!... More

Posted by Huge at May 10, 2018, 4:44 PM | Comments (0)

Whiskey and History - NSAI feedback.

OK, so I joined the Nashville Songwriters Association. It seemed a logical step if I want to be serious about developing my chops as a songwriter. I love the Australian Songwriters Association and will keep being involved locally when I... More

Posted by Huge at May 3, 2018, 8:17 PM | Comments (0)

Grant funding - knockbacks and new tracks ...

OK, so I applied for some government grants to support the Tetrafasi Project late last year. I asked for about $40k each from Arts Queensland and The Australia Council. That's a lot to ask for straight up! The AQ grant... More

Posted by Huge at Jan 23, 2018, 4:39 PM | Comments (0)

CD Launch today!

OK, so "Alive and Alone" has been written, recorded, mixed, mastered, duplicated, and promoted. Today is the big launch party at Bellbowrie Tavern! Here's the flyer I bashed together to promote it: Cute, huh! I came up with that hook... More

Posted by Huge at Dec 10, 2017, 11:08 AM | Comments (0)

Whoops! Missed this one, too ...

So, while I wasn't really paying attention (actually, I looked every day but didn't find it), Youtube released "Alive and Alone": Apparently this happened 6 days ago, but when I searched for "The Genre Benders" in Youtube and saw the... More

Posted by Hughie at Nov 4, 2017, 2:49 PM | Comments (0)

Alive and Alone radio host feedback

Came into contact via Facebook with Anita Monk, who hosts a radio program in Victoria that is part of a radio segment called Wrokdown. Her target audience is dscribed as follows: "The older audience are very particular in their choice... More

Posted by Hughie at Oct 31, 2017, 3:08 PM | Comments (0)

Funding Tetrafasi in future

OK, so "Alive and Alone" is done and distributed via CDBaby. Happy with that - I did it all myself and it cost me nothing but my time. Trouble is, the next one is gonna need more people to play... More

Posted by Hughie at Oct 3, 2017, 7:01 PM | Comments (0)

Alive and Alone is in iTunes!!

Well, it took a week, but 7 days after being sent to Tunes (according to CDBaby) here it is: https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/alive-and-alone/id1300393014 That took longer than I had hoped, but goves you some idea of the realities of preparing for a launch.... More

Posted by Hughie at Sep 14, 2017, 10:29 AM | Comments (0)

Alive and Alone has made it onto Spotify!

Only took a few days and it's there, just as CDBaby promised: Not bad at all ... in Spotify thre days after approval by the CDBaby minions ... happy with that service. Now ... iTunes, where are you?... More

Posted by Hughie at Sep 10, 2017, 6:33 PM | Comments (0)

Distribution approved - we're off to the races (so to speak)

Approved! Alive and Alone is on its way through the digital realm to the major digital music retailers! CDBaby sent it to 24 retailers on the first day - including iTunes and Spotify, which are by far the biggest and... More

Posted by Hughie at Sep 7, 2017, 10:13 AM | Comments (0)

Tetrafasi launched ... sort of.

OK, so two important things have happened recently. First, I created a logo for the Tetrafasi project: Pretty cool, hey? Only a full day of work last Friday ... and acoupe of days reflection and refinement ... I had the... More

Posted by Hughie at Sep 4, 2017, 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

Release stuffups - Or, I should have known better by now ...

Confession - when I released Alive and Alone via CDBaby last week, I entered the meta data late at night after a few celebratory drinks. That was a mistake - you should ALWAYS be professional and do your best work.... More

Posted by Hughie at Aug 20, 2017, 9:28 PM | Comments (0)

Alive and Alone distribution

Right! Album is in the can. As happy as I am prepared to fight for with the performances, mixing and mastering. Artwork done, based on the Tetrafasi artwork: Note that this is simply the first panel of the Tetrafasi artwork,... More

Posted by Hughie at Aug 7, 2017, 1:55 PM | Comments (0)

Mixing Alive and Alone - Day 2: Mastering

Hmmmm ... not as bad as it could have been in the cold light of day. Pretty happy with most of the tracks. Suzie and I listened to the whole album at bedtime and I noticed three thigns I wanted... More

Posted by Hughie at Aug 5, 2017, 6:23 PM | Comments (0)

Mixing Alive and Alone - Day 1

Wow! So that went better than expected - got a first mix of all ten tracks in one day! I put this down to the consistency of the recordings, the use of a mix template, and the simplicity of the... More

Posted by Hughie at Aug 4, 2017, 7:02 PM | Comments (0)

Mixing Alive and Alone - setup

Right! The time has come to mix this thing ... need to just get it out. I have a bad habit of agonising over the imperfections and wanting to fix things, but after watching Macklemore on the subject, I have... More

Posted by Hughie at Aug 3, 2017, 6:18 PM | Comments (0)

Australian Songwriting Conference - song feedback

Well!! A while ago I wrote about the idea of taking my songs and pitching some of them to publishers at the Australian Songwriting Conference. Will write a full review about that experience later (short version: awaesome!) ... but wanted... More

Posted by Hughie at Jul 6, 2016, 11:25 AM | Comments (0)

Found me a producer ... and got the Dad Joke Blues

Recorded the Dad Joke Blues for a fun home project - two versions. Gumby and Mike came over a while back and we jammed on it for an afternoon and recorded some stuff. One version is electric - that's how... More

Posted by Hughie at Feb 2, 2016, 7:22 PM | Comments (0)

Australian Songwriting Conference - opportunity for feedback

A while ago I signed up to attend the Australian Songwriting Conference in Ettalong Beach, NSW in June. I wanted to expand my networks and find new influences and opportunities. It's gonna cost a heap (I'm paying it off) but... More

Posted by Hughie at Jan 23, 2016, 2:00 PM | Comments (0)

Think I need one more stage ...

Been thinking about the three stages of album development in the multi-album project. Three is good, but I think it sells the process short. Now that I have all the guitars down and most of the vocals down, I've been... More

Posted by Hughie at Jan 10, 2016, 6:07 PM | Comments (0)

Recording setup

Wanted to share the technical aspects of my recording process ... just for all you nerds and gear sluts. It's not very impressive, I'm afraid ... I'm using Pro Tools 9 on a 2011 Macbook Pro. I have an M-Audio... More

Posted by Hughie at Oct 7, 2015, 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - Day 7

Spent most of today figuring out how to play "She Don't Want Your Love". Came up with something completely different to everything I'd play on it before. Rather proud of that ... especially since the song has always been cowboy... More

Posted by Hughie at Sep 1, 2015, 4:31 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - Day 6

Right! Got "Angels" down ... eventually. Still not happy with the ending, but at least it's in the can at close to what I want it to sound and feel like. Gonna take a break for a few days and... More

Posted by Hughie at Aug 29, 2015, 6:17 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - Day 5

More completed today. Lots more? Well, actually, it felt like a lot but today was compromised by other activities with kids and work and so on. Not as many hours put in, so not as much accomplished. Managed to get... More

Posted by Hughie at Aug 28, 2015, 7:53 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - day 4

Better progress today. Took yesterday off to think about it (and do some work that pays for my house) and then ripped in today. Got the following in the can: The rest of Simplicity Home Free Raindrops (that took a... More

Posted by Hughie at Aug 27, 2015, 7:39 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - day 3

Today I started again, recording just the guitar parts. Took longer then expected because I was able to pay more attention to the nuances of what I was doing and didn't like some of what was happening. I used exactly... More

Posted by Hughie at Aug 25, 2015, 6:26 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - day 2

Got the remaining songs in the can as single-take roughs today. Total of 12 down now. Still not happy with this approach, tho. Cry to Heaven, Simplicity, and When the Angels Came are in the can along with the 9... More

Posted by Hughie at Aug 24, 2015, 6:32 PM | Comments (0)

Recording Alive and Alone - day 1

OK, so I got most of the songs down as guide tracks to pick them apart. Don't think this was a very useful thing to do - I'm not happy with the results and it took me all day due... More

Posted by Hughie at Aug 21, 2015, 5:08 PM | Comments (0)

Collaborators ...

Been thinking about who to work with on this multi-album project. Quality producers in Brisbane are few and far between. Magoo mixed my last single, "Budget Crisis" and I learned a heap from him. Great bloke to work with ...... More

Posted by Hughie at May 12, 2015, 6:30 PM | Comments (0)

Stages of album development

Right! Riffing on this concept some more: what are the stages of development that I would have to cover? Seems to me there are a bunch of ways songs get made ... and they all involve collaboration - even among... More

Posted by Hughie at Apr 5, 2015, 2:45 PM | Comments (0)

Multi-album project - how?

OK, so I got a lofty ambition and launched into a crazy idea and now I have no idea how I'm going to do this. It's just sunk in to me how much work is going to be involved in... More

Posted by Hughie at Apr 1, 2015, 5:35 PM | Comments (0)

Multi-album setlist

Riffing on this a lot lately. Thinking the setlist will look something like this: Red Hot Simplicity She Don't Want Your Love Raindrops Cry to Heaven When It's Over Forever Mine Home Free Whiskey and History Also wanna get some... More

Posted by Hughie at Mar 4, 2015, 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

Multi-album project update

OK, so been thinking about this idea a lot. I reckon I can do four versions of the same songs ... start with a worktape and finish with a full production, anything goes sort of thing. About a dozen songs... More

Posted by Hughie at Mar 1, 2015, 4:26 PM | Comments (0)

Got me an idea ...

Been thinking about the things that songwriters ask me at Wax Lyricals and other events. There's a theme emerging that I think I can help with ... but it's gonna take some doing. :-) People keep asking me about getting... More

Posted by Hughie at Feb 25, 2015, 9:11 PM | Comments (0)

Alive and Alone - and slow

You might have noticed by now that I've stopped posting about the Alive and Alone recordings. That's because I burned out badly (literally) trying to record in my house in the heat, then turn up to work feeling refreshed. Also,... More

Posted by Huge at Feb 16, 2013, 5:12 PM | Comments (0)

The Tetrafasi Project - four albums, one purpose, many lessons

Supporters and useful resources

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