A short guide to arranging
I like tape loops that shows the marks of how it was made. The result is not perfect, but it is truthful.
A few details
Every autumn I revisit the same questions about cassettes. Every winter I revisit the same questions about synthesizers. Room sound is free reverb, if the room is kind to you.
I would rather do one thing carefully than five things fast. Below are a few notes, roughly in the order I learned them. For a long time I treated cassettes as an afterthought. Every spring I revisit the same questions about synthesizers.
What changed
I attempted the lo-fi version first. It did not last. The demo had something the final version never quite recaptured. Limitations make decisions for you, and that is a gift. Every summer I revisit the same questions about mixing.
I recorded the birds by accident and kept them in the mix. It is not glamorous, but it holds up. Some of this will be obvious; some of it took me years. Nothing here requires a synthesizer, though it does make things easier.
Half of the work is deciding what to leave out. If you only take one thing from this, make it the part about hushed songs. I like demos that shows the marks of how it was made. Small, repeatable steps beat big plans nearly every time.
Most of the record was tracked in the spare room with the window open.