Ooof, kinda deep subjects. I kinda like it.
@oZZma : Oh, I think I get what your situation is. You're the entire band as far as sustained pitch goes. If you step on a pedal, it's like a different band is accompanying the drummer. Sometimes you might want that, but it's going to sound abrupt. Yeah, I'd advise trying to split the signal, possibly into separate clean/effects signals, so any changes would be less abrupt with the original signal still being present. But it seems you could put effects on the "clean" signal as well. As long as you were careful in where you would turn on specific effects, and only add effects on both channels gradually, adding them over time.
Also, especially with time based effects like delay, you kind of have to write the part with the effect on. This is true of other effects, too. I might put fuzz on a bass or guitar part that I had originally written for an overdriven sound, but it's not what I normally do. When you add certain effects to an instrument, especially heavily, it becomes a different sounding instrument. You can switch the instrument that a part is assigned to, but you have to be judicious. For example, you can have the piccolos do the bassoon parts, but it's gotta still be somehow appropriate for the piccolos to do it. I feel adding effects after the fact is a similar action. Making changes like that should be made out of necessity, because you feel the song is missing something, not just because you have to use a pedal.
And well, don't feel like you have to use effects just because you have them. I have a pedal board with 7 pedals. About half the shows with the current band I use two of them (a fuzz and a tuner(and the latter doesn't really count as a "pedal")). Other shows I might use 5 or all 7 depending on what the set is. Depending on the set list, I might just use the tuner. It's happened.
In the world of vocals, mental health, etc.:
@rutrho : On the vocals, just relax and enjoy yourself as much as you can. There's always another take, after all, and as long as you're not working with a crazy person who's tracking vocals directly to tape, they can merge the best of your takes together.
Otherwise, when my doctor asks if I've been depressed, I explain that I think I might be pathologically happy. I might be sad and cry occasionally, but it's about stuff like the fact my parents are dead, and nothing's going to change that and bring them back for another conversation. I don't know what you can do about that other than cry if it bothers you. So, that's what I do.
On things I can change, I'm probably moronically hopeful. I feed myself with tech support for an email appliance. You're a fscktard who can't figure out how to fix your problem and you're yelling at me while I'm trying to tell you precisely how to fix it? Yeah, it's stressful to be interrupted mid-sentence repeatedly, but I'm happy to try to jump into the breach and try again. Sometimes I do actually get worn down and we close the ticket in frustration, but that takes weeks, and your dumb ass is going to give up before I do.
Hmm, medication. I would probably sleep 18 hours a day like a cat without thyroid supplements. Other than that, I do keep my mind...umm, limber with the amount of mind altering chemicals that I seem to crave at the moment. I can't say I recommend the behavior, but it seems to work for me. I'd probably prefer less ethanol at this point in my life, and do work to control my intake of it. With nowhere to drive to these days, it's too easy to pour it down and regret its physical effects later. So, I rarely buy whiskey anymore, and try to count the beers by their abv.
Nicotine is probably my most vigorously abused self-medication. If I could kick that bastard without feeling like I need to stab all 47,000,000 or so residents of Texas just a teeny bit, I'd do it. I'll probably get the gumption soon, it seems to get closer every day.
When it comes to antidepressants, I can't comment intelligently. My wife takes them, and they seem to work for her. They seem to be powerful chemicals, though. If you're taking them, be careful.
