A couple of weeks ago, I started working on the recordings that will become my next album. For all ten songs, the drum tracks have been programmed. I’ll wait until the actual recordings are complete before running them through the synth (Toontrack’s Superior Drummer) and rendering them to audio. Just in case I want to make changes as the other instruments shape the songs…
I’ve been practicing the bass-lines, as these will be the next parts recorded.
And here lies my dilemma: The new album has been written. They are ten songs, with fully written and edited lyrics, arranged and organized as I want them. But since starting the “final” drum programming, I’ve written another SIX GOOD SONGS! This is unprecedented for me. My normal practice has been to write 10 that I’m proud of, and throw them on a disc. As it stands these should wait for the 2013 project. But I don’t want to put them on the backburner.
Should I:
a) Record the new album with the planned ten songs and leave the new six for later?
b) Record all sixteen songs and choose the best ten?
c) Record all sixteen songs and sell as a sixteen-song album?
d) Put all sixteen on the backburner and work on the album of cover songs that I can’t legally release anyway but has some pretty cool arrangements?
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Goodbye
For my mother, who passed away 4 months ago...
Goodbye
The last words that I ever spoke
The last time you'd understand
Simple words, no room to cry
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.
Wander through the darkness
Clouded memories lifting to fly
So much history, so alive
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.
A young boy, first day of school
Watching his family drive away
Stand alone, young man, stand high
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.
A grown man stands by your side
The same hollow, trying to hide
A strong voice, a tear in the eye
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.
The last words that I ever spoke
The last time you'd understand
I told you that I loved you
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.
(c) 2012 matt swift - steal this one and you're in for some EVIL karma.
Goodbye
The last words that I ever spoke
The last time you'd understand
Simple words, no room to cry
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.
Wander through the darkness
Clouded memories lifting to fly
So much history, so alive
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.
A young boy, first day of school
Watching his family drive away
Stand alone, young man, stand high
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.
A grown man stands by your side
The same hollow, trying to hide
A strong voice, a tear in the eye
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.
The last words that I ever spoke
The last time you'd understand
I told you that I loved you
I think I knew we were saying goodbye.
(c) 2012 matt swift - steal this one and you're in for some EVIL karma.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Studio-Ready
Wow, what a month!
I booked an entire 5-day stretch to finish building my studio. With cinderblock walls, the sound was brutal. I couldn’t record anything without boomy echoes ruining every take.
I bought 48 Auralex Wedgies and spent a couple of weeks planning the locations and methods to mount them on the walls. The plan was excellent, the execution was not. My plan was to mount wood strapping up near the ceiling, and hang the 12”x12” panels like artwork from the strapping. I borrowed a hammer drill, and bought tapcon screws and a drillbit. Nothing would go into the cinderblocks. Plan#1: Fail.
I headed back to Home Depot, to purchase some industrial-strength tape. Taping the strapping should hold, after all the weight of the wood and foam might be 1lb for each horizontal foot of wall. The tape wouldn’t grip. Plan#2: Fail.
I went back to Home Depot for the third time, to buy some hardcore glue that was “guaranteed” to work on wood, concrete, and foam. Guess what – it wouldn’t hold either. Plan#3: Fail.
Then I had a brainwave: the tape would hold for a few hours before falling off, and the glue probably didn’t have enough time to get a grip before falling off. So I put tape on the wood, and then glued the tape to the wall. The tape should hold long enough for the glue to set. Plan#4: SUCCESS.
That only took about 3 days to work out.
Then I had to mount the foam wedgies on the wall. I bought 100’ of 1” wooden strapping, and had it all segmented into 12” lengths. The plan was to mount each foam square onto two 12” pieces of wood, one vertically on each side. Then I would put a picture-hook into the top and hang them from the wooden strapping like frames. As the entire 24-pack of foam weighed a total of 4.5lbs, I wasn’t worried about strain on the adhesive. The industrial-strength tape looked simple enough, run a foot of it along each 12” piece of foam frame, and stick the foam to the frame. I tried this, and the foam dried out the glue on the tape. No go. Plan#5: Fail.
I tried putting the hardcore glue that was “guaranteed” to work on wood, concrete, and foam. Guess what – it wouldn’t hold either. Plan#6: Fail.
I gave up – I contacted Auralex, and was convinced to buy their proprietary glue spray. It’s the only thing guaranteed to work. Unfortunately you can’t buy it locally, but must purchase online. I ordered it from LAMusic on a Friday, and it was delivered to me on the Monday. Great turnaround time. This worked like a charm. Plan#6: SUCCESS.
I also bought a KRK ERGO unit, to address any remaining sonic deficiencies. I spent yesterday configuring that and testing the room. It’s sounding much better. There was a lot of frustration, trial and error, but the end result was well worth the struggle.
I booked an entire 5-day stretch to finish building my studio. With cinderblock walls, the sound was brutal. I couldn’t record anything without boomy echoes ruining every take.
I bought 48 Auralex Wedgies and spent a couple of weeks planning the locations and methods to mount them on the walls. The plan was excellent, the execution was not. My plan was to mount wood strapping up near the ceiling, and hang the 12”x12” panels like artwork from the strapping. I borrowed a hammer drill, and bought tapcon screws and a drillbit. Nothing would go into the cinderblocks. Plan#1: Fail.
I headed back to Home Depot, to purchase some industrial-strength tape. Taping the strapping should hold, after all the weight of the wood and foam might be 1lb for each horizontal foot of wall. The tape wouldn’t grip. Plan#2: Fail.
I went back to Home Depot for the third time, to buy some hardcore glue that was “guaranteed” to work on wood, concrete, and foam. Guess what – it wouldn’t hold either. Plan#3: Fail.
Then I had a brainwave: the tape would hold for a few hours before falling off, and the glue probably didn’t have enough time to get a grip before falling off. So I put tape on the wood, and then glued the tape to the wall. The tape should hold long enough for the glue to set. Plan#4: SUCCESS.
That only took about 3 days to work out.
Then I had to mount the foam wedgies on the wall. I bought 100’ of 1” wooden strapping, and had it all segmented into 12” lengths. The plan was to mount each foam square onto two 12” pieces of wood, one vertically on each side. Then I would put a picture-hook into the top and hang them from the wooden strapping like frames. As the entire 24-pack of foam weighed a total of 4.5lbs, I wasn’t worried about strain on the adhesive. The industrial-strength tape looked simple enough, run a foot of it along each 12” piece of foam frame, and stick the foam to the frame. I tried this, and the foam dried out the glue on the tape. No go. Plan#5: Fail.
I tried putting the hardcore glue that was “guaranteed” to work on wood, concrete, and foam. Guess what – it wouldn’t hold either. Plan#6: Fail.
I gave up – I contacted Auralex, and was convinced to buy their proprietary glue spray. It’s the only thing guaranteed to work. Unfortunately you can’t buy it locally, but must purchase online. I ordered it from LAMusic on a Friday, and it was delivered to me on the Monday. Great turnaround time. This worked like a charm. Plan#6: SUCCESS.
I also bought a KRK ERGO unit, to address any remaining sonic deficiencies. I spent yesterday configuring that and testing the room. It’s sounding much better. There was a lot of frustration, trial and error, but the end result was well worth the struggle.
Now I’m ready to start recording the new album!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Musical Memories
A few months ago my mother passed away.
My parents had a surprisingly large influence on my musical tastes – they weren’t like most of my friends parents. My childhood home had a fantastic record stash including Simon & Garfunkel, Blondie, Roxy Music, ABBA, and many other bands that I still love. They took me to my first live concert, Bryan Ferry’s Bete Noire tour in 1988. I hated Ferry at that time, I was into hard rock. I went because they had an extra pair of tickets and my cousin and I had nothing better to do that night. Ten minutes before the show started, I was still mumbling “Bryan sucks – kill the synths!” Thirty seconds after the first song started, I was a convert. I danced through the entire concert, in awe of what I was seeing and hearing. As we left Exhibition Stadium, I elbowed my way to the front of the merch-booth line, buying a T-shirt. I still have it.
So obviously my parents encouraged me musically. When I was 14 and learning to play the guitar, my mother had a piano. She wasn’t especially good, but loved plinking away at it. We used to play David Bowie’s “Space Oddity together.” Only that song, nothing else seemed to work – we just weren’t that good.
As Mother’s Day is coming this weekend, I was thinking about how my surviving family will deal with the weekend. I thought I’d be fine. Then I heard ‘Space Oddity’ on the internet radio and my heard dropped.
I miss you Mum! Happy Mother’s Day!
My parents had a surprisingly large influence on my musical tastes – they weren’t like most of my friends parents. My childhood home had a fantastic record stash including Simon & Garfunkel, Blondie, Roxy Music, ABBA, and many other bands that I still love. They took me to my first live concert, Bryan Ferry’s Bete Noire tour in 1988. I hated Ferry at that time, I was into hard rock. I went because they had an extra pair of tickets and my cousin and I had nothing better to do that night. Ten minutes before the show started, I was still mumbling “Bryan sucks – kill the synths!” Thirty seconds after the first song started, I was a convert. I danced through the entire concert, in awe of what I was seeing and hearing. As we left Exhibition Stadium, I elbowed my way to the front of the merch-booth line, buying a T-shirt. I still have it.
So obviously my parents encouraged me musically. When I was 14 and learning to play the guitar, my mother had a piano. She wasn’t especially good, but loved plinking away at it. We used to play David Bowie’s “Space Oddity together.” Only that song, nothing else seemed to work – we just weren’t that good.
As Mother’s Day is coming this weekend, I was thinking about how my surviving family will deal with the weekend. I thought I’d be fine. Then I heard ‘Space Oddity’ on the internet radio and my heard dropped.
I miss you Mum! Happy Mother’s Day!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
My Clown
Last night I was in the studio, programming MIDI drum tracks for the new album.
This was an enjoyable process – I have basic patterns completed, along with “scratch tracks” for bass, guitar, and keyboards. These are used to guide through the song so you know whether you’re in a verse or chorus, but will be replaced with the real instruments for the final version. A bit like wooden support beams in a building, in place until the concrete sets.
So I had the drums up louder than everything else (I was focusing on them, after all), and had set up a microphone to sing along. I’ve found that this helps to give me a “live” mindset, the ideal I’m going for with this album. So back to the drums, I’d sing along stopping when something needed adjusting – “no, that kick doesn’t work there, it should push the beat a little,” “ouch, that sounds weird,” that sort of thing. And over the course of a few hours, I had the drum tracks programmed for 3 of the 10 songs. And to be honest, I replayed them a few times afterwards just having fun jamming along with myself.
Late in the evening, I was working on ‘My Clown’. It’s a soft, brooding acoustic song. Humming along waiting for the first verse to arrive, I “ahhhh’d” a really cool line. Since my voice isn’t my strongest instrument, I grabbed a nearby guitar and plucked the riff on it. Suddenly a jolt went up my spine – AN IDEA! I saved a backup version of the soft song, and started a new one. A 4-bar aggressive disco/house beat was looped. I copied the organ line from the slow version, sped it up, and added it to the drum loop. I then hit ‘Record’ and laid down the idea with a dirty overdriven guitar. Within 15 minutes I had the new version of ‘My Clown’ laid out. Aggressive and dirty, sexy in a way that didn’t exist before.
My Clown’s an evil clown.
After the adrenaline rush wore off, I went back and listened to the original version. There’s a creepy tension that didn’t translate into the sexy funk version. And I’ll probably stick with the original.
But who knows - this song now has 2 completely different identities that I can get to know.
This was an enjoyable process – I have basic patterns completed, along with “scratch tracks” for bass, guitar, and keyboards. These are used to guide through the song so you know whether you’re in a verse or chorus, but will be replaced with the real instruments for the final version. A bit like wooden support beams in a building, in place until the concrete sets.
So I had the drums up louder than everything else (I was focusing on them, after all), and had set up a microphone to sing along. I’ve found that this helps to give me a “live” mindset, the ideal I’m going for with this album. So back to the drums, I’d sing along stopping when something needed adjusting – “no, that kick doesn’t work there, it should push the beat a little,” “ouch, that sounds weird,” that sort of thing. And over the course of a few hours, I had the drum tracks programmed for 3 of the 10 songs. And to be honest, I replayed them a few times afterwards just having fun jamming along with myself.
Late in the evening, I was working on ‘My Clown’. It’s a soft, brooding acoustic song. Humming along waiting for the first verse to arrive, I “ahhhh’d” a really cool line. Since my voice isn’t my strongest instrument, I grabbed a nearby guitar and plucked the riff on it. Suddenly a jolt went up my spine – AN IDEA! I saved a backup version of the soft song, and started a new one. A 4-bar aggressive disco/house beat was looped. I copied the organ line from the slow version, sped it up, and added it to the drum loop. I then hit ‘Record’ and laid down the idea with a dirty overdriven guitar. Within 15 minutes I had the new version of ‘My Clown’ laid out. Aggressive and dirty, sexy in a way that didn’t exist before.
My Clown’s an evil clown.
After the adrenaline rush wore off, I went back and listened to the original version. There’s a creepy tension that didn’t translate into the sexy funk version. And I’ll probably stick with the original.
But who knows - this song now has 2 completely different identities that I can get to know.
Friday, April 20, 2012
Holdup
I’ve had the new studio set up for a couple of weeks now. The boomy reverb is still a big problem.
The bed tracks for the new album have been started. I’m programming the MIDI drums, and laying down a temporarly bassline that will guide the song. There’s really not much else that I can do until I put up some sound-diffusing foam on the walls. That will probably be a month or two. An agonizing month or two – I want to get back to work on this batch of songs, I’m REALLY excited about them. So excited that, this morning while listening to the Your Loving Song demo on my MP3 player, my eyes started watering. It was all I could do not to stop on Queen St, pose a rockstar pose, and start singing and air-guitaring! I’m seriously loving this project, and can’t wait to build it and show it off!
There is an upside to this delay. I’m my own boss, there is no record company pushing for a release date and I don’t need the sales profits yet (I can still buy my own beer this summer). So there’s nothing but my own lack of patience to push the release. My plan is to rehearse the songs over and over and over. Play the guitars and keyboards against the bed tracks, sing karaoke-style with them.
This “pre-production” should help improve the songs in more subtle ways. Maybe a kick drum will seem out of place and I can fix it, maybe I'll discover that something should change after the first verse… I’ve already decided to chop a measure from the middle of Little Rose Tattoo and add screaming background vocals behind the guitar solo (yes there are a couple of those on this record) in a song currently being called You’re A Star but might get changed to When You Are Gone or something completely different. With time, I can keep workshopping these new songs.
So yes, there’s a delay. And yes, it’s pissing me off. But there’s a positive side to it, and I’m going to exploit that to the best of my ability.
The bed tracks for the new album have been started. I’m programming the MIDI drums, and laying down a temporarly bassline that will guide the song. There’s really not much else that I can do until I put up some sound-diffusing foam on the walls. That will probably be a month or two. An agonizing month or two – I want to get back to work on this batch of songs, I’m REALLY excited about them. So excited that, this morning while listening to the Your Loving Song demo on my MP3 player, my eyes started watering. It was all I could do not to stop on Queen St, pose a rockstar pose, and start singing and air-guitaring! I’m seriously loving this project, and can’t wait to build it and show it off!
There is an upside to this delay. I’m my own boss, there is no record company pushing for a release date and I don’t need the sales profits yet (I can still buy my own beer this summer). So there’s nothing but my own lack of patience to push the release. My plan is to rehearse the songs over and over and over. Play the guitars and keyboards against the bed tracks, sing karaoke-style with them.
This “pre-production” should help improve the songs in more subtle ways. Maybe a kick drum will seem out of place and I can fix it, maybe I'll discover that something should change after the first verse… I’ve already decided to chop a measure from the middle of Little Rose Tattoo and add screaming background vocals behind the guitar solo (yes there are a couple of those on this record) in a song currently being called You’re A Star but might get changed to When You Are Gone or something completely different. With time, I can keep workshopping these new songs.
So yes, there’s a delay. And yes, it’s pissing me off. But there’s a positive side to it, and I’m going to exploit that to the best of my ability.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Studio Update, and Another LIE
This was a great long weekend.
I managed to set up my studio. Unfortunately it needs some work. The blue cinderblocks look great, but the sound bounces right off them. I knew it would be a problem, but didn’t know how much until yesterday. I was laying down an acoustic guitar track, so I had a microphone set up in front of the Gibson’s soundhole. It’s a small guitar, and has a thin, whispy sound. That’s exactly what I wanted for the song. I sat down, adjusted all the levels, and recorded the slide-guitar track.
When I listened to the playback, there was a deep, boomy reverberation. The sound was bouncing off the walls, and overpowering the microphone. It made the signal unusable. It was really frustrating – that was a tough guitar solo to play cleanly, and it took a lot of practice to get it right.
A few hours later, I realized that I could get an equally-cool sound from one of my Telecasters. And I could run it directly into the PC, so the echo wouldn’t affect the sound. Ten minutes later it was done. Then I listened to the song a dozen times, thrilled with the way it’s building.
This isn’t a new song either. I was sitting on the sofa watching TV one night, plucking away on the above-noted Gibson acoustic (we keep it in the living room, for emergency access). I absent-mindedly plucked one of the guitar licks from “Love Isn’t Enough,” but at a really slow tempo. Suddenly I realized that this song would work well in a new genre. I rushed down to the studio, programmed a basic drum pattern, and very quickly laid down bass, guitar, and vocal “scratch takes” before I could forget what I had in mind.
I’ve built on it now, but it’s a sparse and lonely take on LIE. I can’t wait to polish and release it online (once the studio echo is resolved).
I managed to set up my studio. Unfortunately it needs some work. The blue cinderblocks look great, but the sound bounces right off them. I knew it would be a problem, but didn’t know how much until yesterday. I was laying down an acoustic guitar track, so I had a microphone set up in front of the Gibson’s soundhole. It’s a small guitar, and has a thin, whispy sound. That’s exactly what I wanted for the song. I sat down, adjusted all the levels, and recorded the slide-guitar track.
When I listened to the playback, there was a deep, boomy reverberation. The sound was bouncing off the walls, and overpowering the microphone. It made the signal unusable. It was really frustrating – that was a tough guitar solo to play cleanly, and it took a lot of practice to get it right.
A few hours later, I realized that I could get an equally-cool sound from one of my Telecasters. And I could run it directly into the PC, so the echo wouldn’t affect the sound. Ten minutes later it was done. Then I listened to the song a dozen times, thrilled with the way it’s building.
This isn’t a new song either. I was sitting on the sofa watching TV one night, plucking away on the above-noted Gibson acoustic (we keep it in the living room, for emergency access). I absent-mindedly plucked one of the guitar licks from “Love Isn’t Enough,” but at a really slow tempo. Suddenly I realized that this song would work well in a new genre. I rushed down to the studio, programmed a basic drum pattern, and very quickly laid down bass, guitar, and vocal “scratch takes” before I could forget what I had in mind.
I’ve built on it now, but it’s a sparse and lonely take on LIE. I can’t wait to polish and release it online (once the studio echo is resolved).
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