|
|
|
July 30, 2008
Trance was here last night, trying out an idea for lead on Come What May. We
spent most of the night talking about music. There was something Chet Bakerish
going on there...
|
|
|
July 28, 2008
Well, the Old Time Liberation Front will be headed out to West Virginny this
week, looking for some of that Appalachian culture. Like the Despry club here.
Here's a new featured song by the band, called Rainelle. I understand that
Rainelle is the last place you can buy alcohol (legally) on the way to Clifftop. One
of the features of Appalachian culture is the dry county...
|
|
|
July 25, 2008
OK, there it is, I did it. I mixed Fred's part, all solo.
Except for the "bleed" of my earlier lead guitar into Fred's track. I was afraid this might happen.
No worries... we'll fix it in the mix!
Fred Thing.mp3
|
|
|
July 24, 2008
Maroon polo shirt day at the studio. You must wear a maroon polo shirt to play here.
Fred was here playing on his steel fiddle. I swear, I'm going to post a track with just his
part in it. For most people this would be embarrassing. Not so for Fred. Fred is a monster.
|
|
|
July 21, 2008
The party lights are new, but the string of hanging bunnies have a history. For many
years they hung from the rear view in a Ukrainian Mazda.
They can be rearranged, depending on your mood. They sometimes rearrange themselves, too.
The tamborine also has a history. I'm just not sure what it is.
|
|
|
July 20, 2008
Thinkin' out loud here...
There's in interesting post at Hullabaloo by
Dennis Hartley about the band The Gits. It got me thinking about the nature
of art in our culture, how sex and death are the all-time big sellers.
Naturally, we're all about sex and death here at Steam Powered. I'm
all for sex but I don't think it needs to be the basis for a cult. Or cults. It's
just basically, as my pal Trip says, getting together and rubbing body parts. And death? Death is a grim
fact that is best accepted and then ignored- don't worry, it's on its way!
So I have some uncool ideas about sex and death that don't work so well in our sex and
death obsessed culture. And then I have what I think are very cool
ideas about alternative ways
to make a living making art. But now I am starting to think that it's a mistake to
insist on the two things going together. Maybe, in order to "sell" the sponsorship
idea, it would be better to go with some sort of sex'n'death format?
One thing for sure- if I go with it, there won't be any more of these boring posts...
|
|
|
July 19, 2008
And more revisions. I took the best parts of 5 different vocal tracks and
"comped" 'em together. It's a way for people like me who don't sing real good to
sound better. My bottom line is this- would you listen to the song twice? There's
nothing that can put a person off a song like an out-of-tune singer.
In the process of comping the vocal I made some adjustments to the instrumental
tracks. For some reason this version of this song sounds louder than just about
anything else I've ever done. This is version six.
Come What May.mp3
|
|
|
July 16, 2008
I had some time this afternoon to work on my vocal part for Come What May.
This song has been around for years. It has gone from a sort of folkie acoustic thing
to what is now a sort of reggae thing. The hard part is getting the vocal right, no matter
what style the song is in.
The lyric is so close to being sappy that it's a real fine line. I mean, I wrote it, it's quite sincere,
yet it easily goes into sentimentality. I don't want that to happen. My idea of the
feeling of the song is that the person I'm singing about is almost scary- they are always
there beside me, no matter how long it's been since I've seen them.
So, imagine trying to convey that emotion. It isn't easy. But a week or so ago
I had a sort of breakthrough, I think. I found ways to get around the things that bothered me
about the phrasing and the melody of my singing (I'm not a big fan of my own singing anyway).
And today I had a chance to try out some new moves on the vocal. I sort of like it- let
me know if it works for you.
Come What May.mp3
Doug wants to try another lead on this, so that's why there's a blank section after the second chorus.
This is by no means the final version of the song- it's just the latest in the years-long process of
development.
|
|
|
July 12, 2008
There's been more work with Heath today- we started early and finished up
before noon. It's a rather strange way to work.
This is another one of his dream songs, or rather, songs that are there when he
wakes up in the morning. Not so bad a way to get 'em, I think.
Another Night Is Gone.mp3
I like the Olds Sleeper sound, and it's not clear what I'm doing here. I think
I might have incorporated some of that thick midrange thing here.
|
|
|
July 11, 2008
I turned over the final mixes for the Old Time Liberation Front project on
Monday. I understand that they are planning on having the tracks mastered and pressed
to CD locally, then they will be doing the packaging (of 1,000!) themselves in time
for their gig at the Clifftop
Appalachian String Band Festival.
I can't make it, but I want video!
It's been too quiet in here- thanks, Jason, for ringing that sponsorship bell!
|
|
|
July 06, 2008
Early morning mixing today, when the ears are best. I re-mixed Window,
improving the sound of the bass and the overall mix. I think we'll make it the
featured song now, in honor of it being fabulous and because the O.T.L.F.
project is nearly finished.
|
|
|
July 05, 2008
There's been a bit of a push to get the Old Time Liberation Front project wrapped up... then I
got an extra couple of days to work. Well, I assembled the entire CD sequence and two of the songs were
very flat. They didn't fit.
So tonight I did the tear-down mixes on Empty Prayer and Hello Child. That's
where I throw out everything I had done before and start over. Jeeze, I'm glad I did! I think I've
turned two flat-sounding tracks into two hot tracks. I hope I still think so tomorrow!
|
|
|
July 03, 2008
Craig Wise came over last night...
Craig has a new song he wanted to get together quickly, and for fun he brought along
his Hofner Very-Thin, (seen in foreground). He let me play it, too.
|
|
|
July 02, 2008
What a long strange trip, indeed. I'm in the process of transferring files over to the
new site. At first I intended to just copy everything and hope for the best, but then
I looked at some of the older graphics and realized that this stuff hasn't seen light
in years.
Stuff like this...
Meanwhile, don't be surprised to find some broken links and stuff.
|
|
|
|
|
|
