Studio Blog, January 25, 2011

Ahoy, everyone!
So it's 11:18 pm on this fine Tuesday night. After a busy day at work where I got home just in time to drop my daughter Sam off at LCC and get to the studio by 6.

Historically, it's pretty much been a coin toss as to if I know going in what exactly I'm going to do once I get there or if I just figure it out on the way. But now things really are kinda coming to a close and there's less and less to do all the time.

I have to laugh at myself when I read the Rush biography and learned how they recorded their first album in 3 days and pretty much kept that pace through the first four albums. Even 2112, their breakthrough album took just under a week to record. I guess the HUGE difference is (besides the fact that they are Rush) is that they go into the studio, music rehearsed and fine tuned, lyrics written and melodies created and then live at the studio for the next several days and spend the entire time recording. Weeellllll, that's just great. Here a couple weeks ago, I was finishing up the lyrics to a song I had to start recording vocals for on the very day that I had to start laying down vocal tracks on. It's not uncommon for me to change a verse or a line and then go back in again and change it later. (Story of my life throughout this whole CD) In fact, I've done the same thing with the music as well. In the song "Anyway"... we recorded the drums and bass (along with a dummy guitar track) when I came up with a bridge I wanted to put in just between the intro and the 1st verse. I could have started over. Or.... I could do what I did. We split the tracks right where I wanted to put the bridge in, recorded it, and then pulled the pieced together and making sure that we were still on time and on beat. It went off flawless.

So clearly... this has indeed been a work in progress. While I am pretty much completely done with the music (minus one acoustic guitar part I have to re-record because I'm very noticeably out of tune) the music is completely done. I very recently finished up the last of the lead guitar tracks which was the last thing to do. Pretty much all I'm doing now is adding the vocals.

So tonight... I got there at 6pm. I had Jeff pull up the last song we were working on, a tribute to pretty much every relationship I've ever been in called "Over and Over". The music is done and I am very happy with it. We finished editing the vocals and I was able to call it done! It's one of those songs where I just feel very good about being able to call it good.

After that, I had Jeff pull up "Nemesis" which is a song I have a clip for on my website. Again, the music is done and I am very happy with it. The vocals are close to being done. There were some lines that I had put down that I wasn't happy with so Jeff locked me in the iso booth in front of a mic and I recorded fixes and patches for the parts I wasnt' happy with. Jeff has worked with me for a LONG time and is such a good sport about my constant changes. It took some time but... I got the changes I wanted and left feeling good about it. "Nemesis" however, is one of the songs that I feel just needs a "little" bit more vocally. Several of the songs I don't have backup vocals on, just the lead vocals and that's it. But still there are several that do need some backing vocals and I've been trying to do both lead and backup. That's great if you're Brad Delp of Boston who could sing all the parts and have them all sound so full. Not so great for me who has a very soft David Gilmour of Pink Floyd kind of voice. I came to the conclusion that while I want to make this as much of a truly solo CD as I possibly can, I'm going to need to bring in another singer to add some backing vocals and help got that full sound. I have a person in mind. I'm not dropping the person's name yet as I havent' approached him yet but, we go way back, are very good friend, and I'm certain I'll get a good response.

But overall, it was a very good session tonight. While lead vocals is still not completely comfortable for me, I'm feeling better about it as I do it more and I'm not completely hating my own voice as much as I thought I would or did at first.

Ron Gallagher, Team West Coast, is in sunny California mixing the songs as I send them out to him. There are two that are completely finished meaning that the recording is done, they've been sent to Ron and he has completed the mixing process. Ron is truly an artist and what he does with the tracks is magic. I am so happy with the work he is doing. Hearing my songs just come to life is such a thrill and I cannot thank him enough for the outstanding work he is doing. Song 3 is currently having the finishing touches done and Jeff and I are finishing up another 3 that will be sent off to him soon. (Along with the next shipment of cookies which I admittedly am behind on. Ron always works better with cookies.)

At the end of the session I had Jeff pull up all ten songs and I did a quick tally of what was needed to be done. There are three more songs that still need work and that's pretty much it. So my friends... it really is getting close.

Thanks for staying tuned and even moreso for staying interested.

I'll talk to you all soon!

Traceman