18 Mar 2008
by madeleinein bread crumbs, In the Studio Tags: lyrics, mp3, music, piano, recording studio, strings
Sorry for staying away without any further notice… I had a horrible experience last friday and it took me a while to regain my footing. Hence no music making and no blogging. It wasn’t my intention to vanish like that, but I needed the time.
I’m happy to say though that I’m back making music. Still working on ‘Hearts first’. Things are starting to fall into place. I always had the feeling that something was not quite right and whenever I played the final part I did it faster than the rest. Slowing it down seemed wrong somehow so I tried adjusting everything else. And voilà, much better. So the song is a bit faster now. Also I finally have the string arrangement for the beginning and the end. There are still a few kinks to be straightened out, but I’m getting there. Once I’ve recorded the piano the mixing and checking if anything else is missing will be much easier. A real piano sounds way better and I reckon the sound can carry a lot more than the fake one now which sounds a bit thin.
I also rehearsed playing the piano part to a click track with headphones on today. I arranged to record the piano on thursday at a friend’s and till then I have to be used to it. It’s probably gonna take enough time to set up the mics already. I’m not used to playing various pianos and they can feel quite different from each other. Also starting writing lyrics for a new song. Just fragments so far, but no pressure yet.
Last, but not least another long awaited sound snippet of said ‘Hearts first’. It’s the very beginning of the song and just a teensy appetiser:
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/1396342_v2l8z/heartsfirststart.mp3]
05 Mar 2008
by madeleinein bread crumbs, gigography, In the Studio Tags: mp3, music, recording studio
Shocking how much time I can spend with one song. Although I must admit I’ve been a bit distracted today. It seems my friends’ve had enough of not seeing me and start demanding my reappearance. Can’t complain about that, can I? Spoke to my best friend and he’s okay with me ‘stealing’ his words. Thanks again!
Recorded some vocals for a song for Seahorse Appears. He’s hopefully gonna be my electronic live drummer when I’m playing more gigs.
So another day with ‘Webs’. I re-recorded flageolet tones on my classical guitar so there’s no unwanted background noise seeping in. I spend a lot of time making a nice ‘instrument’ out of it. It sounds absolutely amazing, but I finally had to realise it’d be too much. Ah well, it will probably turn up in some other song. Did some finetuning and bits and bobs here and there. Some vocals, premixing and effects. Tomorrow will be the last day before I move on to the next song. I promise. I won’t have much time for my own music tomorrow anyway. I’m meeting with a friend to talk about how exactly we’re gonna make the gig on April 4 happen.
A little teaser (bridge and refrain without any vocals):
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/1247502_ohjfw/websbit.mp3]
Off to dream…
27 Feb 2008
by madeleinein bread crumbs, In the Studio Tags: bass, beats, field recording, mic, mp3, recording studio, rhodes, vocals
Took me a while to get going today. I felt like I was coming down with a cold, but no, it’s just my body thinking it’s being attacked by vicious tree pollen. So I’ve been coughing and wheezing. It’s no excuse though. I can’t just do nothing for weeks only because I drag myself around sneezing in the morning. I sure hope my voice gets used to it.
More work on ‘Webs’ today. I’ve sorted out the general arrangement. I had the feeling that something was off when I listened to it for the first time today. As it turns out it was pretty easy to solve. The bass line needed some adjustments and I’ve fiddled around with some effects for the rhodes. Together they already create a beat of some sorts now – sounds like a CD skipping. That’s what happens if you don’t cut a sound at zero. Usually this clicking sound is considered to be bad, but I like it.
My condensator mic got a bit tortured to get a sound for the bass drum. I tried to think of anything one does in the morning that provides a sound for that, but at least I prefer it rather relaxed just after getting up without any banging around. Hence the hitting the mic. Recorded the first attempts to the vocals to see if everything works the way I want it. Also recorded more little bits that will hopefully find their perfect place in time.
I need to find some clocks to record the ticking. I don’t have one that tick-tocks anymore. The grandfather clock at my parents’ would be perfect. Maybe next time I get there. I might ask around who’s got one or go to a shop…
This is the tiny snippet that inspired this song (sounds completely different already though):
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/1167684_wvdwi/websidea.mp3]
19 Feb 2008
by madeleinein bread crumbs, In the Studio Tags: mp3, music, recording studio
I’ve had a dream about ‘Unspoken’ last night where I found the last missing piece and it fit perfectly. So I had to try it and it actually worked. I sometimes have dreams about the perfect song – haven’t had one in a long time, though – and even if I remember every detail of the chords and melody it always sounds really awful. Still each time I have one of those dreams I simply have to see if it makes sense. I must say I was quite surprised when I realised that this time it sounded good. It’s nothing much, but it adds a nice underlying scariness to refrain no. two and verse three. Details can make a song shine I believe.
And since I had the song open already I thought why not throw in another little sneak peek. This time of the last refrain (which is completely different from the others), also without any vocals. Here goes:
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/1082190_pvs1t/unspokenref3.mp3]
15 Feb 2008
by madeleinein bread crumbs, In the Studio Tags: beats, brass, looper, lyrics, mix, mp3, studio recording, vocals
I’ve been pretty busy trying to finish ‘Chaos & Order’. The beats are mixed and automated. The rough mix is done, too. I realised though that I have to rerecord the vocals, don’t really know what I did back then. Some are too quiet and some distorted. And I can’t figure out a nice brass arrangement for the refrain. What I’m singing is in a pretty odd key. That’s what you get sometimes when you start with the vocal melody. Mmh. Might have to find a new one for the choruses then.
Well, here’s the new version (work in progress):
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/1045454_gxsaa/chaos%20and%20order%20new.mp3]
I’m off for the weekend to see friends and family. So looking forward to not staring at a screen all day. I might actually see some sunlight. But I’m not gonna take the whole weekend off of music. I’ve got this idea for a song and I still need to write the lyrics for it. All prior attempts have been futile. Well, let’s hope I’ll crack it this weekend. Also I’m gonna play a couple of songs with only my four-track-looper as a belated birthday present for my mom. Good for getting some practice, too.
Have a nice weekend, y’all.
x
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