06 Sep 2008
by madeleinein In the Studio, ramblings Tags: mix, recording studio, song
Yep, missing in action. The action being the finishing touches for the album. Sorry for being such a slacker. It’s for the greater good 
Drum roll: 6 songs finished. That’s half of the album.
That’s the good news. The bad is… still no time. I’m going for a 3 day weekend trip to Nürnberg. 3 blissful days without a computer. I’ve earned it.
Proper update coming on Tuesday. Cross my heart and hope to die.
x
04 Aug 2008
by madeleinein In the Studio Tags: beats, brass, glitch, guitar, mix, music, piano, recording studio, songs
Alright, it’s sooo time for an update.
The three days on Usedom were great. Got some sun (and quite some freckles), hit the waves and relaxed. Three days without my music to gain some perspective seems a good recipe.
In the last week I’ve gone over the songs that still needed some work. The chart was really helpful to determine what and when. It was also nice to tick off boxes after finishing stuff. Very motivating! First up was ‘Euphoria’ which was nice before, but who wants nice. Much better now. I finished the beats which now feature the sound of an arriving S-Bahn train in the chorus. Sounds like big drums. Refined the sound, put in variations and automated all the beats. Played with tape stops, reversing, shuffling and retriggering the melody I’d made out of an recorded glass harp. Really love the glitchy results. Very electronic sounding, I love it. Put in some small other details after tweaking sounds so much they became something completely new. And then of course mixed the song.
Next up was ‘Zero Tolerance’. Again refined and automated the beats, put in more circuit-bent breaks and noises. Messed around with the brass I’d recorded before, but didn’t like too much. It’s still in there although no one would recognise it as brass. It was so much fun kinda destroying things. It makes sense since the song needs to be gritty. Made some nice glitchy effects. Already have some great ideas how to treat the vocals once they’re done, too. For the last chorus I rocked out on my Les Paul and recorded some distorted guitar parts. And again did the music mix.
Also did some sound polishing on ‘The Tide’. Mainly EQing. ‘Hearts First’ needed some refined beats. Then I added a few more subtle cello bits. I went through all the tracks to make sure everything sits nicely in the mix and is necessary. I adjusted the levels and finished the mix.Last, but not least I made some changes in the brass arrangement for ‘Chaos & Order’ whenever the high notes sounded to bright and squeaky. Then recorded piano sprinkles in the verses to add a bit of extra colour.
Tomorrow I’ll start with more vocals. Finally the weather is right for them. It was so darn hot. If I’d done vocals I’d have gotten a heatstroke because the windows need to be shut for that. No way!
Sleep now, I haven’t gotten too much of that lately.
x
30 Apr 2008
by madeleinein bread crumbs, In the Studio, ramblings Tags: brass, lyrics, mix, mp3, music, recording studio, strings
OK, so I’ve been absent for quite some time. Unfortunately I had a relapse and spent my days feverishly in bed. I don’t know what my body has against me or if it was just sheer bad luck. And remarkably bad timing since my voice is sufficiently messed up.
While I was sick and bored on my couch I listened closely to all my songs and took notes of things missing or not sounding good enough. And in the last week I slowly went through all of them. I spent some time working on a song called ‘Paperheart’. This song is a bit older already and for a while I didn’t feel that excited about it anymore and so didn’t know what it still needed. The beats are all made of paper apart from a little bell I recorded. I had the idea to make this sound into an ‘instrument’ that I could then play on the keyboard. I added some nice little melodic fills with it and it sounds really good. I also completed the string arrangement, adjusted the overall sound and finished the rough mix.
The next on the list was ‘Breathing underwater’. Another song that’s been around for a bit. For this one I again finally completed the string arrangement, also fixed some sound issues and mixed it. Most of the other songs just needed some tiny tweakings in the mix. Just ‘Chaos & Order’ needed more work done. Before I couldn’t figure out a fitting brass arrangement for the refrain, but I’m happy to report I cracked the puzzle now. Boy, that was a tough one – especially since the song has so many separate tracks it’s given my computer massive CPU troubles – but so worth the effort. And again I made the sounds sparkle and sit nicely in the mix.
Now I have 8 songs only waiting for my voice to be fit so I can record loads of warblings and do the final mixes. Then there’s this one still untitled song I admittedly have been avoiding because it’s such a pain in the bum and ‘Hearts first’.Worked on the latter today. Perfected the string arrangement, some beat refinements…I still have the nagging feeling that something’s missing though. Maybe it’s just the fact that I’ve been trapped in my place for too long and crave for being out in the world, meeting people and listening to new exciting music. Anyway… When I got a bit frustrated with my progress today I ended up recording and extending a new idea that I had about a month ago. I’m gonna call it ‘Celeste’ for now for lack of lyrics. It might even stay an instrumental. Speaking of lyrics, I seriously have to go the park equipped with notebook and pen the next day it’s warm and sunny. Spring really put a spring in my step yesterday. Seems so much more inspiring than being shut in a room. Been there, done that for months now. It’s time to go outside again, experience things to have something to write about. And soak up some sun and see the trees in bloom.
So for anyone who wants to know what beats made of paper and a bell ‘instrument’ can sound like. Here’s a little preview of ‘Paperheart’:
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/1926012_6udsh/paperheartbit.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
