25 Jun 2008
by madeleinein In the Studio, ramblings Tags: harpsichord, music, pizzicato, recording studio, rehearsing, vocals
Another week gone by. It was great visiting friends and family once more even though I have to admit I didn’t get as much done as hoped, but at least as much as expected. Thursday morning I returned to Berlin and spent the next two days rehearsing some more. Unfortunately I had overwritten some files with older versions when I copied them onto my Macbook in a hurry before I left. So I had to redo some preparations. On Saturday I did a somewhat late spring cleaning, cleared out my wardrobe and sifted through most of my things to see what I could sell at the fleamarket on Sunday. I also went to see the German beatbox master with his mates play live at the Fête de la Musique and some guys with their electronic live set. One of them used Ableton Live with a toylike looking selfmade MIDI controller. On Sunday I tried to sell some stuff at the fleamarket, baking ten hours in the sun. To top it all off, the girl I went with told me kinda last minute that she had no space left in the car and I had to haul my stuff there by public transport. Not a nice gesture! Should have cancelled then and there. I felt like being badly hungover on Monday, unable to do anything but trying to get better. Drinking would have been more enjoyable! I still have a stiff neck now and was fighting a persistent headache all day, spending some time on my couch, my neck and shoulders propped up against a hot-water bottle and a wet cloth. I even fell asleep in between and dreamt of how to continue with my song ‘The Tide’.
When I tried out the idea it worked. So it has been a pretty creative day against all odds. I added the vocals for the second verse and refrain and fleshed out the arrangement a bit more. I thought I’d have three verses in this song, the third sung differently, but in my dream it came to me that the little dramatic bridge after the first refrain could be adapted as a c-part. When I sung the only solid lines I have for it everything fell into place. The vocals for the new part are very rhythmical and repetitive over a violin and cello pizzicato run and tribal beats. Once I have the rest of the lyrics I’ll sing them on top in a more drawn-out fashion. The whole part creates a lot of suspense and makes ‘The Tide’ sound even more dramatic. The third and final refrain is pretty quiet with almost only harpsichord and vocals and works neatly as a resolution.
Tomorrow I’ll try to finish the lyrics and refine the arrangement. Hopefully my stiff neck will be gone or at least not giving me a headache anymore. Fingers crossed!
My downstair neighbour just rang at my door. Apparently the music was too loud. Probably because I have the window open. Oops! Sorry. Off to bed then so he doesn’t get permanently pissed off with me. ‘Tis late anyway.
x
17 May 2008
by madeleinein accords, In the Studio Tags: beats, brass, music, piano, recording studio, refrain, vocals
Haven’t really been away, but in the last week I had quite some creative ups and downs. Got stuck on ‘Euphoria’, then realised that the refrain was just not euphoric enough, but by then I was too close to the subject to see what might be right. Also I noticed when I went outside to record sounds of Berlin that either my microphone or the MD recorder is making loads of noise by itself. Quite a drawback, so no way I can make the beats I want for the song. Gotta check which one is being the noisy bugger! And then think of a solution. Preferably one without spending any money. And then after leaving the song alone for a bit get back to it afresh.
On Tuesday and yesterday I met up with the music producer I’d already mentioned. On Monday I recorded vocals for ‘Unspoken’ and ‘Webs’ so that he could get the whole picture. That and the mixing took the whole day and night. I ended up seeing the dawn and going to bed at half 7. I got a real rush throughout the next day with being so overtired and all that.The producer liked my songs and even asked me if I would like to write some songs for other people. I guess it’s a nice challenge since I’ve never tried that. Still I feel I should be cautious… He wants to try some stuff with three of my songs and I don’t want him to rewrite them and make them into something that could be neatly pigeonholed by a big record label, but that doesn’t feel like me anymore. I’m well aware that I’m very protective with my songs, but I’ve spent so much time and energy on them. I just don’t want anyone to mess with them…I guess I’ll have to wait and see what he’s planning to do with them!
Almost three months ago I started working on a song that was untitled back then and seriously doing my head in. It’s a pretty angry song and on Wednesday someone really pissed me off. On the way to my flat I thought that I should preserve the mood and have another go at this song. I cracked it! Finally! I figured out that the bass I had used was slightly out of tune, but since there was distortion on top of it I hadn’t noticed it earlier. So I just loaded up some piano sound and started playing my keyboard and within about five minutes I had the chord progression for the refrain, a vocal melody and lyrics to go with them. I quickly recorded everything and since then everything’s just falling into place. Needless to say that also cheered me up tremendously. The song’s called ‘Zero Tolerance’ now. I still have to write the lyrics for the third verse, but that should be a piece of cake after all the trouble I had with this stubborn song.
I’m just gonna write down the lyrics for the refrain so I don’t get the stupid idea and try to change them again:
zero tolerance from now on
gotta kill what’s killing me
zero tolerance from now on
no more putting up with
no more polite smiles
I then replaced the bass sound. Took me a while to create one that sounded just the way I envisioned it. I also changed the sounds for the beats. Mostly sounds of me hitting stuff. They’re pretty tribal and distorted sounding with a pinch of white noise thrown in. Working very well with the new bass. Had fun arranging some brass fills and fiddling with effects. ‘Zero Tolerance’ really screams for extreme FXing. This song might be something for the dance floor, very fast, driven. At least I have to dance around a lot when I hear it.
x
P.S.: Finally got a second hand bicycle. Got it on Ebay for just 20€. A red mountainbike. The girl I bought it off turned out to live near me. So if you happen to see a red flash rushing past… might be me 
01 Apr 2008
by madeleinein In the Studio, ramblings Tags: canon, music, recording studio, tin whistle, vocals
Got a bit late last night and I’m trying to get up earlier. The cold’s been messing with my sleeping pattern. It’s not like I need to get up at a certain time every day, music can be made till late at night, but it sure helps reducing the pressure of ‘Oh my god, it’s already midday and I haven’t even started yet!’
‘In Unison’ is looking quite good. The new refrain works well. I wrote two more lines for it and the vocals are really soaring now. I also figured out the beginning. It’s almost acapella. The basis are the backing vocals of the refrain and after trying out different things I settled for canon-like vocals on top. I had to work out a few creases so the transition between the intro and the first verse doesn’t sound odd, but that’s taken care of now. I still don’t have the outro yet, but I’m sure it’s gonna present itself soon.
I started working on the details. Refining the beats, rough mix, putting interesting little bits in. I even got out my tin whistle that I hadn’t played for ages. Admittedly it took me a while before I wouldn’t get those cute screeching noises out anymore. Also it’s tuned in D, but ‘In Unison’ isn’t, so I couldn’t make up any intricate melodies. Though I must say it sounds just fine now.
Off to bed now to get a proper daily rhythm again.
x
31 Mar 2008
by madeleinein In the Studio Tags: cello, music, recording studio, refrain, rhodes, vocals
I’ve got this song called ‘In Unison’ that I’d already written two different refrains for neither of which I was happy with. So I wrote another one that I really like so far. I hope it sticks this time. I recorded the Rhodes and a delayed toypiano and added nice backing vocals that sound a bit like out of an old Tim Burton movie. At least to me. I also realised that a cello would rather suit the song than a bass and I wrote the initial cello arrangement. The new refrain gave me an additional idea how to begin the song. I’m gonna have to flesh out everything more tomorrow then.
I must say it was quite a good start today after being absent from writing and recording for almost two weeks straight. Hopefully it’ll continue flowing…
x
09 Mar 2008
by madeleinein In the Studio Tags: music, piano, recording studio, vocals
Got a really late start today after coming home from the party in the early hours of morning.
I’ve got the second verse and refrain working now and recorded some nice reverberated backing vocals for the refrain. I have the feeling that ‘Hearts first’ wants to be very pure, basically piano and vocals only. Everything I tried today seemed to just clog the song. So I guess I’m gonna ask someone who has a good piano if I can record it. Preferably with the sound of the hammers hitting the strings so that it sounds very close up and intimate. At the moment ‘Hearts first’ feels like the closing song for the album.
x
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