and fix a couple of lyrics. right now joe baldridge is fixing me up a work tape so i can hear the album in it's entirity and see what might need to be fixed lyrics wise. also, joe vitale is putting a vocal section together for a cong called slipping away. he is doing that at his home studio and will email it down. how about that technology. then he is also adding a flute solo to a song called noone knows. that should be really cool.
then once we have that , i go back down do the fixes, i think tom has a couple of guitar parts he wants to overdub and it's time to mix. joe baldridge has agreed to mix it and he is going to get richard dodd to do the mastering i think. richard is at the top of his game having mastered cd's for everyone from the dixie chicks to tom petty. i think that will be just fine.
then, i think i might have a finished album ready for production by around the end of january. oh, i have to get in touch with scott medwetz about the artwork. he's really good and has done both the other cd's. until then, stay warm and thanks for reading.
oh, and merry christmas everybody.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
grooves, feel, tempo, key
a couple of disclaimers. one, this is the way we did it, not the way you have to do it. two, if i have repeated myself at all, my apologies.
"bed" tracks are not something you do from your bedroom (but you could) or at night (but quite often you do). bed tracks is a term referring to the "bed" to upon which all other tracks shall be recorded, superimposed, or overdubbed.
you see, you might think that when you hear a song on the radio that whatever you are hearing in terms of instrumentation, was recorded by putting a bunch of musicians in a room and hitting the red button labeled record. it seems natural that whatever you are hearing like bassists, violinists, triangle players, percussionists, background singers, etc., were all sitting together when this sound was made. in fact, it is sometimes. this is called a "live recording". a live recording can be made in front of an audience and that is what most people think of when they hear "live" recording. but in fact, a live recording is referring to the recording and not whether they are at the gig right in front of you. now, sometimes, often times, people will fix after the fact, or, doctor up live recordings and call them live. so , there you have it. the one big advantage of recording live, especially with a rock band, is the energy gotten from playing together or being in front of a "live" audience. but, the disadvantage of recording live is that the control of sound is compromised by being recorded in big live venues. of, course i'm not saying live albums aren't good, i'm just saying to compare for instance an example of a band that you love their live recording and compare it to the studio version. the studio version's sound is usually a lot tighter among other things. for example freebird live/album version. stairway to heaven....etc.
but sometimes and especially since say sgt pepper's lonely hearts club band in 1967, the ideas bands would have to put into song would be too complicated for them to replicate on stage. well, along comes a guy named les paul (1940's and 1950's) and inventes a process whereby you can record your band and add parts to it later. they call it multi-tracking and it is the practice of over-dubbing more instruments on the recording. crazy, huh?
my last cd 'finally home' was recorded with many overdubs of pedal steel guitars, background harmonies, lots of guitars and percussion. it sounded great. this cd is more of a live recording. there are a few parts to be added but it is mainly just us 4 or 5 guys sitting in a room playing.
so, to make these bed tracks you get the main 4 or 5 guys in there and play the song as well as you can, then to that you will add whatever extra instrumentation you think you need to make it groovy.
these bed tracks are all important. if they suck, the whole thing does. i don't know if there is any exception to this. if you can not get the beds to sound great, you will never get the track as a whole to sound good.
sometimes you can have a great song that won't make a great recording. sometimes this is because you have not found one of these factors:
groove, feel, tempo, key
brown eyed girl in a reggae style, stairway to heaven in a swing style, or i wanna rock and roll all night and party every day sung by robert goulet or pat boone.
many songs we did had to be dug for. i often would come in with things too fast. usually i was singing in the key i needed but sometimes moving it up a key or two might add excitement. one song called "the magnolia tree down on highway 7" i wrote as a straight ahead old school country song but it sounded just ok when we laid it down. buk and joe and david and i tried different ideas until david asked joe vitale what groove he does on "teach your children", and joe is the exact guy to ask that question to, and we tried that. bingo. the groove popped. but then we moved it down a key and a half and buk had me sing it like i was just about going to sleep. so i went in there and yawned and mellowed out, turned the light down and i nailed it. but without the direction of those around me, the recording just wouldn't be as good as it turned out. this is a good example of a recording we did live. but i actually went back and fixed a few things on this one, but that's all it needed- an acoustic, a bass, me and oh yeeeeah,,,, joe vitale played his black upholstered drum seat instead of a snare. he tried all kinds of sounds and wound up on hitting his drum throne with two sticks.
but on another song of mine called "everything happens on saturday, buk added a chorous of guitars with 2 tracks of 12 string jangle. wait until you hear it. so i guess we have both live recordings and overdubbed songs on this cd.
i know this we have done well in picking the grooves, feel, tempo, keys.
ok i guess next step is the overdubs.. i'll tell you what i know about that next time. thanks for reading.
"bed" tracks are not something you do from your bedroom (but you could) or at night (but quite often you do). bed tracks is a term referring to the "bed" to upon which all other tracks shall be recorded, superimposed, or overdubbed.
you see, you might think that when you hear a song on the radio that whatever you are hearing in terms of instrumentation, was recorded by putting a bunch of musicians in a room and hitting the red button labeled record. it seems natural that whatever you are hearing like bassists, violinists, triangle players, percussionists, background singers, etc., were all sitting together when this sound was made. in fact, it is sometimes. this is called a "live recording". a live recording can be made in front of an audience and that is what most people think of when they hear "live" recording. but in fact, a live recording is referring to the recording and not whether they are at the gig right in front of you. now, sometimes, often times, people will fix after the fact, or, doctor up live recordings and call them live. so , there you have it. the one big advantage of recording live, especially with a rock band, is the energy gotten from playing together or being in front of a "live" audience. but, the disadvantage of recording live is that the control of sound is compromised by being recorded in big live venues. of, course i'm not saying live albums aren't good, i'm just saying to compare for instance an example of a band that you love their live recording and compare it to the studio version. the studio version's sound is usually a lot tighter among other things. for example freebird live/album version. stairway to heaven....etc.
but sometimes and especially since say sgt pepper's lonely hearts club band in 1967, the ideas bands would have to put into song would be too complicated for them to replicate on stage. well, along comes a guy named les paul (1940's and 1950's) and inventes a process whereby you can record your band and add parts to it later. they call it multi-tracking and it is the practice of over-dubbing more instruments on the recording. crazy, huh?
my last cd 'finally home' was recorded with many overdubs of pedal steel guitars, background harmonies, lots of guitars and percussion. it sounded great. this cd is more of a live recording. there are a few parts to be added but it is mainly just us 4 or 5 guys sitting in a room playing.
so, to make these bed tracks you get the main 4 or 5 guys in there and play the song as well as you can, then to that you will add whatever extra instrumentation you think you need to make it groovy.
these bed tracks are all important. if they suck, the whole thing does. i don't know if there is any exception to this. if you can not get the beds to sound great, you will never get the track as a whole to sound good.
sometimes you can have a great song that won't make a great recording. sometimes this is because you have not found one of these factors:
groove, feel, tempo, key
brown eyed girl in a reggae style, stairway to heaven in a swing style, or i wanna rock and roll all night and party every day sung by robert goulet or pat boone.
many songs we did had to be dug for. i often would come in with things too fast. usually i was singing in the key i needed but sometimes moving it up a key or two might add excitement. one song called "the magnolia tree down on highway 7" i wrote as a straight ahead old school country song but it sounded just ok when we laid it down. buk and joe and david and i tried different ideas until david asked joe vitale what groove he does on "teach your children", and joe is the exact guy to ask that question to, and we tried that. bingo. the groove popped. but then we moved it down a key and a half and buk had me sing it like i was just about going to sleep. so i went in there and yawned and mellowed out, turned the light down and i nailed it. but without the direction of those around me, the recording just wouldn't be as good as it turned out. this is a good example of a recording we did live. but i actually went back and fixed a few things on this one, but that's all it needed- an acoustic, a bass, me and oh yeeeeah,,,, joe vitale played his black upholstered drum seat instead of a snare. he tried all kinds of sounds and wound up on hitting his drum throne with two sticks.
but on another song of mine called "everything happens on saturday, buk added a chorous of guitars with 2 tracks of 12 string jangle. wait until you hear it. so i guess we have both live recordings and overdubbed songs on this cd.
i know this we have done well in picking the grooves, feel, tempo, keys.
ok i guess next step is the overdubs.. i'll tell you what i know about that next time. thanks for reading.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
basics of recording
i am not sure if i included this already so i will just t'row it in and that wat i'm sure i told you...
the recording (in my case) starts like this
PRE PRODUCTION
this is where the producer (tom bukovac) and the songwriter (me) get together and see what we've come up with. for the last cd FINALLY HOME we spent two or three days doing this process. that's because io really didn't know what to expect or how we were going to do it. i was not very prepared. this time we only spent a few hours on it and did a lot of the pre production in between takes because for one i was much more rpepared and secondly tom thought it was giving a good ,,,, hmm,,,, vibe to the record by doing it that way. plus he was rushed and had to go make a record with willie and also had that dave stewart (eurythmics) session to do. but nonetheless he and i are both happy with the way it came out
pre production involves many thing. some that i understand and a lot that i don't. it is the producers job, from what i know, to listen to what the songwriter hasd come up with and suggest or dictate improvements. tom never dictated with me. often times his genius was not even undertstood by me so it was a leap of faith when he would come up with some of these wild ideas he had.
some techniques in pre production can be, for starters, finding the right key for the singer/artist (which isn't neccesarily the writer) to sing the song. sometimes i would have been singing the song and tom would suggest to move it up or down a key (keys might take a while to explain, but if you don't know,,,imagine a child singing a song in a real high pitched voice, then imagine a big man singing the song in a deep low voice. they are singing the same song but in defferent keys (widely different keys). ok, one more example. say you are singing mary had a little lamb. now just start singing it in the key you think you would sing it in. go ahead nobody is watching. now that sounded pretty good. but try this little tricky number. when you sing mary had a little lamb, stop on the (for example) "had" note. now just sing that note. now try to start the song off starting witht at note. but sing the same song. if it worked you will be singing the song but just a little bit lower))))) you could go to youtube and search for a song say in the key of A, listen to it then search for the same song in amother key, like B. you can hear the difference it's easy!
anyway enough of that...
so, he might suggest another key to sing it in which might make the singer's voice sound better, or more believeable, or less believeable, or less strained or more satrained, or whatever effect he is looking for. usually just to make the song sound better.
another technique is to help with lyrics, which is really a songwriters job but often the producer might have suggestions as to how to improve the song with a different lyric, or different word or whole line. he would then also share in the songwriting credit. if you are selling a million reocrds this can be a substantial royaly for the producer. in the old days producers would get paid huge fees to produce a record. sometimes just because he had a hit record and the record company in their infinite wisdom thinks he can do it again for the new artist and pays him huge fees to go in and lend a hand. sometimes producers would do little to improve or help the song. other times, like in my cae, the producer makes the song. brings it to life.
a producer might add a section to the song, or a guitar riff, or a different drum pattern. he might cut a crescendo to two bars instead of four. he might suggest that the singer imagine a different character to imulate so as to get different levels of growl or emotion or feeling or loudness. sometimes tommy would say to me, "make this angry guy, or not so angry make this character my vulnerable. you get the idea. the inflection of one's voice can make a huge difference in the delivery of the song.
sometimes he might suggest a defferent chord structure to a piece or section. one time last cd, will owsley heard me singing a a line in a song called "do it all over again" and thought it was a little wimpy. so, he suggested i give it a pete ham, meaning do it like the singer from badfinger would have done it. i didn't really know whjat he meant although i am quite familiar with badfiner. so, he showed me, and it was to say the least quite improved with just a change of a couple of notes.
also the producer might bge involved with a job that is called the ARRANGER. this might include what instruments are played, how the musicians play it and all manner of the actual "groove" of the music. by groove i mean, you could have mary had a little lamb sung in a reggae groove, or a country groove. groove kind of means style but also encompasses how to get that style, the little intricate things that make up the style- what pattern the dummer plays on the cymbals, how the guitarist picks his part. everything that encompasses the groove the producer will come up with the best for the recording. in my case i left it up to tom. often the song sounds alot like how i wrote it but sometimes it takes a dramatic turn. for instance on this cd i wrote a song called "it is what it is" and i sort of pictured it as a zydeco song. it's a basic 12 blues thing. anyway, it came out nighting like that because tom found a different groove. i don't even know what to call it.
so this is all pre production and other things that are beyond my grasp of understanding and best left up to the gods, or tom.
but don't let me lead you to think that the producer is always an unbendable wall. quite the opposite. a great producer listens. listens to ideas and tries them. soemtimes he know it won't work but tries it anyway to keep a good vibe in the studio and keep ideas flowing from all involved. but sometimes the others come up with a good idea and he changes it. for instance there never would have been a third verse to a song of mine called "take a ride" had it not been for me telling tom that it was important to wrap the song up with it because he was ready to just rock out. i said whoooooah. we need this third verse. i'm glad he thought it was a good idea.
anyway, for the next installment, i will go over the basic recordings or "bed " tracks. but now, i need some lunch. thanks for reading!
the recording (in my case) starts like this
PRE PRODUCTION
this is where the producer (tom bukovac) and the songwriter (me) get together and see what we've come up with. for the last cd FINALLY HOME we spent two or three days doing this process. that's because io really didn't know what to expect or how we were going to do it. i was not very prepared. this time we only spent a few hours on it and did a lot of the pre production in between takes because for one i was much more rpepared and secondly tom thought it was giving a good ,,,, hmm,,,, vibe to the record by doing it that way. plus he was rushed and had to go make a record with willie and also had that dave stewart (eurythmics) session to do. but nonetheless he and i are both happy with the way it came out
pre production involves many thing. some that i understand and a lot that i don't. it is the producers job, from what i know, to listen to what the songwriter hasd come up with and suggest or dictate improvements. tom never dictated with me. often times his genius was not even undertstood by me so it was a leap of faith when he would come up with some of these wild ideas he had.
some techniques in pre production can be, for starters, finding the right key for the singer/artist (which isn't neccesarily the writer) to sing the song. sometimes i would have been singing the song and tom would suggest to move it up or down a key (keys might take a while to explain, but if you don't know,,,imagine a child singing a song in a real high pitched voice, then imagine a big man singing the song in a deep low voice. they are singing the same song but in defferent keys (widely different keys). ok, one more example. say you are singing mary had a little lamb. now just start singing it in the key you think you would sing it in. go ahead nobody is watching. now that sounded pretty good. but try this little tricky number. when you sing mary had a little lamb, stop on the (for example) "had" note. now just sing that note. now try to start the song off starting witht at note. but sing the same song. if it worked you will be singing the song but just a little bit lower))))) you could go to youtube and search for a song say in the key of A, listen to it then search for the same song in amother key, like B. you can hear the difference it's easy!
anyway enough of that...
so, he might suggest another key to sing it in which might make the singer's voice sound better, or more believeable, or less believeable, or less strained or more satrained, or whatever effect he is looking for. usually just to make the song sound better.
another technique is to help with lyrics, which is really a songwriters job but often the producer might have suggestions as to how to improve the song with a different lyric, or different word or whole line. he would then also share in the songwriting credit. if you are selling a million reocrds this can be a substantial royaly for the producer. in the old days producers would get paid huge fees to produce a record. sometimes just because he had a hit record and the record company in their infinite wisdom thinks he can do it again for the new artist and pays him huge fees to go in and lend a hand. sometimes producers would do little to improve or help the song. other times, like in my cae, the producer makes the song. brings it to life.
a producer might add a section to the song, or a guitar riff, or a different drum pattern. he might cut a crescendo to two bars instead of four. he might suggest that the singer imagine a different character to imulate so as to get different levels of growl or emotion or feeling or loudness. sometimes tommy would say to me, "make this angry guy, or not so angry make this character my vulnerable. you get the idea. the inflection of one's voice can make a huge difference in the delivery of the song.
sometimes he might suggest a defferent chord structure to a piece or section. one time last cd, will owsley heard me singing a a line in a song called "do it all over again" and thought it was a little wimpy. so, he suggested i give it a pete ham, meaning do it like the singer from badfinger would have done it. i didn't really know whjat he meant although i am quite familiar with badfiner. so, he showed me, and it was to say the least quite improved with just a change of a couple of notes.
also the producer might bge involved with a job that is called the ARRANGER. this might include what instruments are played, how the musicians play it and all manner of the actual "groove" of the music. by groove i mean, you could have mary had a little lamb sung in a reggae groove, or a country groove. groove kind of means style but also encompasses how to get that style, the little intricate things that make up the style- what pattern the dummer plays on the cymbals, how the guitarist picks his part. everything that encompasses the groove the producer will come up with the best for the recording. in my case i left it up to tom. often the song sounds alot like how i wrote it but sometimes it takes a dramatic turn. for instance on this cd i wrote a song called "it is what it is" and i sort of pictured it as a zydeco song. it's a basic 12 blues thing. anyway, it came out nighting like that because tom found a different groove. i don't even know what to call it.
so this is all pre production and other things that are beyond my grasp of understanding and best left up to the gods, or tom.
but don't let me lead you to think that the producer is always an unbendable wall. quite the opposite. a great producer listens. listens to ideas and tries them. soemtimes he know it won't work but tries it anyway to keep a good vibe in the studio and keep ideas flowing from all involved. but sometimes the others come up with a good idea and he changes it. for instance there never would have been a third verse to a song of mine called "take a ride" had it not been for me telling tom that it was important to wrap the song up with it because he was ready to just rock out. i said whoooooah. we need this third verse. i'm glad he thought it was a good idea.
anyway, for the next installment, i will go over the basic recordings or "bed " tracks. but now, i need some lunch. thanks for reading!
Thursday, December 9, 2010
wrapping up the first week. time to go home for a while.
higlights of this week, other than the lkiller tracks we made would be some of the help i got in writing. i will share songwriting credit with some amazing people. first of course is my producer tom bukovac, who always picks the right groove and more. next, one of my rock'n'roll heroes, joe vitale. early in his carreer he co-wrote rocky mountain way with joe walsh and many other great songs. he also wrote pretty maids all in a row on the hotel california album by the eagles.
the tracks sound great. we have just a couple things to add, a few lines to change, joe will add a flute solo i think to one song called "noone knows". how cool is that. then it has to be mixed, but all that will happen after the holidays so, i won't check back in until i get a call from tom, but hopefully it will be soon!
so, back up to south bass and get ready for the holidays. thanks for reading and i will give you updates on the mixing and other steps until it is all done. let's shoot to have this thing ready for the summer season.
but the idea hits me...... i have the last cd licensed to all sorts of web sites,,,, amazon, cdbaby, rhapsody, itunes, etc. they all take a cut. maybe i should just have them available for download at my web site.... cut out the middle man. whjat do you think about that? i invite your comments or ideas. let's make this thing so profitable we can go do it again soon. what d'ya say. have some ideas for marketing?
the tracks sound great. we have just a couple things to add, a few lines to change, joe will add a flute solo i think to one song called "noone knows". how cool is that. then it has to be mixed, but all that will happen after the holidays so, i won't check back in until i get a call from tom, but hopefully it will be soon!
so, back up to south bass and get ready for the holidays. thanks for reading and i will give you updates on the mixing and other steps until it is all done. let's shoot to have this thing ready for the summer season.
but the idea hits me...... i have the last cd licensed to all sorts of web sites,,,, amazon, cdbaby, rhapsody, itunes, etc. they all take a cut. maybe i should just have them available for download at my web site.... cut out the middle man. whjat do you think about that? i invite your comments or ideas. let's make this thing so profitable we can go do it again soon. what d'ya say. have some ideas for marketing?
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
the chord
sorry, i have to write down one more thing, but not like i will forget it. buk (our illustrious producer, friend, musical mentor and acm award holder among other things),,,,said that my use of a 4 flat 7 chord was original, meaning he hadn't heard it used like that before. or at least to his memory. wow. that was a cool compliment coming from tommy. just to tell you it is a 4 flat seven chord in the key of c but with a tonal center of A minor.
a day that will live in infamy
we are all done recording the band and now starts the overdubs, that is, i need to resing a couple things, tom will add some lead guitars here and there (no, of course it will not be me. tom can say anything that i want to say on guitar better), and here's a great one- joe vitale might add a flute solo to one song. other than that, it is ready for mixing.
so, tonight at seven we go in and see what else needs to be done.
so, tonight at seven we go in and see what else needs to be done.
Monday, December 6, 2010
what a week it has been.
i just can't describe the experiences i have had this week. the conversations between takes and at lunch have been ,,,, well, all musical. stpories were shared between all the guys alot like my band and i sitting around tsalking shop. but, instead of, for example "hey remember that gig we did in the flats" or about the bar owner in youngstown, it would be about van morrison or the eagles. joe was telling us a story about keith moon. nothing dirty just crazy. he would drive cars into swimming pools or hotel lobbies. he just didn't care. they were talking about one particular producer, i forget the name. but joe had made 52 records with him. joe vitale might have 50 or 100 gold/platinum records, but, that's just the omnes with awards. he has made hundreds and hundreds of records throughout his career. buk was telling me about a guitar he bought ( he bought one online while i was down here!) and sold some vintage vox speakers. anyway. the stories that go around. one time with joe walsh they were all bored on tour and made crazy videos. joe is one of the most talented, legendary, nicest, sweetest, straight forward, family men you would ever meet. he's a rock star but a regular guy. he told me sometimes the band he would be working with is bickering (and i mean world famous artists) and they would turn to him looking for him to take sides, and joe would just say (and i'm paraphrasing), just shut up and let's record the song! one night he played a drum fill with the eagles and glen frey said i'll give you $100 to do that again, but it was because he knew henley would get mad. i don't want to tell any stories that i'm not supposed to, because i was taken in confidence on many of them, and i don't want any of the guys i am working with to thinik ill of me. but when joe vitale was involved, and he was a younger, crazy italiam rocker, the stories are funny and crazy. just like his book. i really suggest buying a copy. he is so funny and the stories are so crazy. like the time joe walsh and he wanted adjoining rooms, but the hotel didn't get it right, so they cut a hole in the wall with a chain saw!!!! you see, they traveled with a chain saw. they had a road case for it and everything. joe has been on evbery tonight show, leno, lettermen, arsinio show that ever was.
david santos has worked with and record with a long long list too. john fogerty, winonna, neville brothers. i mean i can't even rememver all the ones. and to see him record the parts,,,,, he's like buk. he is a killer killer player. if a part is simple, that's what he plays, but that is not the limit of his skill. he brought an upright bass yesterday because it might, and i mean might be used on a track., he played it like an old jazz pro.... which he is. he's doing a demonstration jazz gig coming up for a bass manufacturer.. oh, and speaking of jazz. joe vitale... i knew he played keyboards and flute in addition to drums. and i knew he was a great keyboard player, but the other day, he sat down at the piano and dave was on upright bass, and joe p[layed jazz piano that blew me away. i am such a lucky guy to be recording with these guys.
buk,,,,, well, what can be said. he is brilliant. a genius. he is the talk of the town and the first call master session player here. everybody wants him. not everybody gets him. his time is limited and he picks and chooses with whom he wants. and he chose to invite me to work with him. what an honor. and let me tell you. it's not just reputation. it is talent. lasdt night we did a song that was a cool song, but i wrote it like a white bread ritchie cunningham. he thought about it for days, couldn't come up with something to make it sound cool. yesterday, it came to him in a dream. it is now not a beatley thing, it is a reggae/metal thing. and it sounds great.
something else i should say. this was pointed out to me by one of the guys. sessions down here for making records go in three hour segments. when the session is over, it's over. if it' ain't right, the players usually just say "oh, that's great. it's fine just the way it is". but not this session. there have been several songs that after a few hours, they are still searching for the right way to get the song across. case in point, i wrote this song called the magnolia tree on highway 7. they played it like anyone would play it. didn't please them. tried a different tempo. different style. nothing. then david asked joe what groove do you guys to on teach your children ( a csn song, you know it). well of course joe is the drummer for csn. so they tried that. it worked. then the tommy said let's move it down a step in key and it improved a lot. joe (the engineer) said go one more 1/2 step down. and boom. there it was. they, dare i say we,,,, worked on that song for like 8 hours until it was right. then tommy said i was singing it too agressively. he said don't sing it like agrressive guy, sing it like sleepy guy, like right before you go to sleep. so, i went into the booth, yawned a few times, turned the lights down, sand it really really soft ( i would have neevr thought of this) and click. there it was.
they have helped on every aspect of the process. one part that is especially thrilling is the lyrical help. not only do these guys have a great sense of drama for a song, but,,, and i hate to seem like a small time guy (which i am) but, joe helped on lyrics on more than one song. you know what that means? there will be songs on this record that i share a song writing credit with joe vitale. here's a guy who co-wrote so many great hits and my name will be right next to his. what an honor.
sorry i am dithering on again.
yesterday we got two songs done. we are up to ten. we hope to do two more today.
did i mention, the equipment that is being used for this record is unbelieveable. you might not think it makes a difference, but plug 6 mics into a 10,00 dollar set of preamps and then plug them into a bank of vintage neve preamps and even i hear the difference. the preamps for mics alone are many times that amount. they are outfitted like the best studios in this town. i mean from what the guys say ( an they7 know) this studio is one of the best in town. i am in a twilight zone. but it is really happening. i'm here. the two songs yesterday really rounded out the recording. there is a little bit of everything. and they are all done very well. the last recording done in what they call 16 bit recording, this one is many times that,,,not really sure but i think it's 56 bit. what this means is the resolution si much muich greater. imagine taking a picture with a disposable camera from the grocery store. now take the same picture on a camera that is used for the life magazine cover that costs 40,000 dollars. would you expect the resolution to be greater? the colors to be more vivid? the depth of intensity? yes you would. and it is. just the yard stick mix, (that means just push all the faders up, without really eq' ing it or doing compressions or any final mixing thing, just push the faders all up and listen.... it is amazing the difference ( to me) between this one and the last one, finally home. rick delima the engineer for the last one, was an amazing cat. he got performances out of me that would hgave never happened, so i am not dissing that recording or anythinhg like that. he was an amazing cat, but because of the equipment in buks studio, the quality of recording i think is great. rick delima i love you and your studio as well though. i hope to work with him again sometime. forgive me that i am tryting to be politialcally correct, i just don't want to say anything bad about the last studio. it was an affordable and great studio. this one, though, because of equipment alone is a world class studio. and not to mention buk has ten more years under his belt making reocrdings. last time, he hadn't worked with keith urband yet, he hadn't graced the recordings of all those rascal flatts records, worked with the producers that are now fawninbg over him, and he is ten years older and wiser. but let me point something out. buk was a greater guitar player than i by the time he reached the age of,,,, i don't know,,,, 8? 10?
anyway i better get to work and polish offf some lyrics. this doesnt happen to me every day and i must make the best of it
here is something i had no idea would happen. but i have seen it in front of my eyes. here is the lesson. you can neevr tell. first of all i never have any idea which song tom will picj to do next. he picked songs that i thought to myself, oh no, not that one, it sucks. it's one of the lesser songs i brought here. but hten it turns out to be one of the best songs. and some song you thought would be great, didn't get picked. some somg that was to be an easy chip shot, takes all day. you just never can tell. but i can tell one thing. if we start a song, by the time it is done, it will be great.
so, on to the last day of full band recording., after this it is over dubs.
david santos has worked with and record with a long long list too. john fogerty, winonna, neville brothers. i mean i can't even rememver all the ones. and to see him record the parts,,,,, he's like buk. he is a killer killer player. if a part is simple, that's what he plays, but that is not the limit of his skill. he brought an upright bass yesterday because it might, and i mean might be used on a track., he played it like an old jazz pro.... which he is. he's doing a demonstration jazz gig coming up for a bass manufacturer.. oh, and speaking of jazz. joe vitale... i knew he played keyboards and flute in addition to drums. and i knew he was a great keyboard player, but the other day, he sat down at the piano and dave was on upright bass, and joe p[layed jazz piano that blew me away. i am such a lucky guy to be recording with these guys.
buk,,,,, well, what can be said. he is brilliant. a genius. he is the talk of the town and the first call master session player here. everybody wants him. not everybody gets him. his time is limited and he picks and chooses with whom he wants. and he chose to invite me to work with him. what an honor. and let me tell you. it's not just reputation. it is talent. lasdt night we did a song that was a cool song, but i wrote it like a white bread ritchie cunningham. he thought about it for days, couldn't come up with something to make it sound cool. yesterday, it came to him in a dream. it is now not a beatley thing, it is a reggae/metal thing. and it sounds great.
something else i should say. this was pointed out to me by one of the guys. sessions down here for making records go in three hour segments. when the session is over, it's over. if it' ain't right, the players usually just say "oh, that's great. it's fine just the way it is". but not this session. there have been several songs that after a few hours, they are still searching for the right way to get the song across. case in point, i wrote this song called the magnolia tree on highway 7. they played it like anyone would play it. didn't please them. tried a different tempo. different style. nothing. then david asked joe what groove do you guys to on teach your children ( a csn song, you know it). well of course joe is the drummer for csn. so they tried that. it worked. then the tommy said let's move it down a step in key and it improved a lot. joe (the engineer) said go one more 1/2 step down. and boom. there it was. they, dare i say we,,,, worked on that song for like 8 hours until it was right. then tommy said i was singing it too agressively. he said don't sing it like agrressive guy, sing it like sleepy guy, like right before you go to sleep. so, i went into the booth, yawned a few times, turned the lights down, sand it really really soft ( i would have neevr thought of this) and click. there it was.
they have helped on every aspect of the process. one part that is especially thrilling is the lyrical help. not only do these guys have a great sense of drama for a song, but,,, and i hate to seem like a small time guy (which i am) but, joe helped on lyrics on more than one song. you know what that means? there will be songs on this record that i share a song writing credit with joe vitale. here's a guy who co-wrote so many great hits and my name will be right next to his. what an honor.
sorry i am dithering on again.
yesterday we got two songs done. we are up to ten. we hope to do two more today.
did i mention, the equipment that is being used for this record is unbelieveable. you might not think it makes a difference, but plug 6 mics into a 10,00 dollar set of preamps and then plug them into a bank of vintage neve preamps and even i hear the difference. the preamps for mics alone are many times that amount. they are outfitted like the best studios in this town. i mean from what the guys say ( an they7 know) this studio is one of the best in town. i am in a twilight zone. but it is really happening. i'm here. the two songs yesterday really rounded out the recording. there is a little bit of everything. and they are all done very well. the last recording done in what they call 16 bit recording, this one is many times that,,,not really sure but i think it's 56 bit. what this means is the resolution si much muich greater. imagine taking a picture with a disposable camera from the grocery store. now take the same picture on a camera that is used for the life magazine cover that costs 40,000 dollars. would you expect the resolution to be greater? the colors to be more vivid? the depth of intensity? yes you would. and it is. just the yard stick mix, (that means just push all the faders up, without really eq' ing it or doing compressions or any final mixing thing, just push the faders all up and listen.... it is amazing the difference ( to me) between this one and the last one, finally home. rick delima the engineer for the last one, was an amazing cat. he got performances out of me that would hgave never happened, so i am not dissing that recording or anythinhg like that. he was an amazing cat, but because of the equipment in buks studio, the quality of recording i think is great. rick delima i love you and your studio as well though. i hope to work with him again sometime. forgive me that i am tryting to be politialcally correct, i just don't want to say anything bad about the last studio. it was an affordable and great studio. this one, though, because of equipment alone is a world class studio. and not to mention buk has ten more years under his belt making reocrdings. last time, he hadn't worked with keith urband yet, he hadn't graced the recordings of all those rascal flatts records, worked with the producers that are now fawninbg over him, and he is ten years older and wiser. but let me point something out. buk was a greater guitar player than i by the time he reached the age of,,,, i don't know,,,, 8? 10?
anyway i better get to work and polish offf some lyrics. this doesnt happen to me every day and i must make the best of it
here is something i had no idea would happen. but i have seen it in front of my eyes. here is the lesson. you can neevr tell. first of all i never have any idea which song tom will picj to do next. he picked songs that i thought to myself, oh no, not that one, it sucks. it's one of the lesser songs i brought here. but hten it turns out to be one of the best songs. and some song you thought would be great, didn't get picked. some somg that was to be an easy chip shot, takes all day. you just never can tell. but i can tell one thing. if we start a song, by the time it is done, it will be great.
so, on to the last day of full band recording., after this it is over dubs.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
december 4th
oh my gooness, what a day. after 3 days of recording, things are right on schedule.
we have 6 songs that have been recorded, many protooled (digitally cleaned up) and some have most of the musical overdubs done. several of them have vocal tracks we can keep, which is great because oftem times you record keeper vocal tracks later in the over dub sessions.
the working titles of the songs that we have recorded so far, and a brief description of the tracks are:
at least i'm not working for the man- a mid tempo rocker, ala stones or faces. the subject rather self explanatory.
i need you now- intense, romantic song of desperation. up-tempo waltz like "blades on the water" in A minor.
slipping away- a mid-life song about the passage of time. really really really good song, that's all i can say.
everything happens on saturday- this one is british pop really well done. featuring a 12 string guitar.
it is what it is (and it ain't what it ain't) fast. really crazy. i mean psycho.
with you all the way- this is the love song for the album.
tomorrow we start at one so i am looking forward to that. i need to add at this point that the talent in the room that is recording with me is mind boggling-. tom bukovac, joe vitale, david santos (who had a birthday today and we sang and we all ate cake after the session (which ended at two am!)), and mark. so far. i have no idea who else buk might invite.
i hope i remember all the things to write down so i can rmember and maybe you might enjoy. anyway, it's 5 am and i'm back in the studio at 1 pm so i have to go... thanks!
we have 6 songs that have been recorded, many protooled (digitally cleaned up) and some have most of the musical overdubs done. several of them have vocal tracks we can keep, which is great because oftem times you record keeper vocal tracks later in the over dub sessions.
the working titles of the songs that we have recorded so far, and a brief description of the tracks are:
at least i'm not working for the man- a mid tempo rocker, ala stones or faces. the subject rather self explanatory.
i need you now- intense, romantic song of desperation. up-tempo waltz like "blades on the water" in A minor.
slipping away- a mid-life song about the passage of time. really really really good song, that's all i can say.
everything happens on saturday- this one is british pop really well done. featuring a 12 string guitar.
it is what it is (and it ain't what it ain't) fast. really crazy. i mean psycho.
with you all the way- this is the love song for the album.
tomorrow we start at one so i am looking forward to that. i need to add at this point that the talent in the room that is recording with me is mind boggling-. tom bukovac, joe vitale, david santos (who had a birthday today and we sang and we all ate cake after the session (which ended at two am!)), and mark. so far. i have no idea who else buk might invite.
i hope i remember all the things to write down so i can rmember and maybe you might enjoy. anyway, it's 5 am and i'm back in the studio at 1 pm so i have to go... thanks!
Friday, December 3, 2010
MORE SONGS IN THE CAN
just for a loittle primer on the process of making a recording, not all recordings but this one. after the nips and tucks and adjustments of the song writing are done, ((and in some cases the songwriting is adjusted during the recording process), you head into the studio with a basic band of musicians and your producer and an engineer. you play the songs to where they sound good and hit record. what you will get is a basic recording of the songs, or "bed tracks". once all the bed tracks are done you go back and add "over dubs. these are musical parts you add onto the basic roceording- things like tambourines, hand claps, backing vocals, lead guitars and anything else to make it a complete recording. in some cases you can get the final vocal recording in the basic tracks, but you at least record a guide vocal so the band doesn't get lost in the song. they have music sheets or charts in front of them, but it helps to hear the singer do his thing so you can get a feel for the ups and downs and all manner of dynamics that is very important. i think so far i might have nailed a couple final vocal cuts in the basic tracks which is great.
yesterday we worked on two songs, "i need you now" and "with you all the way". The first i got some help from sarah buxton on the lyrics and phrasing. i think it came out real well. it's a song about a guy who needs his woman to talk to him after she clams up and won't communicate. it's pretty dark and intense.
the second song is a love song. wow. it is not a happy one, but not a dark one. the guy is just really serious about telling the heroine that he will be with her forever and goes through his feeling about reassuring her.
today, we are goi9n gto put the final touches on the vocals and lyrics. everybody was kicking in on ideas last night for this one, we worked until 2 am! this is not the first song i have co-written with tom bukovac but it is certsainly the first song i will share authorship with a rock and roll hall of famer, joe vitale. sorry, but that is pretty cool. joe just got notified that his composition with joe walsh, ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY, has had 5 million radio plays. he of course has a host of other classic rock songs including PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW, on the hotel california album by the eagles.
so, tonight we are starting at 8 o'clock so it might be a late night. we are going to do some more upbeat songs, i think the first one we shall do is called IT IS WHAT IT IS. maybe we will even get two done tonight. wish me luck!
yesterday we worked on two songs, "i need you now" and "with you all the way". The first i got some help from sarah buxton on the lyrics and phrasing. i think it came out real well. it's a song about a guy who needs his woman to talk to him after she clams up and won't communicate. it's pretty dark and intense.
the second song is a love song. wow. it is not a happy one, but not a dark one. the guy is just really serious about telling the heroine that he will be with her forever and goes through his feeling about reassuring her.
today, we are goi9n gto put the final touches on the vocals and lyrics. everybody was kicking in on ideas last night for this one, we worked until 2 am! this is not the first song i have co-written with tom bukovac but it is certsainly the first song i will share authorship with a rock and roll hall of famer, joe vitale. sorry, but that is pretty cool. joe just got notified that his composition with joe walsh, ROCKY MOUNTAIN WAY, has had 5 million radio plays. he of course has a host of other classic rock songs including PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW, on the hotel california album by the eagles.
so, tonight we are starting at 8 o'clock so it might be a late night. we are going to do some more upbeat songs, i think the first one we shall do is called IT IS WHAT IT IS. maybe we will even get two done tonight. wish me luck!
Thursday, December 2, 2010
here we go again today
i just have to mention the man who is engineering this project. his name is joe baldridge. he's a really nice guy and from what i can see, a genius. i am not sure who he has worked with but he has worked with my producer, tom bukovac, so, i must imagine he has worked with some of the same top artists that tom has. he is doing a fabulous job, not only engineering, but he is fast really fast. for one thing he is pro tooling on the fly. that means the little imperfections that happen as we record, he is digitally fixing them as we go along,,,, as he engineers. we discussed some things about the civil war, he talked about such varied topics as the banking industry, law history, i mean the guy is very knowledgeable on many subjects, but, for right now i am just being amazed at his engineering skills. the man who engineered my last cd, rick delima did a fantastic job also and helped me to sing my songs, created a soulful vibe in the studio and was just great. joe baldidge is a guy i am just not done yet describing.
anyway, i have buk for 5 more days i think. i hope we can get a lot done. it sure seems that we will. i have to get ready for the sessions so i will talk with you later today i hope.
anyway, i have buk for 5 more days i think. i hope we can get a lot done. it sure seems that we will. i have to get ready for the sessions so i will talk with you later today i hope.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
moving along very well.
today we were joined by mark jordan on keyboards. mark, of course played on my last cd finally home. he is known for his classic recording with many artists like van morrison (he played on tupelo honey sessions, which yield such classics as tupelo honey and wild night), dave mason, tom jones, bonnie raitt, and just a host of others.
today, we got basic rythm tracks for the songs" at least i'm not working for the man", which is a straight out classic rock in the style of the faces, or rolling stones. we also did a song called slipping away that sounds kind of like supertramp meets beatles via the beach boys and todd rundgren. i guess, you tell me when you hear it.
nothing crazy today just a long day of hard work. tomorrow morning we go at it again.
but i did hear some great stories. mark was telling us about working for van morrison. van is a coffee drinker. strong dublin coffee. had several 4 houses around the world which really only have a coffee maker, a stereo, a bed and a chair in them. intense guy van morrison. joe told us some great stories about working with the eagles, that i would share but i am whipped and must retire because we have so so much work to do and it';s late. thank you for reading and i will have more tomorrow.
today, we got basic rythm tracks for the songs" at least i'm not working for the man", which is a straight out classic rock in the style of the faces, or rolling stones. we also did a song called slipping away that sounds kind of like supertramp meets beatles via the beach boys and todd rundgren. i guess, you tell me when you hear it.
nothing crazy today just a long day of hard work. tomorrow morning we go at it again.
but i did hear some great stories. mark was telling us about working for van morrison. van is a coffee drinker. strong dublin coffee. had several 4 houses around the world which really only have a coffee maker, a stereo, a bed and a chair in them. intense guy van morrison. joe told us some great stories about working with the eagles, that i would share but i am whipped and must retire because we have so so much work to do and it';s late. thank you for reading and i will have more tomorrow.
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