Feb. 21. 2010

"Three in the can" is an old audio engineer's way of saying he had three songs completed and put in their protective steel "cans" or flat, 2-inch thick disks that sealed to keep air out. One great advantage of digital recording is the ability to go back anytime and add or delete any material. We've got three songs up on the Audio Gallery page now. They haven't had mastering done to polish them, etc. But they're 95% done.

One thing I've learned in the past couple months is that the actual recording of voices and instruments is easy,  compared to the hours spent mixing and editing the music. I know I'll only get faster at mixing a song, but it ain't easy. Tons of variables present themselves in audio editing and mixing. Tons of choices.

I'd be ashamed to admit how many hours I've worked on these three songs. I wouldn't be shocked if it was in the triple digits.

 Another thing I've learned is to NOT fully trust my control room speakers. These are self-amplified, Alesis M1 Powered monitors. And they lie about bass sounds. By this I mean those speakers just don't have enough bass output, so I push the bass frequencies in different instruments a bit harder to get the bass sounds I like from my monitors. Since most folks actually USE their bass boost buttons on home stereos and even MP3 players, this causes my mixes to be too bassy in most other systems. Thus, I've learned to not trust my monitors' bass output and to keep the bass way down in my mixes.

Moreover, I've learned that folks like to hear a rise in the upper frequencies that I admit adds presence or even "air" to a sound, but that can be a bit harsh to my ears. So I've removed some bass and boosted some upper frequencies.

Three down, about fifty more to go. LOL I've been saving them up for forty years. We'll try and record about fourteen or fifteen more songs, then select the best ten or so for an album. I don't see what's stopping us from putting together a three to five song demo CD for promotional purposes, something we could do quickly.

These three songs available now for downloading need "Mastering"- the fine tune-up given to a song for sale in retail. That's down the road for us. We'll get there, if we have to walk!

Peace

January 13. 2010

Although "Brices Creek Blues" is far from completed, work has to go on. In this case it's laying down tracks for "Row Me Away," a sweet story about a sailor drawn to mix with the local islanders, and never leaving. So far I have the guitars, a "scratch" vocal, conga, and a "scratch" bass track done. It is going a lot easier than my first Sonar software song. Haven't yet made the first phone call to tech support for this tune!

I like most of what I'm hearing, but have to admit that when recording any song it tends to evolve. It changes somewhat, hopefully for the better. You start thinking about its possibilities in different ways that might help the song as a whole, make it more sonically interesting.

Another reality that might sound like common sense to some, but frankly has never been a problem until recently, is the fact that the song under construction becomes fixed in my head, playing on an endless loop, sometimes to the point of distraction. I find myself purposefully putting other songs into my conscious mind in hopes those songs will nudge the previous song aside for awhile and give me a break from it. I know this is to be expected when you work with the same song for two to four hours a day, but jeeesh!

I like my lyrics in "Row Me Away."  Check them out on our Song Lyrics page.

November 14. 2009

It finally happened: All the components to the studio arrived. I spent two weeks registering products, getting the latest drivers, and trying to figure out Sonar, the software that runs my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) studio. I was on the phone to Sonar technical support almost daily for two weeks. Got to say those three fellas that man the phones there were great in helping me solve my "crisis of the day."

Frustration was the dominant emotion for me during those two weeks. Then I had a breakthrough and recorded an experimental rhythm guitar track successfully. I followed this with laying down a lead guitar track to go with it. Eureka! I decided not to sell my copy of Sonar on eBay.

Next I got busy doing a more serious track. I chose "Brices Creek Blues" because it is a simple blues tune and because it is currently song number one of set 1 in our songbooks. I tried my old Martin D35 with stereo micing and strumming, my newer Martin acoustic-electric plugged directly into the interface, and tried taking a line out from its Fender Acoustiasonic Pro amp. Then I just put a condenser mic up and recorded the old D35 with a finger picking style. Next, I sat back and listened, comparing what I had so far. I only needed one rhythm guitar and the fingerpicked Martin won this first compitition.

Then I sang the song's usual vocal track, but tried using a bass voice instead of my usual tenor. It worked, once I got over the shock of hearing myself sing so low. I went ahead and did a tenor vocal version and compared them. The bass version seems to match the blusy song better.

It took me about eight tries to get the lead guitar part right. I nailed it right before Randy came over last night to try adding his bass to the mix. Randy had never recorded before- a virgin! He quickly got the hang of it by using the Tranzport remote control to start recording while listening to the other three tracks I had earlier recorded. If he screwed up he hit the stop button on the remote, then hit "undo" and tried it again. Within minutes he was in charge of recording his bass line. I liked that I didn't have to run the software for him using a mouse. I watched in amazement that he was easily doing what just one week ago I was struggling to get done. Randy was having a great time, alternately stressing over a flubbed fingering of a note, and enjoyment over his first serious study of this song and his learning of better ways of representing it on the bass guitar. Quite a few takes later he got it 99% right!

It was nice sitting back and listening to those first four tracks, adjusting volume between them, adding reverb, changing EQ, etc. We could hear the song taking shape, and sounding better than it ever had before! Recording can be both frustrating and enlightening as you delve into the complexities of a song. We're just gettin' started here, but still having a little fun.

This first album is going to take some serious time, I can tell. I think it'll be worth it.

Until later- Mike

12-12-09 UPDATE: WE JUST FINISHED OUR FIRST SONG, "BRICES CREEK BLUES"- AN ACOUSTIC BLUES ORIGINAL BY ME. IT TOOK 4 WEEKS JUST TO RECORD THIS SONG, WHAT WITH DAILY PHONE CALLS TO SONAR'S SOFTWARE SUPPORT,  BUT I ANTICIPATE THE REST SHOULD GO A BIT FASTER. I STILL HAVE TO TRY AND MASTER THESE SONGS, BUT MIGHT PAY A PROFESSIONAL TO DO IT RIGHT, AS I'VE LEARNED IT TAKES EXPENSIVE OUTBOARD EQUIPMENT I DON'T HAVE AND BETTER EARS THAN MINE!

August 18, 2009

It may seem trivial to some, but the decision to add ten to twelve new songs to our play lists was not one to be taken lightly. This entailed choosing the songs based on the purpose for doing them, finding the lyrics and music for them, trying them out to see how they sounded, weeding out the unacceptable ones, printing copies for band members, transcribing the music onto the lyric sheets, and lastly rehearsing them. Add to that the normal trial and error that accompanies putting together any set of songs, adding replacements that sound better, deleting the ones to be dropped, and there's work involved in this decision.

So just why was this decision made? A few years ago Debbie and I (in a band calling itself The Final Fling) did a show for a group of folks here in New Bern. The audience consisted of mostly silver haired people who were eating a dinner and talking among themselves. Within the first ten minutes we heard the first request to please turn down the level of music we were doing. I had already set our volume pretty low, after looking over the situation before starting. But we turned down further to please them. A couple songs later and here came the second request. We turned down further, this time to the point of my being able to actually hear my guitar pick hitting the strings. That's pretty low volume! You guessed it: Ten minutes later came the third request. Now I got a little angry. We already had the drummer using brushes instead of sticks, and we were about as low as we could get. During the band's break I almost started packing up the equipment. Our bass player talked me out of it. The rest of the night got better because they had finished eating and talking and were ready to dance a little. We got the usual compliments when the show was done.

I talked with the band later at a rehearsal and told them I was going to do the first set on my Martin acoustic-electric plugged into a Fender Acoustisonic Pro amplifier- but turned down low. This was done in an attempt to circumvent such problems in the future. We rehearsed this way and were ready for the next time we needed soft "dinner music." Or so we thought. The next time came with the exact same group of folks a year later. I pulled out my Martin and we did two songs before the request to play softer came. I was mad. There was the drummer using brushes instead of sticks, I was playing my acoustic plugged into an acoustic guitar amp turned down low, and everyone else was as soft as possible. Still we managed to soften it some (with only one more request to play softer.)

I decided it was time to try an "unplugged" set of music with no microphones, songs designed to allow the audience a chance to almost ignore us, talk amongst themselves if they so chose, songs they could even sing along with if they wanted. This was going to be litererally "back porch music." My goal is to actually have people ask us to TURN IT UP!

Here is the first round of song choices for our unplugged set: (We will be trying new choices and adding a few as time goes on.)

The Weight- by The Band

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown- by Jim Croche

Knockin' on Heaven's Door- by Bob Dylan

Teach Your Children- by Crosby, Stills, and Nash

City of New Orleans- by Arlo Guthrie

Paradise- by John Prine

Seven Bridges Road- by The Eagles

I'll Fly Away- traditional gospel

Will the Circle Be Unbroken- by A.P. Carter and later done by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Layla- Eric Clapton's Unplugged album version

Amie- Pure Prarie League

It should be noted that at this time Debbie will have to remain plugged into the PA system with her keyboard. We've searched for alternatives without luck. Maybe we'll find a military "Field Organ" designed for portability in doing religious services during times of conflict with men and women out in the field of combat. I found one recently on eBay, but it was for local pick-up only in the Detroit area. Let us know if you hear of a small, wood pump-organ that folds itself into a big suitcase sized box. They're ultra cool!

And our bass player, Randy, will likely remain plugged in, but will likely play an acoustic-electric Hofner bass (Beatle Bass) known for its blend of acoustic and electric bass sounds, or he'll find an acoustic bass guitar. Tom, our drummer, will either play a snare and high-hat with brushes, or he'll get a drumming "box" called a cajon. At any rate, we're now ready to do a very soft ten to twelve song set of music for any audience that needs to talk during the show! Wish us luck with this.

Until next time- Mike

Sept. 29, 2009

I ordered the computer today. The 'Bad Boy" ought to be here in a week. Lots of research, investigation, emailing, phone calling, and worrying went into choosing the Reniers Audio Computer. I'm glad that's over! Mr."Woot" Ranier is good to talk to and can be proud of his web site and products!

Already arrived is the used computer desk, a duplicate flat screen monitor from eBay, twin Karma K-10 condenser overhead drum mics, a Yamaha subwoofer, a cool Frontier Design Tranzport remote control (from 30 feet away!) for the computer recording software, an inexpensive 8 channel software control surface- the Behringer BCF2000 with flying faders, my first online only book Killer Home Recording by Brandon Drury- harder to read than it should be, near impossible to write notes on or even print out. Don't think I care for online books. Next up- the preamplifier interface, and the Sonar software, and a book to explain how to operate it- Sonar Power!