I have been trying to sing the songs for three nights in the studio. The flu is gone but the voice is still fucked. I'm nasal, distorted, hoarse and dull all at the same time. It is like combining bad sides of Axl Rose with Mille Petrozza's. I can do the highs now, but I sound sick. Not sick like "Oh wow, that was sick!" but like "Oh man, you sound like shit, get some rest man!".
I think that this goes back to the reflux disease that has lately been worse than for ages. The answer most probably is that I have developed a chronic laryngitis that needs to be cured before I can proceed. The acid raises to my throat and burns the vocal cords and the surrounding muscles until they get inflamed. Great! This might also have been the reason behind the "flus" during the fall. It is difficult to know whether the symptoms are caused by a flu or the reflux disease as when being mild I do not sense the acid fluids in my throat in any way. Now the situation is so bad that I can taste the acid in my mouth while typing this.
No album or vocals this year.
Sunday 24 December 2017
Thursday 7 December 2017
Lyrics done
I think that I have finished the lyrics! Now I just have to recover from the flu and I can start recording the vocals. I hope that I can make it by the end of this year.
Saturday 2 December 2017
Flu, again
I regained my head voice two weeks back! Yeah! Now I got a flu and it is gone again. However, I'm hopeful that I could start the actual recordings during this year.
I have finished some lyrics. Three songs to go.
I have finished some lyrics. Three songs to go.
Monday 30 October 2017
Vocal Problems x 2
As you have noticed, the project has stalled. I have been facing problems with the vocal parts, and I try to open them up here a bit.
Firstly, I have been writing the lyrics in Finnish. It takes time. A lot more time than writing in English. So far I have finished two songs and I'm half-way through the third. Seven to go in total. I have to say, anyway, that I'm more pleased with the results so far than with the lyrics I have written earlier. I'll post draft lyrics here for one song as one of my fellow musicians advised me to do so in order to somehow make them more finalised or fixed in my own mind. You can find them at the end of this post.
Secondly, I have almost completely lost my head voice. I had a cold that lasted about five weeks, and I thought that I would just start singing normally after that, a usual. Nope. For some reason, the voice seems really heavy and strained as soon as I leave the chest voice range, and I have severe difficulties singing notes that used to be normal and easy to me. It might be so that it has nothing to do with the cold, as I do not feel any physical damage, I'm not hoarse or have unintentional distortion in my voice, but it might just be poor technique. I doubt that I have just somehow forgotten the correct head voice technique as I have been singing mostly high falsetto stuff in the past couple of years. The falsetto, by the way, works fine. But the keys in these songs require head voice, not falsetto.
To give you an idea, I have been able to sing The Show Must Go On by Queen in the original key without using falsetto, but now I can't reach the chorus at all, and the highest parts feel totally impossible. I mean physically impossible, I feel that no power in the world could stretch the cords so tight that I could squeeze out the "...I'm never giving in, ooooon with the show" part in the song. I have been doing basic exercises I used to do some years back, and I think I have been progressing, but it takes time and I think it will take weeks or months to regain the lost range unless I miraculously find the sweet spot someday.
Anyway, here are the draft lyrics:
Firstly, I have been writing the lyrics in Finnish. It takes time. A lot more time than writing in English. So far I have finished two songs and I'm half-way through the third. Seven to go in total. I have to say, anyway, that I'm more pleased with the results so far than with the lyrics I have written earlier. I'll post draft lyrics here for one song as one of my fellow musicians advised me to do so in order to somehow make them more finalised or fixed in my own mind. You can find them at the end of this post.
Secondly, I have almost completely lost my head voice. I had a cold that lasted about five weeks, and I thought that I would just start singing normally after that, a usual. Nope. For some reason, the voice seems really heavy and strained as soon as I leave the chest voice range, and I have severe difficulties singing notes that used to be normal and easy to me. It might be so that it has nothing to do with the cold, as I do not feel any physical damage, I'm not hoarse or have unintentional distortion in my voice, but it might just be poor technique. I doubt that I have just somehow forgotten the correct head voice technique as I have been singing mostly high falsetto stuff in the past couple of years. The falsetto, by the way, works fine. But the keys in these songs require head voice, not falsetto.
To give you an idea, I have been able to sing The Show Must Go On by Queen in the original key without using falsetto, but now I can't reach the chorus at all, and the highest parts feel totally impossible. I mean physically impossible, I feel that no power in the world could stretch the cords so tight that I could squeeze out the "...I'm never giving in, ooooon with the show" part in the song. I have been doing basic exercises I used to do some years back, and I think I have been progressing, but it takes time and I think it will take weeks or months to regain the lost range unless I miraculously find the sweet spot someday.
Anyway, here are the draft lyrics:
Pimeyden paino
.
.
Tilannekatsaus messissä, kaikki ovat paikalla
"Signaalilähde sisemmän planeetan kiertoradalla
Massaa kolmesataa kertaa maan massa
Havainnoissa tyhjä aukko, pelkkää kohinaa sensoreissa"
.
.
Lähestymme kohdetta, kiertolaisen tilalla
Piste alkaa erottumaan kohinan seasta
Pinta-ala on olematon, halkaisija kilometrin luokkaa
Silti vetovoima vastaa suurta planeettaa
.
.
Tiheys viittaa Schwarzildin aukkoon
Tai neutronitähteen
.
.
Katson valopistettä
Päätteeni näytöltä
Luen viestit uudestaan
Menneiltä vuosisadoilta
.
.
Vähitellen kuva pirtyy, takentuu pala palalta
Pallon pinnan muotoinen verkosto metallipalkkeja
Keskustassa pelkkää mustaa, valotonta tiheyttä
Ei säteilyä, heijastusta, pelkkä massa pimeyttä
.
.
Tiheys viittaa Schwarzildin aukkoon
Tai neutronitähteen
.
.
Katson valopistettä
Päätteeni näytöltä
Luen viestit uudestaan
Menneiltä vuosisadoilta
Oranssissa kajossa
Laivan kilpi suojana
Uudessa maailmassa
Pimeyden reunalla
Friday 22 September 2017
Lyrics
It has been almost four weeks now with the flu. During that time I have not been able to sing at all, and although I have been getting better little by little, it will still take a while to be able to do so in a normal level.
Meanwhile, I have been writing the lyrics. In Finnish. I have finished one song. Another one is half way through. Six more to go. So, it will take a long time until I can really progress with the recordings.
Meanwhile, I have been writing the lyrics. In Finnish. I have finished one song. Another one is half way through. Six more to go. So, it will take a long time until I can really progress with the recordings.
Friday 8 September 2017
Keyboards
I caught a flu two weeks ago, and have not recovered ever since. Somehow I managed to get the keyboard parts ready despite of the fever and the runny nose. I ended up using Roland JD-XA throughout, I recorded the organ parts with JD-XA's digital part through SansAmp and Strymon Lex and for some spacey sounds I used the JD-XA analog engine via Flashback X4. I am satisfied with the results, so I think that I can conclude that I have finished all the instrument tracks for the album.
So, the next step will be to write lyrics and start practising the vocals. I think that I have an idea for space opera style lyrics and concept for the album. Think about some Ayreon albums, 2112 by Rush or Talvikuningas by CMX and you get the idea. The bad thing is that I have not written down a line of it so far.
I have also been thinking about the language. I have written lyrics for two albums before, and to be honest, I have not been too happy with the results. I have been thinking that perhaps I should switch from English to Finnish for a change and see how it goes.
So, the next step will be to write lyrics and start practising the vocals. I think that I have an idea for space opera style lyrics and concept for the album. Think about some Ayreon albums, 2112 by Rush or Talvikuningas by CMX and you get the idea. The bad thing is that I have not written down a line of it so far.
I have also been thinking about the language. I have written lyrics for two albums before, and to be honest, I have not been too happy with the results. I have been thinking that perhaps I should switch from English to Finnish for a change and see how it goes.
Friday 25 August 2017
Guitars: Solos pt.2
I had really productive day yesterday and I recorded rest of the solos. So now I'm done with all guitar parts, I hope.
The next thing to do is to play the keyboards, which means some Hammond-style organs and synthesizer pads and effects. For the organ, I think that I will try out Strymon Lex with some distortion pedal combined with a synth instead of my trustworthy digital Hammond - organ drive - Ventilator combo. The Hammond is capable of producing a truly impressive sound, but I am kind of tired at it at the moment as I recorded Operation Majority's latest album with it not so long ago. For the synth parts I will most probably start with either Rolad JD-XA or Ambika. We'll see.
Yes, I have not discussed the vocals so far. I have some ideas for the melody lines, and I have absolutely no lyrics. So let's not discuss that any further.
The next thing to do is to play the keyboards, which means some Hammond-style organs and synthesizer pads and effects. For the organ, I think that I will try out Strymon Lex with some distortion pedal combined with a synth instead of my trustworthy digital Hammond - organ drive - Ventilator combo. The Hammond is capable of producing a truly impressive sound, but I am kind of tired at it at the moment as I recorded Operation Majority's latest album with it not so long ago. For the synth parts I will most probably start with either Rolad JD-XA or Ambika. We'll see.
Yes, I have not discussed the vocals so far. I have some ideas for the melody lines, and I have absolutely no lyrics. So let's not discuss that any further.
Wednesday 23 August 2017
Tuesday 22 August 2017
Guitars: clean parts
I recorded all the clean guitar parts today. Twice. I already practised it yesterday. I had recorded three songs already when I found out that the guitar was in tune with itself but not with the other instruments. Well, I think the end result got better and better on each iteration.
I have not mentioned it before, but I have one extra song in the album that I have not planned at all beforehand. It will be a spacey bit in the mood of Planet Caravan and alike. Let's see how it turns out. At least the guitar parts turned out fine.
And now the guitar solos... I'm not very enthusiastic, they are usually a pain to record. I end up sounding like a poor man's Iommi, and not in a good sense.
I have not mentioned it before, but I have one extra song in the album that I have not planned at all beforehand. It will be a spacey bit in the mood of Planet Caravan and alike. Let's see how it turns out. At least the guitar parts turned out fine.
And now the guitar solos... I'm not very enthusiastic, they are usually a pain to record. I end up sounding like a poor man's Iommi, and not in a good sense.
Saturday 19 August 2017
Bass: Pt. 2
I finished the bass tracks last Thursday. It took me four days to nail all songs down. In the end everything went very smoothly. The parts in the faster songs were just as difficult as I imagined them to be, so I had to spend a full day per song to record them. I do not play bass very much, so I had to restrict the playing into maximum of two two hour sessions per day to prevent damaging my hands.
Next week will be spent recording the clean guitar parts, some guitar effects and the solos. The solos will be a pain to record as my playing technique is what it is.
Next week will be spent recording the clean guitar parts, some guitar effects and the solos. The solos will be a pain to record as my playing technique is what it is.
Tuesday 15 August 2017
Bass: Pt. 1
If rhythm guitars are the dull part, recording the bass must be the most fun part in the process. Just do your best Geddy Lee impersonation and take a few takes and you're done! Seriously. No offence to any real bass player, but I think bass is the easiest instrument to end up sounding good and lively without having a tremendously good playing technique. What I have learnt during past sessions is that the more you try to do fancy stuff and the more you just have fun, the better the end result sounds.
My original idea was to try LSTR fuzz with SansAmp Classic and try to find a kind of N.I.B. sound for the album. However, half-way in the process I accidentally dialled in a sound that reminded a lot of Steve Harris' sound, and after a few tests I decided that that's the way to go. So now I'm playing all the Iron Maiden licks that I can think of!
The only difficulties so far have been related to tuning. I'm using the drop c tuning (all strings full note down, and the lowest two full notes down), and with relatively loose strings it makes the tuning and intonation a bit iffy to say at least. I can not trust the meter, I just have to tune by ear, and sometimes even riff basis.
The bass I am playing is a Fender jazz bass copy hand built by myself from the parts that I gathered around the Internet.
4/7 songs done.
My original idea was to try LSTR fuzz with SansAmp Classic and try to find a kind of N.I.B. sound for the album. However, half-way in the process I accidentally dialled in a sound that reminded a lot of Steve Harris' sound, and after a few tests I decided that that's the way to go. So now I'm playing all the Iron Maiden licks that I can think of!
The only difficulties so far have been related to tuning. I'm using the drop c tuning (all strings full note down, and the lowest two full notes down), and with relatively loose strings it makes the tuning and intonation a bit iffy to say at least. I can not trust the meter, I just have to tune by ear, and sometimes even riff basis.
The bass I am playing is a Fender jazz bass copy hand built by myself from the parts that I gathered around the Internet.
4/7 songs done.
Thursday 10 August 2017
Guitars: Rhythm part
I have finished recording the rhythm guitar parts for the album. In total, it took me four days, a couple of hours work on each day. To be honest, this must be the dullest and least creative part of the whole recording process (not taking into account the editing part). I just listen to the demo tapes and try to re-create everything with a good touch. This is not the place for me to start changing the riffs or the order of them. The hardest part for me is to maintain the feeling of actually playing the song versus making everything very precise. If you focus too much on getting everything right, I loose the drive I get while playing more on top of the drums and forgetting about the details. I know pros can do both at the same time. Not me. So this is the excuse for the sloppy playing in the album.
I ended up using all the three guitars for the rhythm parts. The Les Paul with P90:s suited well for the slower songs with fuzzy sound, and I used the 335 copy for the mid-tempo songs. For the hardest and fastest songs, the Les Paul with EMG:s was the way to go.
Next, I will record the bass guitar parts. Or at least most of them. After the bass, I'll go back and record the missing clean and lead guitars.
I ended up using all the three guitars for the rhythm parts. The Les Paul with P90:s suited well for the slower songs with fuzzy sound, and I used the 335 copy for the mid-tempo songs. For the hardest and fastest songs, the Les Paul with EMG:s was the way to go.
Next, I will record the bass guitar parts. Or at least most of them. After the bass, I'll go back and record the missing clean and lead guitars.
Thursday 3 August 2017
About the time table
Yeah, I am on vacation from the work at the moment. I think that I should be able to nail the guitars and the bass down in the next two weeks and use the last week to do the keyboards and other effects. I will try to do some vocals, too, but I'm afraid that those have to be left for later. However, the album should be finished by the end of this year.
Guitars: The starting point
Now that the editing of the drums has been done, it is time to focus on the guitars. Some people might continue with bass or some other instruments, but for me, guitars are the obvious next step. In my playing style, the rhythm guitars are the most static (or to say the least improvised) part in the recording, so it is easiest to nail them down now.
As I said earlier, I chose to use two guitar tracks on the album instead of one. This makes me play everything two times (sigh), but allows also some harmonies and rhythmical variations to be played without additional instruments.
I have been using SansAmp Classic and some effect pedals for guitar recording in the past couple of years. Yes, it is a compromise between easier recording and mixing process and ultimate sound. During past years, I have found out that nailing a very good sound that is easy to mix with a regular amp and cabinet might be very tricky. You have to play really loud to get that power amp distortion, which means you have to play in a rehearsal room during night time, and usually you need to EQ the result heavily as the mic placement that you think was very good ends up being bad after all.
This time I thought I would use Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra pedal in front of the SansAmp, while SansAmp would be set to provide an almost clean sound. Sabbra Cadabra is an analog emulation of the classic treble booster + Laney amp setup Iommi was using during the 70's. However, the pedal is capable of providing settings way over the ones Sabbath used, going far into compressed ultra high fuzz territory used in the modern stoner and doom albums. I tried different sound settings, and ended up having a sound that is a bit fuzzy, but not too much so that I can still play the palm muted riffs. I put here a clip of the status so far.
I have three guitars I intend to use on the album:
- A black Warmoth "Les Paul". Actually it has a bolt-on neck and a fender scale so it is not very close to Les Paul in any way. It resonates very well, it is easy to play and it has high gain output because of the EMG:s.
- An amber Les Paul built by my friend. This guitar is very bright sounding and it has P90:s, so it is not a jack-of-all-trades kind of a thing. But it sings beautifully and I think I will record the clean parts with this one.
- A black Edwards 335 copy. Compared to the Les Pauls, it has more mid range and mellower tone.
I tried recording all the guitars in a context of a same song. They naturally sounded different, but not so much that I couldn't mix the song with any of the instruments. So I think that I will end up using different guitars in different songs.
One thing I have been also thinking is whether to use other effects such as delay while recording the guitars or not. With effects, you get a better playing feel and touch, but you might end up in trouble while mixing. I thought that this time I do the main rhythm tracks dry, but use the effects for the other guitar parts and solos.
As I said earlier, I chose to use two guitar tracks on the album instead of one. This makes me play everything two times (sigh), but allows also some harmonies and rhythmical variations to be played without additional instruments.
I have been using SansAmp Classic and some effect pedals for guitar recording in the past couple of years. Yes, it is a compromise between easier recording and mixing process and ultimate sound. During past years, I have found out that nailing a very good sound that is easy to mix with a regular amp and cabinet might be very tricky. You have to play really loud to get that power amp distortion, which means you have to play in a rehearsal room during night time, and usually you need to EQ the result heavily as the mic placement that you think was very good ends up being bad after all.
This time I thought I would use Catalinbread Sabbra Cadabra pedal in front of the SansAmp, while SansAmp would be set to provide an almost clean sound. Sabbra Cadabra is an analog emulation of the classic treble booster + Laney amp setup Iommi was using during the 70's. However, the pedal is capable of providing settings way over the ones Sabbath used, going far into compressed ultra high fuzz territory used in the modern stoner and doom albums. I tried different sound settings, and ended up having a sound that is a bit fuzzy, but not too much so that I can still play the palm muted riffs. I put here a clip of the status so far.
I have three guitars I intend to use on the album:
- A black Warmoth "Les Paul". Actually it has a bolt-on neck and a fender scale so it is not very close to Les Paul in any way. It resonates very well, it is easy to play and it has high gain output because of the EMG:s.
- An amber Les Paul built by my friend. This guitar is very bright sounding and it has P90:s, so it is not a jack-of-all-trades kind of a thing. But it sings beautifully and I think I will record the clean parts with this one.
- A black Edwards 335 copy. Compared to the Les Pauls, it has more mid range and mellower tone.
I tried recording all the guitars in a context of a same song. They naturally sounded different, but not so much that I couldn't mix the song with any of the instruments. So I think that I will end up using different guitars in different songs.
One thing I have been also thinking is whether to use other effects such as delay while recording the guitars or not. With effects, you get a better playing feel and touch, but you might end up in trouble while mixing. I thought that this time I do the main rhythm tracks dry, but use the effects for the other guitar parts and solos.
Wednesday 2 August 2017
Drums: Editing pt. 3
I finished the second round of the drum editing. After a couple of rounds of listening I bounced the tracks into complete songs, and now I'm done with that.
Next, I copied the drum tracks into a project file and tried a couple of different orders for the songs. After some trials, I think I found a suitable order where the faster and slower songs take their turns in a satisfactory manner. This is, of course, very preliminary as I have nothing else than the drum tracks to work with. It might be so that I need to change the order later on.
What next? I think that I have made a decision to use two panned rhythm guitar tracks on the album instead of one mono. This makes the processing of the stereo image so much easier during the mixing, especially as I intend to use synth and organ tracks panned in middle in most of the songs. In the two previous "band" solo albums I have used only one guitar and some phase manipulation methods to widen the track in left-right field. I will discuss the guitar part later in this blog.
Next, I copied the drum tracks into a project file and tried a couple of different orders for the songs. After some trials, I think I found a suitable order where the faster and slower songs take their turns in a satisfactory manner. This is, of course, very preliminary as I have nothing else than the drum tracks to work with. It might be so that I need to change the order later on.
What next? I think that I have made a decision to use two panned rhythm guitar tracks on the album instead of one mono. This makes the processing of the stereo image so much easier during the mixing, especially as I intend to use synth and organ tracks panned in middle in most of the songs. In the two previous "band" solo albums I have used only one guitar and some phase manipulation methods to widen the track in left-right field. I will discuss the guitar part later in this blog.
Saturday 29 July 2017
Drums: Editing pt.2
I have finished the coarse editing of the drum tracks. This means that the songs are now complete from the beginning to the end. There are some minor adjustments to be made, so that is up next. I will keep the editing in these two rounds or levels, and after that I just have to live with the material and suck it up if there are some audible mistakes. In some other projects I have participated the editing has taken place even years after the recordings have started, but with this project this is not the case.
Thursday 27 July 2017
Drums: Lug locks
Oh, the lug locks seem to work fine, all the drums have stayed in tune during the whole session!
http://tunerfishluglocks.com/
http://tunerfishluglocks.com/
Drums: Editing pt. 1
I have started editing the drum tracks to complete songs. There are different ways of recording drums, some try to nail the song in one perfect take, some play with click (or even without) from the start to the point of the first mistake and continue then after fixing the mistake and so on. I prefer the way where I record two or preferably three freely played versions of the songs, and then later cut and paste the best parts of each take to whole song. This allows me to focus on playing loosely and doing some improvisations during the takes as I do not have to worry all the time that a slightest mistake will ruin the take. On the other hand, it also gives me a feeling of playing actual song instead of trying to nail down a song piece by piece.
The next thing that I have to figure out is whether I want to record and mix the rest of the album in one big project or do it song by song basis. Both methods have their advantages and drawbacks. In one big project all the changes made in the mix affect all the songs which is both a good and a bad thing. Let's say I change the EQ of the snare a bit. Fine, I change it an all the songs sound the same and I do not have to do the same change manually to every song. On the other hand, one of the songs might need a slight tuning in the snare EQ part, while the others are fine just as they are now. This means that I have to start using automation curves in the DAW, and if there are lots of this kind of adjustments it will escalate pretty quickly into a total mess. So far I'm leaning towards one big project, but we will see.
The next thing that I have to figure out is whether I want to record and mix the rest of the album in one big project or do it song by song basis. Both methods have their advantages and drawbacks. In one big project all the changes made in the mix affect all the songs which is both a good and a bad thing. Let's say I change the EQ of the snare a bit. Fine, I change it an all the songs sound the same and I do not have to do the same change manually to every song. On the other hand, one of the songs might need a slight tuning in the snare EQ part, while the others are fine just as they are now. This means that I have to start using automation curves in the DAW, and if there are lots of this kind of adjustments it will escalate pretty quickly into a total mess. So far I'm leaning towards one big project, but we will see.
Monday 24 July 2017
Drums: Session 5 & pop broblem
I went back to studio and re-recorded one of the songs. I also made a recording of single hits on the cymbals and toms in order to have a source for cut-and-paste editing if needed.
While listening to raw tracks, I noticed a strange behaviour in the in front of kit mics. While playing loudly to bow of ride, the mics produce a slight "pop" sound, almost like a vocalist "p" without a pop filter. It might be caused by the edge of the cymbal blowing air to the direction of the mic. I could reproduce the phenomenon, and it seems to be related to the height of the mic versus the height and angle of the ride, so I have to be more careful with this in the future. I have not had this problem before, although I have recorded drums with similar type of setup before. This is not a major problem, I can most probably deal with it in the mixing phase, but anyway it is annoying.
While listening to raw tracks, I noticed a strange behaviour in the in front of kit mics. While playing loudly to bow of ride, the mics produce a slight "pop" sound, almost like a vocalist "p" without a pop filter. It might be caused by the edge of the cymbal blowing air to the direction of the mic. I could reproduce the phenomenon, and it seems to be related to the height of the mic versus the height and angle of the ride, so I have to be more careful with this in the future. I have not had this problem before, although I have recorded drums with similar type of setup before. This is not a major problem, I can most probably deal with it in the mixing phase, but anyway it is annoying.
Sunday 23 July 2017
Drums: The dull part
And now I sit here, transferring the .wav files from my iPad to PC. One by one. Via DropBox. Takes hours. Literally.
Saturday 22 July 2017
Drums: Session 4
Hell yeah! I think I nailed the last two of the remaining songs. It means I'm done. At least in principle. I need to edit the puzzle together to hear if something still needs re-recording. The first of the last two songs went down really well, I have two good takes to choose from. Then I decided to try the more difficult one, and it also went really smoothly. Now I have two takes also from that song. I also recorded some improvisations just in case the album would need some moody pieces between the songs.
Usually, the easier and faster the recording process is, the better the result. If a song starts to take several takes or even worse, several days, it means that I'm doing it wrong. The song might be too difficult, I have not rehearsed enough, or there is something else wrong. Even the more difficult songs take usually no more than a few takes. If there is a mistake here or there, I just take another take and try to be sure not to mess in the same places again. And hope that I'm in the same tempo if not using a click and also hope that the tune of the drums has remained still.
The worst nightmare for me has been a case where the producer wants to change stuff on the fly. Instead of playing something as rehearsed, I'm asked to play it a bit differently. That makes me focus on that particular part and I loose the big picture of the whole thing. Even worse if the requested idea is technically difficult or unnatural to play. I think that any person who requests a certain beat or fill from a drummer should be able to demonstrate it in requested tempo with a good groove.
Usually, the easier and faster the recording process is, the better the result. If a song starts to take several takes or even worse, several days, it means that I'm doing it wrong. The song might be too difficult, I have not rehearsed enough, or there is something else wrong. Even the more difficult songs take usually no more than a few takes. If there is a mistake here or there, I just take another take and try to be sure not to mess in the same places again. And hope that I'm in the same tempo if not using a click and also hope that the tune of the drums has remained still.
The worst nightmare for me has been a case where the producer wants to change stuff on the fly. Instead of playing something as rehearsed, I'm asked to play it a bit differently. That makes me focus on that particular part and I loose the big picture of the whole thing. Even worse if the requested idea is technically difficult or unnatural to play. I think that any person who requests a certain beat or fill from a drummer should be able to demonstrate it in requested tempo with a good groove.
Drums: Sessions 2 & 3
I started the session early in the morning, I was at the studio before 8:00. I did a one fix take for the song recorded yesterday, and managed to record one of the slower songs. The song itself was easy to nail, but it has a drum solo in the middle which made it a difficult one to capture. I decided to do it early in the sessions while I still have some stamina left in my muscles.
After a lunch break, I recorded one fast song and another slow one. The fast song was easy to capture, it has a 12/8 feel throughout the song. The slow one was a bit more difficult, as the tempo tends to drift when I have no reference while playing and the groove is slow. Well, I think both of them ended up nicely.
I managed to mess the mic input levels while changing the battery of H6. More work for me, now I have to take care that the tom levels are even in every song I mix in the future.
I have one doom song left, and then the last one which is kind of a Immigrant Song type of up-beat tune. I try to record the slow one still today and maybe leave the upbeat song for tomorrow.
After a lunch break, I recorded one fast song and another slow one. The fast song was easy to capture, it has a 12/8 feel throughout the song. The slow one was a bit more difficult, as the tempo tends to drift when I have no reference while playing and the groove is slow. Well, I think both of them ended up nicely.
I managed to mess the mic input levels while changing the battery of H6. More work for me, now I have to take care that the tom levels are even in every song I mix in the future.
I have one doom song left, and then the last one which is kind of a Immigrant Song type of up-beat tune. I try to record the slow one still today and maybe leave the upbeat song for tomorrow.
Friday 21 July 2017
Drums: Session 1
First drum session done. I managed to record two songs. One faster and more difficult and one slower and by far easier.
I managed to mess the first takes as I forgot to press rec on the floor tom channel. Cool. I was already happy with the final take of the more difficult song as I found out what I had done. Well, I think that the later takes were even better!
I managed to mess the first takes as I forgot to press rec on the floor tom channel. Cool. I was already happy with the final take of the more difficult song as I found out what I had done. Well, I think that the later takes were even better!
Wednesday 19 July 2017
Setting up the drums
I entered the studio this night in order to set up the drum mics and test the sound of the kit. The first thing I did was to tune the toms and snare really well. I had in mind that I would also test my Ludwig Black Beauty as the snare for the album, but in the end I decided to use the Genista snare that I got with the kit I'm using, as it sounded really good and was in a good balance with the rest of the kit. For this album, I will use my Premier Genista 75th anniversary kit that has a 20" bass drum and 12" and 15" toms (the 10" tom is not mounted). The snare is 14" x 5,5", so nothig special there.
I have had problems before with losing the tuning of the drums during the recording sessions. This has been especially problematic with the snare drum as I tend to hit the rim shots pretty hard, so this time I decided to try Turerfish lug locks for all the drums. In theory, they should prevent the lugs from turning at all while mounted. Let's see how they work out.
As soon as the kit sounded as good acoustically as possible, I started miking the kit. I had several options to choose from for the recording, but in order to keep things simple I decided to go with a Zoom H6 recorder that can record four mics in addition to the stereo condenser pair that comes with the recorder. Instead of placing the stereo pair over the head of the drummer, I will use the pair in front of the kit. In my opinion, I get more natural image of the whole kit this way, especially as I have no additional room or ambience mic. The stereo pair in front captures the body of the drums nicely, and in my opinion the cymbals sound really natural, too. The drawback is that the stereo image won't be very wide, and if the room sucks, it will affect the quality of the recording more than with traditional overheads. I tested a few positions for the stereo pair, and ended up placing the mic relatively close to the kit in order to minimise the room ambience. In addition, I placed some screens, usually used to form office cubicles, around the mics in order to reduce the room reflections.
For the snare top, I used my old and trustworthy Sennheiser E906. For the bass drum, I used Beyerdynamic Opus 99 and found that it sounded best half way inside the bass drum. For the toms, I intended to use my brand new Beyerdynamic TGD57C mics, but it turned out that one of them was broken, so I ended up using my friend's small cardioid Shure condensers that were lying around in the studio.
After placing the mics, I did some test recordings. If I'm happy with the sound also tomorrow, I guess I'm then ready to sart the actual recording sessions.
I have had problems before with losing the tuning of the drums during the recording sessions. This has been especially problematic with the snare drum as I tend to hit the rim shots pretty hard, so this time I decided to try Turerfish lug locks for all the drums. In theory, they should prevent the lugs from turning at all while mounted. Let's see how they work out.
As soon as the kit sounded as good acoustically as possible, I started miking the kit. I had several options to choose from for the recording, but in order to keep things simple I decided to go with a Zoom H6 recorder that can record four mics in addition to the stereo condenser pair that comes with the recorder. Instead of placing the stereo pair over the head of the drummer, I will use the pair in front of the kit. In my opinion, I get more natural image of the whole kit this way, especially as I have no additional room or ambience mic. The stereo pair in front captures the body of the drums nicely, and in my opinion the cymbals sound really natural, too. The drawback is that the stereo image won't be very wide, and if the room sucks, it will affect the quality of the recording more than with traditional overheads. I tested a few positions for the stereo pair, and ended up placing the mic relatively close to the kit in order to minimise the room ambience. In addition, I placed some screens, usually used to form office cubicles, around the mics in order to reduce the room reflections.
For the snare top, I used my old and trustworthy Sennheiser E906. For the bass drum, I used Beyerdynamic Opus 99 and found that it sounded best half way inside the bass drum. For the toms, I intended to use my brand new Beyerdynamic TGD57C mics, but it turned out that one of them was broken, so I ended up using my friend's small cardioid Shure condensers that were lying around in the studio.
After placing the mics, I did some test recordings. If I'm happy with the sound also tomorrow, I guess I'm then ready to sart the actual recording sessions.
The starting point
This is my blog focusing on the music I make under the pseudonym of Dark Intervals. So far I have made five albums under this title, covering ground from prog rock and stoner to Berlin school ambient music. https://darkintervals.bandcamp.com/ I chose the name long ago, with no intention to use it after the first album, but somehow it stuck, and now I can't abandon it anymore. Sorry, Keith!
Currently, I plan to document here the progress of the recording process of the forthcoming sixth Dark Intervals album. I have not started the actual recording process yet, but I have demoed seven songs I have composed for this album.The style of the songs is roughly stoner and doom, but we'll have to see how the album turns out in the end.
I have a small rehearsal room / studio, and I have set up one of my drum kits there. The next step in the recording process is that I should make decisions on the snare drum and cymbals I intend to use on the album, tune the drums, set up the mics, and make a test recording to check that everyting sounds ok in the drum department.
Currently, I plan to document here the progress of the recording process of the forthcoming sixth Dark Intervals album. I have not started the actual recording process yet, but I have demoed seven songs I have composed for this album.The style of the songs is roughly stoner and doom, but we'll have to see how the album turns out in the end.
I have a small rehearsal room / studio, and I have set up one of my drum kits there. The next step in the recording process is that I should make decisions on the snare drum and cymbals I intend to use on the album, tune the drums, set up the mics, and make a test recording to check that everyting sounds ok in the drum department.
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