Blurbs
Saturday, March 29
Cast of characters:
Bryan Merrill - Engineer
Neal Brown - Drums/Keyboard/Engineer
Adam theBassPlayer - Bass
StudioFriday was eventful. I heard the rough mix of Three Shades of Invisible and am letting it marinate now. I'm sure I'll have a definite opinion formed by next Friday. =0) Go to the studio page and have a listen.
We concentrated on rehearsal time rather than recording this week, which was inspiring and got the creative juices flowing.
We worked on: Me and My Guitar, Undone, I Am Not a Widow and a little surprise track.
As I get deeper into this project, I can't help but realize that this is part of a dream come true for me. Since before I first heard "Dog &Butterfly" by Heart, I have wanted to do this music thing. When I was 4 or 5, I remember pretending that I was doing an concert for an audience. I even made a little sign for an entry fee and put it in our front window.
I digress...
2004 is when I picked my guitar back up again and starting a writing frenzy. I have heard the arrangements in my mind for so long, it's amazing to finally have the opportunity to do something like this.
Friday, March 14
Project: Main guitar and vocals for Three Shades of Invisible
Flavor of the evening: Technical difficulties.
Arsenal: Guitar, Yairi DY-84W w/Elixir Phospher Bronze strings. Microphone, Neumann TLM 103.
After many technical difficulties and reworking the arrangement on vocals, we finally got the song in the can. I have the raw tracks on a CD and can hardly wait to hear it once it gets mixed.
3/9/08 - In the past couple of years, I have had some amazing moments on stage. However, working on this project with some awesome musicians has raised the amazement factor to an entirely different level.
Friday, March 8, 2008
I arrived at the studio around 5:30. My first mission: To choose a drum part for Three Shades of Invisible. I chose Neil's harder rocking style over the more laid back style of Bryce. First mission: complete.
With the drummer chosen, it was time to get to work on the more specific points of the drum parts. Neal and I hammered away and I must say, there was a moment of "WOW" in there. =0)
While waiting for Adam, I shared an idea for a bass part I had for the little riff in Captain Midnight. I don't know what it is about a room full of musicians but somehow, I found myself with a bass in my hands trying to work out the lines. I did, indeed, work out the part. However, the speed at which that little riff goes is beyond my playing ability on a bass. In other words, I just can't cut it. *lol*
Enter Adam: He had the lick down in about 15 minutes. =0)
Back to Three Shades of Invisible
Neal, Adam and I jammed on this song for about an hour and I have to admit, I can hardly believe the way it has started to come together.
Wrapping it up: The drum and bass tracks have been laid. Lucky them...
Next weeks menu: Laying down the guitar and vocal tracks. Woo hoo!!!
3/1/08 Some of you already know that I have been trying to work on the production of "Beyond The Darkness," the follow up CD to "Live at the Nuthouse."
After struggling with this for well over a year, I have concluded that it is way too complicated a project for me to try and do alone. Therefore, I have found a producer -- rather, he found me.
So far, I have laid down scratch tracks for:
Beyond the Darkness and Captain Midnight. I expect to be in the studio every Friday for the next few months with some Saturdays tossed in there when schedules permit. =0)