Right. So I wanted to make a new album for myself as a solo musician, which I codenamed "Settlers' Effects" after a tax exemption that applied to me upon my return to BC. I wanted a record with a more cohesive sound and structure than I'd achieved with the Argyles. So I consciously set out to guide the process a bit this time round.
I had a few ideas for songs that I'd been collecting in my notebook as they came to me, and I tried to execute those ideas as best I could. I attempted to write a song a day for three weeks, just me and an acoustic guitar all morning and afternoon, rehearsing and refining the previously written ones when the next one wasn't coming easily.
This resulted in thirteen songs that I liked. Then I set about recording demos of each: again, just acoustic guitar and voice, seeing if the song structures made sense and whether they fit with each other. I decided that three of them were too thematically/stylistically divergent to be included on the same record, and set to work arranging the instrumentation for each of the remaining tracks.
I picked a couple artists for each whose sound I thought would compliment the songs, as a way of aiming my arranging. Then I set to work experimenting, adding drums, strings, horns, and keys. In retrospect, I found Mean Times a very harsh and tiring record to listen to, and put this down to the electric guitars and the cymbals. So for this record, I decided there would be no cymbals, and very sparing electric guitar. The lead parts wound up being mostly trombone and violin, as those were instruments I had close at hand and I found I liked them together.
Finally, after I had done mock-ups of each of the songs, I set up a kit in my bedroom and started recording drums in earnest.
I rented a Mapex MPX snare; the kick and the floor tom are no-name Taiwanese drums, and the hi-hats are entry-level Zildjians that I prefer to my B8s.
I also rented Rode NT5 overheads and a D112 for the kick. The snare is miked top and bottom with an SM57/545S, the floor tom is miked top and bottom with an SM58/NT1a.
The little keyboard behind me is set up to control my computer so I can engineer myself without having to get up all the time.
And hey, we're up to date, so more on this as it progresses.
I had a few ideas for songs that I'd been collecting in my notebook as they came to me, and I tried to execute those ideas as best I could. I attempted to write a song a day for three weeks, just me and an acoustic guitar all morning and afternoon, rehearsing and refining the previously written ones when the next one wasn't coming easily.
This resulted in thirteen songs that I liked. Then I set about recording demos of each: again, just acoustic guitar and voice, seeing if the song structures made sense and whether they fit with each other. I decided that three of them were too thematically/stylistically divergent to be included on the same record, and set to work arranging the instrumentation for each of the remaining tracks.
I picked a couple artists for each whose sound I thought would compliment the songs, as a way of aiming my arranging. Then I set to work experimenting, adding drums, strings, horns, and keys. In retrospect, I found Mean Times a very harsh and tiring record to listen to, and put this down to the electric guitars and the cymbals. So for this record, I decided there would be no cymbals, and very sparing electric guitar. The lead parts wound up being mostly trombone and violin, as those were instruments I had close at hand and I found I liked them together.
Finally, after I had done mock-ups of each of the songs, I set up a kit in my bedroom and started recording drums in earnest.
I also rented Rode NT5 overheads and a D112 for the kick. The snare is miked top and bottom with an SM57/545S, the floor tom is miked top and bottom with an SM58/NT1a.
The little keyboard behind me is set up to control my computer so I can engineer myself without having to get up all the time.
And hey, we're up to date, so more on this as it progresses.
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