I went up into the studio with the intentions of finishing the Fool Play demo this weekend. I had to fight off a kitten named Obie from playing with all the cords (another reason to consider wireless).

I attacked using a drum beat on my keyboard while singing along to get the approximate length of the song. Then I practiced the bass part a few times and recorded. Nowhere near perfect, but ok for my personal demo IMHO. Then I sang over that with similar results. Somewhere along the way one of the verses became a bridge and I worked in a rudimentary organ part – all before breakfast!

Used the FocusRite compressor and reverb on the vocals with the settings below. Just trial and error at this point – no idea what I’m doing there (with any of it?).

The demo please:

With Get-Up guitarist/singer/songwriter Bill O’Driscoll in town last weekend, the music, and craft beer, was flowing. Eddie played bass, and sang, while Bill was the guitar, and harmonica, man and also sang. We shored up some of the newer Get-Up tracks and solidified the standards. Much of the session was recorded by Renee Rosensteel (http://rosensteel.com/) – photographer, videographer and all-around intriguing person (Bill and I will determine if any of that audio is shareable).

So, this weekend is the time for me to make some progress on the solo project. Even though I have a lot of work remaining on the Fool Play demo, another track was playing in my head as I was lying awake in bed early this morning. Perhaps it is the fact that there has been a fair amount of Twitter activity regarding this year’s Philadelphia Folk Festival. I figured out the chords and hammered out an initial sketch of “Regular Folk”  with which I’m pretty happy. Here ya go:

No longer standing in the way of progress.

-Ed Too Feigh

I was going to title the post “Planes, Trains & Metaphors” as things related to this project went into a stall, got derailed. I pulled up in an effort to get back on track.  (“A metaphor is a glorious thing…” -Sparks from Metaphor).

Life events made it difficult to get anything done in the past month (seems like the way this year’s been going so far).

That said, this weekend, I have opened the bass case, uncovered the keyboard and fired up the DAW (computer recording software).

Yesterday I practiced some Get-Up tunes in preparation for the annual Cabin Practice/Concert weekend in April (it’s our 1st ever Maryland appearance – the birds and squirrels will never be the same!).

This morning I set up everything for recording, listened to my last version of Fool Play and wasted some time trying to play/record drums using my computer keyboard, in conjunction with Ableton Live Lite, without any success.

I have 2 issues of Recording magazine waiting for me – it’s time to get back in gear.

-RestartEd

I’ve waded into the (muddy) waters of background vocals. I sang a lead over my bass & canned drums track, then had some fun experimenting (different than the type in college). Oooh, ooohs in a questionable range for me to be sure, but I think I can take a few nuggets away from the sketch. Here it is (beware: some, if not all, of it is quite awful):

Audio Clip Notes: There are two tracks of background vocals. I played with compression and reverb a touch on the lead vocal.

I will have to control myself with regards to the background vocals as I really dig the different and crazy stuff. It’s one of the reasons I love the early XTC stuff (see Helicopter) . I think I may “let loose” on Future Psychic Girlfriend.

I did pick up the third edition of “How to Build a Small Budget Recording Studio from Scratch,” by Mike Shea and F. Alton Everest (the acoustics engineer I mentioned in my previous post), from our public library (sorry Dave). With that and the current issue of Recording magazine (focused on recording vocals), I have my research projects for the week.

Making mistakes on my way to the pop.

-Angel Drawers

Even if I had paid better attention in Mr. Pelz’s high school, physics class, I probably wouldn’t remember the waves and frequencies stuff. I just read “Part 2: In Your Room” (I’m thinking there’s a little nod to the Beach Boys there) of Paul J. Stamler’s First Steps series in Recording magazine. Evidently I need to know a little about standing waves and the frequencies at which they develop – I emphasize the word “little.”  I’ve just always not been much into the science or theory of music – it’s always been about the “feel” and sound to me. Perhaps it just laziness, but I prefer to think of it as a bit of Zen (spin?).

Lucky for me, a spreadsheet (and ReadMe file) is provided into which a room size can be input to determine if there are duplicates of standing wave frequencies within the room – which apparently is bad.

I’ve added studio monitors to my wishlist of equipment/peripherals/stuff for my home studio. He reinforces their need (previously expressed by other articles I’ve read and Get-Up keyboard player David Husted) by explaining that the “big problem is that headphones are too good.”  He details why and relates, what probably should be obvious, that the music (if I’m lucky) will probably be played on a variety of devices ranging from laptop speakers to home stereo systems. Additionally, he dispels the myths associated with using egg cartons and blankets to solve sound issues, but does note that a floor-to-ceiling, filled bookcase may be used to change the room (in addition to other not-quite-so-simple remedies).

Next up for me is to measure the room I’m using, input the dimensions it into the aforementioned spreadsheet and determine the problem area(s). After all, admitting you have a problem is often the first step. 🙂

I also want to check out the books of acoustical engineer F. Alton Everest‘s books on small studio design and construction as recommended by the series’ author. This will all hopefully end up with minimal, in terms of work and expense, improvements to my room/studio.

-Edded in the Right Direction?

Get-Up drummer Alan Schwartz commented that it was really tough to hear the bass (keyboard) on the clip of Fool Play I included in my Every (Little) Step I Take (Is Magic?) post.

I had to go back to the sketch track and figure out what I had played on the keyboard (as I hadn’t written down the notes – which Alan also suggested in a comment on my …Careful Notes post) then play it on the bass – with a little more feel and a few flubs heard here:

I’m also thinking “Fool Play” wouldn’t be a bad name for the album.

-QuickEd

Happy 2015!

I feel like I need to do some penance for my lack of musical endeavors (at least with regards to writing  & playing). Maybe sing a few verses of Proud Mary?

Very nice holiday celebrations, a few familial, medical-type battles and a new kitten, Obie (seen in image atop blog in a blatant attempt to get more notice – he’s much cuter than me), all competed for my attention.

As I mentioned in my previous post, Recording magazine has started a feature for beginners – it’s called First Steps and is being written by Paul Stamler. I am going to attempt to follow along and incorporate what I learn as appropriate. In his 1st installment, he lays out his approach to the series offering a clip of a public-domain, klezmer song he recorded, “Arbeitsloz Marsch (The March Of The Unemployed)” – performed by Ottoman Underground, the analysis of which will serve as the series’ “spine.” It seems very clean and simple, but I’m sure it took a lot of knowledge and work to get to sound as such.

I need to make time for Get-Up practice as the yearly, spring cabin session is ahead – I have, at least, been listening to our songs to get them solidly in my head. I will also have to figure out how to accomplish some work on the record during a few weeks of work travel that I have coming up (working on lyrics, recording ideas on my phone, ???).

-Onward and Edward

I said in a previous post that I was thinking about using bass and organ primarily for the Fool Play demo. I took to the keys this morning and was at least able to sketch out a bass part on organ for the current verse an chorus. Here it is with the vocals and keyboard drum track.

I tried a few other things on the keys, but nothing really worth saving. I’m really happy with the feel it will give the chorus. I’ve made a few tries at a soul/Motown feel in the past without success, but am thinking I might get out what I hear when all is said and done on this one.

I got my 2nd issue of Recording magazine (provided as a gift by a benefactor) and it turns out they’re starting a feature for beginners. How’s that for timing?

-Edchronicty in the Machine

I really wanted to re-record the vocals for the Christie demo, but resisted and saved out an instrumental track so I can practice (on my way to Carnegie Hall).

Instead, I worked on Fool Play. I just had the idea in my head and a few lyrics. It feels like it should be soul-ish – a la Hall & Oates. I sang my idea over a beat. Hear is the naked vocal track:

I overcame a technical issue with the vocal track cutting in and out. I recorded the practice drum track (canned, from my keyboard), moved the mic away from the keyboard(then just turned off & unplugged the keyboard) and rebooted my laptop. Problem solved.

Hearing the naked vocal, I realize that I need to be careful of the breaths, sniffs and assorted mouth noises. I’ll be ordering the coupla filter-type pieces (or maybe asking for them for Christmas – hint, hint) before I record any vocals for finished tracks – still a long way away.

The next step is to figure out the chords. I’m thinking of using organ, bass and drums for this demo – maybe some spare guitar accents.

I figured out the my current DAW, Ableton Live 9 Lite, has a midi drum kit that can be “played” via the laptop keyboard. Experiments to come…

-SoulEd Out