Well, Frenzy is probably a strong word. Another friend, who I hold just as dear (so to speak) and whose musical knowledge and critical discernment I admire and value equally – no playing favorites here, provided what he thought might be harsh criticism. And it might have been if Regular Folk was anywhere near finished even as a demo.

I realize that I really need to lock down the beat and stay on it. This will take the practice to which I know I must commit. I want to avoid digital fixes as much as possible – specifically using quantization. My friend also gave some suggestions on how to improve the lead vocal recording, in addition to furious rehearsal, by recording 3 separate tracks of the exact same lead vocal and using the best as the main track and panning one of the others hard left and the remaining one hard right and lowering the panned tracks in the mix. I have to look up what panning actually is – not sure if it’s similar to balance on a stereo or not. He also did not like the didgeridoo as I used it.

My daughter, a stickler when it comes to proper grammar usage, had only one criticism that she couldn’t remember, said one phrase was exactly how she would have said it and relayed that she liked the kitten pictures the best!

-Ed “Not as Cute as a Kitten” Bejzak

Creation is often a very messy thing.

Last weekend was Farmhouse Just-West-of-Frederick-MD Fest where The Get-Up was the sole band on  the bill (with the exception of a few solo meanderings from Alan Schwartz, Bill O’Driscoll and David Husted – and an unaccompanied bass [pedal] solo by Mr. Edward “Rutherford” Bejzak).  It was a weekend of craft beer, painstakingly prepared food and all-out “jammination” for all those who partook. After run-through of the set-list on Saturday, the house lights were brought down (ok, we lost power). This led (not 100% sure that it shouldn’t be “lead” – even after consulting the “interwebs”)  to chili dinner – then on to  port, my yearly cigar and some wonderful discussions on, but not about, the farmhouse’s front porch.

So[lo], I unpacked the gear I had lugged up to Jefferson, MD and set everything up to work on Regular Folk. I had the idea of adding some off-beat instrumentation with the thought of using my Cannonball Gourd Thumb Piano (pictured up top & called a  “kalimba, mbira, mbila, or marímbula depending on the region in which it’s played” according to the Uncommon Goods website – from where, I think, my wife, Liz, purchased it for me as a Christmas gift), my clarinet and my accordion/concertina.  After playing some acoustic guitar along to the Folklore rhythm on my piano (of which only the guitar got recorded – not on purpose), I started with the thumb piano and then thought of my didgeridoo. I was able to get a bit of the “drone” going and mixed it all up after adding a vocal track and left it at that. Here’s the mess that I’ve dubbed Regular Folk, Sketch 2.

Acoustically,

-The Ed-Up

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