Post by mcarp555 on Jul 18, 2015 12:11:37 GMT
And at last, I think they're done. Started in March, finished in July, here are four new songs. Written during a creative burst over a two-week span, one song was done in a day, another took two. The rest needed a few days each to polish up the lyrics. I started with drum tracks on Band In A Box, and most of the basic parts were recorded on the trusty TASCAM 788. All the songs were then transferred to the new TASCAM DP-32SD machine, which required redoing some tracks.
I have lived, breathed and eaten these songs for four months; I don't think I can do them any better. Several hundred pounds (dollars) have been spent to upgrade recording equipment, and many many hours have been spent with the various recorders, Audacity and Melodyne to make the tracks the best I can produce.
1. Look At Me Tonight
A powerful reggae-style track that is guaranteed to make your foot tap. It's a song about being alone which is seemingly at odds with the lyrics. In fact, the words made my daughter cry when she first read them. The obvious single of the bunch. Backing vocals are provided by the Mikettes (Michele McArp and Shana Davis Fidler), with some processing help from Cameron. Every song has different guitars and basses, just because. This one has the Telecaster on rhythm, Les Paul Trad in the solo, and the '67 Jazz on bass.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/mcarp555/look-at-me-tonight
2. It's Not Fine
A punk-style song with lots of guitars, heavy bass and thundering drums. It's about relationship issues. This was the most difficult song to mix, going through possibly twenty different attempts. It's compressed all to heck in order to make it as loud and primal as possible. With the Casino on rhythm and the Jag-Stang doing the solo and other fills. The SG is also in there (mainly the held note you hear at the end of each chorus) and bass is handled by the Gaskell Thunderbass.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/mcarp555/its-not-fine
3. That Is My Heart
Hopefully a large big ballad number that uses wide expansive imagery to convey a sense of scale to the feeling. Quite the opposite of the previous track. This has Michele McArp of the Mikettes on backing vocal, and includes slide parts done with the '77 Strat (known as the "Evil Twin"). Acoustic parts are played on the Epi. Texan and bass is the '78 Jazz.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/mcarp555/that-is-my-heart
4. Starlight Shining
This song is similar in outlook to Have No Faith from last year, but takes a more gentle approach. Mainly a keyboard piece, the lyrics hopefully convey some sense that our short time in a vast Universe doesn't mean we can't find our own meaning. The guitar is the acoustic again, and the Hofner bass was used to give it that warm natural low end.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/mcarp555/starlight-shining
I can't believe it's actually over, other than tidying up some paperwork. I will eventually post these on Soundclick as well. Amazingly, they started getting plays on Soundcloud within minutes of my uploading them. But now, like children, I have to let them out into the world at large to see how they fare.
I have lived, breathed and eaten these songs for four months; I don't think I can do them any better. Several hundred pounds (dollars) have been spent to upgrade recording equipment, and many many hours have been spent with the various recorders, Audacity and Melodyne to make the tracks the best I can produce.
1. Look At Me Tonight
A powerful reggae-style track that is guaranteed to make your foot tap. It's a song about being alone which is seemingly at odds with the lyrics. In fact, the words made my daughter cry when she first read them. The obvious single of the bunch. Backing vocals are provided by the Mikettes (Michele McArp and Shana Davis Fidler), with some processing help from Cameron. Every song has different guitars and basses, just because. This one has the Telecaster on rhythm, Les Paul Trad in the solo, and the '67 Jazz on bass.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/mcarp555/look-at-me-tonight
2. It's Not Fine
A punk-style song with lots of guitars, heavy bass and thundering drums. It's about relationship issues. This was the most difficult song to mix, going through possibly twenty different attempts. It's compressed all to heck in order to make it as loud and primal as possible. With the Casino on rhythm and the Jag-Stang doing the solo and other fills. The SG is also in there (mainly the held note you hear at the end of each chorus) and bass is handled by the Gaskell Thunderbass.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/mcarp555/its-not-fine
3. That Is My Heart
Hopefully a large big ballad number that uses wide expansive imagery to convey a sense of scale to the feeling. Quite the opposite of the previous track. This has Michele McArp of the Mikettes on backing vocal, and includes slide parts done with the '77 Strat (known as the "Evil Twin"). Acoustic parts are played on the Epi. Texan and bass is the '78 Jazz.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/mcarp555/that-is-my-heart
4. Starlight Shining
This song is similar in outlook to Have No Faith from last year, but takes a more gentle approach. Mainly a keyboard piece, the lyrics hopefully convey some sense that our short time in a vast Universe doesn't mean we can't find our own meaning. The guitar is the acoustic again, and the Hofner bass was used to give it that warm natural low end.
https%3A//soundcloud.com/mcarp555/starlight-shining
I can't believe it's actually over, other than tidying up some paperwork. I will eventually post these on Soundclick as well. Amazingly, they started getting plays on Soundcloud within minutes of my uploading them. But now, like children, I have to let them out into the world at large to see how they fare.