Ok, here it goes. At the bottom of this blurb are sketches of two songs. I picked these two because they both stem from the same conceptual and harmonic root, though the second one has diverted from it quite a bit at this point. I think both songs also cover some of the range I’ve been playing with, both in recording methodology and feel.
Disclaimer. I must emphasize again that these are sketches, drafts, blueprints of pieces of music. They have been done quickly and mixed even faster. I’m not looking for a final version here. There has also been very little input beyond my own in their creation, so working on these feels very similar to the way I felt back when I used to paint – a lot of sitting in a room alone layering textures.
Diane’s involvement (she’s done almost all the vocals) of course makes this a not so solitary endeavor, as does having my daughter around when I record. Even so, Diane has not been around for most of the recording, since it happens mostly when she’s at work, and Marina keeps her opinions to herself most of the time.
I am not sure what I hope to get out of posting these here, mainly to get me in a steady production mode by having to produce stuff every week (more or less). I have also grown to admire each of you who participate in the NAP, each of you for substantially different reasons. This to me makes the NAP a perfect environment for sharing ideas. So in a way I am also hoping you will get involved in some way. Disclaimer over.
In my mind this is how the record starts:
The above song has been tweaked a bit more than most of what you’ll hear, but it was still done very quickly. It also has more tracks than any other song so far, and it has been edited quite a bit, both by cutting and replacing sections and by copying parts and using them throughout. My least favorite part of this is the horns, mainly because of the sound I’ve been getting, and because I really don’t know how a trumpet would be played. Soon, if all goes as planned, SNMNMNM, who actually know how to play their horns, should be replacing the horns on this bit, but I won’t go down the road of what’s gonna happen since a lot of changes will be taking place on all this stuff.
At some point later on in the record comes this bit, which is inspired by the first one, but has taken a very different turn and ended up somewhere else altogether. In this recording there are only four instruments and they are played straight through from beginning to end with no cutting, copying or pasting, and very minimal editing or mixing of any kind.
*These sketches will only remain posted for one week, but they will also appear on this week’s NAPcast. Sorry in advance for pushing this on the NAPcast, but I’d like to hear what they sound like sitting between real recordings. Head Stapler, sorry in advance for any difficulties this might cause you.
For other parts of this series, click on the link below.
Wrecking Ball. I like the walking on gravel at the beginning and the cigarette being lit and the ending with the flamenco style guitar but somehow it’s not all flowing together like the parts don’t quite fit together yet. The garageband horns sound like casio but I get it.
The lyrics don’t really flow either for me. “But now it’s wrecking ball time” just doesn’t work for me. The way it’s sung and the fact that the lyrics start with “welcome to the wrecking ball” but then it gets foreboding for that little bit. I get the play on words but the two things don’t work together for me.
The ending might be my favorite part and if the middle is a bit spicier with percussion and stuff it will really work.
I saw Neil Young perform his song Wrecking Ball with a big disco ball hanging over his piano. This reminds me of his song.
Wrecked Ball is pretty. Nice guitar work. Of course I’d rather it be organic but I get it.
Good start.
Hi
I finally got a chance to listen to these, by the way, if your submissions for the cast are going to be from your post, I can just download and you don’t need to send me them through Yousendit.
I really liked the gravel in the beginning, and I thought it would be awesome if your footsteps were layered and layered kind of building into a large rhythmic crushing. Very cool and were there beach sounds in both? I thought I could detect some wave sounds and birds. I liked the organic sounds coupled with the strings. The guitar was nice and I know you said these were sketches, and I think they are very cool. I hope that you are able to get some work done with the baby in the house.
I like D’s vocals. She has a very stage theater kind of style. I can imagine her singing in a musical, and you can tell she feels comfortable and has a sense of humor.
Thanks for sharing and I look forward to hearing more.
Once again, REALLY liked the gravel sounds and the pace of the walk. Would love to hear it build in layers, especially as a lead in because you have no idea what you are getting until the “music” kicks in and your curiosity is tweaked.
thanks K and HD for the comments.
K, I agree with you 100% about everthing you said. Re the wrecking ball, that started as a song for a local dj who has a show called the wrecking ball, named after the neil young song. he interviewed us on his show and asked if we’d write a theme song for the show. he also suggested a paraphrasing of the neil young lyrics for the chorus. the lyrics as they are in the chours are basically what he asked gave us. So the version posted is basically what i will probably give to him (assuming we get a half decent recording of it wiht the band, but without the last (and currently) only verse). I also thought in a way it made a good start for our record, but like you i have many reservations about it, and i think i eventually need to drop the whole wrecking ball idea from it, in large part it seems a bit obvious to me, not to mention it is a very direct rip off of the neil young lyrics. on the other hand i like the chord progression and the basic horn melody so i dont want to leave it all behind. i especialy like the melody switches from minor to major to minor to major in a very seamless way within the same phrase.
Re the horn sound i also agree. Sometimes i hear in my head what i hope it sounds like in the end (as if i was reading a chart) rather than the way it actually sounds and sometimes i hear the casio, so its nice to get some confirmation. This is the reason why that is one of the first things i want to replace with real horns. i imagine the difference would make it less distracting, which is i think what i’m going for here, trying to communicate the idea without anything about it being too jarringly distracting. at this point i think the casio horns are hard to get past. I also think real horns won’t be as tied down to the script as i tend to be since i dont really know how to express all that horns can do.
And yes, its flat all the way through, at least to me. that to me its a result of recording only one section and then copy and pastin it for all the parts, its just really easy and fast to build the song that way. anyways, your observations are very useful as sometimes I start loosing track of these things as my focus shifts to other issues. I think in general things I’m doing sound better when its just hte guitar and the voice and have that live feel to them, but although i will present some of those here, i’m trying to focus on experimenting with arrangements of various instruments so those live guitar recordings are not that helpful for that except as a measuring stick of sorts.
HD, i was very tempted to carry the gravel stuff a lot longer, i cut it down cause i was thinking about it stricktly as an intro and didn’t want to lose that, though you’ve given me an idea to make it use it in other parts
I also really liked the intro on the first song, and, rather than it go on into the song like Roxy Music’s Love is the Drug, I wished it went into it’s own song.
And, though I also like D’s voice, the repetition of the words ‘the wrecking ball’ is about to cause me to go wreck something myself. Because I keep chanting it in my head!
All good pieces though (just a little less lyrics). Maybe if they were in a different order? Maybe this is what happens sometimes when editing? Like I could see that ‘but now its wrecking ball time’ together with that first part, but the horns and the rest of it in another song.
Anyhoo…
I really liked the second song a lot. Flowed super nice. Good balance of not happy and not sad.