Session X: Vocals

That’s right.  Today was the day that I started cutting vocal tracks.  I managed to lay THREE tracks down today, all keepers so I figured I would quit while I was ahead.  Cutting vocal tracks is a kind of awkward thing.  It’s all about capturing the vibe and the flow of the song but at the same time you have to, at some point, let it go ya know?  I experimented  with doing guitar and vocals at the same time but the only problem is that every time you make a mistake on a vocal or the guitar, you have to start all over because of audio bleed into the mics.  I’ve found it more effective for me to just concentrate on getting a good solid rhythm guitar track first and then everything else will follow.  The upside is you can get that perfect guitar track and that perfect vocal track.  The downside is that it’s hard to capture the same emotion that the songs have in a live setting in a studio setting.  There’s no audience to feed off of, there’s no adreneline rush, nothing.  It’s just you and the song.  Here’s where letting go is the key though.  At some point, you have to know that the songs are NEVER going to sound the way they do “live” because live settings are so spontaneous and “in the moment”.  Get a good vocal track and move along.

Three vocal tracks in one day is a record for me.  I’m really happy with how they came out.  That means I’m nearly 1/2 way done w/ the vocals (there’s 7 songs on the album) and then it will be on to the rest of the instrumentation such as glockenspiel, bass guitar, harmonica and lead guitar overdubs.  This album is really shaping up to be a great and positive experience for me.  I’m getting to know the songs and myself again.  It’s been a while since it was just me and my songs and I’m really digging this time alone I have with them for right now.

Session IX: Progress… Aint It Grand?

I’ve put in about 7 hours over the past two days and I really knocked some shit out.  I managed to solidify the track list for the album and lay down all of the rhythm guitar tracks (8 songs).  I’m REALLY happy with how they came out.  There is a bit of background noise at times because of the fact that the MARTA train runs through my backyard and there is never ending construction and yard work outside of my window.  I actually think it’s pretty cool though.  Kinda reminds me of Led Zeppelin and how you can hear the phone ringing in the background.  Anyways, I was really happy with how the tracks turned out and I’m excited about finally moving forward with it.

The hard part of the recording process will be getting vocals for each track.  This is where I struggle because it’s so hard to capture that element sometimes.  On the last CD, half the album’s vocal tracks were cut while I was whacked out on flu meds and I nailed it.  This time I’m going to try hard and get into the vibe of the songs and nail them.  I know it’ll be challenging but I’m gonna work hard on them.  I’m super happy and proud of the songs that will be on this one and I really hope to capture the mood and feeling of each of them.

So with rhythm guitar tracks done, now it’s on to bass tracks.  I was going to attempt vocals but I’m feeling very motivated to keep moving on the instrumentation.  I will start with rough scratch tracks just to get the sound/mix right and then I will start recording them.  Here we go!