Session VIII – Listening With New Ears

I put in about 3 hours last night to working on the album and while levels of frustration were up, I’m glad that I was able to go in with a new set of ears and REALLY listen.  I started out trying to lay down guitar tracks for “Ghost Town” but after 21 takes, I was ready to throw my guitar through the window.  Instead, I decided to go back through and listen to what I have so far.

“Winds of Home”, while I thought it was already in the can, really isn’t done.  The guitar and the vocals are so abrasive and heavy that the warm, dark mood of the song is gone.  It sounds like someone was pissed having to do this 15 or so times just to nail it with the click track.  Good to know as I’ll be revisiting that song to give it a complete overhaul.

What I was really pleased with was to hear that “Prison Story” is complete.  Sometimes in my head I hear these extra tidbits of music to add to songs and then when I go to actually do it, it just doesn’t work.  I had these great visions of slide guitar and harmonies on this song but when I tried it, it just sounded contrived.  Guitar, vocals, harmonica and the song captured the haunting, solemn vibe that I was going for.  “Hope” still sounded good to me and with exception of needing a little bit of mixing, I was really happy with it.

I attempted to try and nail a guitar track for “Back To When” but I’m having a hell of a time nailing the finger picking along with a click track.  Goddamn having to play “in time”.  I may just cut it as a vocal/guitar split track without the click and just say fuck it!  Since I got tired of the 10 takes I was going through for “Back To When”, I spent the rest of the session applying compression to the guitar tracks of  3 other songs that I was really happy with (Drunk on Sunday, Crescent City Girl and Jennifer).  I was really happy with how the guitar tracks came out for these tunes.

Next session I will start out by “listening” to each of what I have and see if I’m still happy with it.  This particular session had a bit more structure to it but I still found myself bouncing here and there a bit.  I have to go in with more of a structured schedule and stick to it to avoid any unnecessary insanity.

Session VII – Inspiration and Frustration

Well, I finally got to feeling a bit better and thought I would spend an hour or so doing some recording.  Well, as you know, an hour turns into 4 hours but to be honest, I REALLY enjoyed myself.  I watched the Dylan documentary “No Direction Home” earlier this week while home from a pulled tooth and I found myself completely moved and inspired.  The only problem with being inspired by Dylan is that when you play your own shit, it kinda depresses the fuck out of you that it’s NOT DYLAN!

Once I got passed that hump I started going through what I’ve already recorded to see basically what I’ve got to work with.  Well, as of now, I have one song completely ready to go and in the can.  I have solid guitar tracks for 5 songs and 2-3 more need to be done from scratch.  This is good progress as far as I’m concerned.  I feel like the first few sessions were me just getting used to what I’ve got to work with and having to get used to shit like playing w/ headphones on, playing to click track and shit like that.

As for the selection of songs, I’m REALLY happy with this selection of songs.  I’ve decided to keep it down to 8 songs in order to keep it from going on too long.  This is going to pretty much be another folk album but I’m really wanting to get more of that folk essence on this one that I did on the last one.  I’m really reaching back to my roots and I’m finding new old acts like The Clancey Brothers, Dave Van Ronk and some obscure Dylan have lots to offer in the means of production and performance ideas.

I’m still getting a feel for this collection of songs together so I’m still not quite sure what I’ll be calling it yet.  Like my last two albums, I really want the title to reflect the mood and (if there is one) concept of the feel of this album.  Gotta crawl before you walk though.  Still got some work to do.

Session VI – Back On The Train

Tonight I decided to step into the studio a bit and “roll tape” (more like, click mouse) and try a few tracks.  The results were actually REALLY good and it didn’t take all night either.  It’s amazing how things change with you step away for a bit and just let the songs breathe.  I managed to get a great take of guitar and vocals for “Winds Of Home”.  I’m 99% that I’m going to keep both but I will go back to them and give it another listen.  I actually posted it up on my MySpace page with just guitar and vocals (http://www.myspace.com/dondeleaumont for those that are actually reading this and are curious).  Along with that song I also cut a vocal/guitar demo for a new song called “Drunk On Sunday”.  It’s amazing what demoing a song in it’s early stage can do for the song itself.  So I literally just wrote this song about a week ago and hadn’t played it much.  What I found is that once I demoed it and went back and listened to it that I certain lyrics needed adjusting (adding, changing and subtracting) so in itself, the experience was a great one.

I’m not going to jinx it.  I’m just gonna say that I had a great experience today and hopefully there will be more of these.

Session V: Getting My Shit Together

Well, as you can see I’ve taken a bit of a break from recording.  I really dove headfirst into this project and realized that among much of my frustration that I hadn’t really sat down to plan out just what I wanted to do with these songs.  For some odd reason I felt like I was in a hurry to jump right into it.  Maybe I thought I was inspired enough to make it all work without remembering just how much work recording is.

So what now?  Well, I’ve put some time into working out just what songs I want to record and how I want them to go, what instrumentation I want on each of them and I have a pretty solid vision for each of those songs.  So do I just delete all the other takes of these songs?  No way, I’ve learned that the hard way.  Now that I’ve taken time away from them, I’ll go back and listen to what I’ve done so far with a fresh set of ears and a less clouded and full head.  Maybe there’s some keepers in there.

It’s nice to feel like there is finally some method to this madness that is making this album.  I’m REALLY happy with the list of songs so far (eight total) and I think this will be a great representation of just where I am as singer/songwriter and performer.

Session IV: Over and Over and Over Again…

So I was pretty much at my wit’s end this session. I was trying to lay down guitar tracks for the song “Winds of Home” which is a song that I never performed solo (maybe?) but was performed with my former band Shades of Winter. I tried to bring it into Mystery Road but it just didn’t work for us so we aborted the idea. I’ve always loved this song and heard so much potential to have some really cool shit done to it in a studio setting. After 28 takes I just couldn’t get the ending the way I wanted. In my frustration, I put it all down and went to dinner and pondered it over a salad and chocolate milk. I played it over and over in my head and suddenly realized that I had an even BETTER way to end the song that would make it not only easier but give it a better sense of depth.

I went back to the studio and dropped a sloppy track but at least I captured the way I wanna end it now. It’s not a keeper but at least I got something productive out of it. I even came up with a few ideas for the song like adding a “blowing wind” effect and even adding some kind of deep echoing drum like a djambe or maybe a floor tom or something. Anyways, I feel like that while the actual recording process didn’t go as planned, it sparked some creative ideas that made me excited to tackle in the next session. I even envision a female harmony/duet that made me think instantly of Andrea from Birds & Arrows. Wow, I need to not get so ahead of myself but either way, it’s nice to see that such a productive evening could come from un-productivity and frustration!  I even manged to come up with some new music and the spark of an idea for a new song while taking a break from the frustration.  Ya know, looking back on it now, it really was quite a productive evening in an unexpected way.

Thanks for checkin’ in ya’ll.  More to come soon.

Session III: Getting To Know You…

Tonight was Session 3 of recording for my still untitled solo album.  After 25 stinking takes, I managed to FINALLY get a guitar track for the song “Jennifer”.  Matter of fact, that track may not even be a keeper but I had to put it to rest for the night.  I’ll go back to it on Thursday night with a fresh set of ears and a fresh perspective.  Even though these songs seem to take a lot of takes to get down, I’m really not stressing at all or even upset.  It’s actually really fun and quite meditative.  One of the luxuries of recording at home.  I’m not paying by the hour and I’m not having to travel back and forth.  The studio is just across the house so that really takes a lot of stress off the process.

I also realized tonight for the first time in a long time that I haven’t been alone with these songs yet.  I pretty much write these songs and bring them right to the band and then we build them up and take them to the stage.  Playing these songs in this setting is really allowing me to get to know these songs on a personal level.  I know it sounds crazy, especially being that I’m the one who wrote them but it’s true.  I feel like I’m getting a lot of “one on one” with these tunes and it’s really nice.  Playing “Jennifer” tonight over and over again reminded me of just why I wrote this song and who I wrote it for.  I always say at the shows what it’s about but I’m not sure I really connect with it all the time.  Tonight I did and it felt really good.

I pretty much have the list of songs down that I hope to record for this CD and it’s a great list of songs that I feel like are some of the best songs I have ever written.  I feel just playing through these how much I have grown as a performer, a writer, a singer and a guitarist.  It’s really a great thing to take in.  I have some big plans for this CD and I’m even hoping to have some good friends be a part of it with me.  I’m still in the planning stages of that aspect but it is starting to take shape.

Thanks for checking in!  More to come…

Session II: Finding The Feeling

I had another session on Saturday (Feb. 14th) and it wasn’t too bad. I had to remind myself how I do things. Get solid, usable guitar tracks first and foremost and layer the instruments as I go leaving vocals last so not to have to stress about whatever else I have to do musically.

I worked on laying down guitar tracks for “Rest Stop For The Lonely” and I really had a blast, even though it took about 18 takes. One of the things I forgot I love about recording is that it really makes my discipline yourself and focus on what you’re doing. There’s no room for “just ok” takes. If there is one slightly off note, I hear it EVERY FUCKING TIME I listen back to it. It makes me feel like a better guitarist and it makes me have a better sense of feeling as well. There were a few takes that I felt like I nailed it perfectly but it sounded so stiff and contrived.

Anyways, I will be going back in tonight to listen back to “Rest Stop…” and make sure I like where it’s going. I may end up doing another 15 takes just to get it right but then again, I might be completely happy with it and move on.

Session I: Off To A Rocky Start

So what made me decide to do another solo album?  Well, Mystery Road is about to come to a close for undisclosed reasons at this moment.  Don’t worry, nobody is dying and nobody slept with anyones significant other.  Hell, we’re all still friends but this chapter is about to draw to a close.  I have written songs since this band has been together and I am more proud of these songs that just about anything else I have ever written.  I feel like I’ve grown so much yet I don’t want to just let these songs go un-recorded.  That brings us here…

This will be my, let’s see…5th solo CD.  Each one I am proud of for certain reasons and with each one I can hear significant growth in myself, even though I HATE listening to myself.  I’d rather eat a bowl of dung actually.  Anyways, I want to accomplish this CD and I want it to be a special one for me.  More so than anything else I’ve done yet.  I tend to set the bar high for myself when it comes to recording and this time is no different.

I started laying down the guitar track for “Prison Story” last night and good lord.  NOW I remember why making an album is such a bitch.  20-something takes later and I STILL didn’t have a usable guitar track.  I decided to do a two track recording (vocal and guitar at the same time) and I nailed it.  Then I applied an effect to the vocal track and instead of saving it like an idiot, I closed it and hit “no to all” when asked to save.  What a dumbass.  I gave up and called it a night.  I haven’t done another session yet but that will happen on Thursday.  I’m still in the planning stages as far as how many songs to record (I have 14 ready to go), how many to release and who will do what.  I’m gonna make this happen!

Welcome to my insanity everyone!