Recording "New Year's Day"
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 at 10:07PM In thinking about how to record this album-to-be, I feel it would only be fair to track the album as it was written. The same way the year passes: one month at a time.
This has some drawbacks. It's potentially more expensive - it costs more to pay an engineer to set up drum mics twelve times, rather than once to capture twelve drum tracks. Also, the songs may not have any overarching sonic quality that binds them together as an album.
It also some big advantages. First of all, it allows me to fufill my goal of not spending any money to produce Blood Year. By recording one song at a time, I can raise money by playing shows or selling music. This might mean it will take years to create the final recorded product, but I can wait.
More importantly, recording one song at a time allows me to consider exactly how best to record each track. That began with "New Year's Day".
This is a pedal steel song. I could hear the pedal steel rising behind the acoustic guitar every time I played the song. This meant I'd need to record the song with Bryan Daste. Bryan is a pedal steel player, owner of Magic Closet Studios in Portland, a member of my once-and-future band The Last Minute, and a good friend.
What you hear above is the product of 16 hours in Magic Closet Studios over April 9 and 10 of 2010. Bryan engineered and mixed this semi-final version of the track. He also plays the pedal steel and sings backing vocals. Last Minute members Adam Mack and Matt Johnson play drums and bass. Mont Christopher Hubbard performs the piano and mellotron.
I'm very pleased with this first step towards documenting the songs being amassed here this year. I hope you enjoy it.
Reader Comments (3)
Hi Bryn...Griz here..I was checking out your sounds..nice work...I play drums for the Wild Blues Yonder band..we perform original Rockin Blues....check us out at wildbluesyonder.com..we are looking to network..share surplus gigs etc...if interested leave a message on our guestbook and we would also like to add you to our links section...Cheers
I agree with Christian there. It sounds great. You sure had great instincts about the pedal steel - the high line at 3:05 is a heart-peeler. (And the mellotron was a genius call - it redeemed the whole part.)
I am apreciating it very much.I have never read such a lovely article and I am coming back tomorrow to continue reading.
And I love .songs on gossip girl . This page, There are a lot of songs on gossip girl here. hope u like it.