30YRSL8 Recording Diary - Entry#1
We've officially kicked off the recording sessions for our next as-of-yet unnamed CD. Hopefully, we can get it complete by the summer. Our sound has narrowed a bit. Still very much instrumental rock fusion, the material tends to not have so may side strips into other genres, such as country or smooth jazz. We've had another year to get the 30YRSL8 sound well-honed.
There are, so far, about 10 songs slated to be recorded. They are a little longer, on average, and some turned out to be quite heavy. You'll hear the songs and know that it's 30YRSL8.
We've recorded drums and guide tracks for 3 songs, and Mike Raymond, our bassist extraordinaire, has probably laid down his bass tracks for the three songs, at which point the tracks will be packaged up for moving to my studio where guitars and keys and final touches can be added. The three songs are:
1. Tuxedo Swamp -- I brought a gritty, greasy, Gov't Mule-esque set of riffs to the group and in developing it we added (inexplicably) a real swingin' big-band style mid-section. A 30YRSL8 classic move - smash polar opposite musical genres together.
2. Crazy Maria -- This is a Spanish-flavoured romp, which happens to be my wife, Maureen's favourite new tune (that she's heard). This songs was totally developed during a rehearsal - we may have a plan for a rehearsal to develop existing or new songs, but in our warmup we'll spontaneously discover new music, and I consider it one of our strengths to be able to put our plans aside and let creativity take it's course. At least 4 songs on the new CD will have emerged this way.
3. Serengeti Dreams -- I wrote this at home on day and played it to they guys and they wanted to try it. Usually, when the band takes on a pre-written piece, we wind up changing it quite a bit. In this case, we play it pretty much as written. It evokes a lush African soundscape and while it sounds great when we play it live, we are really looking forward to what we can do in the studio with this song.
We'll be laying more tracks as we can. We'll be putting the finishing touches on some of our newest pieces as well.
More to come...
There are, so far, about 10 songs slated to be recorded. They are a little longer, on average, and some turned out to be quite heavy. You'll hear the songs and know that it's 30YRSL8.
We've recorded drums and guide tracks for 3 songs, and Mike Raymond, our bassist extraordinaire, has probably laid down his bass tracks for the three songs, at which point the tracks will be packaged up for moving to my studio where guitars and keys and final touches can be added. The three songs are:
1. Tuxedo Swamp -- I brought a gritty, greasy, Gov't Mule-esque set of riffs to the group and in developing it we added (inexplicably) a real swingin' big-band style mid-section. A 30YRSL8 classic move - smash polar opposite musical genres together.
2. Crazy Maria -- This is a Spanish-flavoured romp, which happens to be my wife, Maureen's favourite new tune (that she's heard). This songs was totally developed during a rehearsal - we may have a plan for a rehearsal to develop existing or new songs, but in our warmup we'll spontaneously discover new music, and I consider it one of our strengths to be able to put our plans aside and let creativity take it's course. At least 4 songs on the new CD will have emerged this way.
3. Serengeti Dreams -- I wrote this at home on day and played it to they guys and they wanted to try it. Usually, when the band takes on a pre-written piece, we wind up changing it quite a bit. In this case, we play it pretty much as written. It evokes a lush African soundscape and while it sounds great when we play it live, we are really looking forward to what we can do in the studio with this song.
We'll be laying more tracks as we can. We'll be putting the finishing touches on some of our newest pieces as well.
More to come...
posted by Rob Rose at 7:07 AM
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