Spring Update

So we're into the final third of April and I have not written any holiday or seasonal tunes! And to be honest, I don't really feel like it! I knew this would happen. I have not able to immerse myself into that genre of music as I had wanted to. But fear not--I have been working on other music. I have about four songs I am working on right now. One is lyrically complete and ready to start recording. The other three are more in the infant stages of writing. But I feel good that ideas are flowing. And at this time, I feel as though I'm going in the direction of shorter songs. The bulk of the music I love is pop & rock of the 1960's & early 1970's. If I had to sum it up into a range it would be 1964-1972. The majority of the hit songs of that era were all just about under three minutes long. So I'm probably going to keep them short and (hopefully) sweet. I'm also considering mixing all the songs in mono just to give the project that extra 60's sound. Some of my all-time favorite songs are in mono and only available in mono (as far as I know). Here are some of them:

Heart Full of Soul (The Yardbirds)

Gimme Some Lovin' (The Spencer Davis Group)

Can't Be Still (Booker T & The M.G.'s)

Ya Ya (Lee Dorsey)

Take a Heart (The Sorrows)

Down Home Girl (The Stones)

You Need Lovin' (The Small Faces)

Baby Don't Go (Sonny & Cher)

Barefootin' (Robert Parker)

Good Time Charlie (Bobby Bland)

I realize some of those may fall outside the specified range, but it's not an exclusive range. Anyway I'm not a huge fan of mono but it does give a recorded song more of a vintage, lo-fi feel. Plus, when comparing mono mixes to stereo ones of the thousands of songs I have in my library, the mono mixes usually sound louder and more balanced. Of course, that could have to do with mastering techniques as well. In the 60's most singles on 45 were punchy mono mixes made specifically to sound loud over the radio and on your home turntables. The Beatles released all their albums in both mono and stereo up through 1968. They involved themselves in the mono mixes and left the stereo mixing up to the studio staff.

I'm going to do this. And it's cool because I will still have access to make stereo mixes whenever the mood strikes or if need be. That's the difference between my recordings and the ones listed above. Many of those were recorded on two or three-track tape with the masters no longer available. Thus they are preserved for posterity in mono and nothing else. But it is fun to think about how they would have been mixed in stereo. I got used to a lot of The Beatles' earlier stereo output where most instruments would be panned to one side and the vocals on the other, with nothing much in the center. Those stereo recordings helped me better hear and figure out the different instrument parts so I could learn to play them. That's one of the reasons I prefer stereo overall--there is a lot more to be heard that mono mixes do not permit.

I think the four songs I'm working on will be interesting. If I can get really serious about finishing them up and doing a few more things I may actually have something to release this year.