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.
I tabbed out the bass part for "Movin' On Up," the opening theme to "The Jeffersons". The tab is of the way I played it in the video which may or may not be 100% accurate. If it isn't 100% accurate it is extremely close!
Here is the video:
And here is the tab:
G :-----------------|----------------------| D :-----------------|---2-2-5-5------------| A :5------------2--5|-5---------4-3-------3| E :--------3--3-----|----------------3-3---| G :----------------------|-----------------10-/11--| D :---2-2-0-0-2----------|---2-2-5-5--------9-/10--| A :-3----------------2--5|-5---------3-5----------5| E :-------------3--3-----|-------------------------| G :----------------------|----------------------| D :---2-2-5-5-2----------|---2-2-5-5------------| A :-5----------------2--5|-5---------4-3-------3| E :-------------3--3-----|----------------3-3---| G :----------------------|-----------------| D :---2-2-0-0-2----------|-----------------| A :-3----------------2-3-|5--5-7-5-----3-3-| E :-------------3--3-----|---------3-------| G :----------------|----------------|----------------| D :----------------|----------------|----------------| A :----------------|----------------|----------------| E :3--1--2-3-------|---1--2-3-------|---1--2-3-------| G :----------------|----------------|---------------------| D :----------------|----------------|---------------------| A :----------------|--------5---5--5|5--------------2-2--5| E :---1--2-3-------|3---------------|--0-0-1-1-2-3--------| G :----------------------|----------------------| D :---2-2-5-5------------|---2-2-0-0-2----------| A :-5---------4-3-------3|-3----------------2--5| E :----------------3-3---|-------------3--3-----| G :------------------|-----------------------| D :---4-5------------|---2-2-3-3-4-4-5-----2-| A :-5-----4-5-------5|-5-----------------2---| E :------------5-5---|-----------------------| G :------------------|-------------------| D :0-0-2-------------|-------------------| A :--------2-3-----0-|----2-3-5------2-3-| E :------3-------0---|3-3-------3--3-----| G :-----------------| D :---------5-------| A :5--5-7-5---------| E :-----------------|
As with all my tabs, I sometimes choose to use fretted notes as opposed to open string notes. You don't have to do this. My purpose with these tabs is to help you know what notes to play, not necessarily where to play them. Sometimes the two are the same. Other times you have a choice.
If you're a regular reader of this blog you already know that I've been working on a cover of a Christmas song. I'm pleased to say that it has been coming along well and I've been experimenting with some new things. But I have now arrived at the dreaded 'recording the drums' portion of the song. After initially being convinced that I would go with my trusty Yamaha synth's drum sounds, I have now decided that I need to play a real drum set for this song. The hard part will be, as always, getting a good snare drum sound.
I was experimenting a bit with the snare drum this evening and doing some test recordings with it. I achieved a very nice sound--still not perfect but it might just be the best sound I have ever recorded. What did it for me was three key things:
1. Tightening the top and bottom heads of the drum
2. Placing a mic near & just above the drum (and away from the hi hat)
3. Turning down the input recording level.
Tightening the heads gave me a higher pitched sound and one that cut through the mix with all the other instruments. The mic near the snare gives it extra volume and lets you hear its nuances from up close. Additionally, with the mic that close I don't have to hit the drum all that hard. Also, the mic is away from the hi hat which means it does not pick up all that hi hat noise and ended up giving me a very balanced sound. Finally, turning down the record input level got rid of the distorted drum sound that unfortunately has plagued many of my other recordings. It pays to try different things out! If it weren't so late in the evening when I was doing all this I would have recorded the whole drum set track tonight.
But as I mentioned it wasn't completely perfect. On the recording I was hearing a lot of the snare drum's overtones. I will try recording again with a drum ring on the head. But the problem with rings is that they tend to completely deaden the drum sound. I may try some other things if the desired sound is not achieved.
So when I do record the drum set part my plan is to use that one mic on the snare; an overhead to capture the toms & cymbals; and 2 for the kick drum, one on each end. I used to in the past mic the toms individually but I have found that the single overhead picks them up very well and I have even received professional praise on their recorded sound using that technique. That's good enough for me. Ideally, if I had the space and additional mic stands I would go with mic'ing each tom and running each one through a separate channel of a mixer. But you make do with what you have because it beats getting into unnecessary debt.
The song I'm working on is "We Three Kings." This is a great, minor-key, public domain Christmas song. It's in 3/8 time and originally I was going to record it that way. But I had some other ideas for this song and I changed it to 4/4. Obviously I have not heard every version of this song ever recorded, but I believe I have come up with a unique arrangement and interpretation. I was going for a late 60's/early 70's sound on this, and in particular a vintage R&B feel. It is an instrumental with a minimoog voice taking the lead melody. This is the very first recording of mine to feature a cello. And I added a 4 piece horn section because, hey, it won't sound like some vintage, funky R&B without horns! I recorded trumpet, trombone, tenor sax & baritone sax. This is not the first time I have experimented with horns on a recording of mine. You might remember some horn action on my song "The Rain." Now, mind you, I do not have a cello or all those different horns nor would I be able to play them well enough at this time. But my Yamaha synth opens up worlds of sound for me. And these sounds are realistic-enough that I can use them and pass them off as the real deal on recordings. I will surely be using horn sounds a lot more in my future songs.
I'm really excited about finishing the recording process for this song. There are still some things to tweak and plenty of tracks to bounce in order to free up space. I anticipate completing this song in its entirety and releasing it during the coming weekend. At that time I will submit it to ChristmasSongsRadio.com where it will be in rotation with my three other holiday recordings. I will also send it to "The Basement Tapes with Nick & Bootsy."
Before I close out this post I want to give you an idea of the snare drum sound I'm looking to get for this recording. Such a great sound and cuts clearly through the mix. And there appears to be only an overhead mic. I'm pretty confident there are no other mics on those drums as that was back in the day when drum sets were not given mic'ing priority. By the way, this is also a great song by a great performer:
I finally uploaded my song, "(Doesn't That) Blow Your Mind" to YouTube. Hadn't done much in terms of uploading my songs to YouTube lately because of the difficulty in trying to make videos that would complement the songs. I don't have the equipment or any willing volunteers nor do I want to 'borrow' other people's photos and videos out there due to copyright issues. So I finally decided on just making the video a still photo of the forthcoming album.
Even though "Blow Your Mind" has been out there on my tumblr and perhaps Soundcloud, I don't really consider it 'out there' until it's on YouTube. Additionally this is a great way to release a single to promote the album.due soon. (I'm not sure if they still put out singles before albums nowadays. I don't really follow the industry and I don't buy much new music. I do know that back in the 1960's and 70's they would sometimes put out singles before the albums they appeared on and other times they would release albums first then put out singles from the album. I never understood the latter because if you had the album you wouldn't need to get the singles. But I digress...)
I guess we'll have to go back to the days before music videos where you would listen to music and come up with your own imagery. So listen to the song and use your imagination:
I'm going to stop posting my songs in chronological order from here on out. Mainly for 2 reasons: first, like fine wine, my songs/music/recording abilities have improved with time. If I continue to blog about my songs in the order I made them, it's going to take quite some time before I get to my most recent material. Second, 2006 is the year I started working on more than just one song per year. And not having had kept good records of when I recorded my songs at that time, it would be difficult to proceed chronologically.
So today I will begin with my most recently completed song, "(Doesn't That) Blow Your Mind," which I completed in 2012. With this song I was trying my hand at early to mid 70s r&b or soul. Other than most of my vocal parts I believe I successfully accomplished the sound I was going for.
As of the last few years when I started recording the drum tracks at home, I've been recording with the benefit of only two mics. I do have a set of drum mics which I have used on previous recordings. I've recorded with as many as 5 or 6 mics. But as I have compared the recordings made with 5/6 mics to those made with only 2 I have found the ones with only 2 mics sound much better. And so I've been recording with only an overhead Shure 57 and a kick drum mic. That is the case with this song.
In addition to drums, this song features: about 4 electric guitar parts (2 clean & compressed, 1 with wah, 1 with phaser); 5-string electric bass; Nord 73 keyboard (clavinet and Fender Rhodes parts); and several vocal parts.
I think the instrumental minute-and-a-half ending part can stand on its own as a sort of song itself. Featuring a little light improvising on the 'Rhodes' with a few bluesy guitar licks here and there. Could even be a theme for a retro TV show or sitcom. I really like it. There are some moments when everything comes together just right and feels like a group of guys gelling. Check it out for yourself.
