29/07/2009

album update and what to do beforehand

having had a chance to listen through, i'd be keen to get everyone's fine print on what else needs to happen or change on the recordings. here's what i've got so far...

i can't make you love me
record tibetan bell for ending
what does eliza normally play in the ending live?

smells like rain

but i lose myself
re-record cowbell
record shakers

the quest for love aboard the belafonte

æowyn & the absolute truth
re-record all vocals
originally, i had thought that we'd do 4 voice harmonies on this one, but from what we've attempted of that so far, it doesn't seem to be working as it's all pitched to my voice. bec suggested everyone just make up new harmonie which best fit their voice which we could try. another option may be just to leave it at my voice overdubbed for everything. it seems to work fairly well as such at the moment. the actual singing would still need to be redone as the current ones were all first takes using my laptop built in mic. thoughts?

cover
the current version has both bec and eliza singing the main melody from the outset, at equal volume levels, and i think is the best vocal solution for this so far. bec's vocal probably still needs re-recording to iron out a couple of wavers. should any of the harmonies be taken by male voices, or does the subject matter of the song work best if it's just female voices (bec?)?
i feel like the acoustic guitar parts still need to be made more obviously as a loop. should the ending of each riff be cut off more roughly?

time to move the nest
record piano (current recording is a synth piano)
second verse piano changed to toy piano
second verse record abstract piano cluster chords (eliza)
re-record blake's voice?
mix eliza's voice higher in ending

don't speak for me
lift volume of claps to sit better with kick

the separation prepare this for another marriage
re-record eliza's voice
more beef in drums/bass


also, are we settled on the title?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

i've also been thinking that it would be good to release a single maybe 6 weeks before the album, to help promo the album. the quest for love aboard the belafonte seems the most obvious choice as an early version has already been fbi playlisted so we can use that fact in promo-ing it to other places. i was thinking that a free download single with maybe 4 tracks would be nice. but what should those other tracks be? could it include blake's original skeleton of what became the song? remixes by other people? songs we have that aren't going to go on an album? old tracks from other releases?

6 comments:

Eliza said...

I Can't Make You Love Me - I usually play the cowbell at the end.

Smells Like Rain - it's probably just me, but in the last "Smells like rain" chorusy bit, to begin with the oh's in the background sound a little bit out of time or something, but then they straighten themselves out by the end.

But I Lose Myself - yes, shakers. Have I been playing my keyboard bit at the beginning and end an octave too low? Maybe I should start playing it properly.

Quest For Love sounds quite lovely.

Aeowyn - didn't we jsut say that that could be your song, Adrian? That the vocals suited you singing them better? Do you not like your vocals? I like your vocals.

Cover - I don't think we need any guys singing. Yes, cut the guitar loop off more. I hadn't noticed the cutting-off thing before; a little more would be nice.

Nest - yes, that synth is driving me insane. Are we doing it on your real piano?
I think I actually made up some abstract chords for this song, then I didn't record them and I can't remember what they were. I'll come up with some more. Actually are you sure we didn't record them? I have this memory of me recording some strange chords for this song.

Don't Speak - claps, sure.

Separation - I think there was a more recent recording of my voice that was much better than the one you used here, but that one as well wasn't quite good enough either. You must have used a really old recording, like when I'd only just written it.

I like the name.

Pre-release promo. Yes. Belafonte, yes.

ajebec said...

but i lose myself - you only play it too low since we changed the sound over to stop the program crashing. i did mention in when we rehearsed it last, but you said you liked the lower octave better. i'm happy to leave it as is both ways (i.e. leave this recording higher, play it lower live). both seem to work.

æowyn - i like the sound of the voices (just need them rerecorded in tune/time etc) but was thinking it would be good to do it so we can play it live, but i don't think it's such a big deal to leave it out of live sets and leave it with just the one voice on record.

nest - no, we never got to record those chords. yes, we'll do them on the piano.

separation - i'm pretty sure the one you now have is the second lot we recorded. it's not difficult to do some more takes, though - i think the critical element is you being in the right frame of mind when you come to do it.

Blake said...

i like the title, though i don't know what it means

i don't know if the original skeleton is interesting/good enough to be a track on a pre-release, especially after considering all the other rad new songs that are being written

belafonte (a definite 'yes' from me)
the thickness of white?
don't speak for me/but i lose myself?
cover?

the idea of you, adrian, singing all four parts in 'aeowyn and the the absolute truth' is cool

i like that there are just female voices in 'cover'
i think that the cutting at the end of the loop is already good, but there would be no harm in making it less oblique

i am not convinced by all the piano parts in the nest song, as of yet
maybe that is just because of a bad recording, or maybe not
i am definitely up for re-recording my voice in the nest song

Eliza said...

I think once we record the synth sound in Nest on a real piano, which is what I imagined when I wrote that bit, it will sound nice. I hope. It sounds nice inside my head, but I think it was more backgroundy. I was also thinking about the possibility of it sounding better an octave lower, but we can play with that once we actually record the thing.

As for the title, once you take it out of the context of the Belafonte lyrics, it can mean anything you want Blakey. Surely you remember HSC English. Actually, I can't even remember what it means within the context of the song. Well, I know what it means, but I can't remember where I got the idea for the phrase from.

Eliza said...

Oh, not Belafonte - Separation. I am clearly so involved with the lyrics I write.

Eliza said...

Haha, oh no wait - it is the Belafonte! I'm going crazy.