Capturing That Analogue Synth Feel...

Had a great teleconference this past week with Steve Turner (our illustrious UK-based string arranger), who is also going to be adding keyboard tracks for this next album.  Anyone who knows me is aware that I am an unabashed fan of ELO’s mid-70s offerings; particularly “A New World Record” and “Out of the Blue”.  The marriage of the complete string sections and the analogue synths on those ELO albums were simply otherworldly.  Jeff Lynne gradually moved away from that production style in the records that followed, beginning with a reduction in the lower-end strings on “Discovery”, and ending with an almost complete elimination of the orchestra on “Balance of Power” (along with the additional presence of more traditional saxophone parts, etc).

I mentioned to Steve that while I thought we did an admirable job of creating and recording the string parts on “Brave New World”, I felt (in retrospect) that there could have been a stronger analogue synth presence.  In analyzing why that was, Steve and I both came to the conclusion that (primarily as a result of my mandate that we primarily focus on development of the string parts), the wonderful string arrangements Steve came up with actually surpassed the level of complexity present on those ELO records.  In simple terms, while there were phenomenally complex string runs and the like in those ELO albums that were the hallmark of the band’s sound at that time, they were not omnipresent – rather, they would come to the forefront here and there, but then settle back into more of a supporting “pad” structure, thereby leaving room for complementary synth and backing vocal parts, etc.

Steve mentioned that he gave the “Out of the Blue” album a thorough listen to get a sense of the keyboard parts and textures that were present throughout.  For this next album, we’re planning to pare back some of the orchestral arrangements – just a bit - so that there is more room for synth parts and textures, which will hopefully give this next record a bit more of that mid-70s ELO vibe.

Drums and Basslines...

Been spending a fair amount of time doing drum editing for the first few tracks of this next album.  It’s really quite an involved process.  When a live drummer is recorded, there are multiple microphones placed at different locations in close proximity to the kit (for example, there are separate mics placed on the inside and the outside of the kick drum, at the top and the bottom of the snare, etc), and further away in the studio.  The tracks each microphone separately records have to “work” together so that the entire set properly captures the performance. 

With each strike of a kick, snare, tom or cymbal, the resulting audio waveform contains a component referred to as a “transient”, which is the focal point of the strike.  The remainder of the waveform surrounding that transient generally represents the trailing edge of the sound (i.e., the natural sound decay that flows from the initial strike).  In contrast with a drum machine, a human drummer will not strike every beat with absolute perfect timing (after all, we’re not machines) – so one task of a sound engineer will be to slightly modify the timing of these transients so that any inaccuracies that are noticeable enough to detract from the consistency of the performance are corrected.  Since multiple microphones capture each strike from different distances, it’s important to ensure that any such editing remains consistent across those multiple tracks.

This is all part of being a “producer”, which I’m learning how to do on the fly!

As I mentioned earlier, Robbie Malone is performing the basslines for this album.  He’s completed the first few tracks to date, and from what I can ascertain, he seems to take a much more creative/melodic approach to generating basslines than what you might typically experience with most bassists.  One of the tracks on the new record, called “Dreams”, has a bit of a swing feel to it.  What I immediately noticed in listening to the bassline Robbie generated was that it was not in complete lockstep with the kick drum, as you might typically expect with most pop/rock recordings.  Rather, it (as Robbie described it) somewhat danced around the kick, lending a much more syncopated feel to the entire track.

I’ve uploaded the work-in-progress for “Dreams” to the subscriber section; feel free to drop a line and let me know what you think!

My best,

-Eddie

An Overdue Update...

 Getting ready for a flight to Arizona; wanted to take a few minutes to provide a quick update.  We’re about to start moving forward with recording this album in earnest.  I started with the track “If You Won’t Stay”, which I’ve used as a basis for finding the right musicians to perform on the record.  I’m very happy that my friend Joe Barbosa (a/k/a Billy Freedom), who’s based in London and who I haven’t actually seen in over 25 years, will be gracing us with his wonderful drums.  He’s scheduled to record those parts for the next three songs this weekend.

For bass, I managed to get in touch with Robbie Malone, who has been recording and touring with David Gray for a very long time.  (For anyone who’s not familiar with David Gray, his biggest single was “Babylon”, which came out a little over 20 years ago.  He’s a fantastic songwriter; his material is more than worth exploring.)  Robbie just finished laying down the bassline for IYWS, and is on board for continuing with the rest of the tracks on the album.

I’ve recently connected with Niels van der Steenhoven, a Dutch guitarist with a phenomenal sound.  He’s currently on holiday, but will be recording the guitar parts for IYWS upon his return next week… we’ll take it from there.

Finally… I broached the idea of having Steve Turner, our illustrious string arranger, also perform keyboards for the album.  He and I have developed a wonderful chemistry over the course of recording the first album… after we get the guitar tracks for IYWS, I’m going to send the result to Steve so that he can lay down proper piano parts, and some of those great 70s analogue synth sounds a la Richard Tandy.

Once we have the meat and bones for this first track completed, I will start posting the works in progress for the subscribers, so that everyone can hear how the album is coming along!

My best,

-Eddie

Back From the Mediterranean...

I’ve been reacclimating to daily like after getting back late Friday from a cruise in the Mediterranean.  I fortunately found some time and inspiration to finish re-writing the lyrics to one last song for the upcoming album, which needed a bit of adjustment, so… it was a productive trip in the end.

I heard from my buddy Joe in the UK today, who has scheduled studio time for June 23 to record drums for the first track.  I’ve been waiting for him to finish up with a few other commitments, as he’s a phenomenal drummer and I would really love for him to perform on this record - but it has resulted in a bit of a delay in getting things going.  My plan is to get the drums for this track recorded, and then ascertain from him how quickly he’ll be able to record the rest.  If his availability remains limited, I’ll need to consider pursuing an alternative path….     

Nice Article About "FML"...

We received a nice article from an independent press outlet regarding "Farewell Mr. Lynne" this week:

https://www.musiccrowns.org/new-music/interstate-island-drops-heartfelt-tribute-to-elo-with-farewell-mr-lynne/ 

Was very nice to read!

Building the Lineup...

Now that we’ve got Steve Turner’s string arrangement completed for “If You Won’t Stay”, it’s time to begin working out the rest of the lineup.

I haven’t yet decided which of the musicians who performed on “Brave New World” and “Farewell Mr. Lynne” I’ll be asking back for this next album, if any.  They are all phenomenal performers – but they were all brought on board by Matt Wallace, who produced “Brave New World”.  Matt’s curtailed the production aspect of his professional endeavors for now, in favor of focusing on mixing legacy recordings for the relatively new “Atmos” surround-sound platform for major record labels.

While that may seem like a bit of a setback, I see it as an opportunity to personally take on the full-time role of producing this project going forward.  Having an experienced producer was essential the first time around – as I’d never previously worked with musicians with such lofty credentials.  

Matt and I have had a great working relationship (and friendship) – but I feel like there may have been some aspects of the process where I was a bit more deferential than I would have ideally liked to be.  That’s understandable, given the experience and capabilities of everyone involved in the project – but now that I’ve been through the entire process from start to finish, I feel like I’m in a much better position to exert more definitive control over the project’s direction.

That direction begins with putting the lineup together.  To restate things, everyone who performed on “BNW” was exceptional – but none of these guys knew me coming in; rather, they were essentially working on the project due to their existing relationships with Matt.  In their regular lives, they've performed (and continue to perform) with artists like Sting, the Wallflowers, Elvis Costello, Sarah McLaughlin… the list goes on.  And - it was an incredible honor to work with all of them.

The one performer who I personally found was Steve Turner, the string arranger.  Over time, we’ve developed an exceptionally collaborative relationship, to the extent that he is an undoubtedly integral part of the project, as opposed to a hired hand.  I believe that developing similar relationships with the rest of the lineup will be of tremendous benefit going forward…    

To VST or Not to VST...

After a few revisions, we’ve got the string arrangement completed for “If You Won’t Stay”.  It remains to be determined whether or not we’ll have an actual orchestra perform the arrangement (as well as the arrangements for the rest of the tracks on the album), or if Steve will perform the arrangements using what is referred to as “VST” (or “Virtual Studio Technology”). 

That technology allows for performance of the parts via a keyboard, which controls digital software “samples” that emulate the target instrumentation.  The realism of this technology is fairly stunning… I would venture a guess that the vast majority of listeners would not be able to tell the difference between the emulated performance and the actual performance of an orchestra (at least, when the person responsible for the keyboard performance possesses the necessary qualifications).

Although the idea of recording a live orchestra (as we did with “Brave New World”) is ideal from a purist’s perspective, the costs of doing so are exorbitant – particularly given the budget constraints of independent projects.  But, there’s another potentially more compelling reason why I’m very much leaning towards the VST route…

If you were a fan of the string arrangements incorporated in ELOs classic mid-70s albums, you’ll note that those arrangements were complex and intricate – with an infinitely greater level of dynamics than you usually hear with the orchestra “pad” arrangements typically associated with popular music.  In a situation like that, recording with a very low amount of reverb is important – lest most of the intricacies of those types of arrangement will end up lost in the “soup”.

We recorded the orchestra for “Brave New World” in a cavernous room (actually an old converted church) – and while those performances (and the recording thereof) were excellent, I felt that we lost a bit of the impact of the strings due to those room dynamics.  When recording using VST technology, we have the ability to simulate virtually any level of room dynamics that would be appropriate for the project – and make nondestructive adjustments and edits on the fly.

I want the strings on this record to sound like they were recorded by a 32-piece section in a 10x10 room.  Not something that can be easily achieved live, but – with digital technology, anything is possible!