Curse of Hollywood

 In the early stages of this one… just got the initial strings demo back from Steve, which I’ll post in the Express Lane section momentarily.  This is an upbeat song with a straightforward/basic chord structure that’s going to rely on its energy; it’s got something of a free-form vocal outro that I think is reminiscent of the outro of ELO’s “Rockaria!”.  I’m going to need to spend some time in the DAW to ensure all of the parts work in concert with one another, particularly since we’ve got an added layer of complexity with Robbie’s wonderfully creative/melodic basslines.  Ensuring the bass, foundational guitar and strings all work together in a tight structure will be essential before moving on to adding keyboards, backing vocals and guitar overdubs…       

Guitar Engines...

Had an interesting situation pop up this weekend with respect to the initial guitar parts for “A Different Kind of Weather”.  For a little background as to how these songs are built… I initially record demo parts for all of the instrumentation.  I do this using a keyboard controller; the process is fairly straightforward for keyboards, basslines and rudimentary string parts (since the notes themselves can be played directly on a keyboard).  Drum parts are built from a library of prerecorded patterns that are converted into midi format, so that they can be applied to an effectively unlimited variety of styles and tempos.   

For guitars, I use a complex simulator (https://www.applied-acoustics.com/strum-gs-2/).  It’s a great engine, but it’s got some limitations.  In addition to having to pick appropriate strumming patterns and guitar variants for the performance, I also have to choose chord types (e.g., drop lowest, movable-root, etc) and fret positions.  For whatever reason – there are some instances where no matter what variations of the chord type and position I use, the engine doesn’t pick up on some subtle changes.  I can see the chord changes register visually, but it doesn’t sound any different.  That was the case with some of the chord changes in this song. 

In this case, I provided the demo stems to Niels (the guitarist I’m working with) along with a lead sheet reflecting the chord changes.  In this case, Niels built the parts assuming the guitar demo stem was the intended structure, and that the lead sheet was outdated – when it fact, it was the lead sheet that was correct.  So we’re going to need to record those guitar parts again.  To facilitate this, I’ll head back to the workstation to generate a temporary basic (and very clear) keyboard pad reflecting the intended chord structure, so that Niels can develop the appropriate guitar voicings in concert with it.

And so it goes!

Sequential Recording...

Been focused the last few days on redesigning and developing a few new merch items.  Just got the first sample of a line of bathing suits that I’ll be introducing for the summer; looks pretty cool!

Also starting to go through Steve’s string arrangements in earnest; it takes a few hours to sit down with each set of demo stems and mix them into the rest of the recording so that I can really get a sense of what modifications and minor adjustments I’d like to address.  Any industrial engineers out there will be familiar with the “critical path” concept, where one task needs to be completed before any of the others can commence.  That concept comes into play when developing the overall arrangements sequentially, as we’re doing here.

The process of building each individual track is relatively straightforward at the outset.  You start with the rhythm section… record the drums, then the bassline that needs to work in conjunction with the drums (and in particular, the kick), then the foundational (e.g., rhythm/supporting) guitar.  This constitutes your basic track.

From that point is where things start to get interesting.  For most band/rock projects, adding guitar leads and supporting keys might be fairly straightforward – you’ve got some space, you pretty much know what’s going to fill it.  In our case, it’s a bit more complex.  The space available needs to be allocated among strings, lead guitar and keys.  In sticking to the ELO blueprint, the strings and keys are not just background instruments; rather, they are intended to have leading roles.

The string arrangements are by far the most complex, as they consist of multiple voices and lots of interesting runs and the like.  So, we generally want Steve to have enough space/freedom to develop those parts with little restriction.  We do, however, also have to consider where guitar and keyboard leads will be assigned – and develop sections where the strings will be responding to and/or supporting parts that haven’t yet been recorded.  And, we really can’t record those guitar/keyboard leads until the string parts have been finalized.

Due to Steve’s intensive schedule (and the fact that we’re not only not in the same room or even city; we’re not even on the same continent), we have a situation where Steve is running the first pass on each track without my involvement/feedback; we will convene at a later date to finalize the arrangements for all of the tracks at the same time.  That might not be for a few months – and we’ll need to defer on recording not only lead guitar and keys, but also backing vocals, until that later date…

Rewriting...

There are a great many relatively mundane aspects that go into managing a recording project on a daily basis.  For example... there are the mechanical aspects of preparing stems and lead sheets for the musicians, importing and exporting wave files into and from the DAW (digital audio workstation), evaluating and editing content, generating rough mixes as the project progresses.... none of which is particularly rewarding.  Matt Wallace (who produced our first album) once told me that once he's finished producing an album, he can literally never listen to it again.  I honestly get where he's coming from.

Every once in awhile, I get to interrupt these processes with something I truly enjoy.  That just occurred the last couple of days with the opening track ("A Different Kind of Weather") for this next album.  It's an expansive track, with an extended keyboard/effects intro and a lot of electronica interspersed throughout - and it is very high energy (clocking in at over 150 bpm).  The structure is intended to be reminiscent of ELO's "Secret Messages", from 1983.  The title itself is borrowed from a recording made by a band that was on the A&M label while I was there; I loved that title and decided to build my own song around it.

The melody for the song itself was, like most other songs I write, developed in my head while on a drive.  I can generally "hear" (in my mind) the chord structures that will apply to a new song, and eventually work it out on a keyboard after the melody has been solidified   That was the case with this song, and I developed the demo parts for the entire song structure some time ago.

However... in the case, something about this song just didn't sit right with me.  Because it's such a high energy song, and the melody is fairly dynamic, I wasn't as focused on the chord structure - and what I reflected in the demo just seemed a bit too basic/repetitive to me.  I'd been feeling that way for awhile, and had made a mental note that I'd eventually need to roll up my sleeves to fix it.

That's not the easiest exercise in the world, particularly when the demo parts have been completely developed - but this week was a sticking point, since it's the last song that I have for which the drums have already been recorded, and I needed to get something the both Robbie (on bass) and Niels (on guitars).  So this week was it.

For the first time in awhile, I was able to go up to my studio, and sit down at the workstation not to perform mundane tasks, but to actually engage in a creative endeavor.  And, it was awesome.  Hours flew by, but I finally came up with those more interesting chord progressions that I love listening to, and was able to modify the demo parts so that they properly fit.

Still a slight bit of cleanup to do, but... mission effectively accomplished.  Can't wait to share it...           

String Arranging...

Been out of pocket in terms of updates for awhile, but have made progress on quite a few tracks.  Will post the current in-process versions in the “Express Lane” section shortly. 

At the moment, working in earnest with Steve on developing the string arrangement for “All In You”, which is an upbeat track with an intro that’s structured very similarly to that of ELO’s “Sweet Talkin’ Woman”.  We’re currently focused on just the first part of the song (through the first chorus), and are going back and forth a bit in terms of developing the overall style for the rest of the track (and really, the album).

A challenge we have is that Steve is initially developing the parts at his studio in the UK, and I’m providing feedback here in SoCal – so none of it is happening organically with us in the same room.  Each round of development and feedback takes a full day’s worth of time, whereas if we were sitting in the same room, it would be instantaneous. 

As I’m thinking about it, I think a better approach might be to have Steve develop the initial string parts for all tracks without revisions.  I can then take time analyzing each of those arrangements and coming up with revisions, and then we can work on those together “in the same room”, as it were – either in person at his studio, or virtually via some form of audio teleconference.   

Will propose this to him now… 

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!

"Tilting At Windmills" - Recording Underway...

We just started officially recording the first song from “Tilting at Windmills” last week. I sent the demo track off to Steve (our phenomenal string arranger), and we’ve worked up the arrangement through the first two choruses, up until the bridge.

We’re doing this first track a little differently, as I haven’t yet settled on the full musician lineup for the record. Steve would normally work from a finished rhythm track (drums, bass and possible rhythm guitar), but I’m going to try out a group of musicians who record with a drummer friend of mine over in the UK. He’s got access to a studio and wants to work on this album, so we’re going to see how his lineup works. Because he’s currently on a tour that’s ending at the end of April, I have to wait a couple of weeks until he’s back home before starting on the main tracks, so… we’ll wrap up the orchestration for this one first.

Once we’ve gotten some headway on the meat of the track, I’ll post a clip so you can hear where we’re going with it ;)

My best,

-Eddie

Random Chrustmas song thought...

Has there ever been a more throwaway lyric in a holiday song than "Christmas comes this time each year"?

I think that same thing each time I hear that song... this time each year lol

Stay Tuned...

Haven’t posted here in awhile, but I’m going to do so on a much more regular basis going forward, considering blog content is now going to be an offering for Inner Circle subscribers. 

Huh?

Yeah, I know.  Part of the reason I haven’t been posting is because I’ve been caught up in developing a marketing campaign strategy for Interstate Island, through a stellar program developed by the guys at “Modern Musician” for, well, modern musicians.  I thought it interesting that Sheryl Crow posted something recently complaining that no-one buys music anymore… yes Sheryl, in this age of streaming, that’s what life will be like in the 21^st century and beyond.

Recording artists now need to get very creative when it comes to developing pathways to sustain careers in this industry.  And that’s extremely important, because without those pathways to support the development of new music, there will be no more new music.  It ultimately comes down to the establishment of a new covenant between artists and listeners… artists will do their best to continue creating the kind of music listeners want to hear, and listeners will do what they can in order to support those efforts.

That new bond can manifest itself in a variety of different ways, but where I think it significantly benefits listeners is that they will now have access to artists in ways that were simply never possible before.  In the 70s, Elton John would release a new album, and within a few weeks, millions of people paid roughly $10 for the right to hear it whenever they wished.  But… if you could go back to that time and ask a fan what it was like to connect with Elton on an internet livestream, or spend a week with him on a luxury cruise – what would that fan say?  (Spoiler alert: she’d say, “what’s the internet”?)

So, yes, as everyone knows, times have changed dramatically – in some ways that have presented a great many challenges for creators, but also in others that present amazing opportunities for artists and listeners to connect in ways that were never possible before.

Stay tuned, my friends...

Miscellaneous Thoughts on a Monday Morning…

 The Islanders have a .650 points percentage ten games into the season, which looks decent on paper – but they are not playing well. Still not convinced Lane Lambert is the right coach for this team.

Returned a week ago from a blackjack trip to the heartland during which I was backed off from three straight sessions – which I’m sure was the result of a local flyer.  So, I played poker the last couple of days, along with catching an Isles’ road game, which they won with a shutout.  Always nice to experience a win in the opponent’s barn.  Heading to the PNW Friday, where I will catch yet another Isles’ road game…

Found an interesting poker “home” game this past week… was looking for something closer to home so that I don’t have to travel as far to the local poker room to get some hours in.  It’s an interesting setup, with two full tables and professional dealers.  A bit like Molly’s game, which makes me wonder if they are somehow compensating the local authorities to keep themselves in action…

On the music side of things, the album was officially released a couple of weeks ago.  We’re apparently getting some play at college radio at various locales throughout the country (and even some spots in Canada), which I thought was pretty cool.  The reality is, in this day and age, any chance for real success will have to come from licensing revenue derived from film/tv/ad sources.  The marketing guys in London are working on that; fingers crossed… 

Preparing For Social Media....

The whole social media concept is very new to me - but the reality in today's age is if you want to build a career for yourself as an artist, you've got to do a lot more than just record and release songs.  Particularly if it takes four years to record an album.  (Well, hopefully that was just for the first one... lol)

Discovered a website that allows for things like the recording of splitscreen interviews; I've reached out to Matt to set aside some time where we can both chat about the recording of this record and related topics... should be a cool item for the facebook group, and make for some nice additional shorts on youtube.

The video for "Requiem" is coming out Friday; I'm hoping it comes across as a fitting tribute to 9/11s heroic first responders.  Filming the final video for the album on Sunday, for the "All Of Our Lives" ballad.  That'll be the the most introspective track of all for which we've created and released videos...

Driving through Minnesota...

Been driving through Minnesota the past week, listening to songs on my phone and taking notes for which would be ideal for track-specific playlists from the forthcoming album.  I know playlisting isn't a new concept since spotify became a thing, but as I've never used a streaming service, it is for me.

I like the idea of generating playlists consisting almost exclusively of all the great old songs I've spent my life listening to, including some of the non-single type tracks from superstar artists of yesteryear with which listeners of today may not be familiar.  For anyone interested in tuning in, I think it will be a nice change of pace from the standard playlisting fare featuring everything modern/current.

This was a good trip, although all of the profit (and play) came within the first five days.  I spent this past Wednesday thru Friday travelling through the more remote parts of the state, where casinos ended up having $100 max bets, which makes it pointless to play there.  The report to which I subscribe incorrectly reflected the conditions in those places... so I ended up travelling several hundred miles for nothing, other than witnessing some incredibly beautiful scenery.  I will apply a shorter itinerary to future visits to the region, much like I did with Colorado.

Currently awaiting for my flight back at the brand-new Delta lounge in Gate G at MSP... very nice job, Delta.

The River Checkraise...

 2-3 is a minefield.  With position and KhTh on a JT7K7 rainbow board, I went for what I considered a reasonable value bet of $60 into a $175 pot (particularly given his river check), and got checkraised all-in for effectively another $310 by a middle position limper.  Well, I'm not going to call that bet when he could have easily had a straight or spiked trips...  what else was he representing?   After my fold, he proceeded to table AK.

Limped with AK, and then checkraised all-in with one pair on a board replete with possible straights and boats.  Now, here's the thing... if he had some kind of read, figured my bet showed weakness and turned his pair into a bluff, then props to him (I still haven't been able to figure out how the whole "blockers" thing plays into that).  But that wasn't the case... I asked him if he thought his AK was good there, and he responded affirmatively that there's no way he could fold a hand as good as that.

Maybe I'm an idiot for ever folding two pair in a low-limit live game!

Anyway will try again this weekend before heading out next Friday for a blackjack trip to points in the north/central U.S.  Location with phenomenal games... lots of 4 deckers with good rules and deck penetration.  And so it goes...   

      

Hearing It For the First Time...

It's come up in a few recent conversations how it's pretty much impossible to hear your own song for the first time, since by the time you've finished writing it, recorded the demo, tweaked it, and gone through the formal recording process, you've heard it hundreds of times over.  By the time it gets to a finished stage, you're almost kind of sick of hearing it.

Yesterday I came up with the chorus for a new song for the first time in awhile... I was inspired by a lyrical concept as I was heading out the door for about a twenty minute drive - and by the time I had arrived at my destination, I had the lyrics fleshed out along with a melody that I was able to sing into my phone recorder. 

Listening to it fresh today, it dawned on me that this is pretty much the only way that I can truly hear one of my own songs for the first time... when I first come up with the melody and work it out on the fly, I haven't memorized it yet.  So... when I listen to it a day or days later, it's brand new to me - and it's somewhat similar to that concept of buying an album and hearing a song for the first time.  It's the only way I can ever experience that feeling with one of my own songs.

Thankfully, this one's a keeper - and I'll look forward to it appearing as an actual release at some point over the next few years... lol.

Flying out in the morning for a west coast blackjack trip; first extended one since January...