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... 

Shadows...

Listening to a random playlist and a great Gordon Lightfoot song came on.  Sending Canadiana emojis to my hockey text chain... what a great talent lost... maybe not too soon, but nevertheless... RIP, Gord.

Short Turnaround...

Travel day... Denver to SLC to SNA.  A combined 5 hours in Delta lounges makes the journey a bit easier; making my way through a comemmorative issue of Rolling Stone that was dedicated to the Floyd.

Witnessed the Mets at Coors Field last nite; it was quite by accident I was in Colorado at the same they were scheduled to play the Rockies... it was nice to catch a game, notwithstanding the loss and the fairly steady rain that fell in the later innings.

Only played two sessions on this trip, but won both handily, allowing me to exceed EV for my target hours on this 4-day turnaround... booked the win and relaxed with poker the rest of the way... back in OC in a few hours!

This Post Has No Title...

Shout out to the "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" record ;)

Waiting for a quick dinner at Hawaiian Gardens prior to starting my Friday night poker session.  Spent the last week transitioning from the Million Years release to Grey Wolf; both tracks are now out everywhere.  While Million Years was essentially a preliminary release in order to get the social media presence up and running, GW is being marketed more heavily to press/radio, and for playlisting... we'll see how that goes over the next month.

Finally got around to scheduling blackjack trips again... heading to Colorado next week for a quick 4-day turnaround, then will be hitting NorCal/Oregon, Minnesota and Iowa on a monthly basis through August.  It'll be nice getting back out there again since my last trip to the Big Easy region in January.

Vegas and Dallas currently tied going into the third period.  Wonder if there's a chance we'll get another 4OT thriller like last nite!

An Early Summer...

Well, the Islanders failed in their bid to beat the Canes.  I guess some small consolation is that the Canes are thus far making the Devils look a lot worse in the next round than they did the Isles, so... perhaps there's still more to this aging roster than the fans have collectively given them credit for.  Will be interesting to see how ownership approaches the offseason.

Spent this Friday evening studying in the "pokerlab" as opposed to playing live in the casino.  Some great training on this site - but wow, is it involved.  Most people don't realize how complex a game poker is when played properly.  Beating blackjack with card counting is is worlds easier...  I'm going to spend a few hours tomorrow getting some work done on the computer, and then it'll be off to one of the relatively local cardrooms to apply what I've picked up tonite.

There's apparently some blog/press coverage and reviews in the works for the forthcoming "Grey Wolf" single.  Should be interesting to hear how these songs are being perceived at an arms length.... not sure I want to read everything!  lol...

  

On the Brink...

Was looking forward to a good Islanders playoff run this spring, but that now seems a remote possibility - given that they are heading into tomorrow's game in Raleigh trailing 3-1 in the opening round.  There's a strong argument to be made that the Isles have actually been the better team at 5 on 5, and that a lack of discipline in game 4 (along will some fairly questionable officiating ) has put them in a bind they might not otherwise be in.  Just win one game in Carolina boys, and with game 6 on Long Island - you never know what can happen.

Released the video for "A Million Years" this past Friday; the standard audio release for download/streaming will be available at the end of this week.  Since this is just an introductory track for the purpose of establishing a social media profile, we're not marketing it so the same extent we'll be marketing the follow-up - but we have gotten some kind initial feedback on the track, which we greatly appreciate!  Always nice to hear ;)