Lesson Learned

So, I just couldn't stand the vocals on that first try. It sounded bad, even for me. I re-recorded the vocals, this morning, using a plug-in microphone, and it sounds a lot more like me.

I also remixed the instrumental tracks, bringing the drums forward a bit. I'm no drummer, so please don't think to harshly of that track. I just thought the song needed a bit more percussive feel, to get the atmosphere I was looking for.

Let me know what you think.

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Learning To Use the Tascam DP-004

I finally got a chance to sit down and play with the new recorder, today. After going through the introductory portion of the owner's manual, I thought I'd record and mix a song, just to see how everything works.

The vocals aren't great (but mine never are), even more so than usual since I was sitting on top of a practice amp singing at the unit on the table. It's a little hard to project, when you are bent at the waist. So, I sound a little thin...but, this isn't a final track. It's just practice with the recorder, after all.

Four tracks: rhythm guitar, lead guitar, vocals and drums. The guitar parts were recorded direct (plugged into the recorder, with no amp), using my 1966 Harmony that you see in the header at the top of the page.

The little recorder works nicely. Now, I just have to get some people together who can actually play these songs...

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The Problem With Some People

A small preview of the next comic book:

I'm striving to go a little more basic on the drawing and concentrating more on the writing.  Hope you like it.

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Tascam Pocket Studio

I just got a new toy necessary tool for musical expression. The Tascam DP-004 Pocket Studio is a 4-track recorder/stereo mixer that records to an SD card, making it possible to mix a song and then download it to your computer via a USB cable. From there, it can be sent electronically or burned to a disc.

As you can see, the unit is pretty small. It's small size, ability to run on 4-AA cells, and the built-in microphones allow you to use it as a portable recorder. Or, you can plug in the AC converter, plug in exterior mics to the two 1/4" jacks, and use it as a home studio mixer.

Built-in microphones

I have been looking for something like this, for quite a while. I'm not too confident that we are going to get the studio room at Metro (and, if we do, I don't know what kind of recording equipment they have), so I may be recording here at Dexter Street Studios. Musician's friend had these on close-out, and the price was just too good to pass up.

So, now I just have to learn how to use it. It looks pretty simple (no software to download, or anything), but I am pretty much able to screw up even the easiest instructions. So, I will be experimenting with it a bit, here and there, before trying to actually record anything for real.

Now, to find the rest of the band....

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Be Honest...

Is this not the creepiest thing you've ever seen?  It's a ceramic cup, 7 inches tall, that I found at the thrift store for a dollar.  I had plans to "enhance" it in some way, like I "enhanced" the ballerina prints. 

I just don't think I can do anything to it to make it any more horrifying, though.

Wait...I...I...

...I stand corrected!

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Music Project is Progressing

I've decided to produce two separate music projects, one acoustic and one electric.  Unlike Bob Dylan, I'm starting with  the electric music first.

I went through my  material and picked out 11 songs I want to try to get put down more the way I hear them in my head.  In the past, I've recorded quite a few songs with bad equipment and under circumstances that kept me from getting the sound I was after.  I hope to get a little closer, this time around.  While 11 songs may be a bit ambitious, I kinda want to give it a try.

Most of them are fairly simple in construction (3 chords...no waiting).  I'm a big believer in the rhythm-heavy school of song-writing, and most of my tunes inspire a lot more foot-tapping than humming.

This is me during the recording of some of these songs, the first time, in 1983.  I wish I still had that green Harmony Rebel.  At least I have its big brother, now, an H-72.  I love the sound of those thinline hollowbodies with the DeArmond pickups.  (Wouldn't mind having some of that hair, again, as well...)

Anyway, I'm working hard on setting this up and, and I really hope to get some other people involved who share my desire to have a little fun playing music.  I'm really hoping to get something worth listening to out of it, too.

Of course, "worth listening to" is in the ear of the beholder, I suppose.  I actually like listening to the old versions of these songs, but I think that's more of a reflection of how much fun I had with my buddies in Savannah.  (More on that, later.)

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On Guitars, and the Learning Process (Plus Recording Plans)

My Gibson and the music from class...

One of the plans I laid out for this year was to take a guitar class and brush up on the correct way to play guitar.  I am largely self-taught and, as such, I have never learned some of the very basic techniques of guitar technique, and I do a lot of things "wrong".

I put "wrong" in parentheses because, if you play an instrument in a manner that you enjoy, and that other people enjoy hearing, then you are not playing "wrong".  But, if you learn the standard, or "right" way to play it might well open up more avenues for expression.  Opening up those avenues was my immediate goal in taking the class.

I just finished the 8-week class at the end of last month and, while I already knew a good deal of the technique covered at the "Guitar 2-A" class level, I also learned a number of things.   Unfortunately, one of the things I learned is that, just like in the past, I still hate going to school.

Now, don't get me wrong.  I enjoyed myself during class, each week.   And, I enjoyed learning and being challenged by new knowledge.  I just hated the physical aspect of having to show up, every week, for an hour in order to do this learning.  So, I don't think I'll be taking any more of the group classes in the near future.

What I hope to do is take some private lessons, on a monthly basis (if I can find a teacher I can afford).  I would happily pay a bit more per hour than the classes cost so that I wouldn't be wasting part of the time sitting through instruction on something I already know.  Kinda like paying more for boneless meat at the store...

Next on the agenda is to put together a song list to record.  I have quite a few songs which I've written through the years which have either never been recorded, or else have been recorded badly.  And, I want to get them put down in a listenable form, on modern media.  I'm also working on a few new songs, as well, which I think will be worthy of this project.

I may have access to a recording studio, at Metro State, through my buddy Mark.  He is an alum, and knows some of the people in the music department well enough that he hopes to be able to get us some time either for free, or for cheap.

Fingers crossed.
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