RPM Challenge Day 12

The big day arrives to track at the studio, we have the whole day to ourselves, and the whole day is reserved just for tracking the Indie song Troy finished writing earlier in the week.  We arrived at the studio early enough to get a good start on the day's progress.

Going in we could tell something was looming overhead, we'd made a lot of progress without any real issues, as if we were having too much good luck on our progress thus far.  We quickly tracked the electric guitars to the demo track we had done earlier. 

Troy took a few runs through tracking and we experimented with the ideas for the sound we wanted to achieve.  Double tracking with two different guitars and pushing different sounds through and playing with panning ideas for editing and mixing later were critical notes we established early on in the day to stay consistent with the "vision". 

After guitars we moved to drums.  While we discussed what setup we wanted, I mentioned I've been wanting to experiment with a unique mic selection for overheads in mid/side for this track that might sound really cool. 

We went out to set up our mics and get the drums together.  I started setting up overheads and Troy brought out the rest.

In addition to the overhead selection we tried out a wide setup for room mics, and 3 mics on the kick to go for a really fat and thumpy sound.

 

We got all the mics set up and were underway until the point where we had to get levels and settings dialed into the preamps.  The first sign of trouble was that our overheads weren't getting any signal at first.

Our very first problem started manifesting with our patching as we'd been moving a lot of stuff around in the patch bays trying to get the order of things we wanted.  The next issue that came up was running clean enough power to the tube condenser mic I wanted to use on the overheads.

Due to our unique location's design we had to run a large extension cable into the drum booth to get power to the power amp for the microphone.  Even with the extension plugged into power conditioners it still caused too much noise in the line to use. 

 

We dropped the mid/side idea and ended up with just a single overhead mic, and it sounded beautiful all on it's own!  The room mics ended up playing more of a role in the mix.

Then something more serious came up.  Our whole morning seemed shot as we had to deal with the issue of one of our mic pre's misbehaving.  While Troy's had this particular preamp for almost a year we have never really had to use it until now, and that's where the trouble began.

Troy called one of our friends at our local Guitar Center where he bought the preamp from, and tried to see what we could do on it, while we tested it out. We even took it out of the patch bay and tried running direct. 

After a 25 minute call we ended up closing up shop for a side trip to Guitar Center, with the broken down pre

After a bit of waiting around and discussing options on what could be done, we got rid of the defunct mic preamp and walked out with a lovely new one from Universal Audio.  Troy says he's been wanting this one for years, and now he has it. 

We got back to the studio quick and plugged and patched in the new preamp to get back to tracking.

With the new preamp up and running and everything set up and ready to track we resumed the drum track.  Troy went on a few takes for the drums being as they were a simple enough beat to keep in time with and not a whole lot of fill work for the style. 

We tracked through the drums with a few hiccups in recording.  We still ended up with a great take and amazing sounding drums even unmixed.  Up next to finish off the track: Bass.

Troy decided to go back and clean up some of the guitars so we dialed in a sound on the amp and the preamp to sound warm and toasty! 

With so much stress from losing time and taking care of random issues throughout the day, we stopped production and decided to resume tomorrow.

RPM Challenge day 11

Today marks the last weekday to get stuff demoed.  This week was marked with lots and lots of phone calls about potential jobs with friends and colleagues lining up for future dates, which is great and distracting at the same time!  Business is business however, and today we wrapped up Curing the Cure's final vocal takes.  This song is finally tracked.

Steven (left) and I (right) getting a good look

We had a lot of fun fooling around between and even during tracking the vocals!  Troy danced, Steven cracked jokes a lot of laughter kept the night moving quickly.

Troy getting his groove on

First things first, Setting up the mics and pulling up the track and reviewing what was needed on the final takes.  Steven was ready to go right away.

After just a couple takes of the main track we had a take we liked and reviewed the sound for the "corrupted" vocal overdubs.  I used plugins on the vocal track to test out a deeper voice manipulation effect that erred on creepy phone call status.

Troy getting a kick out of the voice manipulation effect

We goofed around for a bit while I dialed in a good setting on the effect, and got back to work on tracking the overdubs.

Just a few takes later we played more with the voice manipulation effect and reviewed the progress on the track so I could make mental notes on where to take it in editing and arrangement.  Since most of the song is done virtually aside from the industrial noises I sampled from found objects which were then processed, I'll go back over the track and start adding in various other elements to make the song sound fuller.

Discussing the final takes

After that, we took a break to go eat and Troy went to pick out some music from a retail store as research for another song we still have to write: the electronica song.

Steven's last look

We are still unsure of what we want to do for this one so afterward we wanted to go to the studio to get inspired.  However, with time constraints we ended up coming back to my place and just listening to bands like Celldweller to get inspired by the fusion of metal / techno / and industrial.

Troy at it again, dancing to Celldweller!

We really couldn't come up with ideas quickly enough, and he had to go for the night.  We discussed the songs we had left to do, and I decided to tackle the Fight song later in the evening.

The metal gods are not pleased...

I quickly got set up to record guitars and start demoing the Fight song.  Finding a good sound was hard because I didn't quite have any ideas solid in my head,  I played around for a bit to find the sound I liked and Troy commented it sounded very Metallica-inspired.  Thanks!

Schecter Hellraiser C-7 goodness

After a few ideas trolling through my fingers and out my amp, a few setting changes, and a good while, Troy finally decided to leave for the night, and I got on with tracking what I had.

I tracked the guitars and laid down a quick beat and then even laid down bass.  Most of the song was demoed, it still needs some more arrangement work but the core of the idea is there finally!

Tomorrow we are going to be super busy in the studio tracking all that we can!  Stay tuned for more!

RPM Challenge Day 10

Thursday, Day 10 was a good day to get stuff done.  Troy and I tackled my idea to have a blues-inspired song on the soundtrack to get back in touch with the concept we came up with.  During his lunch break we talked about ideas.

It seems like the longer we're around each other the more we screw around.  It was hard enough to stay focused with us both feeling so much pressure.

Troy feeling the pressure of the ever-creeping due date

We eventually got down to business and recapped over some crucial points on our progress we've made so far and what we have left to do.  After he left, I got back on task and started setting up to track guitars and demo the Blues-inspired song.

Setting up mic to record

I spent a good couple hours looking for a good setting on my amp and microphone placement that sounded new and different but at the same time called out that flare i was hearing in my head.

me preparing to lay down guitar tracks 

My primary goal was to completely demo the blues-inspired song and get it out of the way as the arrangement i imagined would be fairly simple.  There isn't a lot of changes going on, but it keeps it interesting enough that when layered with vocals the song still moves.  I played around with a bunch of guitar takes and different amp settings along with mic positions to get the right feel.

Afterward, Troy came back over and we chatted for a bit about the project.  Yet again, we found time to goof off as Troy heard my progress on the blues song and decided to do an impression of "me singing"...

Troy impersonating me rocking out to the Blues song

But seriously, we did get back to business.  Troy showed me his progress on writing his folk-pop song for another track on the album.

Writing lyrics and coming up with the main guitar riffs for the arrangement was easy, yet hard to land stuff he really liked and wanted to keep.

All in all, not a bad day.  Just not as far along as we'd like to be.  Troy continued to write and I continued to work back and forth on ideas for the alternative song as well as the blues song.

Thursday drew to a close too fast.  Tomorrow's day has to progress a little smoother as we both feel like we've lost steam on our pace we set out.  While technically we are still on schedule, next week we should be focusing on final tracking sessions, which mostly include vocals.  A lot of the demos only have rough lyrical ideas at best, so this is going to mean long hours trying to lay down vocals as we write!

Me demonstrating the balancing act we are doing on the project management

RPM Challenge Days 7-9

Monday we started running into writer's block and the stress levels have been rising as it's already week 2 and we still have a lot of work cut out for us both!  Monday, after a lot of errands and chat and talks with clients and doing a few side jobs, Troy managed to get ideas down that he liked for the Pop Punk song.  While the album calls for a particular style that would be reminiscent of Blink 182 in their old days back around their first album release, he came up with a pretty cool riff that is more pop thank punk but still pays homage to the genre.

I've been having a terrible case of writer's block coming up with ideas that I actually liked to fit the bill for the progressive metal song.  While I cycled through a bunch of ideas and some that fit other song ideas, they were too rough and I couldn't seem to focus on one I liked until I hit the main riff that set me into motion on the intro to the Progressive Metal song.  It took me quite a while to dial in what I was hearing in my head that inspired the lick, but it finally got down.


Tuesday was our worst day of all.  Don't ever try to force musical concepts out from nothing when you simply don't have the ideas.  Not only does it sound less authentic, it simply sounds uninspired.  Troy eventually stumbled across some ideas he liked but nothing solid.

As for me, I tried to tackle the ambient interlude track that comes in before my alternative electronic song, but absolutely nothing was getting done!  All in all, we spent a lot of time discussing and clashing ideas and trolling through my vast sound collection with samples I've collected, made, and virtual instruments galore.  I think I found a decent start for the Alternative song I have to cover.  I managed to demo a basic idea for it, but both Troy and I were just too tired.  I exercise every day, and he swims before he works his part time job.  Tuesday just seemed a slow and uneventful day.

Wednesday we got a lot more accomplished.  During Troy's lunch we demoed his Folk Pop song idea

While Troy went back to work, I did my usual routine of hitting up the Gym and taking care of errands.  Later in the evening we resumed tackling the 2nd interlude track.  With a few minor interruptions from family and clients calling and booking more work (yay!) we started capturing Foley in my family's garage.

The interlude is a dark ambient track with a heavy foley base and will require a lot of processing and mixing.  We spent a good couple hours just setting up and getting ideas down for Foley, sound effects, and even voice work for background. 

I set up 2 mics in the garage extended from my snake and ran headphones out as well.  I quickly found a good placement for both mics and set them pretty far away from the sources of the Foley.  I let Troy go at it for a few takes and then I did my takes after.

 

We ended up with like 8 different takes, trying various ideas from bumps, impacts, and scrapes to vocalizations and guttural noises.  This interlude is already sounding a lot darker and more violent than I had originally imagined it would!

All in all, the energy we had yesterday made up for Tuesday's shortcomings and lack of progress. We're still on schedule and plan on keeping this pace up until the end of the project.

Troy making a point

Today (Thursday) we have more demo's to finish and hopefully by Friday we can tighten up ideas to take to the studio to track as much as possible!

With the 2nd week coming to a close very fast, Weeks 3 and 4 are going to be critical when it comes to tracking Vocals, heading into editing, mixing, and mastering.  Several other elements need to start coming into play too as we have to discuss album artwork ideas and schedule photo shoot time for ourselves, and I have started to work on the album design with Discmakers' templates for the particular package design we want to use.