Category: Musicology
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Picking up steam
A little while back we all agreed things felt like they were starting to drag a bit, and since then we’ve been making rapid progress toward completing the recording of all the parts for all the songs on this record. This month has been another ambitious one. Just a week or so ago we went…
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Twice in an orange moon
We got back into Goody Sound studio a second time this month and got a lot work done on six of the twelve songs for my album. For one (“Saint Lucifer”) we just tweaked a bass note or something so no real update to share there. As always these “Pleasant Valley Sessions” are produced by…
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Down to the studio
This record recording process started a year ago in February and for twelve months through January of this year we recorded one song a month, getting the basic tracks down. Since then we’ve been working on the arrangements and recording overdubs. I feel like we’re building momentum here toward the finish. In the meantime, I’ve…
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Building the sound
In May, after a couple of grueling weeks at work, we got back into Goody Sound for a nice long session overdubbing four of the songs for my album. (As always, these are sneak peeks of rough mixes, works in progress.) Carnegie Hill Jeremy Goody is a fantastic engineer with razor-sharp ears, and Megasonic Sound…
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Can the drummer get some?
New job and all, excuses excuses, still playing catch-up, so anyhow back in April I was back at Megasonic with product David Gans and engineer/co-producer Jeremy Goody with magnificent drummer John Hanes (who already added impeccable parts to “Saint Lucifer” and “Dirty Ol’ Sunshine”) in the house again, this this time to add a little…
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Like leading lambs
We’ve kept plugging away on the album project. Back around March we went back into the studio to clean up a few of the basic tracks. For example, we cut out the extra chorus after the bridge in “All I Know” and we shortened the intro the “Long Haired King.” I’m still not happy with…
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Let’s pour one out
What a long, strange year it’s been, recording one song a month for twelve months running for my record, Layers of Meta. We started with a song I had just started writing, “The Long Haired Kings,” last February. That day in the studio was just my producer and friend, David Gans; our engineer and co-producer,…
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Swim-two-birds logo ideas
As part of my songwriting trip I established a music publishing company for publishing my songs and managing that side of their rights (I also signed up with BMI for the songwriter side of the equation, and included my alias, Crispy Bacon). The company is called At Swim-Two-Birds Music in full but generally I just…
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You’ll know when
This whole album project evolved somewhat naturally from my ongoing songwriting efforts. As far as I can tell, writing songs is the best writing medium for me. I’ve written short stories, novels, poetry, and plays, and in each case I feel that I was able to carve out something worthwhile from time to time, but…
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Dirty ol’ tune
In that same spirit of catching my breath toward the end of the year I find I never did share any of the rough mixes of the third song we recorded this year, which must have been back in April. This one benefited a lot from having John Hanes on drums, and I feel he…
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Nobody called it that
At least in my day, nobody called our neighborhood on the upper east side “Carnegie Hill,” although that’s what they call it today and maybe some folks, like realtors, even called it that back then. A bunch of things converged in 2020. I was getting a bit more intentional about songwriting. I read the wonderful…
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Why I use a chamois
So a lot have been going on. Usually I rush over here breathless with excitement about my latest recording session but now I’m in catch-up mode again. Back in October I took off a long weekend for my birthday, and on that Friday went to Megasonic to record “Sham Song” (also known as “Chanson”). After…
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Embiggening the fun
Recording in the studio has been just an amazing experience so far, but this most recent session took it all up to the next level for me, personally! This time, we recorded live in the studio, as a quartet: Javier Navarette on percussion, Robert Wade on bass, David Gans on guitar, and myself on uke…
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A fresh look at Moses
This song started off with one couplet and developed into something of its own. Having gotten the basic tracks down In the studio now, it has taken further shape, as hinted at in this rough mix (produced by David Gans and engineered by Jeremy Goody at Megasonic Sound, with David on guitar and Dan Brodnitz…
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A.I. Green sings
Fatal error, my core can’t detect / Discarding sectors of uncertain prospect
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Never been to Narnia
One sign of how busy I’ve been lately is it’s taken me weeks to share the latest rough mix from my “Pleasant Valley sessions,” something called “Finn’s Song” informally and “Stand Up, Mixer!” inexplicably:
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Seeing the hindsights
Got back to Megasonic Sound for my monthly recording session last weekend and laid down the basic tracks for a fifth song for my album, “Memory Lane,” with Bill Cassel on bass; myself on vocals, electric ukulele, and acoustic ukulele; David Gans producing and Jeremy Goody engineering.
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I don’t want majestic splendor
Back into the studio again to lay down basic tracks for a fourth song for my album. This one is “Down to the Mountain,” which started off kind of in the mode of a string-band or folk-rock tune in my mind but seems to be heading for a more ethereal church-y feel so far.
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Some other version
OK, got a new version of this new song ready to share:
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Some of the time…
I’ve got two recording sessions coming up by the end of the month on the album project, and another at the end of July, so that’s moving as fast as it can, but “can’t stop won’t stop” when it comes to the wooosh of songwriting, so after Ghost Door has come an interesting melody that…
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Trust the wooosh
Not sure why but I still seem to have beginner’s mind when it comes to writing songs and even having a set of ten that I feel are ready for my first album has not shut down the ongoing process of discovering and writing songs, with this newest work in progress coming over the weekend: